Undoubtedly the hottest area of Star Wars animation collectibles is the series of Ewoks and Droids figures and vehicles produced by Kenner in 1985. Sales momentum had begun to wane with the Power of the Force line released earlier that same year, a trend that the Ewoks and Droids figures were unfortunately unable to reverse. For many years, collectors had shunned this final series of vintage figures because of their apparent incongruity to previous lines. However, since many of those same collectors have now completed their classic trilogy figure collections, they are looking to represent the entire run of the vintage Kenner line in their collections.
In all, 12 Droids figures and six Ewoks figures were released in the U.S., with a few variations thrown in for good measure. These include two distinct collector coins minted for the Droids C-3PO character -- a gold-toned version of Threepio's POTF coin and a new design based on his Droids incarnation. There also exists a hyphenated and non-hyphenated version of the Kez-Iban coin, which seems a frivolous detail but is fodder for endless discourse among advanced collectors. The Boba Fett figure in this line is perhaps the most desirable of all Fetts put out by Kenner, with far fewer examples found on Droids cards than any other versions. A popular trend has been to seek out prototypes for figures and coins slated to continue the line in 1986, but ultimately never materialized. Mock-ups of vehicles and their packaging have even come to light in recent years, which makes one sorry that many of these concepts never saw the light of day.
Those vehicles that did make it to store shelves include the Droids ATL ("air to land") Interceptor, Side Gunner, and A-wing Fighter. The A-wing would rate as the most sought-after of the three, based on its relative scarcity and heightened exposure in Return of the Jedi. Recent re-releases of this vehicle by Hasbro have leveled demand for the vintage version, although many maintain the Droids packaging is among the most attractive from Kenner's original line. The Ewok Battle Wagon was originally intended to be released in Ewoks packaging, but ultimately fell into the more mainstream Power of the Force line.
Packaging artwork would also be a distinguishing factor with two Droids vehicles from Brazil, the ATL Interceptor and Side Gunner. One of only a handful of instances where Star Wars toy packaging has been redesigned for international distribution, the Brazilian Glasslite variations are highly desirable for their scarcity and what many believe to be superior box artwork.
Also distributed under the Glasslite banner were seven figures from the Droids series, sans coins, of which one is considered a holy grail of sorts to figure collectors. Vlix, a wise-cracking henchman from Droids' later episodes, was produced in extremely limited quantities and released exclusively in Brazil. This figure was slated to be among Kenner's second assortment of eight new Droids and six new Ewoks figures in the U.S., but the line was unfortunately extinguished before production could begin. With known carded examples likely numbering in the single digits, it's not hard to see why so much attention has been lavished on what is essentially a secondary character. Due in part to the persistent mysteries surrounding his limited release, Vlix has become somewhat of a celebrity among collectors of the original figure lines.
Canada would also offer an abridged assortment of the Droids and Ewoks figures and coins, which came packaged on cards bearing alike imagery for each series. With eight Droids and four Ewoks figures available, one can begin to see why figures exclusive to the U.S. market, such as Boba Fett, A-wing Pilot, and Sise Fromm, have an enhanced appeal to collectors of these lines.
Kenner's final submission to the Star Wars animated properties would be a pair of richly detailed lightsabers sporting either green or red blades. Kenner happily opted to create attractive new sculpts for these sabers, which could just have easily been repurposed Return of the Jedi sabers. The fact that new product designs were still being created this late into the line shows Kenner's commitment to the Star Wars property even during its post-Jedi denouement.
