Kenner's X-wing Aces Target Game from 1978 is the rarest of the Kenner Star Wars electronic toys and extremely difficult to find today on the secondary market. But its biggest distinction lies in its history as conveyed by this prototype. On first glance, it looks extremely close to the production X-wing Aces toy, but how could that be given that it's a design prototype built from scratch? The answer is that the toy is merely a rebranding of Kenner's Aerial Aces Target Game.
In Aerial Aces, the game simulates a gunner on the back of a World War I biplane trying to shoot down enemy planes. Since the toy had already gone to market, Kenner had this toy designed and tooled and simply changed the color of the main unit from red to light gray, altered the biplanes to become TIE fighters with a Death Star backdrop, added some Star Wars stickers, and modified the dials to look like a Star Wars ship dashboard. They kept the awkward-looking World War I machine gun.
The dials on the prototype version look more Star Wars-like than the final toy since they resemble the instrumentation on the Millennium Falcon as Han and Luke were shooting at TIE fighters upon escaping from the Death Star. Other notable differences in this prototype include the Star Wars logo stickers which were changed to Kenner's Luke & Leia style. The scene backdrop on the prototype shows a generic space scene with a planet resembling Yavin, and this was later updated to a more dramatic action scene with the Death Star looming in the background.
For more about Kenner's "recycled" Star Wars toys, see our previous story here. Also, make sure to check out Gus and Duncan's Comprehensive Guide to Star Wars Collectibles, available exclusively online and now shipping!
