Creature Cantina Action Playset

One of the original toys I had as a kid was the Creature Cantina Action Playset. It's a pretty cool representation of the Mos Eisley cantina where Luke and Ben met Han Solo and Chewbacca for the first time. The box art for this piece is great, also. The droids are waiting outside (victims of the droid racism of the cantina proprietor), but Luke is inexplicably outside, too - underage?? Ben's about to cut off somebody's arm, and at the quiet corner table, Han has just shot Greedo (first!!)

Here's my current interpretation of the scene. Unfortunately my set is missing the rubber band that wraps around the door tops to make them swing open. I can recall as a kid never being able to make that work right.

There's some very nice detail on the decals and cardboard backdrop. The set also includes some of the ubiquitous lever-operated rotating platforms that figure in so many Kenner playsets.

Over in the corner there's a conversation underway... perhaps Greedo mocking Han over his small head? There is an action feature here too. Stand a figure on a small button (just to Greedo's left) and rotate the platform where Han is standing... this trips a trigger underneath and bumps the button, sending the figure tumbling over. You gotta shoot first to make it work...

Here's another angle on the playset, showing the front door to the joint. Luke is sulking outside because the bar is out of blue milk. Watch out for the Stormtrooper!

Interestingly, Kenner apparently reused the playset base (with a new backdrop) for their later Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid: The Early Years / The Real West  toy line. Also, kudos to Kenner for marketing a playset about drinking. People actually smoked in the cantina too - horrors!!