More plush goodness! This time I'm featuring a rare Regal Toy (Canada) Chewbacca plush toy (at right) in a side-by-side comparison with the Kenner (USA) version (at left).
There's an interesting story about how this Regal Chewie came into my collection. A good friend of mine found a plush Chewbacca she'd been given as a child in the '70s. I wasn't that interested in adding it to my collection as it was missing its bandolier. I advised her to just put it up on Facebook Marketplace. A day or so later a collector friend of mine in Toronto messaged me to say he'd spotted a Regal Toy Chewbacca plush on FB Marketplace right here in Winnipeg - it was my friend's ad!
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| Kenner tag at neck |
"How do you know it's a Regal?" I asked. He said that the definitive "tell" is that the Kenner version has a tag on the back of the neck, while the Regal version has its tag at the waist. So needless to say, I messaged my friend immediately and picked up this Regal version from her. As noted, it was missing the bandolier but I lucked out and found one on eBay, albeit missing two of the ammo cartridges. I addressed that issue by having a friend 3D-print me some cartridges for display - don't worry, they are a slightly different shade of grey and are marked "Reproduction" on the backs :-)
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| Regal Toy tag remnant visible at waist |
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| Remnant of Regal Toy waist tag |
I love these two guys! The other key differences are that the Regal toy (right) is somewhat taller (1-2") and has a larger, higher forehead. These variations can be tough to judge if you don't see them side by side though - but the one sure sign is the waist tag on the Regal version as opposed to the neck tag on the Kenner.
I hope you enjoyed this post, and stay safe!
Very cool. Such a neat early product.
ReplyDeleteSome old school goodness right there - nice! Pretty cool back story to it also :)
ReplyDelete