Some unsung heroes of collecting here - the infamous carry cases. Seems like you can't swing a dead tauntaun sometimes without hitting a Darth Vader case with one broken hinge, but when you find one with the inserts and sticker sheet it's still something special for a production completist like me. As for the 3PO case, these were never sold in Canada and have been something I've always been on the lookout for. Finally found one!
This ESB Vader case is a Canadian version (you'll see) and as with many finds in my collection, I have Mike Freeman of
4th Moon Toys to thank for it. Mike spotted this one in Winnipeg on Facebook Marketplace, and while he didn't have an interest in picking it up for his shop stock (mainly due to shipping cost), he very kindly sent me the ad. As I didn't have a case with inserts in my collection I quickly made a deal with the seller.
The seller was a woman about my age whose mother had bought her Star Wars toys when she was a child. This case was the last remnant of her collection and was essentially unused. It came with the insert and an unapplied sheet of stickers.
The insert is nice and crisp with great lithography.
Here's the sticker sheet - note the rather untidy borders, which I am advised are a peculiarity of the Canadian version of the case.
Back of the sheet with manufacturer identification ("Mactac") and "Made in/Fabrique au Canada".
Interior of case with no stickers applied, ever.
Note bilingual identity on the insert. No "L'Empire Contra-Attaque" there though!
Which brings us to this definitely minty RotJ C-3PO carry case with its distinctive vacuum-metallized finish. This special gold finish is infamous from the cover of the book that brought many of us old-timers (back) into collecting - Steve Sansweet's "From Concept to Screen to Collectible." This book featured a very cool shot of a Darth Vader case done up in gold vac-metallizing ("one of less than 100 originally created by Kenner Products as a packaging sample") and it looked awesome!
In any event, I've always wanted to add a nice 3PO case to my collection. I just picked up this one from Mike at his shop on a recent trip to Toronto and although it wouldn't fit in my checked luggage, it made the trip back with me as a carry-on.
This one also came with its insert showing 65 different figures then-available in the range.
I just think these inserts are really cool.
Stickers are mostly unapplied...
... as the original owner got about halfway through applying them and obviously lost interest!
The 3PO case includes a lengthy statement and 1983 date, but the Vader's is limited to some faint chicken-scratchings on the inside of the front.
Interestingly, period catalog advertisements describe the C-3PO carry case as "life-size"! I guess that could well be the case, as it's noticeably much larger than the Vader case.
So that's it for these two cases. As noted, Vader cases are super-common but 3PO cases much less so. I did find a good use for busted Vader cases though - you can use a Dremel to cut off the hinges and separate the two halves of the case, polish up the front with Plexus or another quality plastic polish, and hang the front half of the case in your collecting room... or in my case, give it to your Star Wars-loving nephew to hang on his bedroom wall :-)
