Book Review - Gus & Duncan's Guide to Star Wars Micro Collection Toys

There's nothing I like more to foster a new collecting obsession than reading about it. So when I started to get into the Star Wars Micro Collection, I read A LOT about it on the Internet, and even found a podcast where it was discussed. The podcast was a fun listen but not too deep - however one thing the podcasters mentioned was Gus and Duncan's Micro Collection book. WHAAAAAAAT???

So no sooner did I hear about, than I went on the web to try and find it. And here it is. I got it from lulu.com, which I highly recommend, especially since it was $25 less on lulu than on Amazon and $20 less than on ebay. Not sure why anyone would get it from those bandits, maybe free shipping on Amazon? But lulu shipping, even to the hinterlands of Canada, was pretty reasonable.

ANYWAY... you're wondering what the book is like. Well it's a high-quality glossy hardcover 148-page book, full of information from Gus and Duncan, photographs of toys, packaging, and prototypes, and is very attractively laid out by friend of the hobby Mattias Rendahl (and that's his very cute little boy on the cover).

The book takes a comprehensive look at each of the released Micro Collection playsets and ships of course. These are the Death Star Compactor and Escape playsets (collected into the Death Star World set), the Hoth Ion Cannon, Shield Generator, Wampa Cave, and Turret Defense (the first three comprising the big Hoth World set), and the Bespin Freeze Chamber, Gantry Walkway, and Control Room (Bespin World), as well as the X-Wing, TIE Fighter, Snowspeeder, and Millennium Falcon vehicles.

The great thing about Gus and Duncan's books is the unproduced stuff they include - and there was plenty of it for the Micro Collection. The Hoth Bacta Chamber nearly made it into production and the prototypes and packaging are amply illustrated in the book. Likewise the Bespin Torture Chamber and Dagobah sets, although they didn't make it quite as far towards production. But we see the figure sculpts and prototypes all the same and that stuff fascinates me.

Anybody who thinks the Micro Collection figures are crude or lack detail needs to check out the four-up sculpts in the book. These are four times the size of the production figures and the detail on them is just incredible.

So if you're a fan of the Micro Collection, or just of Star Wars toys that are a little off the beaten track of 3 3/4" action figures, you'll love this book. Gus and Duncan know what they're talking about, write about the toys with humour and love, and the book showcases some truly remarkable prototypes and "what-might-have-beens" from the Micro Collection range. Highly recommended!

Gus & Duncan's Guide to Star Wars Micro Collection Toys by Gus Lopez and Duncan Jenkins

Completist Publications, 2015

$50 from lulu

Micro Collection Death Star Escape Action Playset

I've been bitten by a new collecting bug, and it's the Micro Collection. I can't say that the small stuff hasn't ever been on my radar (a couple years ago I was able to complete my loose run of diecast ships) but it's never been a focus, until now. I've had a mint loose Death Star Escape set in a storage box for over a decade - or two? - I don't remember where I got it, I always thought it was neat, but it never was a focus. But recently for whatever reason I got the bug to develop that part of my collection, so here we go! 

Let's start with the tableau, replicating the box photo. But first let's get into a bit of Micro history. The Micro Collection was released by Kenner in 1982. These were plastic playsets in approximately 1:60 scale - instead of action figures, you got prepainted diecast metal figures included, in a variety of poses. There were several sets available: Hoth Wampa Cave, Hoth Ion Cannon, Hoth Generator Attack (also collected into the Hoth World mega-set), Hoth Turret Defense, Bespin Control Room, Bespin Gantry, Bespin Freeze Chamber (collected into Bespin World), and Death Star Compactor and Death Star Escape (collected into Death Star World). There were ships as well - the X-Wing Fighter, TIE Fighter, Snowspeeder (J.C. Penney exclusive and also sold in Australia) and Millennium Falcon (Sears exclusive and ditto). But we'll get to most of those in future posts.

Like I said earlier, I've had my loose Death Star Escape for donkey's years. But I decided to pick up a box for it recently, as I want to have all of the playsets in boxes. This box is a real beauty too, and it came with all the goodies, as we'll see in a minute. Here are some tableaux from the box photos:

The Micro Collection boxes are just great, very colourful and distinctive with plenty of pictures and a great mailaway offer. It's kinda too bad there aren't more play photos for my tableaux. 

The box came with all the goodies - instructions, ESB catalog, sticker sheet, and even the original bags for the figures - nice! The instructions are particularly good:

Hey I almost forgot - the box even came with the cardboard insert. Really the complete package.

One last thing - here's the copyright info from the bottom of the set.

So we're off on the Micro Collection and it's gonna be a trip. I've got lots to get to and stuff to talk about (I've just ordered Gus and Duncan's Micro Collection book so look out for a review and some tidbits from that) and I can't wait to get at it!

Death Star Space Station (Kenner Canada)

Kenner's largest playset allowed kids to have mini-action figure adventures set aboard the dreaded Death Star Space Station. Of course, kids here in Canada were among the luckiest in the world, as they had the chance (parental finances and goodwill permitting) to get not just one, but two Death Star playsets - this one or the very cool cardboard version I recently blogged about.

The box art depicts various play scenarios - Stormtrooper manning ("cloning"?) the laser cannon, Ben deactivating the tractor beam, Luke and Leia's rope swing to safety.

Of course, being a Kenner Canadian release, we have bilingual box art too - Threepio and Artoo about to embark on the elevator, Han and Chewie pop out of a hatch, and the heroes caught up in the trash compactor.

Here's a nice shot of the "Alien Trash Monster" which the cognoscenti know as "Dianoga"... completely imagined from whole cloth by Kenner designers, as of course the original monster never entirely appeared on film.

"Station Spaciale de l'Etoile de la Mort"... just rolls right off the tongue doesn't it!

Here it is, set up to replicate the box front art.

Stormtrooper on the big gun...

Ben about to deactivate the tractor beam...

Luke and Leia rope swing... waitaminute, what happened to Luke's saber? Tragic story, that...

Luke's saber is original to the figure that I've had since I was a child. Some years ago the tip broke off, but I secured it back on with superglue and it held... until now...

It was very difficult to balance the figures on the bridge for photos and the thought crossed my mind, "I hope Luke's saber doesn't break again." Well, guess what happened? (A replacement original has been ordered)

Threepio and Artoo pose by the elevator. It raises and lowers "manually" and the blue tab turns to lock it in place.

Imperial Gunner time-warps back to 1978 from 1985 ;-)  Looks good there though, no?

Typical Death Star scene. Vader and Tarkin discuss whether to blow up Dantooine or Alderaan while Death Squad Commander does "Empire Stuff."

Two cardboard pieces slot in to form the outside "walls" of the playset. Nice graphics.

Death Star Droid looks right at home here as well.

Here's the elevator tab, shown locked in place.

The elevator has a clear insert that rotates to simulate opening doors.

"Surprise!"

Trash compactor is an interesting element of the playset. The foam "garbage" that's included is prone to deterioration over time so if you're in the market for one of these playsets, make sure it's in good condition.

"The moon with the rebel base will be in range in 30 minutes."

One more thing - I wanted to show a picture of the parts of this toy that can cause so much heartache. Many a playset has been ruined by incorrect assembly of these parts... they're the floor supports, and there are nine of them. The four thin white ones attach to the second floor (with the consoles) and support the third floor. The three grey ones attach to the third floor (light bridge) and support the top floor. The remaining two thick white struts attach to the gun floor and support the roof piece.

Care must be taken when assembling these pieces to make sure the slots in the struts align properly with the receptacle. Forcing the pieces can break them and may even ruin the toy if the strut gets stuck in the wrong receptacle part. So be more careful with these than I was with my Luke Farmboy in the photoshoot :-(

Death Star playset (Palitoy)

Every collector has a "grail" item - something that they long to have, that just has some special appeal. Usually the grail is rare, and most often it's expensive. For production Star Wars collectors, it can be something foreign, or unusual. For me, this item is all of those things - it's the infamous chipboard Death Star playset.

As you can see from the packaging, this is the Palitoy (UK) version of the playset - it was also released in other markets including New Zealand, Australia, France and Canada. Although we here in Canada were the only market to get both the Kenner (plastic) Death Star playset and this chipboard version, the Canadian card Death Star is even more difficult to find than Palitoy's and I've "settled" on adding this UK version to my collection. But I'm not disappointed - far from it. This is the coolest playset I own, and by some margin at that.

The box is in admittedly lousy condition but I'm happy just to have one with the toy. Even though it's a Palitoy item the box design carries all of the classic Kenner hallmarks - colourful photography, sharp design and that iconic racetrack on the front.

Here it is, assembled. It's actually reasonably challenging to put together, and I wouldn't recommend trying it for the first time without referring to the instructions. The components are a thick card I have heard referred to as "chipboard", combined with some plastic components - the five two-piece base connectors, the trash chute, the top gunner's cockpit and canopy, and the two cannons pinched from the X-Wing Fighter toy. The set also included some small clear plastic figure stands, but these are long gone from my set, which is fortunately otherwise complete.

The detail packed into this playset is amazing. Every inch of the walls is covered with Star-Warsy goodness. Here Darth and Ben battle in front of the trash compactor escape hatch.

"Get in there, you big furry oaf! I don't care what you smell!"

"Raaawwrrruunnngghh"

Trash chute drops figures straight into the compactor - complete with moving walls. The hatch at right opens to allow heroes to "escape".

The mirror at the base reflects the walls, giving the illusion of a bottomless shaft. Ben searches for the controls to the tractor beam.

Back to replicating the box shots. One of the rooms represents the Princess's cell. Either that or Vader's bedroom...

The heroes engage in discussion while Ben battles Vader.

The heroes about to be crushed in the trash compactor...

"How you doin'?"

...or is that Luke just taking the opportunity to mack on Leia?

Han takes to the garbage chute as the heroes come under fire from Stormtroopers. What's that Jawa doing on the Death Star?!?!?

Imperial Gunner finds his rightful place, although he wouldn't be released until the PotF line, six years later...

"I'm Luke Skywalker, I'm here to rescue you."

 

Imperial Gunner looks menacing stalking the corridors.

Vader and Grand Moff Tarkin discuss their nefarious plans.

You gotta wonder about Imperial administration when they have a whole room full of Death Squad Commanders and no actual Death Squads in sight.

The detailing on this toy is just incredible.

Underside of base is decorated with familiar space battle photo as well as photos of the first 12 figures. Canadian version differs in that it has a plain "marbled" looking base underside.

I think I would have blown my brains out with joy if I'd had this set as a kid. The play value and detailing are just off the charts. The only drawback, of course, is that the cardboard construction is far from robust, which probably contributes significantly to the rarity of these pieces... I expect that most were trashed by kids and subsequently thrown away.

Suffice to say, I'm very happy to have it in my collection :-)  Next up, I'll post the Kenner version!