I really dig unlicensed catalog play sets like this star fortresss. I'm sure that more than a few grandmothers were fooled into thinking this was a death star. I've never seen one but it looks to be entirely of laminated cardboard, I wonder how many survived?
Also as a Star Wars nerd, the concept of Yoda, Lando and Hoth Han teaming up against Vader, Fett, Bossk and a whole lot of Storm Troopers reminds me a lot of 1981.
Possible link of interest pertaining to the subject: 1978 Kenner Star Wars Catalog
11 comments:
I remember seeing this in the catalog as a kid and thinking it was pretty neat, although obviously not "official". I'd love to find one today!
I never saw it in person, but remember this in the Catalogs. These non-licensed sets were great, weren't they?
The other one that I love is the set you had to order the plans from a "housekeeping" magazine and build all the components yourself using old 2 litter coke bottles and wood.
I actually talked my mom into ordering the plans, wish I new where they were I might try and build it now...
I TOTALLY remember those plans!! In fact, our fifth grade teacher ordered them, and let any student who wanted to borrow them.. I never built the thing, but boy it did look nifty.
Hey Chunky!! I found the plans!!
http://theswca.com/images-speci/womansday/
And here's another one:
http://theswca.com/images-speci/womansday2/index.html
Whatever catalog this was, I'll bet Hasbro ripped them a new a-hole for using their figures to sell a competitor's playset.
i love the days when not everything was gone over with a fine-toothed comb from the licensor.
jfstan, Holy Cow those are them! That is great!
I never knew about the Hoth and Dagobah sets! I love that the "scummy waters of Dagobah" are filled with Jawas!
Ha ha ha ha... Thanks! Now it's off to the work shop!
Chunky, you'd better post some pics somewhere if you actually build one of these.
My artist uncle used to build 'bases' for my figures out of those big pieces of styrofoam that protect TVs and stereo equipment.
dancin' homer, it would have been Kenner in those days, not Hasbro. But I don't think they cared or had any say in what the catalogs showed their figures standing with, since the catalogs did that kind of thing every year.
I still have the actual magazine pages for the Empire-based playsets, maybe the other one too. Never did build them, but I've always loved the way they looked, and kept the pages since I was little.
Pretty strong childhood memories there for me. It would be cool to make them, but perhaps they are better left in the imagination and those photos from the past....
These are pretty common ther were relesed throughout the Star Wars run & Into the Transformer Run usualy came with 6 Convertors.
Iowned one of the Star Fortress. (I also had the real Death star playset.) I would n't use my Star wars figures on its. but I had some generic SciFi action figures that worked Ok.
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