While I personally don't remember the Rebel Command Center (which surprises me) I do recall the weird loyalty you had to have to Sears in order to "collect" Star Wars figures as a kid.
Sears wasn't close to our house, so I'd have to tag along with my mum to get groceries or other mundane tasks in order to get my hands on the all important Ugnaught (which was exclusive and came on a weird card in Canada).
They also closed for inventory at 6pm every Thursday, that shouldn't be a fact a ten year old knows but dammit, it was a hard lesson!
That Rebel Command Center was pretty rad, same base as the Land of the Jawas playset (recolored, of course.) I had them both and wish I still did.
ReplyDeleteEricrules42 mentioned one of two interesting reissues appearing in the ad, both of which had scaled-down play value. The Rebel Command Center was, as he points out, the Land Of The Jawas playset re-cast in white. Except the Rebel Command Center didn't have anything comparable to the "elevator" on the Jawa Sandcrawler backdrop or the nifty escape pod which was exclusive to the Jawa set.
ReplyDeleteThe Imperial Cruiser was a line for line re-issue of the Imperial Troop Transporter except better stickers but without the tape-player inside the chassis that played a few sound clips from the movie. At first it seems like let-down but the Imperial Cruiser was a fantastic toy in its own right. The empty space once occupied by the tape-player provided a massive cargo/ troop hold inside the vehicle.
The Imperial Cruiser was, in action figure scale, almost like a Lockeed C-130 Hercules cargo plane. If I remember correctly, the cargo space could hold the Imperial Tri-Pod Laser Cannon with its generator -and- the Vehicle Maintenance Energizer accessory sets from Return Of The Jedi. There was also a separate weapons locker on the top rear of the Imperial Cruiser which previously held the 9 volt battery for the Imperial Troop Transporter's tape player. Doesn't sound like a big deal until a person remembers how ridiculously easy it was to lose those tiny blasters that came with the figures. Somebody at Kenner truly understood the problems children of that era were experiencing with their toys.
As a bunch of us found out, the Imperial Cruiser was a good "fit" in the GI Joe figure universe too. Cobra Commander -always- got to drive the Imperial Cruiser.
I wish I still had mine.
The Rebel Command Center was an exclusive to Sears USA (we didn't get it here in Canada). We *did* receive the Sears exclusive Cloud City playset with different figures than the USA (which incidentally came on Canadian cards (not bagged) in the Canadian set):
ReplyDeletehttp://web.ncf.ca/cn333/esbplyst.htm#ccity
I don't have that Rebel Command Center, but I have everything else in that ad. I love the Imperial Troop Transporter- "R2-D2, where are you?"
ReplyDeleteI remember getting some Sears-exclusive figures that came on (what were essentially) blank black cards with just the EMPIRE logo (Eng/Fr), and the figure wasn't housed in a hard plastic bubble like all the other figures, it was more like it was shrunk-wrapped onto that thing.
ReplyDeleteIt was the R2D2 with extending periscope, IIRC.