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So, I got one of these in the Mail, a C-3P0. All these years, it's been a mystery to me why I got this. The packaging was crushed and open. The only thing left was the figure and a white box. The box looked like it held 4 figures. My parents had no idea why I got this free figure. I always speculated that they'd ordered it from a box of cereal and forgot. After all these years, I know why.
Kenner knowing that many kids had moved on at this point was smart to target the wee children between 3-5 hoping they could carry the line another few years.Star Wars was readily available on cable and vhs which gave these children ample opportunity to watch the adventures again and again. Sadly there was a muscular 5.5 inch action figure who drew in the 3-5 crowd more so than Kenner ever could at this point. It wasn't a bad attempt to make new fans of the toyline. Thanks for sharing this story Junkman!
Yes!!! I did... Received the Ewok and my mom, never telling me about the program, ordered Darth Vader & C-3PO. She was coy about the details...being 13-14 at the time, I might have continued ordering via their program had I known. I don’t recall the poster or letters from Luke. If she had given to me, they’d still be with my collection. Still have those two, carded figures. Sadly, the Kenner Proof of Purchase Seal is Blacked out. I did manage to wipe 90% of it off... back in the day. Thinking back... this Kenner program sounds like Columbia House 1cent Tape / CD program... THANK YOU for providing such great content. Cheers, Ron
My dad built me an Ewok village on a group of skinny (ish) trees in the yard when I was little. Gave me something to use my Ewoks on. He went all-out on it, too--all his carving tools. He even painted the Ewoks to make them look different instead of the same figure over and over again. I got the figures from an older male cousin back in the early 1990s when he "grew out" of them. EDIT: Not sure if he was one of the lucky few, but I know he somehow had a f-ton of Ewoks somehow...that became my Ewoks.
Naris_The_Zabrak , you and I both!!! The three trees we used are now all 1 gigantic ponderosa pine.... but every time I go home, I look at that spot and remember being 7 again.
I never knew anyone who got this. I wonder if they automatically excluded anyone who ever sent in the proofs of purchase for the mail away figures. They would have to assume that anyone who got a mail away figure is already collecting them, so there is no reason to try to get them into collecting.
What a weird campaign. I have never heard of it before! Imagine getting a free Star Wars toy in the mail (even if it was an ewok) that would be pretty cool
This does pertain to this, but my brother in law said he had his mother-in-law call every other day when the Boba Fett mail-in was available and complain that he never got his figure. He said he ended up with around six or so and made a Boba Fett army! Whoo Hoo!
I remember thinking it took forever to get that Boba Fett mail in figure! Same with Ackbar. I showed Ackbar to my dad when I got it and he said he looked like a dentist.
In 1984 I was 18, but still building up my collection. My nephew was 3; I never heard any mention of him getting the free action figure. Instead of an Ewok, they should have made the free figure things like a Stormtrooper or Speeder Biker. Something you would want more than one of.
Very interesting, Junkman. Always wondered why my neighbor got a Vader figure for no reason from Kenner. Dont think he even did the follow up. Thanks for this.
My 80s flashback time, must be another nostalgic Junkman vid! Very interesting...I never knew this scenario even existed! Then again, they didn't post to NZ in 84 i'm sure
Why couldn't Hasbro do this today but have boys and girls included? Someone start working on this, please. I did see the "mail in" offers and got all of them but this special offer wasn't one. I wish it woulda been. I think kids today would love this kinda offer.
I got this letter when very young. I was born in February of 1981. I remember getting C3-PO in the mail though and sending off for Darth Vader. This is what hooked me on Star Wars to start with. And here I am at 39 still buying Star Wars toys and getting them for Christmas. Lol.
I was watching that netflix show the toys that made us and some guys who worked at Kenner in the 80s said they were planning to make clone wars toys in 1984 during the film hiatus but George Lucas denied permission to do those plans
I remember getting a bunch of these, because my father & grandfather both worked at the post office and brought them home. They were just addressed to "The Son Of" with the address bar blank. The figures I got were Chewbacca, a ton of Han Solo (HOTH), Logray, and Boba Fett.
Hmm, I heard something along this line, but never knew all the details. This was a neat program. Wish it would have helped, but... I was 18 when 1984 rolled around. I kept collecting the vintage line, even took advantage of $1 POTF figures I started seeing at TRU around 1985, but I saw it was coming to an end.
My cousin who was more into Lego and Transformers got one of these in the mail. Never had a Star Wars figure in his life and he had a C-3P0 sent. My grandmother did a lot of mail order shopping, when this happened she, like many others were put on a mailing list. Perhaps Kenner used a mailing firm to gather addresses. My cousin never cared for Star Wars, no reason he should have been given one of these based off of prior mailings. She sent away for R2-D2 next because of his fondness for robots. Never got a third one.
Sadly no. Even more sadly, I probably didn’t care as I had moved on to GI Joe by the mid 80s. The evolved articulation instantly dated the Star Wars lineup
Highly interesting video. Thanks for reading out those letters., Showing the poster and even highlighting the usual give aways. I agree an Ewok, albiet Logray, wasn't the flashiest choice.
Junkman, you covered this really well. I was a member of Bantha Tracks. I never recieved a personal letter from Luke Skywalker back in the 70's but it did come with a letter from George Lucas along with a bunch of 8X10 photos and a poster, 2 stickers and a rebel patch. Not sure if you know about Bantha Tracks, I'm sure you might tho. Anyways, message me back if you know anything about this. I believe Bantha Tracks was like the first official Fan Club. -Me
I got Bantha Tracks too thru the fan club. I bought one sheets from there too, at $9.50 a piece. They sold a Luke Skywalker bespin jacket but I had already ordered a Colonial Officer Battlestar Gallactica jacket from an ad in Starlog. That never came. My stepfather had supposedly ordered it w cash from my grandmother. I told him to get the money back and buy the Luke jacket instead but nothing ever came of it. Still sore about that!
Kenner was so much smarter than the morons of Disney today. They had better toys and acted like they actually cared for your business. I miss the old movies and their toys. I hope they somehow come back and Lucas can buy it all back.
I sent out for the medic an got what looked like imperial probe droid just a tad bit different idk why probably sent off like 5 proff of purchase an got crossed up but that was a long time ago... an I'm still pissed my step aunt took my multi million dollar action figure collection I'm coming for them real sooooon
If I got something like that in the mail, I never saw it. I imagine it got pitched in the trash by my folks.....if it was even sent to me. My dad wanted to stifle my playing with what he called dolls back then, so there you have it.
“Written by the president himself, the president of Kenner that is”. Interesting plan Kenner for saving Star Wars. 7:01: “and to the power of the Force.” Well, that’s where the The Power Of The Force in 1985 came from!
Heard of this but I never got it. I did how ever have an army of Boba Fetts the “free figure”. I remember having a friend that sold the proof of purchase tags that he stole off the boxes from stores for 25 cents each. Birthday money went fast those days!!! I did have many fetts with all kinds of battle damage! (Grill, firecracker, etc.) 🤣
Sadly. If Disney did a reboot of star wars: a new hope. The whole of the empire would still be intact because the SJWs would take offense to people still being on the Death Star when Luke blew it up.
I never got this, although I had a brother who was under the age of 5 back in 1984 and I would've loved to have taken Logray or Chewie off his hands lol! Had I gotten this I'd have sent off for Vader and use the discount to get Jedi Luke
I'm almost two years late on commenting on this. Somehow it never showed up in my feed? Better late than never I guess. I was born in 1980. I was 4 in 1984. I never received this. Trust me, my mom would've given it to me. I was already playing with Star Wars. This would've saved her money.
Funny that they didn't use this to push the upcoming Power of the Force line......also coming up were the 2 Ewok movies and then in 85-86 you had the Ewoks and Droids cartoons which had toys..... so Starwars wasn't dead yet....just in rapid decline...... this was probably done as a means to not slow down production even though demand was down....it would give them some time to retool and not be stuck storing the backlog of product.
The group? Great between 1981 and 1991. Everything between 1977 and 1980 or 1992 to present day sucks. The Mexican soup Menudo is good but I remove the beef tripe.
in 2019 , if Hasbro use the same tactic , same figure , the same 1984 promos, it will save the falling SW line in the sad days of disney....Logray 1983 will out sell 2018 Rey by 100 to 1
Hell yeah...just get rid of all the new characters and bring back the old ones! It could happen! I wish Lucas would have never sold Star Wars to Disney!
@@thorntonwager6750 Hasbro should make: 1) Rebel Base Command center from Rogue One 2) Senators of the Rebellion From Rogue One 3) The Sabbac Card Game play set from Solo 4) The Nightclub Play set from Attack of the Clones 5) The Rogue Shadow Spaceship with Starkiller from The Force Unleashed game
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I know what you mean....I'm still waiting for my Little Orpah Annie secret decoder ring.
So, I got one of these in the Mail, a C-3P0. All these years, it's been a mystery to me why I got this. The packaging was crushed and open. The only thing left was the figure and a white box. The box looked like it held 4 figures. My parents had no idea why I got this free figure. I always speculated that they'd ordered it from a box of cereal and forgot. After all these years, I know why.
Cool. Did you send off for the other free one
Brilliant!
Kenner knowing that many kids had moved on at this point was smart to target the wee children between 3-5 hoping they could carry the line another few years.Star Wars was readily available on cable and vhs which gave these children ample opportunity to watch the adventures again and again.
Sadly there was a muscular 5.5 inch action figure who drew in the 3-5 crowd more so than Kenner ever could at this point.
It wasn't a bad attempt to make new fans of the toyline.
Thanks for sharing this story Junkman!
Yes!!! I did... Received the Ewok and my mom, never telling me about the program, ordered Darth Vader & C-3PO. She was coy about the details...being 13-14 at the time, I might have continued ordering via their program had I known. I don’t recall the poster or letters from Luke. If she had given to me, they’d still be with my collection. Still have those two, carded figures. Sadly, the Kenner Proof of Purchase Seal is Blacked out. I did manage to wipe 90% of it off... back in the day. Thinking back... this Kenner program sounds like Columbia House 1cent Tape / CD program... THANK YOU for providing such great content. Cheers, Ron
My dad built me an Ewok village on a group of skinny (ish) trees in the yard when I was little. Gave me something to use my Ewoks on. He went all-out on it, too--all his carving tools. He even painted the Ewoks to make them look different instead of the same figure over and over again.
I got the figures from an older male cousin back in the early 1990s when he "grew out" of them.
EDIT: Not sure if he was one of the lucky few, but I know he somehow had a f-ton of Ewoks somehow...that became my Ewoks.
That's awesome!
Naris_The_Zabrak , you and I both!!! The three trees we used are now all 1 gigantic ponderosa pine.... but every time I go home, I look at that spot and remember being 7 again.
Never heard of this direct mail program before, but I definitely would like to have been one of those 1.5 million kids !
I never knew anyone who got this. I wonder if they automatically excluded anyone who ever sent in the proofs of purchase for the mail away figures. They would have to assume that anyone who got a mail away figure is already collecting them, so there is no reason to try to get them into collecting.
I'm thinking the same thing.
What a weird campaign. I have never heard of it before! Imagine getting a free Star Wars toy in the mail (even if it was an ewok) that would be pretty cool
When I read the title I thought/hoped Kenner was getting back into the game and saving modern Star Wars figures.
This does pertain to this, but my brother in law said he had his mother-in-law call every other day when the Boba Fett mail-in was available and complain that he never got his figure. He said he ended up with around six or so and made a Boba Fett army! Whoo Hoo!
I remember thinking it took forever to get that Boba Fett mail in figure! Same with Ackbar. I showed Ackbar to my dad when I got it and he said he looked like a dentist.
In 1984 I was 18, but still building up my collection. My nephew was 3; I never heard any mention of him getting the free action figure. Instead of an Ewok, they should have made the free figure things like a Stormtrooper or Speeder Biker. Something you would want more than one of.
Very interesting, Junkman. Always wondered why my neighbor got a Vader figure for no reason from Kenner. Dont think he even did the follow up. Thanks for this.
My 80s flashback time, must be another nostalgic Junkman vid! Very interesting...I never knew this scenario even existed! Then again, they didn't post to NZ in 84 i'm sure
Well my job is to do videos on things you don’t know. So good ;)
Great job as always..I never knew about this Kenner program.And I've been collecting longer than I'd like to admit..:)
Good then I did my job :)
Super cool! I’ve never heard of this promotion before. Great video Junkman!
I wish I would've gotten this! Never knew about this! Glad some kids somewhere got free Star Wars!!!
I never heard of this either but it did get every figure that was offered with the proof of purchases
I wish Hasbro would do this, I love getting spammed by companies and getting "free" products haha
A free black series figure... Hell yeah.
But sadly if Hasbro actually did this to, the most common free figure given would be Rose Tico 😂
@@tylerwiggins6195 Or Constable Zuvio, or Finn in the yellow jacket.
Why couldn't Hasbro do this today but have boys and girls included? Someone start working on this, please.
I did see the "mail in" offers and got all of them but this special offer wasn't one. I wish it woulda been.
I think kids today would love this kinda offer.
I never received a package and none of my friends either, but in 1984 I was knee deep into Transformers so I wouldnt have cared to get one.
I'm with you Junkman, I never got anything or know anyone who did...sadly.
Great Vid Junkman!
Kenner was the only toy company that did actually care.
For a minute i thought you removed the intro >:( , clap clap clap
I got this letter when very young. I was born in February of 1981. I remember getting C3-PO in the mail though and sending off for Darth Vader. This is what hooked me on Star Wars to start with. And here I am at 39 still buying Star Wars toys and getting them for Christmas. Lol.
How awesome. I never heard of this. Boy it would be cool to own one of those now
Man. I don't remember or never heard of this. Nice info.
I was watching that netflix show the toys that made us and some guys who worked at Kenner in the 80s said they were planning to make clone wars toys in 1984 during the film hiatus but George Lucas denied permission to do those plans
I so miss the 80's. I know people over here in Australia who had free figures sent to them from proof of purchases..I wish I was one of them.
SHIT,I never received this, 35 years too late, thanks Junkman!
I remember getting a bunch of these, because my father & grandfather both worked at the post office and brought them home. They were just addressed to "The Son Of" with the address bar blank.
The figures I got were Chewbacca, a ton of Han Solo (HOTH), Logray, and Boba Fett.
interesting now I know where the poster I was from. I think I paid maybe a nickel for it as a kid.
Hmm, I heard something along this line, but never knew all the details. This was a neat program. Wish it would have helped, but...
I was 18 when 1984 rolled around. I kept collecting the vintage line, even took advantage of $1 POTF figures I started seeing at TRU around 1985, but I saw it was coming to an end.
@@karinations2009 lol wow!
Those kids playing with the Ewok village looked like they were late teens lol
Lol that’s how you get kids to want it. Look I want to be a cool kid like them :)
Wow! I wish the people at Hasbro would do something like that😀
Never got the package but I miss the good old Kenner days & the mail away figures.
Working on a video of that soon
Wow I never new about this
It should've been a free Biker Scout, not an Ewok.
My cousin who was more into Lego and Transformers got one of these in the mail. Never had a Star Wars figure in his life and he had a C-3P0 sent. My grandmother did a lot of mail order shopping, when this happened she, like many others were put on a mailing list. Perhaps Kenner used a mailing firm to gather addresses. My cousin never cared for Star Wars, no reason he should have been given one of these based off of prior mailings. She sent away for R2-D2 next because of his fondness for robots. Never got a third one.
If only Kenner could go back to Jurassic park. Mattel isn't doing a bad job but it'll be amazing if the Jp series ended off by Kenner.
I put some Fairy Liquid in Jabba's hookah pipe to emulate whatever he was supposed to be smoking
Sadly no. Even more sadly, I probably didn’t care as I had moved on to GI Joe by the mid 80s. The evolved articulation instantly dated the Star Wars lineup
Never heard of this...
Highly interesting video. Thanks for reading out those letters., Showing the poster and even highlighting the usual give aways. I agree an Ewok, albiet Logray, wasn't the flashiest choice.
I can only guess they had a lot of Logray in the warehouse
Can you make a video about the original Jurassic park figures from Kenner?
It’s on my list to do
wow never knew this happened thanks Junkman
Junkman, you covered this really well. I was a member of Bantha Tracks. I never recieved a personal letter from Luke Skywalker back in the 70's but it did come with a letter from George Lucas along with a bunch of 8X10 photos and a poster, 2 stickers and a rebel patch. Not sure if you know about Bantha Tracks, I'm sure you might tho. Anyways, message me back if you know anything about this. I believe Bantha Tracks was like the first official Fan Club. -Me
I got Bantha Tracks too thru the fan club. I bought one sheets from there too, at $9.50 a piece. They sold a Luke Skywalker bespin jacket but I had already ordered a Colonial Officer Battlestar Gallactica jacket from an ad in Starlog. That never came. My stepfather had supposedly ordered it w cash from my grandmother. I told him to get the money back and buy the Luke jacket instead but nothing ever came of it. Still sore about that!
No i was one of the ones who got the early bird set with cbewie luke laia and r2 d2
I never heard of this prom. Thanks for the update and I wonder if Mark Hamill ever heard of this obviously he didn't sign this letter
Ricky Martin’ boyband reference- classic!
Can't believe he referenced Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru at the start of the letter.
Kenner was so much smarter than the morons of Disney today.
They had better toys and acted like they actually cared for your business.
I miss the old movies and their toys.
I hope they somehow come back and Lucas can buy it all back.
Julius Vinter Hasbro. Disney didn’t tell them what to make or how to market it. They just gives them concept art to work with.
@@ThatJunkman
It's still terrible.
Disney ruined everything.
I don't have or want any of the toys because the movies were so bad.
I sent out for the medic an got what looked like imperial probe droid just a tad bit different idk why probably sent off like 5 proff of purchase an got crossed up but that was a long time ago... an I'm still pissed my step aunt took my multi million dollar action figure collection I'm coming for them real sooooon
Damn, I feel cheated!
dromano1977 me too man....me too.
I lived in Salem Massachusetts at the time and never got a kit never knew about them . Good Deal though !
If I got something like that in the mail, I never saw it. I imagine it got pitched in the trash by my folks.....if it was even sent to me. My dad wanted to stifle my playing with what he called dolls back then, so there you have it.
I remember my one friend did that and got a obi wan kenobi with a lando cape.
STILL need updated Amanaman, EV-9D9 + 8D8, preferably Vintage Collection.
I was born in May 1984.
Just putting it out there...
"I am sending it over great distances and many Millennials"
wat
“Written by the president himself, the president of Kenner that is”.
Interesting plan Kenner for saving Star Wars.
7:01: “and to the power of the Force.” Well, that’s where the The Power Of The Force in 1985 came from!
Long live the Kenner Alliance!
Which sought to thwart the formation of the Hasbro Empire.
Great video!!
Isn't that song at the beginning the main theme from Quark Takes Manhattan?
Heard of this but I never got it. I did how ever have an army of Boba Fetts the “free figure”. I remember having a friend that sold the proof of purchase tags that he stole off the boxes from stores for 25 cents each. Birthday money went fast those days!!! I did have many fetts with all kinds of battle damage! (Grill, firecracker, etc.) 🤣
Thats alsume keep up the grate work
Wow. Never heard of this offer. I blame my parent for not having a freaking address in 1985. You think those coupons can work on figures on eBay???
Sure try it. But you’ll need an address. Not just “in a van down by the river”
Whoa...😯...whatta sweet deal...😏
Slenderman is jamming out to let's here it for the boy.
Awesome Video 🏆
Sadly. If Disney did a reboot of star wars: a new hope. The whole of the empire would still be intact because the SJWs would take offense to people still being on the Death Star when Luke blew it up.
And that it didn't have a all female lead role or that it was racist. Always something with the SJW idiots LOL
interesting idea!!!
I never got this, although I had a brother who was under the age of 5 back in 1984 and I would've loved to have taken Logray or Chewie off his hands lol!
Had I gotten this I'd have sent off for Vader and use the discount to get Jedi Luke
now the most vile villain in the galaxy is disney
Hi junk man
Interesting video.
Im still waiting junkman...
Damn it! I didn't get that offer! Or did I? My folks have some splaining to do!
The insidious ‘ merchants ‘. Very poignant that you showedZeinfeld doing some of their deliveries.....
I'm almost two years late on commenting on this. Somehow it never showed up in my feed? Better late than never I guess.
I was born in 1980. I was 4 in 1984. I never received this. Trust me, my mom would've given it to me. I was already playing with Star Wars. This would've saved her money.
Never got tjis nor know anyone that had. Interesting.
Never heard of this. But it does come across a creepy.
Little did they know star wars wud still be popular 4 decades later🤭
A free Ewok......remember when they hid the Ewok figures pics in the back of the cards? Talk about don’t believe the hype
Remember how mad we all were when Cabbage Patch dolls outsold the stuffed Ewoks?
Funny that they didn't use this to push the upcoming Power of the Force line......also coming up were the 2 Ewok movies and then in 85-86 you had the Ewoks and Droids cartoons which had toys..... so Starwars wasn't dead yet....just in rapid decline...... this was probably done as a means to not slow down production even though demand was down....it would give them some time to retool and not be stuck storing the backlog of product.
I freaking love menudo!!!
The group? Great between 1981 and 1991. Everything between 1977 and 1980 or 1992 to present day sucks.
The Mexican soup Menudo is good but I remove the beef tripe.
Numba1 Heathen yes the group my mom got me hooked she got to see them on their Hay Day and also the food is very good
@@alexisdelarosa5396 Cool! Ricky Martin was a member 1983 to 1989. One of the longest stays besides Ricky Melendez.
Numba1 Heathen that's cool u a fan too
Most likely, an Ewok. Haha!
First I’ve heard of this 👍🏼
Hell no! I was ripped off! I want my free figure!!!!!
in 2019 , if Hasbro use the same tactic , same figure , the same 1984 promos, it will save the falling SW line in the sad days of disney....Logray 1983 will out sell 2018 Rey by 100 to 1
Hell yeah...just get rid of all the new characters and bring back the old ones! It could happen! I wish Lucas would have never sold Star Wars to Disney!
Jorge L Dejesus Sanchez Or if they wanna appeal to all the “true” fans just make them all characters from Rogue One and Revenge of the Sith 😂
@@thorntonwager6750 Hasbro should make:
1) Rebel Base Command center from Rogue One
2) Senators of the Rebellion From Rogue One
3) The Sabbac Card Game play set from Solo
4) The Nightclub Play set from Attack of the Clones
5) The Rogue Shadow Spaceship with Starkiller from The Force Unleashed game
Kenner?
Kenner
This program was obtrusive and bordeline creepy.
I rember bsb letters new kids letter no resonce