The thing about Leia is her action figure changes so many times 1995-2013! Lucky Monkey Face (her worst likeness) ended in two years 1995 and 1996 before she looked really great in Slave Leia, New likeness and Hoth with Freeze Frames. Also the four 2-packs ending 1996. Then Leia Ceremony 1998 her most beautiful face! 1999-2002 less sequels but more Prequels until 2003 and on Leia got greater looks!
I loved the 90s POTF. This was my drug as a kid. The buffness never really bothered me that much. To me, the 1995 Luke figure looks alot like the old Star Wars poster of Luke with his lightsaber raised high above his head. :) I started collecting in 1997 after I saw Star Wars Special Edition in theaters. I WISH I could've seen it in 77, but this was the next best thing. Once I exited the theater, I was absolutely pumped. I was HOOKED.
I'm surprised even til this this day that the power of the force 2 line from the 90s is strong and you can still find plenty of carded figures til this day making it easy in some respects to still get like new figures from that line that still look great til this very day.
I didn't like how buff they made the main characters but the aliens in this line were great, and I liked the two packs of things llike Jawas, Ewoks and Ugnaughts.
Star Wars Toys in 1995. Releasing at midnight, people fighting over them. Crazy lines. Huge demand. Star Wars Toys in 2019... in the bargain bin at Dollar Stores.
I remember one shopping trip to Toys R Us. I was 20 years old and pushed a nerdy autistic kid down onto his butt. He was holding an Obi Wan Kenobi figure which i swiftly ripped out of his hands. His mom got all uppity with me for putting my hands on her 8 yr old boy. Guess she must've been really surprised when her cheek caught the back side of my hand. Somebody called the cops, but i was already pulling out of the parking lot when they arrived from the opposite side.
@@skunk12 In a way she created mine. I wasn't collecting but then all this stuff started showing up in the dollar store. Started with those die cast ships.
I had got luke with a desert standing vehicle with luke , luke in training kit ,storm trooper, vader with battle platform , somw red dude on a red speeder bike , a tie fighter pilot type dude ,c3po and the snow speeder very cool .
Same here in the UK with Asda stores (owned by Walmart) I got lucky with a full wave once, not seen a thing since, and it's not just Asda, other stores are no better here.
I still remember being so blown away when the Episode 1 toys came out. Seeing Maul's face where Vader's used to be seemed amazing to me! Too bad you can find those toys everywhere for $6.
As a 10 year old when these came out, I was obsessed with these! Trying to find a Princess Leia or Stormtrooper was almost impossible to find as well as a Boba Fett!
What an awesome line. The Luke X Wing with the affixed figure is legendary!! Also the deluxe figure sets were so cool. and the battery operated R2!! I could go on forever
The only toys you could really find between 1985 and 1995 were bend-ems. Oh nm, I see you covered it. Anyway. When the new figures launched, I was 21. After going through my dark, heavy metal teens, I found my happy place again. Visiting Toy R Us was like going to Disneyland. I went a few times a week. Wish I could go back in time.
I was in love when the 95 line came out. I grew up watching the VHS tapes every single day after school. Thinking about it now..... I feel the boom of 90's toys/games was an attempt to get kids back on board because George finally decided to move forward (although backward chronologically) with new movies. Brilliant marketing
these were the best, I still have them at my parents house, These were great to play with even though the toys dont look the part. I also loved that they made alot of expaned universe figures, Dark empire luke, kyle katarn and even Thrawn!
LOL. I love these so much. We all thought they were collectible gold. I bet their are more still in the package than ones that were opened. I vow to liberate as many as I can.
The Mail Order Exclusives 😍. You can’t imagine how exciting it was as a kid to wait and finally get B’omarr Monk or Oola. I spent a lot of allowance money on those Exclusives.
Love this episode. i was 15 in 1995 so I went all in collecting these since I couldnt do the old toys as a kid. So many memories and i remember surfing the web just too look at Star Wars toys back in 96-98 when the internet was all new and would take like 5-10 minutes to load that one picture! Nice to see a Dan and Dan collab as well! Thanks guys!
I first became a Star Wars fan in 1995. Just a short while afterwards this brand of new toys first came out. I had a few of the action figures from the first two waves of those back then as well as the X-Wing and TIE Fighter.
The Princess Leia of 1995 or 1996 is termed Monkey Face Leia! In 1996 with Slave Leia and the 2-packs Kenner or Hasbro tried to get Carrie Fisher's better looks! The 1995-6 Monkey Leia was retooled into Princess Leia Organa of ANH in 1977 with a better looking Freeze Frame action slide Leia in 1997!
She looks like the Hungarian lunch lady I had in my junior high school. Seeing her every day set back my puberty by at least 3 years. The Leia figure was disturbing.
I was 22 years old when this line of figures were released. I grew up playing with the original Kenner figures, so I was very, very excited for these figures. The buffnes of the figures didn't bother me in the slightest. I was just happy that Star Wars figures were back in stores. Also, I feel that the Galoob line of Star Wars toys helped to reinvigorate Star Wars, too. The Galoob Star Wars line definitely deserves more flowers.
great video i was so happy that star wars toys returned in 95 because it allowed me to collect all the star wars toys i never had in the 1970's and 80's
I’m ungodly lucky because my local comic book store sells these figures for the same price they would’ve been back in the day so I’m able to get these amazing figures for like 5-10 dollars
Yeah they had funky proportions, but for someone like myself who missed out during the vintage line (was just a little too young, born in '82) it was exciting to finally have some figures (the bend-ems were a disappointment, sorry not sorry) and vehicles to get. In my area at the time, the two hardest figures to find were C-3PO and Princess Leia, and felt a sense of triumph when I got my mitts on them. Good memories.
I freaking LOVE the Power of the Force Line. It's most definitely my favorite Star Wars toy line of all time due to its figures and how nostalgic I am for the Original Trilogy.
I remember going to the local towns independent toy shop in 1996 for new figures and they had actually found some return of the jedi figures in the back of the shop that had fallen down the back of the shelves and stayed there for the last ten years, and they were on sale, needles to say I brought them.
When I saw the advertisement in the back of a toy magazine (yes, there were a few publications) for these I was so excited! I cut out the picture and would carry it around with me so I could daydream about the time they'd be in my hands. I requested and got a TMNT Technodrome playset when I finally got these figures in hand to double as the Death Star!
Love the power of the force era, toy shops packed with figures, I was 8 at the time, so seeing all those toy aisles full with star wars was overwhelming, the special edition release brought star wars back to being as popular as it ever was, probably my favourite year for star wars
Great look back! Never saw these figures in Germany somehow, but in the mid 1990s I was anyway completely out of the action figures world. That‘s why my initial Star Wars encounter was Super Return of the Jedi on the SNES. 😂
The only thing good about those 'Bend 'Ems' 'figures' was the free Topps Star Wars Galaxy trading card, included inside every pack, the figures were trash. As for the 1995 'The Power Of The Steroids' line of Star Wars toys it was cool just to have them back again even if they did look very pumped.
I remember these. I was a senior on high school at the time. Had a college age friend that was the manager of a local Toys R' Us that would never put the POTF figs on the pegs. Instead she'd sell them to a crowd of people on the loading dock for three times as much as they were worth and pocket the difference. When I asked her if she was afraid of getting fired doing this, she told me Corporate knew exactly what she was doing, but didn't care as long as she put the MSRP of the figs back into the register after she scalped them.
Theres reason why Starwars was reintroduced around 1995 was full circle beyond toys, Directors cut was shown in cinemas of the 3 films, I remember seeing New Hope in cinema in 1996 I think, one of those years
I said "around that time" 1997 would make more way more sense to see that film as I remember seeing it with my cousins. Then they got carried away soon after that around 1999 Episode 1 came out
Great episode! I love this toy line, I still have all my figures and ships from this line. It was so fun to collect for it as the toy line grew there were SO MANY figures to get. One of my favorite was the Swoop vehicle and pilot from the Shadows of the Empire line.
I worked at ToyRUs during the Star Wars resurgence and it was cool. I was buying up all the figures and decking my wall out with them. I didnt care that they were buff. I remember the vehicles lining the shelf. So cool.
These action figures are so much better than the vintage ones first made. I love them so much I can’t get enough of admiring my big collection of them which have kept in their packages and hung on hooks on my bedroom wall for me to look at from my bed. Looking at this video, when Kenner started to make what they called “The Power of the Force” toys, that may have had millions of people thinking as we first entered the 90s, “Where were Star Wars toys when we needed them?”. Not to mention the action figures, vehicles and playsets which were the most important items from this pop culture franchise. Star Trek began in 1992 from Playmates, Power Rangers began with Ban Dai from 1993, and then Star Wars resumed from 1995.
I am pretty sure i got one of each of these figures back in the day. I still have them packed away. You are not kidding when you said we collectors were eager for new Star Wars figures.
I remember when these came out ..., it was awesome .... I still have fond memories of those first released figures even if they had been “working out” ...
I have had every single bend-ems since I was a kid in late 2000s, I didn't have too many stormtroopers so i remember absolutely loving the stormtrooper bend-em
Remember hunting down the OST box set (still the best collection). I think I got the only copy in my city. Also got Steve Sansweets first book for Xmas. Oh, and Heir to The Empire books and Dark Empire comics, I bought all the figures and vehicles,,, good times!
Got this entire line (minus the vehicles) for that Christmas and it was the best. These figures were a big part of my childhood. Thanks for the great video Dan.
Sadly i was one of those 80’s kids that missed out on new star wars toys when i needed them the most. Unfortunately i was left to only find them randomly at goodwill.
I was obsessed with this line when it first came out.... fast forward to now and you can't sell any of these for more than ten bucks a piece because they are super common. even the annoying variants with the lightsabers,the full circle/half circle on boba fetts hands,The dots on leias belt etc etc.
I was born in '89, so was at that ripe, perfect age to need something to latch onto right when the og Trilogy was released as a set on VHS and this toy series released. I lapped up as MUCH as I could lol. I actually just found my Boba Fett PotF figure last week. He's missing his Wookie skins, though :( hahaha
Good times😁 tan vest Luke. Nuff said. Hope there's a part 2. And yes this was huge for Star Wars fans. Was a perfect storm because it was right around the time the internet was taking off
I had many of these figures when I was little. I gave them away to my nephews when I was older, though I ended up buying Jedi Knight Luke years later to display on my shelf.
Power of the Force is the line I grew up with in the 90's. They hold a dear place in my heart even though the figures were kinda goofy because Kenner made them all muscular. This was a great video though Dan,it was great to see Dan in one of your videos, and that Star Wars shirt you have is FREAKING AWESOME. Keep up the good work Dan!
This was the Star Wars line that I grew up with. I was 8 when this was released so limited of how many I could buy. I remember after a few years, I gave up because there were too many good figures to buy and not enough money. Still good memories
It drove me nut's how I couldn't put han and chewie in the cockpit properly, but I was so glad to have new star wars stuff I didn't care lol, The shadows of the empire figures and vehicles were my favorite back when they came out.
I should've done the same as you. Now I'm stuck with all my potf figures and I have a lot. Now I collect the vintage collection which is far superior, I wonder if there will be better figures in the future and I'll have a hard time to get rid of the vintage collection as well.
Great Video and nice to see more Dan & Dan collaborations. I still have all of my POTF2 figures and vehicles. I was so excited when I saw Star Wars back in toy stores, and even more excited that I was now an adult and could buy whatever I wanted with my own money :)
Very underrated line. It had the detail of the newer figures yet the simplicity of the Kenner line, and because everyone bought them up back in the day, it resulted in very little value meaning collecting them is easy and inexpensive. Besides, every bad figure eventually got a later figure that was fantastic, like bespin Luke, removable helmet Vader, jabba glob, and the Leia collection.
I loved the original figures from Kenner, but this was the series I grew up with as a teenager. I had practically every figure & playset from the line(except most of the vehicles)and even had duplicates left sealed in box & on card. From the Rancor to Mos Eisley Cantina I couldn't get enough of them, the Emperor was one of my favorites to display, especially because of the blue lightning you could attach to his hands that really made him look like he was using the force. Sadly as years went on, most of my collection was damaged in a flood in my basement in the early 2000's after heavy rains from hurricane Andrew. All I was able to save from my collection was a handful of loose figures & accessories. Also Dan...you need to win award for that shirt! Very cool. May the 4th be with you my friend!
So how did the 1994 marketing meeting go? "Hey, let's bring back Star Wars figures, but let's make them ugly!" "Yes, ugly is good, but also let's make them look like big bulky wrestlers." "You're a genius, Roberts, a genius! But let's also give them ridiculously large weapons! Let's make Han's pistol larger than his head!" And that's how Star Wars returned in 1995.
Too old to play with Star Wars toys, too young to collect them as memorabilia, I remember us not being too excited about these Star Wars toys...but I remember the beginning of the 90s as a heaven for buying used vintage Star Wars toys on flea markets...rate was 1$ for any figure...heaven;)
People were also buying those "variants" because they were caught up in the 90s idea that these toys would become very valuable some day like the carded originals. Just like with comics at the time the new "collectors" didn't understand what made the old ones expensive, so the market was flooded because the companies were making a ton of money and the figures are mostly worthless now because there are so many of them around. I've bought some carded versions of the ones I had from that time and I pretty much paid less now than I did then. They aren't on the card anymore as I don't like the whole carded thing myself. I like to "let em breath!" as Zack Ryder/Matt Cardona puts it. Side note: I remember a special limited variant bagged "Death of Superman" comic being sold for hundreds of dollars in the 90s at a comic shop. Sometime in the early 2000's I saw that same still-bagged comic in the dollar bin... Now because of the whole "graded" thing some are back up to hundreds, which I think is a ripoff.
Great to see a video of these!! Back in junior high, I was all about these!! Still have a dozen or so carded, hidden above the doorway of my kid's toy room :) Great video Dan!!
The stormtroopers particularly the sand troopers in this line were the greatest thing ever!!!!!
Luke really does look like he could take on the whole Empire by himself.
Luke Schwarzenegger. I still have that toy but sadly his light sabers missing.
8:06
"Monkey face Leia"....now that's a name I've not heard in a long time, a long time.
The thing about Leia is her action figure changes so many times 1995-2013! Lucky Monkey Face (her worst likeness) ended in two years 1995 and 1996 before she looked really great in Slave Leia, New likeness and Hoth with Freeze Frames. Also the four 2-packs ending 1996. Then Leia Ceremony 1998 her most beautiful face! 1999-2002 less sequels but more Prequels until 2003 and on Leia got greater looks!
Leia's the dog faced gremlin
You know her?
I remember her being referred to as the Anthony Kiedis Leia
its was anthony kiedis leia, even in the toyfare toyguide appear like that..
I loved the 90s POTF.
This was my drug as a kid.
The buffness never really bothered me that much.
To me, the 1995 Luke figure looks alot like the old Star Wars poster of Luke with his lightsaber raised high above his head. :)
I started collecting in 1997 after I saw Star Wars Special Edition in theaters.
I WISH I could've seen it in 77, but this was the next best thing.
Once I exited the theater, I was absolutely pumped.
I was HOOKED.
I can accept that buff physique was a bit much, but the head sculpts were dead on. They looked great
When I first seen POTF compared to the 77 line, it was like how I see Hot Toys now. This line blew me away in 1995.
What do you mean, you think theyre good or shitty?
@@Royinszki x2
They blew you away with disgust for sure, no freaking way anybody likes this ugly looking figures
@@heros670 Standards were a lot different in 1995. You must be pretty young.
I'm surprised even til this this day that the power of the force 2 line from the 90s is strong and you can still find plenty of carded figures til this day making it easy in some respects to still get like new figures from that line that still look great til this very day.
I didn't like how buff they made the main characters but the aliens in this line were great, and I liked the two packs of things llike Jawas, Ewoks and Ugnaughts.
Star Wars Toys in 1995. Releasing at midnight, people fighting over them. Crazy lines. Huge demand. Star Wars Toys in 2019... in the bargain bin at Dollar Stores.
Knightfall182 can't believe we have less articulation now
I remember one shopping trip to Toys R Us. I was 20 years old and pushed a nerdy autistic kid down onto his butt. He was holding an Obi Wan Kenobi figure which i swiftly ripped out of his hands.
His mom got all uppity with me for putting my hands on her 8 yr old boy. Guess she must've been really surprised when her cheek caught the back side of my hand.
Somebody called the cops, but i was already pulling out of the parking lot when they arrived from the opposite side.
Thank you Kathleen Kennedy.
@@MrM-u3h yeah, "Thanks Kathleen Kennedy" she cured me of my Star Wars addiction.
@@skunk12 In a way she created mine. I wasn't collecting but then all this stuff started showing up in the dollar store. Started with those die cast ships.
I had got luke with a desert standing vehicle with luke , luke in training kit ,storm trooper, vader with battle platform , somw red dude on a red speeder bike , a tie fighter pilot type dude ,c3po and the snow speeder very cool .
I can just go to my local Wal-Mart if I wanna see a toy aisle without Star Wars.
Same here in the UK with Asda stores (owned by Walmart) I got lucky with a full wave once, not seen a thing since, and it's not just Asda, other stores are no better here.
@@markorollo. Your big superstores always had them, but those are relatively few and far between admittedly
Walmart just sells their Star Wars figures online, mostly.
The overly buff body types remind me of the oldschool poster art. Where Luke looks like a frazetta painting.
I'm fine with it.
I still remember being so blown away when the Episode 1 toys came out. Seeing Maul's face where Vader's used to be seemed amazing to me! Too bad you can find those toys everywhere for $6.
I loved the return of the Star Wars toys. Contributed to make also the 1990s to be a good decade.
At least this release gave us our long over due Rebel Fleet Trooper.
May The 4Th Be With You Pixel Dan! Also RIP Peter Mayhew!
The figures looked like the common action figure in the mid 90s, thats why they are so big, it was what was selling the most at the time.
As a 10 year old when these came out, I was obsessed with these! Trying to find a Princess Leia or Stormtrooper was almost impossible to find as well as a Boba Fett!
What an awesome line. The Luke X Wing with the affixed figure is legendary!! Also the deluxe figure sets were so cool. and the battery operated R2!! I could go on forever
Star Wars MicroMachines ships were also out in 93-94
i still have two packs of those.
Yes, MicroMachines, BendEms and Action Mastees were the only things available in the early 90s
I have a lot of the 93-97 Star Wars Micro Machines ships and vehicles
I liked the micro machine play sets that were a bust of certain characters, I still have c3po, stormtrooper and darth vader.
I had those.
The mid 90s were my Era for star wars toys. Had several storm troopers to make up a unit . Cheers for the memories
The only toys you could really find between 1985 and 1995 were bend-ems. Oh nm, I see you covered it. Anyway. When the new figures launched, I was 21. After going through my dark, heavy metal teens, I found my happy place again. Visiting Toy R Us was like going to Disneyland. I went a few times a week. Wish I could go back in time.
I was in love when the 95 line came out. I grew up watching the VHS tapes every single day after school. Thinking about it now..... I feel the boom of 90's toys/games was an attempt to get kids back on board because George finally decided to move forward (although backward chronologically) with new movies. Brilliant marketing
these were the best, I still have them at my parents house,
These were great to play with even though the toys dont look the part.
I also loved that they made alot of expaned universe figures,
Dark empire luke, kyle katarn and even Thrawn!
LOL. I love these so much. We all thought they were collectible gold. I bet their are more still in the package than ones that were opened. I vow to liberate as many as I can.
Probably so. Everyone wanted to keep theirs MIB for resale later. I am one of them!
The Mail Order Exclusives 😍. You can’t imagine how exciting it was as a kid to wait and finally get B’omarr Monk or Oola. I spent a lot of allowance money on those Exclusives.
Love this episode. i was 15 in 1995 so I went all in collecting these since I couldnt do the old toys as a kid. So many memories and i remember surfing the web just too look at Star Wars toys back in 96-98 when the internet was all new and would take like 5-10 minutes to load that one picture! Nice to see a Dan and Dan collab as well! Thanks guys!
I was the same age 15 in 95, but I still had all my original vintage.
I first became a Star Wars fan in 1995. Just a short while afterwards this brand of new toys first came out. I had a few of the action figures from the first two waves of those back then as well as the X-Wing and TIE Fighter.
I love these, and i will always have a special place in my heart for their simple, durable designs and the sheer amount of characters we got
The Leia figure without the robe...is just SCARY!!!
The Princess Leia of 1995 or 1996 is termed Monkey Face Leia! In 1996 with Slave Leia and the 2-packs Kenner or Hasbro tried to get Carrie Fisher's better looks! The 1995-6 Monkey Leia was retooled into Princess Leia Organa of ANH in 1977 with a better looking Freeze Frame action slide Leia in 1997!
She looks like the Hungarian lunch lady I had in my junior high school. Seeing her every day set back my puberty by at least 3 years. The Leia figure was disturbing.
@@RansomeStoddard :D :D
I was 22 years old when this line of figures were released. I grew up playing with the original Kenner figures, so I was very, very excited for these figures. The buffnes of the figures didn't bother me in the slightest. I was just happy that Star Wars figures were back in stores. Also, I feel that the Galoob line of Star Wars toys helped to reinvigorate Star Wars, too. The Galoob Star Wars line definitely deserves more flowers.
great video i was so happy that star wars toys returned in 95 because it allowed me to collect all the star wars toys i never had in the 1970's and 80's
More like the Power Of Grayskull! Those early 95-96 figures were jacked! Lando was so buff his puffy blue shirt had abs sculpted on it!
I’m ungodly lucky because my local comic book store sells these figures for the same price they would’ve been back in the day so I’m able to get these amazing figures for like 5-10 dollars
Yeah they had funky proportions, but for someone like myself who missed out during the vintage line (was just a little too young, born in '82) it was exciting to finally have some figures (the bend-ems were a disappointment, sorry not sorry) and vehicles to get. In my area at the time, the two hardest figures to find were C-3PO and Princess Leia, and felt a sense of triumph when I got my mitts on them. Good memories.
I freaking LOVE the Power of the Force Line. It's most definitely my favorite Star Wars toy line of all time due to its figures and how nostalgic I am for the Original Trilogy.
I remember going to the local towns independent toy shop in 1996 for new figures and they had actually found some return of the jedi figures in the back of the shop that had fallen down the back of the shelves and stayed there for the last ten years, and they were on sale, needles to say I brought them.
When I saw the advertisement in the back of a toy magazine (yes, there were a few publications) for these I was so excited! I cut out the picture and would carry it around with me so I could daydream about the time they'd be in my hands. I requested and got a TMNT Technodrome playset when I finally got these figures in hand to double as the Death Star!
Love the power of the force era, toy shops packed with figures, I was 8 at the time, so seeing all those toy aisles full with star wars was overwhelming, the special edition release brought star wars back to being as popular as it ever was, probably my favourite year for star wars
I went crazy and bought too many of these back in the day.
Great look back! Never saw these figures in Germany somehow, but in the mid 1990s I was anyway completely out of the action figures world. That‘s why my initial Star Wars encounter was Super Return of the Jedi on the SNES. 😂
While i did not experience it myself my father and brothers bought a ton of Potf star wars stuff so it must have been available somewhere!
I bought the whole line at vedes back then but they were harder to find in regular stores
The only thing good about those 'Bend 'Ems' 'figures' was the free Topps Star Wars Galaxy trading card, included inside every pack, the figures were trash. As for the 1995 'The Power Of The Steroids' line of Star Wars toys it was cool just to have them back again even if they did look very pumped.
I scarfed up everything I could from this line! So much fun peg hunting these toys🤘 Toysplosion is awesome!
They were the final peg hunting days.. that was the end of store magic.. I believe
I remember these. I was a senior on high school at the time. Had a college age friend that was the manager of a local Toys R' Us that would never put the POTF figs on the pegs. Instead she'd sell them to a crowd of people on the loading dock for three times as much as they were worth and pocket the difference. When I asked her if she was afraid of getting fired doing this, she told me Corporate knew exactly what she was doing, but didn't care as long as she put the MSRP of the figs back into the register after she scalped them.
Theres reason why Starwars was reintroduced around 1995 was full circle beyond toys, Directors cut was shown in cinemas of the 3 films, I remember seeing New Hope in cinema in 1996 I think, one of those years
Those were released in 1997.
I said "around that time" 1997 would make more way more sense to see that film as I remember seeing it with my cousins. Then they got carried away soon after that around 1999 Episode 1 came out
@@RetroBusker it was the special edition
Buff characters...oversized weapons...questionable likenesses...in 1995 none of that mattered to me as I yanked my wallet at lightspeed.
Me too. I should've waited 15 yrs later. The figures were a lot better.
@Robd1 replies I'll be donating those older power of the force figures to goodwill. Those suckers take up space and won't be going up in value.
Great episode! I love this toy line, I still have all my figures and ships from this line. It was so fun to collect for it as the toy line grew there were SO MANY figures to get. One of my favorite was the Swoop vehicle and pilot from the Shadows of the Empire line.
YES!
SOTE was one of my favorites. Loved the book, but I never had the video game. I wanted to track down the soundtrack at some point
I worked at ToyRUs during the Star Wars resurgence and it was cool. I was buying up all the figures and decking my wall out with them. I didnt care that they were buff. I remember the vehicles lining the shelf. So cool.
These action figures are so much better than the vintage ones first made. I love them so much I can’t get enough of admiring my big collection of them which have kept in their packages and hung on hooks on my bedroom wall for me to look at from my bed. Looking at this video, when Kenner started to make what they called “The Power of the Force” toys, that may have had millions of people thinking as we first entered the 90s, “Where were Star Wars toys when we needed them?”. Not to mention the action figures, vehicles and playsets which were the most important items from this pop culture franchise. Star Trek began in 1992 from Playmates, Power Rangers began with Ban Dai from 1993, and then Star Wars resumed from 1995.
The Galoob Micromachines packs from around this time were an obsession for me and my friends.
I am pretty sure i got one of each of these figures back in the day. I still have them packed away. You are not kidding when you said we collectors were eager for new Star Wars figures.
YESSSSSSSS!!!!!!!! SO GOOD! I'll always have a love for these particular Star Wars toys.
Man I absolutely loved these toys. Jedi Luke was my favorite thing for so long.
I remember when these came out ..., it was awesome .... I still have fond memories of those first released figures even if they had been “working out” ...
I have had every single bend-ems since I was a kid in late 2000s, I didn't have too many stormtroopers so i remember absolutely loving the stormtrooper bend-em
Absolutely amazing! Thank you so much!
Remember hunting down the OST box set (still the best collection). I think I got the only copy in my city. Also got Steve Sansweets first book for Xmas. Oh, and Heir to The Empire books and Dark Empire comics, I bought all the figures and vehicles,,, good times!
I still have a big bag of my original figures from this line! My daughter plays with them now.
Same, except a small bag :)
Got this entire line (minus the vehicles) for that Christmas and it was the best. These figures were a big part of my childhood. Thanks for the great video Dan.
The bendem line is incredible not only single but boxed sets that came with cards. Also Boba Fett is so rare it's highly collected.
Sadly i was one of those 80’s kids that missed out on new star wars toys when i needed them the most. Unfortunately i was left to only find them randomly at goodwill.
I was obsessed with this line when it first came out.... fast forward to now and you can't sell any of these for more than ten bucks a piece because they are super common. even the annoying variants with the lightsabers,the full circle/half circle on boba fetts hands,The dots on leias belt etc etc.
I started collecting Star Wars figures in 1979, when I was 2. I never knew about these other lines.
I was born in '89, so was at that ripe, perfect age to need something to latch onto right when the og Trilogy was released as a set on VHS and this toy series released. I lapped up as MUCH as I could lol. I actually just found my Boba Fett PotF figure last week. He's missing his Wookie skins, though :( hahaha
Hard to believe this potf line is 24 yrs already. When released in 95 the original kenner line was only 17 yrs old. Crazy
And the POTF figures aren't worth much like the originals are.
YAY more toy splosions I haven't seen another episode in a while you should make more of these on a constant basis
I really liked these figures back then and still do...they are unique in SW toy history, and remind me a lot of the 70's-80's Marvel SW comics.
Star Wars is forever!
Dan+Dan+ Star Wars action figures = RUclips gold!!!
Even Luke's xwing was ripped.
😂😂😂
Good times😁 tan vest Luke. Nuff said. Hope there's a part 2. And yes this was huge for Star Wars fans. Was a perfect storm because it was right around the time the internet was taking off
I can't believe you didn't mention the MOLDED solar panels on the Tie Fighter. SUCH an improvement on the original and they looked great.
I love the POTF2 line have about the entire collection of them
My favorite line. I was 8 when I first saw Star Wars in 1995 and these came out a few months later.
The physiques on these characters are kinda like the very early Star Wars Marvel comics. Luke looked pretty jacked in those too!
I had many of these figures when I was little. I gave them away to my nephews when I was older, though I ended up buying Jedi Knight Luke years later to display on my shelf.
Awesome video Dan!!! 😍
Loved your detailed look on this Star Wars Toys resurgence story.
Power of the Force is the line I grew up with in the 90's. They hold a dear place in my heart even though the figures were kinda goofy because Kenner made them all muscular. This was a great video though Dan,it was great to see Dan in one of your videos, and that Star Wars shirt you have is FREAKING AWESOME. Keep up the good work Dan!
This was the Star Wars line that I grew up with. I was 8 when this was released so limited of how many I could buy. I remember after a few years, I gave up because there were too many good figures to buy and not enough money. Still good memories
I first became a Star Wars fan the same year these new toys came out.
I remember seeing the new star wars stuff isle after isle in toys r us, it was awesome,I have a complete set of bendems on cards, I love them.
It drove me nut's how I couldn't put han and chewie in the cockpit properly, but I was so glad to have new star wars stuff I didn't care lol,
The shadows of the empire figures and vehicles were my favorite back when they came out.
I would have loved to have seen a buff R2-D2
..these are everywhere on ebay! I sold all of mine when they got better sculpts with the PotJ line..saga..trilogy and Legacy lines!
Good to know I can go buy a Luke-He-Man figurine easily.
I should've done the same as you. Now I'm stuck with all my potf figures and I have a lot. Now I collect the vintage collection which is far superior, I wonder if there will be better figures in the future and I'll have a hard time to get rid of the vintage collection as well.
Great Video and nice to see more Dan & Dan collaborations. I still have all of my POTF2 figures and vehicles. I was so excited when I saw Star Wars back in toy stores, and even more excited that I was now an adult and could buy whatever I wanted with my own money :)
This was great... and always fun to have some Dan on...Dan in... Dan with other Dan action. 😃
Very underrated line. It had the detail of the newer figures yet the simplicity of the Kenner line, and because everyone bought them up back in the day, it resulted in very little value meaning collecting them is easy and inexpensive. Besides, every bad figure eventually got a later figure that was fantastic, like bespin Luke, removable helmet Vader, jabba glob, and the Leia collection.
I loved the original figures from Kenner, but this was the series I grew up with as a teenager. I had practically every figure & playset from the line(except most of the vehicles)and even had duplicates left sealed in box & on card. From the Rancor to Mos Eisley Cantina I couldn't get enough of them, the Emperor was one of my favorites to display, especially because of the blue lightning you could attach to his hands that really made him look like he was using the force. Sadly as years went on, most of my collection was damaged in a flood in my basement in the early 2000's after heavy rains from hurricane Andrew. All I was able to save from my collection was a handful of loose figures & accessories. Also Dan...you need to win award for that shirt! Very cool. May the 4th be with you my friend!
I always liked collecting the 12 inch figures too.
me too i have the whole line of 12" figures cant beat the detail of the outfits
This is the line my Dad got me for my 1st birthday. Literally the whole line
Love the extra long light sabres on the early runs of Luke ,Vader and obi wan.
So how did the 1994 marketing meeting go?
"Hey, let's bring back Star Wars figures, but let's make them ugly!"
"Yes, ugly is good, but also let's make them look like big bulky wrestlers."
"You're a genius, Roberts, a genius! But let's also give them ridiculously large weapons! Let's make Han's pistol larger than his head!"
And that's how Star Wars returned in 1995.
Great 👍🏻 information, fun for the whole family to watch together - thanks for keeping it G rated.
Great video. I LOVE THIS LINE. I hope they will make special collection with these blisters
Love this line and the return of Starwars ❤️
Hahahaha im surprised they didn’t make a he-man looking R2D2
well he got a big third leg... that's something!! hahahaha
Even 3PO was jacked.
They did ram man 🤣🤣🤣
Collected the original line but loved this line and still do
Folks forget during this time Dark Horse Comics brought back the interest as well. With its old and new stories from years before Luke and the gang
Born 1972, I grabbed all the POTF, these are historically important, as you say, as the buff figs progressed to what we have now.
Too old to play with Star Wars toys, too young to collect them as memorabilia, I remember us not being too excited about these Star Wars toys...but I remember the beginning of the 90s as a heaven for buying used vintage Star Wars toys on flea markets...rate was 1$ for any figure...heaven;)
People were also buying those "variants" because they were caught up in the 90s idea that these toys would become very valuable some day like the carded originals. Just like with comics at the time the new "collectors" didn't understand what made the old ones expensive, so the market was flooded because the companies were making a ton of money and the figures are mostly worthless now because there are so many of them around. I've bought some carded versions of the ones I had from that time and I pretty much paid less now than I did then. They aren't on the card anymore as I don't like the whole carded thing myself. I like to "let em breath!" as Zack Ryder/Matt Cardona puts it.
Side note: I remember a special limited variant bagged "Death of Superman" comic being sold for hundreds of dollars in the 90s at a comic shop. Sometime in the early 2000's I saw that same still-bagged comic in the dollar bin... Now because of the whole "graded" thing some are back up to hundreds, which I think is a ripoff.
Kenner lol that was Hasbro with a Kenner sticker ;)
Great to see a video of these!! Back in junior high, I was all about these!! Still have a dozen or so carded, hidden above the doorway of my kid's toy room :) Great video Dan!!