10 rarest Star Wars toys (and 10 places in London you might find them)
May the 4th be with you...
The toy market has a lot to thank Star Wars for. While the saga wasn’t the first property to recognise the importance of merch, it harnessed it like no other had before. Not content with figures for the main characters, even the blink-and-you’ll-miss-them extras were forever immortalised in plastic cast form. We imagine they adorn the mantelpiece of many a minor Star Wars cast member.
But maybe they should dust those off, because some of these toys can fetch a pretty penny. Admittedly, they aren’t the easiest to find, but it’s still possible if a) you possess persistence in abundance, and b) you have plenty of credits. Yes, we’re afraid that collecting vintage toys isn’t a cheap pastime.
Regardless, here are ten of the rarest Star Wars toys to be inspired by a galaxy far, far away, followed by the places in London and its surrounds that offer the best chance of tracking some of them down…
1) Yak Face figurine
Saelt-Marae (to give him his infinitely less catchy canonical name) can be glimpsed on Jabba the Hutt’s barge in Return Of The Jedi. Fittingly, considering his fleeting on-screen appearances, his Kenner figure was one of the last in the Power of the Force Kenner line to be released in 1985. Such was the abruptness of the line’s cancellation that Yak Face never made it onto shelves in the US, making do with only limited releases in the UK and Canada. Since then, he has become incredibly sought after among those determined to capture literally every figure from the films. Expect to pay over £4000 for him.
2) Boba Fett Kenner figurine (rocket firing)
Back when the reputation of the original Mandalorian (at least as far as on-screen appearances go) had little other to go on than his Empire Strikes Back final act theft and a preferably forgotten Holiday Special jaunt, Boba Fett was also the recipient of his own very cool Kenner toy – he fired rockets! Ultimately, his creators decided this wasn’t a good idea, so he got a standard figure instead. A select few prototypes of the original design still exist, though – one was sold at an auction in the US for $1,342,000. Best save those pennies.
3) LEGO C-3P0 Mini Figure
Another figure whose original design was written off as a mistake, this LEGO minifig was released in 1999 in advance of The Phantom Menace. The problem? It was way too yellow; looking nothing like either his original gold incarnation, or his wired form in the first prequel. Subsequent versions of the figure received a more muted hue, but there’s a chance that you can still find the original somewhere out there – if you’re willing to pay the roughly £2400 for the privilege, that is. Oh my.
4) Purple Lightsaber Vader figurine
Samuel L Jackson may have demanded it to make his elite Jedi stand out, but few know Mace Windu wasn’t the first Star Wars character to possess a purple lightsaber. Admittedly, it’s only the box that has this design (the toy itself still possesses a laser sword of crimson red), but it’s still a novel rarity from an age where many of the details that we now take for granted were far from nailed down. This particular Kenner example exists in larger numbers than some of the earlier figures on this list, but it’s still tricky to find. £4800 will be your likely fee for one of these.
5) MTV-7 Mini-Rig
Don’t recognise this vehicle? You could be forgiven; despite their popularity, these vehicles didn’t actually make an on-screen appearance. Indeed, it was never meant to; while the marketing showed it populated by the armoured snow troopers from The Empire Strikes Back, this Kenner creation was intended as a relatively cheap vehicle that would sell in large numbers. This didn’t quite go to plan. The kids wanted the Millennium Falcon or at the very least an X-Wing – not some fan fiction. Nevertheless, they have since gained a bit of a cult following, and are sought after today, and tend to fetch prices of around £5200.
6) Anakin Skywalker Ghost Collector Coin
Long before Hayden Christensen’s visage was beamed alongside the campfire during the Endor celebrations, Sebastian Shaw was the face of Anakin Skywalker – and here he is, immortalised in toy form. While his replacement with his prequel incarnation was one of George Lucas’s less popular tinkerings with his original trilogy, it has had a positive impact on the pricing of this 1985 figurine (bonus points if you find a box set complete with a special collector’s coin). It will cost about £5600 to bring home the original ghost of Anakin Skywalker.
7) LEGO Ultimate Collector’s Millennium Falcon
It’s taken us a while to include a LEGO set in this list, so it’s fitting we’ve gone for the brick-based incarnation of the fastest heap of junk in the galaxy (the level of detail is amazing – you’ll have no trouble believing that it made the Kessel Run). Released in 2017 and made up of over 7500 pieces, it remains perhaps the definitive LEGO replica of the most iconic ship in sci-fi. They have shot up in price considerably since their original release – now, they can be found for around £12,000.
8) Double telescoping Luke lightsaber figurine
If you wanted your figures to fight with a lightsaber, then this presented you with the best opportunity to replicate some of the iconic fights from the original trilogy. One of the first releases showed Luke Skywalker in A New Hope-era farmboy garb, possessing a ‘double telescoping’ saber design that saw it come out of his arm. This design was repeated for Darth Vader and Obi-Wan Kenobi, but this Kenner figure remains the most iconic showcase of this unique design in action. They can be acquired for some between £18,000 and £56,000.
9) Vlix from Droids
We’ve practically got a degree in Wookieepedia, and even we had to do a search just to work out who the hell this was. Turns out he’s a villain character from the ’80s Droids animated series, featuring C-3P0 and R2-D2 in a cavalcade of galaxy-spanning capers. Described by the creator of The Toys That Made Us as “the rarest action figure ever commercially released”, the story of its sale is an interesting one: the moulds were originally made by Kenner, who – without Lucasfilm’s knowledge – sold them to a Brazilian company called Glasslite (since Droids had been cancelled before they could release it). In 1987, Glasslite released these figures to coincide with the Brazil release was Droids. Once Lucasfilm got wind of this, they ordered them recalled – but not before a number have sold. Now an endearing rarity, a boxed figure can be found for between £33,000 and £45,000.
10) Vinyl cape Jawa figurine
Their true forms draped in mystery by their signature red attire, the original toy forms are similarly tricky to acquire in real life. First created in 1978 with vinyl cloaks, it was eventually decided they should have a more durable cloth cape. Inevitably, striking down the first design only served to make it more expensive than you could possibly imagine – okay, we exaggerated that last part: it’ll be around £13,000 to acquire one.
Where to find them
Okay, so eBay might be one of the first places people will list their old figures, but is it the best place to look? Not always; you’ll have plenty of competition after all. No, you might have better luck going to some of these locations, attending one of these auctions, or instead heading to a specially tailored event. Here are ten that we would recommend…
London Toy Shop
Crews Hill
Brown’s Garden Village
EN2 9DG
Open Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, calling this an Aladdin’s Cave doesn’t come close to doing it justice.
Forbidden Planet London Megastore
179 Shaftesbury Avenue
London
WC2H 8JR
Our pick of the outlets in the capital, Star Wars toys feature heavily here.
The Toy Scavenger
2 Acorn Lane
Cuffley
EN6 4JQ
Buyers as well as sellers, new stock is replenished all the time here, so keep en eye on them.
Monkey’s Emporium
Camden Market
London
NW1 8AF
Situated amid the hustle and bustle of Camden Market, you might just find a surprise here.
Kempton Park Toy Fair
Kempton Park Racecourse
Middlesex
TW16 5AQ
London’s largest toy and collectable fair, this typically runs four times a year.
Wood Street Indoor Market
98-100 Wood Street
London
E17 3HX
Fancy some searching while undercover? Here’s the perfect place for you.
Cullens of Surrey
Builders Yard
365 Croydon Road
Wallington
Surrey
Self-confessed Star Wars fans, these auctioneers are one of your best bets for a rare surprise.
London Toy Fair
Olympia London
Hammersmith Road
Kensington
London
W14 8UX
The UK’s largest toy, game and hobby trade show, there are no shortage of stalls to snoop through.
London Auctions
Unit 6/7 Clyde Works
Clyde Road
Wallington
Surrey
SM6 8PZ
High-value toys frequently pop up here – have a look before they hit the headlines.
Portobello Road Market
Portobello Road
Notting Hill
London
Plenty of places to rummage around here – you might get lucky on the Star Wars front.
Hertfordshire Vintage Toys
17 Railway Street
Hertford
SG14 1RP
https://hertfordshirevintagetoys.com
Star Wars toys feature heavily here in this trove of retro toy delights.
