POTF2 Variations

Variations

Written by : Ron Rickard([email protected])
Date : 10/23/96
First published on: rec.arts.sf.starwars.collecting Usenet newsgroup
This is a list of all the POTF2 variations I know about. By no means am I endorsing the idea that someone should purchase all the possible variations (buy what you like), but since there is enough interest in the variations, I have decided to maintain a list of them. This list was started 12 months ago.

INDEX of VARIATIONS (Updated: Wed Oct 23 23:42:36 MST 1996)
Darth Vader.........................1
Luke Skywalker......................2
Ben Kenobi..........................3
Luke X-Wing Pilot...................4
Boba Fett...........................5
TIE Fighter Pilot...................6
Yoda................................7
Luke Dagobah........................8
Han Hoth............................9
Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker.........10
Han Solo in Carbonite ......11
Boba Fett vs. IG-88................12
Luke Skywalker Lightsaber..........13
Heavy Blaster......................14
Speeder Bike.......................15
Outrider...........................16
Luke Skywalker 12".................17
Ben Kenobi 12".....................18

1) Darth Vader

There are three sizes of lightsabers; long, short, and shorter. The short and shorter sabers are the current sabers packed with the figure. Due to a change in the lightsaber size from long to short, the bubble holding the figure and accessories has also been modified to accommodate the smaller sabers. For a short time, the short and shorter sabers appeared in the long saber packaging.

2) Luke Skywalker

3) Ben Kenobi

The first POTF2 carded Ben Kenobi has the same picture on the front and the back; a shot of Kenobi from the chest up. The bio area has 2 spelling errors in the first paragraph:
"...But Obi-Wan was not yet ready to pass on the way of the Jedi, an his student became impatient with the rigors of Jedi training..."
and:
"...Taking the name Darth Vader, he pledged allegiance to the evil Senator Palpatine and went on to hunt down an kill the remaining Jedi Knights in the name of the Galactic Empire..."
On the card back, below the "MADE IN CHINA C-060A" is the number 521791.00.
The 'corrected' POTF2 Ben Kenobi has the same picture of Ben Kenobi on the front, but the back is a full body picture of Ben Kenobi holding his unlit lightsaber. The text has been changed to spell 'and' correctly in both of the above sentences.
On the card back, below the "MADE IN CHINA C-060A" is the number 521791.01.
Surprisingly, like all the POTF2 8 and 9 backs, they did not correct the spelling of 'mechandise' to 'merchandise' in the FAN CLUB Offer.
There are three sizes of lightsabers; long, short, and shorter. The short and shorter sabers are the current sabers packed with the figure. Due to a change in the lightsaber size from long to short, the bubble holding the figure and accessories has also been modified to accommodate the smaller sabers. For a short time, the short and shorter sabers appeared in the long saber packaging.

4) Luke X-Wing Pilot

The bio area has 3 typos on the first POTF2 packaging. It reads:
"... Luke passed flight simulator tests and was awarded a T-65B X-Wing Fighter, ..."
"... Dodging TIE Fighters in the space battle above the surface of the Death Star, ..."
and:
"... Darth Vader's custom TIE and two TIE Fighters dogged them, forcing Wedge to veer away. ..."
On the card back, below the "MADE IN CHINA C-060A" is the number 526517.00.
On the second packaging the "F" in Fighter(s) has been changed to "f" in all 3 places.
On the card back, below the "MADE IN CHINA C-060A" is the number 526517.01.
As for paint variations, there have been reports of a Luke X-Wing Pilot that is missing the black and yellow stripes on the front of Luke's helmet.
Surprisingly, like all the POTF2 8 and 9 backs, they did not correct the spelling of 'mechandise' to 'merchandise' in the FAN CLUB Offer.
This was an early correction.
There are three sizes of lightsabers; long, short, and shorter. The short and shorter sabers are the current sabers packed with the figure. Due to a change in the lightsaber size from long to short, the bubble holding the figure and accessories has also been modified to accommodate the smaller sabers. For a short time, the short and shorter sabers appeared in the long saber packaging.

5) Boba Fett

The bio area has a typo on the first POTF2 packaging. It reads:
"He was working for Jabba when a call for bounty hunters was received from the Empire, Fett tracked ..."
On the card back, below the "MADE IN CHINA C-060A" is the number 526520.00.
The "," after Empire has been corrected to a ".".
On the card back, below the "MADE IN CHINA C-060A" is the number 526520.01.
There is a paint variation on this figure as well. One Boba Fett paint has a complete black circle on the back of his gloves and another has a stripe painted down the middle of the circle (2 "half-circles"). Both paint variations are on the typo and corrected cards.
The "half-circle" variation was changed to the "full-circle" early on.
Surprisingly, like all the POTF2 8 and 9 backs, they did not correct the spelling of 'mechandise' to 'merchandise' in the FAN CLUB Offer.
This was an early correction.

6) TIE Fighter Pilot

The original TIE Fighter Pilot card has a black sticker on the front of it with the familiar: "WARNING: CHOKING HAZARD - Small parts. Not for children under 3 years."
On the card back, below the "MADE IN CHINA C-060A" is the number 527597.00.
This sticker was replaced with actual printing on the card.
On the card back, below the "MADE IN CHINA C-060A" is the number 527597.01.
A second variation now exists, since the TIE Fighter Pilot was shipped with the Shadow of the Empire assortment. The assortment number on the front of the card is now "Asst. No. 69605 No. 69673" Instead of "Asst. No. 69570 No. 69584"
On the card back, below the "MADE IN CHINA C-060A" in the number 527597.02.

7) Yoda

Yoda first began shipping in the 69570 assortment.
On the card back, below the "MADE IN CHINA C-060A" in the number 527603.00.
A variation now exists, Since Yoda was shipped with the Shadow of the Empire assortment. The assortment number on the front of the card is now "Asst. No. 69605 No. 69672" instead of "Asst. No. 69570 No. 69586"
On the card back, below the "MADE IN CHINA C-060A" in the number 527603.01.

8) Luke Dagobah

9) Han Hoth

There are two versions of Han Hoth figures. The first version has a right hand which is open more than the second version. The second version holds the gun better.

10) Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker

There are two versions of the Luke Jedi figure and two versions of the lightsaber it comes with. The first version of the Luke Jedi figure has a "tan/grey" vest and a dark blue cape. The second version has a much darker vest and a black cape. One version of the lightsaber has 4 rings indented into its handle. The other version of the saber has the 4 rings protruding from the handle.
There is a possible four combinations with the different figure and sabers for this one figure. It has been confirmed that both sabers come with the "tan/grey" vested Luke Jedi and the black vested Luke Jedi.
This was an early correction.

11) Han Solo in Carbonite/block

The first version (.00) of the Han Carbonite has the figure called Han Solo in Carbonite on the front and back of the card. The second version (.01) of the card has the figure called Han Solo in Carbonite Block on the front and back of the card. The "with Carbonite Freezing Chamber" on the front of the card has been dropped in the second version.

12) Boba Fett vs. IG-88

The bio area has a typo on the first POTF2 packaging. It reads:
"WEAPON OF CHOICE: Mandalarian
Battle Armor and Various Weapons
Slave I"
On the card back, below the Proof of Purchase symbol is the number 532459.00.
The bio area has been corrected to read:
"WEAPON OF CHOICE: Mandalarian
Battle Armor and Various Weapons
VEHICLE OF CHOICE: Slave I"
On the card back, below the Proof of Purchase symbol is the number 532459.01.

13) Luke Skywalker Lightsaber

The first version of the lightsaber packaging had the familiar: "WARNING: CHOKING HAZARD - Small parts. Not for children under 3 years" in the lower left hand corner on the front. This version was extremely short lived before that needless warning was removed.
These lightsabers can be found facing both directions in the package.

14) Heavy Blaster

The first version of the Heavy Blaster has a clear sticker on its handle with "1996" in black lettering above the other manufacturing information. The Heavy Blaster now ships with the "1996" copyright molded into the gun handle with the other information.
This was an early correction.

15) Speeder Bike In addition to the 'picture' window box which shows the Biker Scout, there is also a version of packaging which does not have the 'picture' window. The windowless box is the harder version to find.

16) Outrider

The easiest way to tell the difference between the two different boxes for the Outrider is by looking at the back of the box. The Outrider ship either sets on a landing pad with red circles or with white circles. The version with the red circles has a much shinier Outrider pictured on the box and the top of the box has a closer view of the hand holding the cockpit open. The version with the white circles has a duller and whiter Outrider pictured and the top of the box has a further view of the hand holding the cockpit open.
There are many variations between the two different boxes in how the ship is positioned and what its color and stickers look like.

17) Luke Skywalker 12"

The first Luke Skywalker 12" came with darker hair and binoculars attached to his belt. The second Luke Skywalker 12" has much lighter hair and the binoculars are attached to his belt. A third Luke Skywalker 12" has the much lighter hair and the binoculars are contained in a bubble to the right of Luke's head.

18) Ben Kenobi 12" (Unconfirmed.) There are several variations on the Ben Kenobi 12". One variation has brown boots instead of black boots. Another variations has grey hair instead of white hair.

ODDITIES:

Darth Vader -
There has been a confirmed selling of a grey Darth Vader figure. Paul Barr wrote me to say he is an owner of this figure. Here is what Paul has to say about this variation:
"... It's a normal Vader cast in grey plastic, maybe not the right mix[ ]to get the black color and it slipped throug[h]? He is painted the same way as the normal Vader, but he is not shiny in spots, the way the black Vader is."

RANTINGS:

Well, with the release of the Shadow of the Empire assortment and accompanying ships came quite a few variations. I wonder if quality control at Kenner is missing these because of the explosion in the number of items in the POTF2 line or if these variations are a controlled plan on Kenners part to sell more toys. I'm really hoping the former is true. In either case, there have been alot of variations in this line after only 1 year. I really feel sorry for anyone trying to keep up with purchasing all of them.
I have included the bubble variations on the figures which come with both long and short lightsabers because many collectors wrote me telling me it was an important variation. My personal opinion is that this variation in not important (who collects the bubbles?), but then again, that has alot to do with the fact that I am a collector of the original Kenner Star Wars figures, which had an extreme amount of bubble variations. In my collection alone, not one of my 5 carded Jawas has the same bubble. But since I want to maintain the definitive POTF2 variation list, I went ahead and included the variation since so many of you have asked me to.
The oddities list is for variations that were not massed produced and is therefore unobtainable by most collectors. If we all had to find a grey Darth Vader to complete our collections, there would be alot of disappointed Star Wars collectors.
If anyone has any other POTF2 variations they would like to report, I will add it to my list and post it on rassc.
Just as a personal note, I do not collect all the variations that exist. I have bought the long/short lightsaber versions of the POTF2 figures, but that is about it. I do find the large number of variations in the POTF2 line interesting, so I have decided to keep track of the variations, hence this list.
You are free to put this list up on a web site, but please do give credit where credit is due. Also, drop me some e-mail letting me know about it, as I am very interested in Star Wars collector sites.
Thanks,
Ron Rickard Jr.

Special Thanks to the following individuals for contributing information about assortment numbers and variations:

Paul H Barr
Adam Pawlus
John Stewart
Brian Rickard
and the various other posters to rec.arts.sf.starwars.collecting.

Variations

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