Episode 1 - Phantom Menace Rocking Chair

Star Wars Episode 1 The Phantom Menace - Anakin Rocking Chair. 

I picked this up from a local toy store in about 1999-2000 and it has stayed boxed ever since. The original packaging tape is coming loose but, as I say, it has never been opened.

The licensee for this product was Martin Yaffe International, a Rochdale-based toy company that went out of business in 2010. According to the limited information available, the chair is made of wood. It looks like it's a slot-together construction, and according to the packaging is suitable as a "child's first rocking chair" recommended for ages 18mths to 5yrs.

I've done some research to find out more, particularly to get an idea on the value of this item.  Searching for the name "Anakin Rocking Chair" brings up very little (just a couple of articles, one showing a mint boxed item and the other a couple of photos of the chair.). Other pertinent searches would be for "Star Wars Episode One rocking chair" and "Phantom Menace rocking chair".  

So, with the value, my gut feel is a boxed unopened one like mine would fetch something in the region of £200. Yes, it could be a lower, could be higher. It's a bit hit and miss on eBay based on what is currently or recently sold. I've seen one for sale for £240, and that seems to be not far off my guesstimate. 

Custom Episode One Figures On Vintage Star Wars Cards

I've always preferred vintage Star Wars stuff to collect. I guess it's because Episodes 4,5,6 were such a feature of my childhood, and, let's face it, the films were the best too.

However, a fair portion of my collection is from the prequels, and these particular carded figures appealed to my vintage side. I found them on Ebay not long after The Phantom Menace's toy line had hit the shelves. I think it's fair to say the Episode 1 packaging didn't match up to the original Kenner/Palitoy designs. So, it was inevitable that someone would make these.

To be honest, I can't remember what I paid for them. They are quite well made, with punch holes on (2 with and 2 without the punched holes) - not bad for what were probably early custom cards.

So, you can see above the figures were a Battle Droid, Qui-Gon Jinn, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Darth Maul.

There were 3 different designs on the back of the cards (2 figures had the same back-of-card design). I've also included in the picture below (sorry, blurry pic!) a Protech Star Case too as I've kept all of these figures in the protective case since I got them.

 

Finally, here they are in their Protech Star Cases.

Star Wars Sticker Books

Okay, so I've updated this post because I finally got around to finding my Return of The Jedi sticker album, which was stashed with my comics.

As with most of my sticker albums, it is not complete. Without doing a count of stickers, I'd say somewhere between 50-75%. For a 40 year old item, it's in quite good condition, with some crease marks and corner page folds. 

Here's a couple of more recent sticker albums. I have a couple of unused The Episode 1 Phantom Menace sticker books. The Clone Wars is complete.

Stap and Mace Windu Episode 1 Preview Toys

So, here's a couple of nice unopened toys from late last century. These "sneak preview" Episode 1 toys came out in 1998, with The Phantom Menace hitting the screens in 1999.

These items were boxed in Hasbro’s ‘Power of the Force II’  series packaging.

The STAP (short for Single Trooper Aerial Platform) vehicle comes with a Battle Droid attached. Certainly makes a nice display piece (except mine is boxed in a cupboard somewhere).

Sorry - bit of a rubbish picture of Mace Windu below. Will update it soon. 😊

Droid Fighter Attack game

Droid Fighter Attack  - a pocket electronic game released after Episode 1 - The Phantom Menace. A handy key chain meant you could take it every where with you (I didn't).

Star Wars Walker Crisps movie tie-ins

Okay, there's probably been more Star Wars things given away with food than you can shake a stick at, and I have only collected a few of these things.

The items below came with Walker's crisps.

First up we have Star Wars Tazos, which were available in Walkers crisp packets in 1997. There were fifty to collect and a special album to keep them in. I didn't have album and I didn't collect all the tazos. Nevermind.

 Next, the cards below are Star Wars scratch and win cards. These were available in 1999-2000, and there were 25 to collect.  Scratching the panels in the cards gave you a chance to win a prize - from another bag of crisps to a £1million. Suffice to say, none these below were winners!

Finally, everyone's favourite Star Wars character (if you could see me now, my tongue is firmly planted in my cheek!) - JAR JAR BINKS!

This sticky tongue Jar Jar toy was a prize from the scratch-cards. This has to be one of the oddest collectables from the Star Wars galaxy.

There was also a glow in the dark version too. I think the idea is you squeeze his head and his tongue flicks out and picks stuff up. I wouldn't know because mine is boxed still.Beside, I suspect Jar Jar's sticky tongue would've probably stuck itself to the carpet!