In 1986, a company known as Comics Spain produced a line of PVC figures from both of the 1980s Star Wars cartoons: Droids and Ewoks. While the popular toymaker, Kenner, released action figures from these cartoons as well, Comics Spain produced characters that were not made by Kenner and also matched the likeness of each character to their appearance in the cartoon. This blog will explore all the figures that were released, and identify the variations that made their way to the market.
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Wicket
The last character to add to this blog and photo archive (but certainly not the last blog entry) is the Comics Spain PVC figure of Wicket. He was produced in 1986, and has multiple variations, three that are known and documented (which will be discussed in a follow-up blog entry). Wicket also received a similar figure from the Disney / Star Tours line which will be covered later. He is marked "1986 LFL Comics Spain" on the back of his cape. Compared to all the other Comics Spain Ewok figures, he is easy to find (1/5 in rarity), in both the US and abroad - mostly because he was produced in larger numbers and is the most recognizable Ewok character.
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Kneesaa
The next addition to the archive is the Comics Spain PVC figure of Kneesaa, one of only 2 female figures in the line. She was produced in 1986, and has one variation (which will be discussed in a follow-up blog entry). She is marked "1986 LFL Comics Spain" on the bottom of her foot. Compared to all the other Comics Spain Ewok figures, she is rather difficult to find (4/5 in rarity) in the US, but seems to be easier to find in Europe, most often found in complete sets with the other Ewoks.
Sunday, July 4, 2010
C-3PO: Comics Spain vs Disney / Star Tours
The Comics Spain C-3PO (gold) figure has a few similar counterparts made for the Disney / Star Tours theme park, and the figures are sometimes confused. The Disney figure was actually released in 1990 instead of 1986 - but you cant tell this by looking at the copyright stamp because the Disney figure is dated 1986 even though that's not when it was released, and is marked "1986 LFL made in China" on the bottom of one of his feet. Even though the colors are a bit darker on the Disney figure, and its slightly smaller - they are readily confused. The best way to distinguish between the two figures is the deco - the paint is different for the Comics Spain figure - you can clearly see that it sports a bright gold color, as well as green eyes. The Disney figures were made in brown / bronze and a metallic bronze. Likewise, the eyes on the Disney figures were silver, instead of green - as seen in both Comics Spain figures. The silver paint is also present on the underarms, waist, and neck of both Disney figures, while the Comics Spain figure is solid gold and has no silver paint whatsoever.
C-3PO
The next familiar Star Wars droid to cover is the Comics Spain PVC figure of C-3PO, from the Droids cartoon series. The likeness on the original yellow Comics Spain figure is amazing, it far surpasses the Kenner figure, and that's the reason that it is my favorite Comics Spain figure from the Droids cartoon. He was produced in 1986, and has one variation or running change, other than paint errors. He is marked "86 Lucas Film Ltd." and "Comics Spain" on the back of an arm. Compared to all the other Comics Spain Droids figures, both variations are easy to find (1/5 in rarity), in both the US and abroad. He shows up at auction rather often, so tracking down the yellow version or the gold version is easy to do.
When it comes to variations, the C-3PO figure is the only Comics Spain figure to have a totally repainted variation or running change. The yellow figure, based on the cartoon, was the original design - the company decided to do a running change in the line and later produced an all gold version of C-3PO based on his movie appearance (sans the silver leg). Comics Spain decided to keep the eyes bright green on both versions - which would later come in handy when trying to distinguish the gold version from the Disney / Star Tours version(s).
I own another Comics Spain C-3PO that shows an example of a paint error; since these were all hand painted, errors aren't all that rare. If you take a look at both figures, the errors may not be immediately obvious, but the droid on the right actually has 5 of them. All the errors are visible from the back - starting with his head, the circle on the back of it is entirely painted gold, when only a dot should be in there. Moving down to his back, there should be a gold x across his waist, where the wires are visible, but they are not painted on this figure. The other errors are on the arms - the underarms should be painted blue (as seen with the figure on the left), the elbows should also be yellow, but in the error on the right, they were simply painted over with gold - the final error is a seemingly random gold rub of paint over the Comics Spain logo on the back of his arm.
When it comes to variations, the C-3PO figure is the only Comics Spain figure to have a totally repainted variation or running change. The yellow figure, based on the cartoon, was the original design - the company decided to do a running change in the line and later produced an all gold version of C-3PO based on his movie appearance (sans the silver leg). Comics Spain decided to keep the eyes bright green on both versions - which would later come in handy when trying to distinguish the gold version from the Disney / Star Tours version(s).
I own another Comics Spain C-3PO that shows an example of a paint error; since these were all hand painted, errors aren't all that rare. If you take a look at both figures, the errors may not be immediately obvious, but the droid on the right actually has 5 of them. All the errors are visible from the back - starting with his head, the circle on the back of it is entirely painted gold, when only a dot should be in there. Moving down to his back, there should be a gold x across his waist, where the wires are visible, but they are not painted on this figure. The other errors are on the arms - the underarms should be painted blue (as seen with the figure on the left), the elbows should also be yellow, but in the error on the right, they were simply painted over with gold - the final error is a seemingly random gold rub of paint over the Comics Spain logo on the back of his arm.
Saturday, July 3, 2010
R2-D2: Comics Spain vs Disney / Star Tours
The Comics Spain R2-D2 figure has a similar counterpart made for the Disney / Star Tours theme park, and the figures are often confused. The Disney figure was actually released in 1990 instead of 1986 - but you cant tell this by looking at the copyright stamp because the Disney figure is undated, and is only marked "LFL made in China" on the bottom of one of his feet. Even though the colors are a bit darker on the Disney figure, and its slightly smaller - they are readily confused. The best way to distinguish between the two figures is the deco - the paint is different for the Comics Spain figure - you can clearly see that it sports a yellow 'eye' in the front and the back, as well as 2 green panels. The Disney figure lacks any yellow or green paint - so that is the best way to tell them apart.
R2-D2
I'd like to switch to some familiar Star Wars droids and cover the Comics Spain PVC figure of R2-D2, from the Droids cartoon series. He was produced in 1986, and has no known variations, other than paint errors. He is marked "86 Lucas Film Ltd." on the back of one leg and "Comics Spain" on the back of the other. Compared to all the other Comics Spain Droids figures, he is easy to find (1/5 in rarity), in both the US and abroad. He shows up at auction rather often, but is usually mistaken for the Disney / Star Tours figure which is almost Identical.
I own another Comics Spain R2-D2 that shows an example of a paint error; since these were all hand painted, errors aren't all that rare. If you take a look at both figures, the errors may not be immediately obvious, but the droid on the right actually has 2 of them. The central panel on the error droid in painted silver all the way down, making 1 large box, when in fact it should be 2 separate silver boxes in the central panel, as seen in the figure on the left. The other errors are the panels right above the feet - the entire panel is painted silver, when the inner panel was only intended to be painted (as seen in the figure on the left). This is actually a nice error, because I think it looks better this way.
I own another Comics Spain R2-D2 that shows an example of a paint error; since these were all hand painted, errors aren't all that rare. If you take a look at both figures, the errors may not be immediately obvious, but the droid on the right actually has 2 of them. The central panel on the error droid in painted silver all the way down, making 1 large box, when in fact it should be 2 separate silver boxes in the central panel, as seen in the figure on the left. The other errors are the panels right above the feet - the entire panel is painted silver, when the inner panel was only intended to be painted (as seen in the figure on the left). This is actually a nice error, because I think it looks better this way.
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