SWTOTW, Week 16, 2018, Part 2/2 Land Of The Jawas Action Playset

Mini99 said:

Thanks for that great concise review on both playsets.
I knew that they were different, but as I don't collect these had never realised how different the two sets were.
I assume that the Kenner one was "better" quality as they would not have got away with a cheaper set in the USA?

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Snaketibe said:

OK Lars, since you didn't want to separate the Kenner and Palitoy versions of The Land of the Jawas playsets, here are my pair.

For anyone unfamiliar with the differences between the 2 sets, it's not just the packaging that's different. Every single aspect of the Palitoy version is different to the Kenner one:

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ Kenner: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Palitoy:

Base: _ _ _ _ Hard plastic, moulded cave, action features. _ _ _ Flimsy plastic, no cave or action features, card-backed. A different mould entirely.

Card parts: _ Thick, strong corrugated cardboard. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Thin, single thickness uncorrugated cardboard.

Lift: _ _ _ _ _ 2-part yellow flat platform + 2 brown side rails. _ 2-part long black lift that slides within itself. A completely different design.

Accessories: _ Escape pod, action pegs that fit in the base. _ _ Jawa figure, no escape pod, 2 figure stands, separate action lever.

Kenner LOTJ - 01.jpg
Kenner LOTJ - 02.jpg
Kenner LOTJ - 03.jpg
Kenner LOTJ - 04.jpg
Palitoy LOTJ - 01.jpg
Palitoy LOTJ - 02.jpg
Palitoy LOTJ - 03.jpg
Palitoy LOTJ - 04.jpg
X Palitoy & Kenner LOTJ Cardboard Comparison - 01.jpg

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Snaketibe said:

Mini99 said:

Thanks for that great concise review on both playsets.
I knew that they were different, but as I don't collect these had never realised how different the two sets were.
I assume that the Kenner one was "better" quality as they would not have got away with a cheaper set in the USA?

Click to expand...

Thanks

I believe the story goes that when Palitoy won the UK license, they wanted to reduce costs on the toy manufacturing. So for the Land of the Jawas, Cantina and Droid Factory sets, all three were given significant make-unders! ;-) Palitoy scrapped the sturdy hard plastic bases in each case and replaced them with thin, flimsy blown plastic which dents and damages really easily. They used cheaper cardboard, less plastic on the accessories (the Palitoy Cantina doors are cardboard instead of plastic like the Kenner version, for example), and generally saved themselves some manufacturing costs! And the results are some very different toys.

Of course the real win came with the Death Star. The Kenner version was almost entirely plastic, so Palitoy had to put on their thinking caps and conjured up what in my humble opinion is the best toy made in the entire line, and one of the best toys ever made full stop in their cardboard Death Star. Brilliantly simple, yet utterly effective; a masterclass in toy design and playability, all brought about by a desire to cut costs! :-D

Click to expand...

Pomse2001 said:

Snaketibe said:

Mini99 said:

Thanks for that great concise review on both playsets.
I knew that they were different, but as I don't collect these had never realised how different the two sets were.
I assume that the Kenner one was "better" quality as they would not have got away with a cheaper set in the USA?

Click to expand...

Thanks

I believe the story goes that when Palitoy won the UK license, they wanted to reduce costs on the toy manufacturing. So for the Land of the Jawas, Cantina and Droid Factory sets, all three were given significant make-unders! ;-) Palitoy scrapped the sturdy hard plastic bases in each case and replaced them with thin, flimsy blown plastic which dents and damages really easily. They used cheaper cardboard, less plastic on the accessories (the Palitoy Cantina doors are cardboard instead of plastic like the Kenner version, for example), and generally saved themselves some manufacturing costs! And the results are some very different toys.

Of course the real win came with the Death Star. The Kenner version was almost entirely plastic, so Palitoy had to put on their thinking caps and conjured up what in my humble opinion is the best toy made in the entire line, and one of the best toys ever made full stop in their cardboard Death Star. Brilliantly simple, yet utterly effective; a masterclass in toy design and playability, all brought about by a desire to cut costs! :-D

Click to expand...

Thanks for the great info about why palitoy changed the toy so much :wink:

Do you know how much a palitoy land of the jawas playset complete with box and instruction cost today ? :?

I agree the palitoy death star was a masterclass, also why I have not bought the kenner death star yet. I like the palitoy a lot more than I like the kenner death star.

Any idea why meccano and toltoys also choose to make the palitoy death star and not the kenner ? was it also about the cost or did they more like the palitoy death star as we do ? :?

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spoons said:

Pomse2001 said:

Snaketibe said:

Thanks

I believe the story goes that when Palitoy won the UK license, they wanted to reduce costs on the toy manufacturing. So for the Land of the Jawas, Cantina and Droid Factory sets, all three were given significant make-unders! ;-) Palitoy scrapped the sturdy hard plastic bases in each case and replaced them with thin, flimsy blown plastic which dents and damages really easily. They used cheaper cardboard, less plastic on the accessories (the Palitoy Cantina doors are cardboard instead of plastic like the Kenner version, for example), and generally saved themselves some manufacturing costs! And the results are some very different toys.

Of course the real win came with the Death Star. The Kenner version was almost entirely plastic, so Palitoy had to put on their thinking caps and conjured up what in my humble opinion is the best toy made in the entire line, and one of the best toys ever made full stop in their cardboard Death Star. Brilliantly simple, yet utterly effective; a masterclass in toy design and playability, all brought about by a desire to cut costs! :-D

Click to expand...

Thanks for the great info about why palitoy changed the toy so much :wink:

Do you know how much a palitoy land of the jawas playset complete with box and instruction cost today ? :?

I agree the palitoy death star was a masterclass, also why I have not bought the kenner death star yet. I like the palitoy a lot more than I like the kenner death star.

Any idea why meccano and toltoys also choose to make the palitoy death star and not the kenner ? was it also about the cost or did they more like the palitoy death star as we do ? :?

Click to expand...

The world and the UK was really hit by the 1979 oil crisis so plastic became very expensive. Palitoy made many cost cutting changes for that reason with the land of the jawas and the death star being evidence of a historic event.

Action Man was also redesigned at this time and made with a thinner plastic.

I'd guess with historically cheaper oil prices in the US they were less inclined to scrimp on the toys

Great comparison piece Jeremy!

Click to expand...

Pomse2001 said:

Do you know how much a palitoy land of the jawas playset complete with box and instruction cost today ? :?

Click to expand...

spoons said:

Great comparison piece Jeremy!

Click to expand...

Snaketibe said:

Pomse2001 said:

Do you know how much a palitoy land of the jawas playset complete with box and instruction cost today ? :?

Click to expand...

If you don't mind the box not being perfect, you should be able to find one on eBay for around £200 - £250, if you're patient. Several complete boxed ones usually come up for sale each year, but they're certainly not common, so you will need to check for them regularly (of course Facebook groups probably have them as well, but I don't do Facebook, so I can't comment).

However, if you're after a mint condition one, you may be in for a very long wait and a very expensive bill at the end of your search! The Palitoy box was probably a bit too big for the toy, and definitely can't be described as sturdy. It's also a larger box than the Palitoy Cantina and Droid Factory boxes, and it gets crushed and damaged really easily as a consequence, so finding a really good condition one, let alone a mint one, can be extremely difficult.

Click to expand...

spoons said:

Pomse2001 said:

Snaketibe said:

Thanks

I believe the story goes that when Palitoy won the UK license, they wanted to reduce costs on the toy manufacturing. So for the Land of the Jawas, Cantina and Droid Factory sets, all three were given significant make-unders! ;-) Palitoy scrapped the sturdy hard plastic bases in each case and replaced them with thin, flimsy blown plastic which dents and damages really easily. They used cheaper cardboard, less plastic on the accessories (the Palitoy Cantina doors are cardboard instead of plastic like the Kenner version, for example), and generally saved themselves some manufacturing costs! And the results are some very different toys.

Of course the real win came with the Death Star. The Kenner version was almost entirely plastic, so Palitoy had to put on their thinking caps and conjured up what in my humble opinion is the best toy made in the entire line, and one of the best toys ever made full stop in their cardboard Death Star. Brilliantly simple, yet utterly effective; a masterclass in toy design and playability, all brought about by a desire to cut costs! :-D

Click to expand...

Thanks for the great info about why palitoy changed the toy so much :wink:

Do you know how much a palitoy land of the jawas playset complete with box and instruction cost today ? :?

I agree the palitoy death star was a masterclass, also why I have not bought the kenner death star yet. I like the palitoy a lot more than I like the kenner death star.

Any idea why meccano and toltoys also choose to make the palitoy death star and not the kenner ? was it also about the cost or did they more like the palitoy death star as we do ? :?

Click to expand...

The world and the UK was really hit by the 1979 oil crisis so plastic became very expensive. Palitoy made many cost cutting changes for that reason with the land of the jawas and the death star being evidence of a historic event.

Action Man was also redesigned at this time and made with a thinner plastic.

I'd guess with historically cheaper oil prices in the US they were less inclined to scrimp on the toys

Great comparison piece Jeremy!

Click to expand...

spoons said:

ha ha - I dont have too many playsets, but would love either of these

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