SWTOTW, Week 31, 2020 Tauntaun
- Thread starter Pomse2001
- Start date
The solid belly Tauntaun. It might have been the original, but from a play standpoint, it's undeniably not the best. It's curious to me that Kenner didn't make the split belly Tauntaun from the outset, since it so obviously has more play value than the solid belly one. I can only assume this was because Kenner were probably working off early production notes / photos, and didn't realise the major Luke-saving potential of having a kids toy that could almost literally spill its guts to save the young Skywalker by stuffing him inside it 
Regardless of when they made the running change to the split belly version however, Kenner began with the good old solid belly Tauntaun, and I must say, despite its inferiority in the play department, it's also not without its charm. Not that we knew it back then in the 80's of course, but for one thing the solid belly Tauntaun's belly is far less likely to have a weird discoloured rectangle in the centre of it 40 years later. More importantly however, on a personal level, this was the Tauntaun I bought first. I may have been annoyed at the time when the split belly version came out and diminished mine in my child's eyes, but nostalgia is a powerful thing (and they don't make nostalgia like they used to), and this was the version I owned first, and despite its flaws, these days primarily for that reason, it's also the version I like best.
As for the toy's packaging, it's worth noting for those that don't know, that the solid belly Tauntaun's box is a fair bit larger than the later split belly version's. Yep, even though the beasts, sorry, mammals (as per the box!) are identical in size, the packaging shrunk considerably come the later split belly version. And because of the larger box it came in, the inner packaging for the solid belly version is also larger than its split belly counterpart's.
But that's not all, because here in the UK, we got both a version of the solid belly Tauntaun with a printed Palitoy logo on the box, and an imported Kenner logo version which simply had Palitoy stickers slapped over the Kenner logos on all 6 sides of the box... often fairly crookedly too, it must be said! :lol:
And lastly, unlike the later split belly version for which Kenner deemed instructions necessary to show kids exactly how to shove Luke inside the thing, the solid belly Tauntaun came without instructions, because the picture on the back of the box did that job perfectly satisfactorily!
Anyway, here are my two. Firstly, a Stickered Palitoy logo version, and then a printed Palitoy logo version:
Regardless of when they made the running change to the split belly version however, Kenner began with the good old solid belly Tauntaun, and I must say, despite its inferiority in the play department, it's also not without its charm. Not that we knew it back then in the 80's of course, but for one thing the solid belly Tauntaun's belly is far less likely to have a weird discoloured rectangle in the centre of it 40 years later
. More importantly however, on a personal level, this was the Tauntaun I bought first. I may have been annoyed at the time when the split belly version came out and diminished mine in my child's eyes, but nostalgia is a powerful thing (and they don't make nostalgia like they used to), and this was the version I owned first, and despite its flaws, these days primarily for that reason, it's also the version I like best.As for the toy's packaging, it's worth noting for those that don't know, that the solid belly Tauntaun's box is a fair bit larger than the later split belly version's. Yep, even though the beasts, sorry, mammals (as per the box!) are identical in size, the packaging shrunk considerably come the later split belly version. And because of the larger box it came in, the inner packaging for the solid belly version is also larger than its split belly counterpart's.
But that's not all, because here in the UK, we got both a version of the solid belly Tauntaun with a printed Palitoy logo on the box, and an imported Kenner logo version which simply had Palitoy stickers slapped over the Kenner logos on all 6 sides of the box... often fairly crookedly too, it must be said! :lol:
And lastly, unlike the later split belly version for which Kenner deemed instructions necessary to show kids exactly how to shove Luke inside the thing, the solid belly Tauntaun came without instructions, because the picture on the back of the box did that job perfectly satisfactorily!
Anyway, here are my two. Firstly, a Stickered Palitoy logo version, and then a printed Palitoy logo version:
Snaketibe said:The solid belly Tauntaun. It might have been the original, but from a play standpoint, it's undeniably not the best. It's curious to me that Kenner didn't make the split belly Tauntaun from the outset, since it so obviously has more play value than the solid belly one. I can only assume this was because Kenner were probably working off early production notes / photos, and didn't realise the major Luke-saving potential of having a kids toy that could almost literally spill its guts to save the young Skywalker by stuffing him inside it
Regardless of when they made the running change to the split belly version however, Kenner began with the good old solid belly Tauntaun, and I must say, despite its inferiority in the play department, it's also not without its charm. Not that we knew it back then in the 80's of course, but for one thing the solid belly Tauntaun's belly is far less likely to have a weird discoloured rectangle in the centre of it 40 years later
As for the toy's packaging, it's worth noting for those that don't know, that the solid belly Tauntaun's box is a fair bit larger than the later split belly version's. Yep, even though the beasts, sorry, mammals (as per the box!) are identical in size, the packaging shrunk considerably come the later split belly version. And because of the larger box it came in, the inner packaging for the solid belly version is also larger than its split belly counterpart's.
But that's not all, because here in the UK, we got both a version of the solid belly Tauntaun with a printed Palitoy logo on the box, and an imported Kenner logo version which simply had Palitoy stickers slapped over the Kenner logos on all 6 sides of the box... often fairly crookedly too, it must be said! :lol:
And lastly, unlike the later split belly version for which Kenner deemed instructions necessary to show kids exactly how to shove Luke inside the thing, the solid belly Tauntaun came without instructions, because the picture on the back of the box did that job perfectly satisfactorily!
Anyway, here are my two. Firstly, a Stickered Palitoy logo version, and then a printed Palitoy logo version:
Kenner Solid Belly - Palitoy Stickered Logo - 01.jpg
Kenner Solid Belly - Palitoy Stickered Logo - 02.jpg
Kenner Solid Belly - Palitoy Stickered Logo - 03.jpg
Kenner Solid Belly - Palitoy Stickered Logo - 04.jpg
Kenner Solid Belly - Palitoy Stickered Logo - 05.jpg
Kenner Solid Belly - Palitoy Stickered Logo - 06.jpg
Kenner Solid Belly - Palitoy Stickered Logo - 07.jpg
Kenner Solid Belly - Palitoy Stickered Logo - 08.jpg
Thanks mate for all the great info as always
2 beautiful palitoy boxes complete with inserts. Thanks for sharing them. I never understood why kenner made 2 different tauntaun :lol:
Ruby2511 said:Heres mine
20200803_184858.jpg
What a lovely example! It looks new.
Thanks for sharing
Ruby2511
Sith Lord
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Pomse2001 said:Ruby2511 said:Heres mine
20200803_184858.jpg
Wow that tauntaun looks nice and mint with luke, leia, rebel commander and master yoda. Thanks for sharing them
Thanks Lars, need to have a bit of order bought back to my collection, feel a couple of dioramas are in order.
Solid belly
Split belly
Split belly
Dr_Ball_MD said:
Nice solid belly! Thanks for sharing
Pomse2001 said:
Nice to see a Kenner box in this thread, Lars! Also, your Tauntaun looks immaculate!
Thanks for sharing
