Star Wars Toy of the Week, Week 31, 2020

[Pomse2001]

Tauntaun:

tauntaun.jpg (31.57 KiB) Viewed 420 times

[Snaketibe]

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!

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 (168.54 KiB) Viewed 415 times

Kenner Solid Belly - Palitoy Stickered Logo - 02.jpg (156.26 KiB) Viewed 415 times

Kenner Solid Belly - Palitoy Stickered Logo - 03.jpg (106.45 KiB) Viewed 415 times

Kenner Solid Belly - Palitoy Stickered Logo - 04.jpg (71.05 KiB) Viewed 415 times

Kenner Solid Belly - Palitoy Stickered Logo - 05.jpg (57.55 KiB) Viewed 415 times

Kenner Solid Belly - Palitoy Stickered Logo - 06.jpg (124.2 KiB) Viewed 415 times

Kenner Solid Belly - Palitoy Stickered Logo - 07.jpg (102.24 KiB) Viewed 415 times

Kenner Solid Belly - Palitoy Stickered Logo - 08.jpg (134.36 KiB) Viewed 415 times

[Snaketibe]

Palitoy Solid Belly - Printed Logo - 01.jpg (158.89 KiB) Viewed 415 times

Palitoy Solid Belly - Printed Logo - 02.jpg (147.85 KiB) Viewed 415 times

Palitoy Solid Belly - Printed Logo - 03.jpg (98.13 KiB) Viewed 415 times

Palitoy Solid Belly - Printed Logo - 04.jpg (75.47 KiB) Viewed 415 times

Palitoy Solid Belly - Printed Logo - 05.jpg (56.46 KiB) Viewed 415 times

Palitoy Solid Belly - Printed Logo - 06.jpg (149.83 KiB) Viewed 415 times

Palitoy Solid Belly - Printed Logo - 07.jpg (99.05 KiB) Viewed 415 times

Palitoy Solid Belly Tauntaun - Printed Logo Box - 08.jpg (171.7 KiB) Viewed 415 times

[Pomse2001]

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!

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

[Ruby2511]

Heres mine

20200803_184858.jpg (132.83 KiB) Viewed 382 times

[Pomse2001]

Heres mine

20200803_184858.jpg

Wow that tauntaun looks nice and mint with luke, leia, rebel commander and master yoda. Thanks for sharing them

[Snaketibe]

Heres mine

20200803_184858.jpg

What a lovely example! It looks new.

Thanks for sharing

[Ruby2511]

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.

[Ruby2511]

Heres mine

20200803_184858.jpg

What a lovely example! It looks new.

Thanks for sharing

Cheers mate, I thought that when It was delivered, I'm pleased with it

[Dr_Ball_MD]

Solid belly



Split belly

[Pomse2001]

Solid belly



Split belly

Another 2 beautiful boxes, complete with animals. Thanks for sharing them, they look fantastic

[Pomse2001]

And here are the one I have

01.jpg (115.91 KiB) Viewed 339 times

02.jpg (91.75 KiB) Viewed 339 times

[Snaketibe]

Solid belly

image

Split belly

image

Nice solid belly! Thanks for sharing

[Snaketibe]

And here are the one I have

01.jpg

02.jpg

Nice to see a Kenner box in this thread, Lars! Also, your Tauntaun looks immaculate!

Thanks for sharing

[Pomse2001]

And here are the one I have

01.jpg

02.jpg

Nice to see a Kenner box in this thread, Lars! Also, your Tauntaun looks immaculate!

Thanks for sharing

Thanks mate for the kind words