man-this makes me feel old! NPR had an interesting bit about the merchandising of SW-george Lucas had EXCLUSIVE rights to the action figures, toys etc.! (worth over 12 billion$!). Now, i have a question: do toy mfgs. keep their molds? Like the little plastic dolls of Luke, Princess leia, R2D2, etc.-does Mattel still have the original molds? If so, they can crank out the dolls at any time. Does this mean collectors of this crap are screwed? What good is a plastic doll from 1977 (in the orinial box) if Mattel can just start making the identical item again?
[QUOTE=ralph124c]
man-this makes me feel old! NPR had an interesting bit about the merchandising of SW-george Lucas had EXCLUSIVE rights to the action figures, toys etc.! (worth over 12 billion$!). Now, i have a question: do toy mfgs. keep their molds? Like the little plastic dolls of Luke, Princess leia, R2D2, etc.-does Mattel still have the original molds? If so, they can crank out the dolls at any time. Does this mean collectors of this crap are screwed? What good is a plastic doll from 1977 (in the orinial box) if Mattel can just start making the identical item again?
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It would be better because of age and rarity. I’m sure there would be a way to identify the age, for example by production code.
If you ask me they charge too much for those old action figures anyway. Over $100 for a Darth Vader figure? Ridiculous. :rolleyes:
As far as I know, Mattel never picked up the Star Wars license- the action figures were- and are- made by Kenner, now a division of Hasbro.