Holiday
Special > Merchandise > Prototype
Toys
Kenner Prototype Toys
Around the time of the Holiday Special, Kenner had in mind a
line of toy tie-ins based on characters from the show. It was
probably assumed that the Special would be much more successful
than it was, and that kids would be clamoring for new toys from
the TV show. In the end, Kenner wound up scrapping the whole thing,
most likely because the show was a disappointment. However, at
least a couple of items did make it to the drawing board or prototype
stage.
The Boba Fett Sea Serpent made it at least to the drawing board.
Based on the creature Boba Fett rides in the animated segment
of the Holiday Special, the toy would likely have been similar
to the Patrol Dewback that Kenner was selling, and it would probably
have been made to fit the Boba Fett figure that Kenner eventually
made available as a mail-away. In the drawings, the creature was
shown to be controlled via "mind harness", although this was not
evident in the cartoon. Whether or not any prototypes were created
of this toy is not known.
The other item that did make it to the prototype stage was a
complete set of the Chewbacca family action figures. Chewbacca
was the standard Kenner figure, and the prototypes for Itchy and
Malla were created by altering two more standard Chewbacca figures.
The smaller figure of Lumpy was actually built around a Fisher
Price family action figure, whose distinctive bent elbow pose
can be seen in the photos.
In the end, Kenner technically produced no specifically Holiday
Special-related products, although the Boba
Fett mail-away figure and red Snaggletooth figure could almost
count (see these sections for more details).
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