Most loose vintage Star Wars figures are worth roughly $3-15 without their weapon and $10-40 with the original one. Carded figures, still sealed on their original backing card, are worth far more: hundreds of dollars for many, and thousands for early cardbacks in clean shape. A few loose figures are valuable on their own, such as a complete Boba Fett, the vinyl cape Jawa and the last figures released in 1985. Whether a figure is original Kenner, and whether its accessories are original, decides most of the value.
Kenner made the original Star Wars figures from 1978 to 1985, with the line spanning Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi and the final Power of the Force series. They were made in huge numbers and played with hard, which is why loose figures without weapons are common and modestly priced. Figures still on their card, especially unpunched and with clear bubbles, are a much smaller group.
How to tell if a figure is vintage Kenner
The stamp on the leg
Turn the figure over and look at the back of the legs. Original Kenner figures carry a small raised stamp on one or both legs, along the lines of:
- "(c) 1977 G.M.F.G.I." with a country, on early figures (G.M.F.G.I. stands for General Mills Fun Group Inc., Kenner's parent company).
- "(c) LFL 1980", "(c) LFL 1982" or "(c) 1983 LFL" on later figures, with a country.
The country of origin, called the COO by collectors, is part of that stamp. Hong Kong, Taiwan, China, Macau and Japan all appear. Some figures were made in several countries, and certain COO variants are scarcer and worth more to specialists.
The year is not the production year
The year in the stamp is the copyright year of the character design, not the year the figure was made. A Luke Skywalker stamped 1977 may have come off the line in 1983. Date a figure by the stamp, the country, the cardback it came on and its accessories together.
Modern figures that look vintage
The line was relaunched in 1995 as Power of the Force 2, still carrying the Kenner name under Hasbro, and later Hasbro retro collections copy the vintage look closely. These carry copyright years from 1995 onward, so a "Kenner" name alone is not proof of a 1970s or 1980s figure. Look for G.M.F.G.I. or LFL with a year from 1977 to 1985.
Loose, carded and MOC
- Loose: the figure alone, out of the package. This is what most people find.
- Carded: still attached to the original cardback with the plastic bubble.
- MOC: mint on card, meaning the card and bubble are in excellent condition. Unpunched means the hanger tab at the top was never punched out for a store hook.
Cardbacks are named by the number of figures pictured on the back. The 12 back cards from 1978 are the earliest and most valuable, followed by the 20 and 21 back cards, Empire Strikes Back cards from 31 to 48 back, Return of the Jedi cards from 65 to 79 back, and the 1985 Power of the Force cards with a collector coin.
Resealed cards exist: a genuine card with the bubble reattached, sometimes over a different figure. Signs include glue residue, a bubble that sits unevenly, or a figure with a different COO than the card suggests. Reseals sell at close to the loose price once spotted.
Weapons and accessories
Every Kenner figure came with specific accessories: a blaster, lightsaber, staff, cape or cloak. A loose figure with its original weapon is worth noticeably more than one without, and that is why the weapons have been reproduced in large numbers.
How to think about a weapon in a photo:
- Original Kenner weapons are small, thin and slightly soft, with specific colors for each figure.
- Reproductions are often shinier, harder, a slightly wrong shade, or crisper in detail than an original.
- Many repros are very good and look identical in a photo. A weapon can be consistent with an original, but a photo alone rarely proves it.
The same goes for vinyl capes, cloth capes and Jawa robes.
The valuable ones
Vinyl cape Jawa
The first Jawas in 1978 had a short vinyl cape, quickly replaced with a cloth robe. A genuine vinyl cape Jawa is worth thousands loose, more carded. It is also one of the most reproduced items in the hobby: the vinyl cape is easy to copy and put on a common Jawa. Most claimed examples are a regular Jawa with a reproduction cape.
Double-telescoping lightsabers
The earliest Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader and Ben Kenobi figures had a lightsaber with a thin inner tip that extended separately. These were quickly simplified. Genuine double-telescoping figures are worth thousands, and again most claims are reproductions.
Boba Fett
A complete loose Kenner Boba Fett with his original blaster is roughly $60-150, with COO variations mattering to specialists. Carded Boba Fett figures on Empire Strikes Back cards sell for thousands in good condition. The rocket-firing Boba Fett prototype was never released to stores and lives in a very different price world. Ordinary Boba Fetts are often described as rocket-firing when they are not.
The last 17
The final 17 figures introduced in 1985 on Power of the Force cards, as the line wound down, were made in smaller numbers. They include Yak Face, Anakin Skywalker, Amanaman, Warok, Barada, EV-9D9, Lumat, Paploo, Romba, Imperial Dignitary, Han Solo in Carbonite, the R2-D2 with pop-up lightsaber and Luke Skywalker in a Battle Poncho, among others. Yak Face was released on a card mainly outside the US, and the carded Anakin Skywalker came mainly outside the US too. Loose complete examples often sell for $30-200, and carded examples for hundreds to thousands.
Value table
Approximate ranges for original Kenner pieces. Condition, completeness and the exact variant move these a lot.
| What you have | Typical value |
|---|---|
| Loose common figure, no weapon | $3-15 |
| Loose common figure, original weapon | $10-40 |
| Loose Boba Fett, complete | $60-150 |
| Loose last 17 figure, complete | $30-200 |
| Return of the Jedi carded figure, common character | $60-250 |
| Empire Strikes Back carded figure | $150-1,000 |
| 12 back carded figure, good condition | $500-5,000 |
| Graded 12 back figure, high grade | Thousands to tens of thousands |
| Genuine vinyl cape Jawa, loose | $1,500-4,000 |
| Bag of mixed loose figures, no weapons | $50-200 for 20 to 30 figures |
Grading and the next step
Carded vintage figures are graded by AFA (Action Figure Authority) and CAS, which seal them in acrylic cases with a numeric grade. For a high-value carded figure, a vinyl cape Jawa or a double-telescoping lightsaber figure, an opinion from AFA or an experienced vintage Star Wars dealer is the right next step before selling.
What to photograph
- The back of the legs, close and in sharp focus, so the stamp and country can be read.
- Each weapon or accessory on its own, close up, next to the figure.
- For a carded figure: the full front, the full back of the card, the bubble from the side, and the top hanger tab.
- For a Jawa: the cape from the front and the back, plus the leg stamp.