A Beginner's Guide To The Vintage Collection

5/8/2023

Are you a Star Wars fan and are looking to start collecting figures? If so, you might want to consider Hasbro's Star Wars: The Vintage Collection. In this article, we'll provide a look at the history of The Vintage Collection and give you an overview of the toy line to help you understand what it's all about.

What Is The Vintage Collection?

Star Wars: The Vintage Collection, or TVC for short, is a 3 3/4" super articulated Star Wars action figure toy line that uses throw-back Kenner-style packaging from the 1970s and 1980s. The toy line is made by Hasbro, one of the biggest toy manufacturer in the world. The Vintage Collection was first launched in April 2010 at a German Star Wars convention called JEDI-CON with a 2-pack including single carded figures of Zuckuss and 4-LOM. The set was later in the same year sold at Star Wars Celebration V in Orlando, FL, which took place in August, the same month when Vintage Collection figures could finally be found on store shelves. The Jedi-Con exclusive 2-pack was identical to the one released in the United States, except the Jedi-Con logo sticker on the front of the packaging was exchanged for a Star Wars Celebration sticker.

The First Star Wars: The Vintage Collection action figures were first released in Germany with a Jedi-Con 2010 sticker on the packaging

Star Wars: The Vintage Collection is the continuation of previous 3 3/4" Star Wars action figure toy lines which also included super articulated and highly detailed figures, and the only thing that changed from The Legacy Collection (2008 - 2010) to the Vintage Collection was the packaging. The figures stayed super articulated and just like previous toy lines TVC also included figures from all Star Wars media, including the movies, novels, comic books, video games, and more. Every figure in TVC is sculpted in a realistic interpretation, not in an animated style.

The Vintage Collection's Hiatus & Relaunch

The Vintage Collection ended in 2012 and transitioned into the Black Series 3 3/4" toy line, which continued the tradition of super articulated figures but with different packaging. It wasn't until April 2017 at Star Wars Celebration in Orlando, FL that Hasbro announced the return of the Vintage Collection for Spring 2018. The original run of TVC figures is often referred to as VC 1.0 while the relaunch in 2018 and on is often referred to as VC 2.0.

The Hasbro Star Wars team at Star Wars Celebration 2017 in Orlando, FL

The Hasbro Star Wars team high-fiving each other after it was announced that The Vintage Collection would return

The Vintage Collection's Success

The Vintage Collection 3 3/4" toy line launched one of Hasbro's most profitable business endeavors for the collectors' market in the company's history: HasLab! Hasbro's HasLab is a crowdfunding platform to bring limited-edition collectibles across different media entertainment into the hands of collectors at much higher than normal prices. The very first HasLab project was the Vintage Collection Sail Barge in 2019, which was a massive success and the first vehicle offered in the history of 40+ years of 3 3/4" Star Wars toys which cost a whopping $499.99. The previous record holder for the most expensive Vintage Collection toy was the Toys'R'Us exclusive Millennium Falcon, a re-issue of the Legacy Collection Falcon in TVC packaging, for $249.99.

Not only did The Vintage Collection launch Hasbro's HasLab crowdfunding program, but it also broke records when the second Vintage Collection Haslab vehicle was offered. The Mandalorian's Razor Crest vehicle was offered in September 2020 and after only being available to back for one day the needed 6,000 supporters were reached and the project went into production.

The Sail Barge and the Razor Crest are among the most successful HasLab projects in the history of Hasbro's crowdfunding program

Why Collect The Vintage Collection?

TVC combines the best of the best, it provides a healthy does of nostalgia through the packaging while also giving collectors state-of-the-art sculpting, articulation and paint applications on the figures. Star Wars: The Vintage Collection is the ideal line for world building due to its 3.75" size. There are small, mid-size, and large vehicles the 3 3/4" figures can interact with in addition to playsets, creatures, large and small accessories, and environment parts. It's also the ideal toy line for troop building because you can build a squad of Stormtroopers or an army of Clone Troopers and still fit them on a shelf to display.

Another advantage which 3 3/4" TVC figures have is that they are compatible with thousands of other 3 3/4" Star Wars figures released before 2010. This means that you can mix and match The Vintage Collection figures with older figures, create unique displays and dioramas, and still have them fit together accessory and size-wise.

Here is an example of how Vintage Collection figures and the TVC Carbon Freezing Chamber playset is fully compatible with older figures released prior to 2010

There have been many vehicles released over the years which look amazing on display, not only in the Vintage Collection but prior toy lines as well.

Here are some vehicles which have been released in the Vintage Collection, but there are many other vehicles which are also compatible with TVC

There is a continued effort by Hasbro to improve the design and production of The Vintage Collection. Newly sculpted figures in TVC have more articulation than before, allowing more dynamic and realistic poses. Hasbro's painting techniques have also improved over the years and where figure's portraits had painted faces in the past, they are now being produced with a print technology which adds a more life-like appearance. Have a look at all the head sculpts in TVC and see how they have changed over the years. 

Even though we have seen a lot of price increases over the years, collecting the Vintage Collection is still a cheaper option than collecting Black Series 6" figures and in many cases the 3 3/4" versions out-do the 6" figures aesthetically and by how detailed they are painted.

To sum it up, here are all the advantages which makes collecting the Vintage Collection fun:

• Notalgia packaging
• Modern sculpting and great character likeness
• Super articulation
• Perfect size for world-building, including bigger vehicles not found in bigger scales
• Compatible with about 4,000 other Star Wars action figures, playsets, creatures and vehicles
• Constant improvements by Hasbro to the sculpting and painting techniques
• Lively community
• Cheaper to collect than the 6" Black Series line

Conclusion

If you're a Star Wars fan and looking for an action figure toy line to collect, the Vintage Collection is a great option. It offers a wide variety of characters from all eras of the Star Wars universe, and should give older and newer fans something to look forward to. The Vintage Collection is also the perfect action figure line for world-and-troop building due to its smaller size and with the added benefit of compatibility with older figures, the Vintage Collection is a versatile and fun line to collect.

For a complete list of Vintage Collection figures have a look here:

• Star Wars The Vintage Collection
• Star Wars The Vintage Collection - Officially Announced Figures
• Star Wars The Vintage Collection - Accessory Guide
• Star Wars The Vintage Collection - Head Sculpts
• Star Wars The Vintage Collection - Figures From The Left
• Star Wars The Vintage Collection - Figures From The Right
• Star Wars The Vintage Collection - Figures From Behind