Star Wars Action Figure Glossary
Here is a list of jargon and abbreviations used regularly on the website and in the Star Wars action figure collecting community. The list is a work-in-progress which will evolve as new toy lines and terminology surface.
AFA
AFA stands for Action Figure Authority. It is a company which grades Star Wars action figures.
Articulation
When collectors speak about the articulation of an action figure, they are referring to the joints in the figure.
Bandai
Bandai is currently the 4th biggest toy manufacturer in the world. The company is based in Japan and is known among Star Wars action figure collectors for their S.H. Figuarts action figure line and their Meisho Movie Realization Star Wars action figure line.
Battle Packs
Battle Pack indicates a multipack of figures.
Cinema Scene
Cinema Scenes were 3-packs of figures sold during the Power Of The Force 2 series in the late 90's.
COO
COO stands for Country Of Origin. This abbreviation comes up often for vintage Star Wars figures, which refers to the country the figure was manufactured in.
Diorama
A diorama is a display of figures, which usually mimics a movie specific scene.
DTF
DTF stands for Discover The Force, which was a small Star Wars action figure line exclusive to Walmart stores in 2012.
Evolution Sets
Evolution 3-packs were multipacks of figures which showed an "evolution" of the character from movie to movie.
Freeze Frame
Freeze Frame figures refers to Star Wars figures from the Power Of The Force 2 series from the 1990's, which were packed-in together with slides.
Glasslite
Glasslite was a Brazilian toy company which produced and distributed vintage Star Wars toys for the Brazilian market.
Hasbro
Hasbro is currently the #2 toy company in the world. Hasbro purchased the Tonka Corporation in 1991, which included Kenner Products and Parker Brothers. Hasbro has been producing Star Wars action figures since 1995 and there are over 4,000 figures archived here on JediBusiness.com.
Kenner
Kenner is the name of the toy company which produced Star Wars action figures between 1977 - 1985.
Kit-Bashed
If a figure is Kit-Bashed it simply means it uses various body parts which have been used by Hasbro before on other action figures.
Lily Ledy
Lili Ledy was a company in Mexico in the 70s and 80s which produced and distributed Star Wars toys. Most vintage Star Wars figures produced by Lily Ledy are unique and look different to their Kenner counterparts, which makes them attractive to collect.
MECCANO
Meccano was the french licensee for Kenner toys during vintage times.
Mini Rigs
Mini Rigs were small vehicles released by Kenner during vintage times. These small vehicles never appeared in any of the original movies.
MISB
MISB stands for Mint In Sealed Box.
MOC
MOC stands for Mint On Card.
NIB
NIB stands for New In Box.
OTC
OTC stands for the Original Trilogy Collection, which was released at the end of 2004.
POA
POA stands for points of articulation, which refers to the number of joints in a figure.
POTF2
POTF2 stands for Power Of The Force 2, which was a Star Wars toy line from 1995 until 2000. The packaging of the toys stated Power Of The Force (without the "2" on it), but collectors refered to it as POTF2 (with the number 2) in order to not confuse the toys with the previous vintage Power Of The Force line from 1985.
POTJ
POTJ stands for Power Of The Jedi which was a Star Wars toy line from 2000 - 2002.
Re-pack
The term re-pack is used if a previously released figure has been re-released again without any changes to it.
Re-paint
A re-paint is an action figure which has been painted differently compared to its previous incarnation.
Re-work
A slightly re-worked action figure means that the figure has been tweaked compared to it's previous release.
ROTS
ROTS stands for Revenge Of The Sith, which refers to the Star Wars toy line from 2005.
Retro Collection
The Retro Collection was a 3 3/4" Star Wars action figure line which started in 2019. The action figure line consisted of re-makes of the original vintage Kenner figures from the '70s and '80's and new figures which were sculpted in a simplistic and limited in articulation Kenner-style. The packaging was also classic vintage Kenner with a flimsy cardboard and one plastic bubble to keep the figure in place. You can find all the figures in this series on here on J.B.: Star Wars Retro Collection.
Shelf Talker
A shelf talker refers to advertising which decorates the shelf and promotes the products on it at the same time. You'll very likely come across this term in regards to vintage Star Wars collecting.
SOTE
SOTE stands for Shadows Of The Empire, which was a multi-media event in 1996. Hasbro released several action figures in their SOTE toy line.
Steve Sansweet
Steve Sansweet is the previous Lucasfilm ambassador for fan relations, he owns the officially largest Star Wars memorabilia collection in the world, which is housed in the United States at Rancho Obi-Wan in Petaluma, CA.
SWS
SWS is an abbreviation for the Star Wars Saga toy line, which ran from 2002 - 2004.
TAC
TAC stands for The Anniversary Collection, which refers to the 30th Anniversary Collection toy line (2006 - 2008).
TBS
TBS stands for The Black Series. The Black Series is Hasbro's umbrella name for a variety of different products, including boardgames, 3 3/4" and 6" Star Wars figures, role playing lightsabers and helmets, a short-lived die cast vehicles and die cast 3 3/4" action figure line. The Black Series was launched in 2013. Typically when collectors refer to TBS they are referring to Hasbro's 6" Star Wars action figure line. You can find all the figures in this series between Spring 2013 and Fall 2020 here: Star Wars The Black Series 2013 - Fall 2020 and from Fall 2020 and on here: Star Wars The Black Series Fall 2020 - Today.
TLC
TLC stands for The Legacy Collection, which was the name of a toy line from 2008 - 2010.
Toy Lines
The term toy lines refers to a specific look and feel of the packaging. In most cases the toy line is given a name, such as The Vintage Collection for example. Typically a new packaging style is introduced every few years in order to promote current media.
Tri-Logo
Tri-Logo is a term which was established during the original vintage Star Wars action figure line. Kenner released Star Wars figures overseas with different languages on the packaging.
TVC
TVC stands for The Vintage Collection. The Vintage Collection is a 3 3/4" Star Wars action figure line which started in August 2010. You can look at all the figures in this series here: Star Wars: The Vintage Collection.
Unpunched
Unpunched stands for an unbroken tab on the top of the card. The tabs are usually removed when employees hang the figures onto the store pegs. "Unpunched" indicates that the figure came very likely straight from a case.
Vintage
Vintage refers to the vintage Star Wars toys which were released between 1978 and 1985.
