2005 early bird kit - hasbro mail-away premium (wal-mart exclusive)

early bird kit (remake)

2005

early bird figures

luke skywalker

princess leia organa

chewbacca

R2-D2

early bird promotion remake

to celebrate the release of final star wars film in may of 2005, hasbro recreated original star wars early bird kit where fans can buy the certificate kit and mail them in for four updated versions of star wars figures. this remake of the early bird kit also include display stand, star wars stickers and stars wars club membership card along with trial membership to hyperspace (on-line club). 

as a novelty item, the kit is very cool especially if you grew up with the vintage series and cannot afford to add this historic set from 1970's to your collection. as a mail away promotion it is a little pointless in today market since star wars figures are plentiful.  while the new kits were limited to just 50,000 pieces and only sold at wal-mart stores, most of the kits ended up in clearance bargain bin.  while the kit did included a trial membership to hyperspace, it seems rather expensive at $30.00.

the mail-away figures

the kit mail-away figures were sent out in plain white box just like the original vintage version. the figures include in this set are luke, leia, chewbacca and r2d2 (same as vintage assortment). while luke and leia figures are brand new sculpts for this early bird kit, chewbacca and r2d2 were retool of VOTC (vintage original trilogy collection) series. leia figure is probably one of the best sculpt for her but the figure is more like statue than action-figure (this sculpt was repackaged for the tin collection in TAC line for 2007). luke figure is probably the most interesting (from gimmick stand point not sculpt) since he has telescope lightsaber molded into his right arm just like the vintage figure.

early bird chewbacca is retool of VOTC version (he has new head sculpt) with new paint job. his crossbow include a green strap (perhaps a nod to the vintage green crossbow). r2d2 is probably the most disappointing figure in this set since he is just a repackage of VOTC version but without the tool accessories. from historical perspective this set is interesting to add to your star wars collection (though the kit cardboard which also packaged in a large clamshell case is almost 2 feet in length can be quite cumbersome to display), if you want them for the figures, most of the figures in this set can be found in other assortment (so far the only exception is the unique telescoping saber luke). the set can also be easily find at decent price (often lower than the original $30.00 retails price of the kit).

Star Wars is copyright of Lucas Film LTD, this site is a fan site and is done for informational purpose only.