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The Star Wars mini-rigs provided a great way of beefing up a Star Wars collection on a budget. However, very few of them bore much relation to any of the films. Some came from Star Wars cartoons and others were later appropriated by off-shoot cartoons. The Vehicle Maintenance Energiser fits nicely with Echo Base, and the Ewok Catapult and Glider we actually see on Endor in Return of the Jedi. INT-4 however just seems like a generic, angular one-man spaceship and MTV-7 (the Multi-Terrain Vehicle), looks like a glorified miniature tractor with a gun on the front. The PDT-8 mini-rig (Personnel Deployment Transport) does feel somewhat in keeping with Echo Base and the vehicles used to get about the hangars. MLC-3 (Mobile Laser Cannon) is another misfit and completely unsuited to the terrain of Hoth. We wanted them nevertheless because they had the Star Wars name on them and they were all we had.

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As for the AST-5. (Armored Sentinel Transport), just what is it? It just doesn't seem to fit anywhere with the feel of Jabba's Palace or Skiffs. It's a bit of an anomaly and the cockpit is somewhat reminiscent of a coffin with the window. The ISP-6 (Imperial Shuttle Pod) is great. As a smaller version of the 1984 Imperial Shuttle it has a feel of authenticity to the films and provided a suitable substitute for anyone who didn't have the money or space for the full scale Imperial Shuttle. The difficulty with ISP-6 was deciding who should pilot it. Kenner were obviously a little unsure themselves as the box shows Darth Vader sat in the cockpit surrounded by Emperor's Royal Guards and even more confusingly by a Hoth Snow Trooper. The box suggests quite an incoherent toy, but the toy itself lends itself well to the context of The Return of the Jedi. The box art of CAP-2 is also a little confused with Bossk carrying a Hoth Rebel Commander as his prisoner and the Stormtroopers carrying Hoth Snow Trooper rifles. By contrast all the other mini-rig box art seems to be in context. (See Carlton Star Wars Toys: A Super Collector's Wish Book, page 27).

And what on earth was the Endor Forest Ranger for? Its rotating gun arms are presumably moveable so that it can adjust to the terrain and avoid crashing into trees every two minutes, but if Speeder Bikes struggle to navigate the forest floor, then this one man wagon wheel stands even less of a chance. It's an impractical way to get about. In fact, I think the word impractical is the one that best sums up many of the mini-rigs, from the awkwardness of CAP-2 to the bug-eyed angularity of INT-4 with a cockpit hatch which looked like a glorified manhole.

And then in the dying swansong of mid-1980s Star Wars merchandising came the mostly deplorable body-rigs. I say mostly deplorable because the Sand Skimmer is a little triumph and actually more of a mini-rig than body-rig. You can completely imagine it darting in and out of range at the battle over the Sarlaac Pit (AKA Battle of the Great Pit of Carkoon). The Sand Skimmer, although it looks like it belongs on Tatooine, actually made an appearance on Tammuz-an in the Star Wars Droids cartoon in the episode The Pirates and the Prince. I never owned this terrific little toy, but I intend to if I can find a bargain (they sell for substantial amounts of money these days). The Imperial Sniper and Security Scout though just reek of desperation and of a toy franchise which had temporarily lost its way.

One explanation for the release of the first mini-rigs after The Empire Strikes Back is the increase in the price of plastic in the early 1980s (see http://www.starwars.com/news/offscreen-but-not-forgotten-mini-rigs-body-rigs-and-other-kenner-vehicles) but this doesn't quite gel with the release of leviathans such as the AT-AT, Rebel Troop Transport or Darth Vader's Star Destroyer Playset, not to mention the Y-Wing Fighter. The Empire Strikes Back took us by storm with the number of large purchases it asked of us, as compared to A New Hope. This was especially true in the UK where we had been barely even aware of the earlier release of the Death Star Playset or Jawa remote-controlled Sandcrawler.

• AST-5 Armored Sentinel Transport
• CAP-2 Captivator
• Ewok Catapult
• Ewok Glider
• INT-4 Interceptor
• ISP-6 Imperial Shuttle Pod
• MLC-3 Mobile Laser Canon
• MTV-7 (Multi-Terrain Vehicle)
• One-Man Sail Skiff
• PDT-8 Personnel Deployment Transport
• Radar Laser Cannon
• Speeder Bike
• Tripod Laser Cannon
• Vehicle Maintenance Energiser

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All Star Wars action figures, vehicles, collectibles and Star Wars toys shown on this website are the 3.75 inch scale and from my own private Star Wars collection unless otherwise stated. Where possible original vintage accessories have been used but in some instances I have placed Kenner Star Wars figures with either reproduction weapons and accessories or for Hasbro figures close approximations have been used. This is mostly the case for modern Star Wars lightsabers where the correct item can be very difficult to identify on some ocassions. Vintage Star Wars action figures are shown with their original weapon or accessory when I have them. When a vintage Kenner action figure is shown with an accessory which is not original I have tried to point this out where possible.

All of the Star Wars action figures shown were purchased second hand, usually incomplete, and in bulk. They have been reunited with their original weapons and accessories where we could get hold of them.

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