29 April 2026
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Here is your full guide to some of the classic Star Wars action figures that might have passed the casual film watcher by but have since become iconic action figures.
Which were the most obscure characters and creatures that Kenner chose to add to the original series of 96 figures? That’s 96, including the Rebo Band and not including any variations of the same figure, hair colour, paint variations, etc?
I should also add that I totally understand why obscure characters were chosen ahead of those who actually played a more significant role in the film. I believe this was one of the key reasons for the action figure line's success, both at the time and in subsequent years of collecting.
Kids loved the weird and wonderful alien creatures, more so than old men or women characters who lacked action features and playability.
Governor Tarkin (Peter Cushing) was a key character who never got an action figure in the original series, but perhaps Snaggletooth was a better action figure choice? So here are my thoughts on the most obscure characters to make it to the figure range.
Wave Two: Obscure Cantina Picks
The second wave is the best place to start. Seven of the figures released, in my mind, mostly seemed to cater for the Cantina playset and the Land of the Jawas playset.
So our first two obscure figures in this study are Snaggletooth and Hammerhead! Snaggletooth, do you even remember him in the film? My original VHS copy of Star Wars didn’t even feature him in its 16:9 made-for-TV format!
You can still buy the vintage Snaggletooth action figure on Amazon!
It was only in a later widescreen format that I obtained in the 90’s that you could see him on the far left of the screen while Han and Chewie chatted at their table in the bar.
Hammerhead - we did see him sitting at another table for a few seconds. Did he warrant a figure, though, ahead of, say, a Cantina Band member or Walrusman’s mate Dr Evazan (“He doesn’t like you, I don’t like you either!”)? For variety of colour and alien species, I guess so, but obscure, he sure was.
The Power Droid would later have a cameo in all three films, and the poor fellow got tortured in Jabba’s dungeon in Return Of The Jedi, so in retrospect, yes, fine.
Death Star Droid, though? Debatable, since this silver version only appeared sat down in the Jawa Sandcrawler. The version we actually saw walk down a corridor in the Death Star was black, wasn’t he?
Empire Strikes Back
Next, the Empire Strikes Back series one. Bossk - only got a few seconds but did speak at least.
Bespin Guard – whilst I don’t recall this specific mustachioed character, we let him pass as he represents an army or group of guards who did get exposure, generally speaking.
But I give you…. FX-7! Really? A motionless Dalek wannabe droid with multiple arm-probing-things, and a big claw! He appears for two seconds, giving Luke’s Bacta Tank a wake-up jolt. Kenner couldn’t even find a suitable photo of it for its card back. They had to use some made-up space scene.
Playability 1 out of 10, screen time two seconds! Did he really warrant being one of the first 11 figures from the world’s most eagerly awaited sequel?
The next two Empire series then brought us Cloud Car Pilot. Presumably chosen by Kenner to help push their poor selling Twin Pod Cloud Car, but in the film itself, you only see the profile of his head in the cockpit for one second.
Again, the card back had to use a still from the archives, not a movie scene. Then we have the other Bounty Hunters.
Most of us will forgive Kenner this, as IG88, 4-LOM, Zuckuss, and Dengar, who all appeared alongside Boba Fett and Bossk and did nothing more than shuffle from foot to foot (or was that my imagination?) for a few seconds, did have cool playability and weapons.
These guys also provided two free figure promo options for Kenner (4-LOM) and Palitoy (Dengar).
Suggested article: The Millennium Falcon - The Ultimate LEGO Collectable
Return of the Jedi
Then we have Return of the Jedi. This is where Lucasfilm, and subsequently Kenner, went into a little bit of an alien/Muppet/teddy bear overload.
Let’s discuss Ewoks! Wicket was a key character. Paploo and Teebo did memorable things in the film, for example, stealing a speeder bike and pointing a spear at our Rebel heroes, respectively.
But the other five Ewoks we were offered? There’s my ‘army builder’ theory, I guess, but out of 96 figures, did we really need eight different Ewoks? Answer = No.
Jabba’s Palace: Playability Over Presence
Then in Jabba’s palace, Bib Fortuna and the Gamorrean Guards, 8D8 and EV9D9, they all did stuff. Weequay got involved in the Sail Skiff scenes. Most of the others were just filler, though.
Klaatu (in two versions!), he barely appeared in the film but did feature quite prominently on a Jabba’s Palace jigsaw puzzle I had.
Ree Yees, screen time four seconds, I remember getting quite excited in the film when Luke was dropped into the Rancor pit by Jabba. Squid Head, Yak Face, Amanaman, Barada, Nikto, like I say, filler.
They all had a playability factor, though, and that’s what we keep coming back to. Collectable representations of key film characters: they aren’t, playable action figures for kids: they most certainly were.
A-wing and B-wing pilots: the latter was particularly obscure in the film but suffice to say that Kenner would then release both a B-Wing and, in its death throes of the Droids series, an A-Wing vehicle, so they must have seen the added value of more pilots.
From Pointless to Playable
And finally, I present you with my last two examples. Both are quite different, and both extremes of playability. Our penultimate character is Imperial Dignitary.
The most useless character in the entire run! If he had fought with our Rebel droid FX7, I would have wanted them both to lose! A wrinkly, Emperor-like-faced, Cardinal-type character in a purple gown. His hands couldn’t even hold a weapon. Useless! One of the few examples where Kenner lost the playability plot.
And last but not least, (or as far as film seconds go, perhaps he is least?) I give you Prune Face!
In 1984, my schoolmates and I actually thought this guy was a new Bounty Hunter, for a fourth film, maybe? But no, he was actually a Rebel Commando and sat in the shadows of the Rebel briefing room prior to the Endor mission.
He wasn’t even in focus! But he was a pretty cool figure! Army fatigues, eye patch, cloth cape, rifle. All the ingredients of a playable action figure, and a weird alien face. Shame about the name, though!
And that concludes our study of obscure characters from the original trilogy films. If we were to examine the 21st-century figure releases, including all 11 Star Films and the spin-off TV series, we could take action figure character obscurity to the next level.
We’d also need a book to cover the topic. But in this article, I think we can conclude that about 25% of the Kenner’s original 96 figures played no significant role in the films whatsoever! Yet as kids then, and collectors now, we absolutely love them all!
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