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Continuing my tribute to Kenner Toys, Star Wars action figures. Okay now, as an adult, I recognize that on every level of filmmaking, THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK is inarguably the best-made, most finely crafted episode in the Star Wars saga. ...But... "THE BEST" and "YOUR FAVORITE" are not always the same thing. And in May 1983 when RETURN OF THE JEDI came out, I was 11 (going on 12) and all I cared about was, "WOW!!! LOOK at ALL THOSE COOL ALIENS!!!!". And to this day RETURN OF THE JEDI is still my favorite Star Wars movie. It might have certain flaws but they are vastly outweighed by all the stuff in this movie that satisfies my personal interest and fires up my imagination.

Here's a childhood memory for you. It was the spring of 1983. My uncle asked me to do a couple drawings for a class project he was working on. A few days later he came over to our house to visit my dad and casually handed me a new Star Wars figure as "thanks" for doing those drawings. He said, "I saw this in the store, I think it's one of the new ones..."

Being a rabid Star Wars kid, I had been following news about Return of the Jedi but the movie was still weeks away from release. And I had no idea the new figures were even out yet.

So it was a totally unexpected shock to suddenly be holding a brand new figure of the "Biker Scout" (which I'd never seen or heard of before) in my hands.

...And to then turn the card over and see tiny pictures of all the other new figures in the first wave of Return of the Jedi toys. And to read their strange names.

Of course seeing Luke in his black Jedi outfit and the stunning red Emperor's Royal Guard were super cool - but I was ten times more delighted by so many crazy looking new aliens: SQUID HEAD, REE-YEES, WEEQUAY, KLAATU... And BEST of all: GAMORREAN GUARD, which blew my mind because it looked like an Orc from the Dungeons and Dragons Monster Manual. What the hell was a D&D Orc doing in Star Wars? It might not sound strange today, but in 1983 when all we had to go on was the first two movies this seemed like an insane choice and I LOVED the absurdity of it. I couldn't imagine what such creatures would do in the movie, but was now more excited than ever to find out... And needless to say, the movie did not disappoint.

This piece was drawn traditionally with inks on bristol board and colored in Photoshop.

Description

Continuing my tribute to Kenner Toys, Star Wars action figures. Okay now, as an adult, I recognize that on every level of filmmaking, THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK is inarguably the best-made, most finely crafted episode in the Star Wars saga. ...But... "THE BEST" and "YOUR FAVORITE" are not always the same thing. And in May 1983 when RETURN OF THE JEDI came out, I was 11 (going on 12) and all I cared about was, "WOW!!! LOOK at ALL THOSE COOL ALIENS!!!!". And to this day RETURN OF THE JEDI is still my favorite Star Wars movie. It might have certain flaws but they are vastly outweighed by all the stuff in this movie that satisfies my personal interest and fires up my imagination.

Here's a childhood memory for you. It was the spring of 1983. My uncle asked me to do a couple drawings for a class project he was working on. A few days later he came over to our house to visit my dad and casually handed me a new Star Wars figure as "thanks" for doing those drawings. He said, "I saw this in the store, I think it's one of the new ones..."

Being a rabid Star Wars kid, I had been following news about Return of the Jedi but the movie was still weeks away from release. And I had no idea the new figures were even out yet.

So it was a totally unexpected shock to suddenly be holding a brand new figure of the "Biker Scout" (which I'd never seen or heard of before) in my hands.

...And to then turn the card over and see tiny pictures of all the other new figures in the first wave of Return of the Jedi toys. And to read their strange names.

Of course seeing Luke in his black Jedi outfit and the stunning red Emperor's Royal Guard were super cool - but I was ten times more delighted by so many crazy looking new aliens: SQUID HEAD, REE-YEES, WEEQUAY, KLAATU... And BEST of all: GAMORREAN GUARD, which blew my mind because it looked like an Orc from the Dungeons and Dragons Monster Manual. What the hell was a D&D Orc doing in Star Wars? It might not sound strange today, but in 1983 when all we had to go on was the first two movies this seemed like an insane choice and I LOVED the absurdity of it. I couldn't imagine what such creatures would do in the movie, but was now more excited than ever to find out... And needless to say, the movie did not disappoint.

This piece was drawn traditionally with inks on bristol board and colored in Photoshop.