Heritage Pewter Figures: It can be interesting looking at the hobby's past, at "old" collectors and what they collected. When doing so, one will find that what was considered highly valuable to the collector of 15 years ago is often of little consequence to those of today. This set of pewter figures, produced without a license by the Heritage company soon after the onset of the initial Star Wars craze, fits into this category of collectables that fell by the way side. Though few today are even aware of their existence, they represent perhaps the first Star Wars "figures" and were considered quite desirable during the early years.

They were produced by Heritage and apparently were distributed, both individually and as a set of 15, through Star Trek Galore. The set consists of Luke, Leia, Han (a late add-on that was not present in early sets), Chewie, Threepio, Artoo, Vader, Ben, a standing Tusken Raider, Bantha, two riding Tusken Raiders, Stormtrooper, Imperial "snitch" and a Jawa; and was available in both painted and unpainted versions. A second set of Cantina band members was also produced, though this seems to be a good deal rarer.

As Heritage never did obtain a license to produce these figures, Lucasfilm soon shut them down, an occurrence that perhaps accounts for some of the draw the set once seems to have had. Its notable for its inclusion of a Bantha and "snitch" figures and as a possible pre-cursor of Kenner's Micro Collection which also featured posed metal miniatures. As the close-up images show, while not technically precise, the sculpting of these things exhibits a kind of quirky charm that is easy to appreciate.