Knock-Off Vinyl Action Figure Carrying Cases: Unlicensed vinyl carrying cases such as the two seen here were ubiquitous during the vintage Star Wars years. Consequently, most current collectors should be immmediately familiar with these cheaper alternatives to Kenner's series of vinyl cases. The first one is, in my experience, the most common of these knock-off cases. It bears the title Space Case and features images of several goofy looking robots. They seem to be doing some type of dance.

In my opinion, this second knock-off vinyl case is much more interesting. It bears the rather familiar-sounding title of Star World. But, even better, it features images of what appear to be bastardized renditions of Star Wars staples.

Here's a close-up showing these knock-off characters. There's a Darth Vader character, who looks something like a dominatrix and who weilds a bent antenna instead of a light saber; a C-3PO, who looks something like a smiling Oscar award; an R2-D2, a squat satellite with legs; a Chewbacca, who is a little too monkey-like for my tastes; there are even some Jawa-like creatures, whose eyes peek out from behind hood-like metal helmets. What, on the other hand, the astronaut is doing here is beyond my powers of reckoning.

Also notice how the graphical formats of these two cases are very similar-- one was definitely copied from the other. Both cases were made by the Tara Toy Corporation of Glendale, New York. And both bear text mentioning that they can be used with figure lines such as Star Wars, Battlestar Galactica, Shogun Warriors and Metal Man.