What Was To Come

Unfortunately, the POTF line came to an abrupt halt after the first wave of releases. It can only be guessed what would have come if the line had not ended. Or so one might believe. In actuality, both prototypes and the famous, difficult-to-obtain 1985 Toy Fair catalog offer tantalizing glimpses into the future of POTF if the line had continued.

In addition there are, luckily, various prototypes and pieces of artwork in collector hands that offer even further information on where the POTF line was headed.

The 1985 Toy Fair catalog shows all of the new POTF action figures, including Yak Face. Most importantly, there is also a large layout of carded versions of 20 of the remaining figures previously unreleased on POTF cards, including Boba Fett, Tusken Raider, and Luke Skywalker in Hoth gear among others. Examples of these have surfaced over the years, and can be distinguished by both a separate bubble for the coin and the fact that they are mounted on proof cards, which differ from production pieces in various ways. POTF proof cards are some of the most sought after preproduction Star Wars items available.

There also exists two prototypes, which made it into the hardcopy stage, for a completely new figure slated for release under the POTF label; Gargan, the large dancer from the court of Jabba the Hutt. One of the hardcopies is more a statuette than an action figure, with detailed headgear and skirt but no posability whatsoever, while the other has no headpiece or skirt, but is articulated. Collector Chris Georgoulias has hypothesized that the first was intended to get an accurate sculpting for the clothing, while the latter is a sculpting for the figure herself. This is a highly credible theory as this is the manner in which the Ewok headdresses were produced. Simply put, it's an excellent example of two different stages in the production of the same figure.

Gargan Prototypes courtesy of the Star Wars Collectors Archive

There were also plans ahead for the POTF coins. A coin album was in the making as was a companion 63rd "Jedi Knight" mail away coin. The inside of the album was to hold 18 coins, including the 63rd.

A prototype for the Luke X-Wing coin exists and is about 3/4 the size of a production Power of the Force piece. In actuality, this coin is a prototype for the entire line, and thus is quite an important piece for the coin collector. If someone's interested in prototypes, this would be a good place to start. It's pretty rare, with only around 400 believed to exist, yet is still moderately priced.

Luke X-Wing proto coin courtesy Richard Cox

What's really interesting about this coin is it's tail, which is different from the production line. Firstly, there's neither a POTF nor SW logo apparent, whereas all of the production coins have one or the other. Secondly, instead of the logo there is a wonderfully sculpted Yoda bust.

There are two captions on the coin instead of the usual one. The top reads "Jedi Knight," while the caption underneath reads "May the Force Be With You". The coin's text block says:"Guardians of peace and justice in the galaxy for over a thousand years, the Jedi Knights are now all but extinct. They gained their power through knowledge of the Force." At this point, nobody is quite certain what this coin was intended for, though possibly for a mail away of some kind.

There were also several different types of coin displays at Toy Fair 1985, which were intended to sell the POTF coin concept to potential buyers.

One might wonder about the play value of a small aluminum coin, but Kenner had already taken this into consideration and devised a variety of possible accessories. Such concepts as wrist shooters, a medallion-style coin holder, a carrying case in the form of a belt, and a display frame are all known and displayed within the Star Wars Collectors Archive here or here as conceptual slides but probably never made it as far as any prototype stage.

The '85 Toy Fair catalog also shows several vehicles, playsets, and accessories that never were re-released in POTF packaging. Examples shown in the catalog to make one drool include the Imperial Shuttle, Rancor Monster, B-Wing Fighter, and "The Force" Lightsaber among others. All of these sport the POTF logo in the catalog, albeit in preproduction sticker form.

POTF A-Wing sample sheets were created, as was X-Wing artwork, but neither ever made it into mass production. The Sail Barge made it far enough into production to receive a design patent. There was also a Boba Fett role play set planned as well as a vinyl carry case bearing the same artwork as the difficult to find Return of the Jedi vinyl case.

There is a two page spread in the Toy Fair catalog that presents plan-o-gram ideas for retailers. Aside from the previously mentioned pieces that are included in the photos are two unproduced display pieces; a large two-sided rectangular header card and a beautiful shelftalker, which has the POTF "lightsaber" logo to both the left and right of the words "The Power of the Force" and a silver bar across the bottom.

Kenner had other plans for their Star Wars line had the Power of the Force line ultimately been more of a success. A line made it to the conceptual stage, that centered on a post-Jedi villain name Altha Prime and an army of Clone Warriors challenging the fledgling New Republic. Kenner had planned not only to introduce a slew of new ships and figures, but also new likenesses of both Han and Luke at the very least. Unfortnately, the line was never to reach fruition and died at the concept stage.

In 1984 the name "Power of the Force" emerged from many suggestions thrown about Kenner. Logos were created for the various names until the familiar embossed silver, blue and red logo with the lightsaber emerged.

Ten years later, the popularity of the original POTF line was acknowledged by Kenner when they released a newly re-sculpted line of 3-3/4" Star Wars figures under the familiar Power of the Force label. Shortly thereafter, ships began to appear, and even the infamous A-Wing finally reached store shelves with POTF on the packaging. No matter how much hype and popularity surrounds this newer line, it is extremely doubtful that it will ever emerge someday and become the collectible that the original POTF line has.

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