Box Back and Side (click to enlarge)
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Box Back and Side (click to enlarge)
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Catalog Description:
STAR WARS DROID COLLECTION Here's another great vehicle that DROIDS and their masters can use to patrol the galaxy. The ATL INTERCEPTOR is a DROID vehicle that--on first sight--looks very passive. But don't let that fool you. When a lever is activated in the back, wings pop down and side cannons appear on the sides, turning the ATL INTERCEPTOR into an aggressive vehicle. One that would make eevn the meanest mobster run for cover. The fron tleanding gear is also retractable. Vehicle holds most all STAR WARS DROID action figures. For ages 4 and up.
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Description:
One of three vehicle toys released in the Droids line (the other two were the A-Wing Fighter and Side-Gunner), and the third of Kenner's nominal Interceptors (after the TIE Interceptor and INT-4 mini-rig), the ATL Interceptor was basically a cockpit with a pair of missile launchers attached to its bottom.
Interestingly, the vehicle was designed for Kenner's standard Return of the Jedi product line, as the existence of conceptual drawings bearing the ROTJ logo attests. Apparently, Lucasfilm intentionally included several pre-designed (or, in the case of the Tatooine Skiff, pre-existing) Kenner toys in the animated series, in order to make it easier for Kenner to merchandise the property.
I suppose it was a pretty neat toy despite its rather bastardly origins. But I've always thought the box was really bizaare. The front panel appears to show Thall Joben inside the cockpit, firing at two Stormtroopers below. These Stormtroopers are standing on a platform that looks as though it was pulled out of the Tron movie, and they have yet another ATL Interceptor. I take it that it was a vehicle employed by good and bad guys alike. The reverse of the box shows the ROTJ B-Wing Pilot figure being used with the toy. I don't think Kenner had their Droids figures ready in time to be used on the Droids toy boxes, because all of them show figures from the standard line.
In recent years, as the popularity of Droids toys has exploded, the ATL Interceptor has gone up a good deal in value. It's generally considered a tougher find than its counterpart, the Side-Gunner. In Brazil, a unique version of the toy was issued by the Glasslite company.
First Issued: 1985 (Droids packaging)
Re-issues: None
