Box Side (click to enlarge)
Box Side (click to enlarge)
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Catalog Description:
HOTH ICE PLANET playset features a white molded "snow-base" with action lever to simulate mock battles. Backdrop shows an All Terrain Armoured Transport vehicle already in combat. Manually-operated elevator transports Star Wars figures (not incl., see opposite pg.) Ages 4 and up. Source: 1980 Alden's Christmas Catalog |
Description:
One of Kenner's earliest Emipire Strikes Back playsets, the Hoth Ice Planet Adventure Set was, for the most part, an updated version of the Land of the Jawas set of nearly two years earlier. The base was simply molded in white rather than tan, in order to simulate snow instead of sand. The cardboard backdrop was also changed to simulate an AT-AT rather than a Jawa Sandcrawler. Grossly out of scale and even a bit malformed, the AT-AT included an "elevator" platform capable of lifting figures up to....well, nothing, really; they just went behind the backdrop. In place of the escape pod that came with the Land of the Jawas was a tiny radar laser cannon. (Note: this laser cannon was totally different than the one issued separately as a boxed toy.)
A "Special Offer" version of this toy was issued in 1980. It included a free Hoth Stormtrooper figure and featured a yellow sticker on its box. Sears Canada offered a similar item for Christmas of 1981. It came with three free figures. Also in 1981, U.S. Sears issued another playset featuring the white Land of the Jawas base. The Rebel Command Center excluded the laser cannon piece and replaced the AT-AT backdrop with a simpler one depicting the interior of the Rebels' Echo Base.
First Issued: 1980 (ESB packaging)
Re-issues: 1980 (ESB packaging, with free figure and "Special Offer" sticker)
