Box Back and Top (click to enlarge)
Box Back and Top (click to enlarge)
| Catalog Entry | |
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Catalog Description:
NEW! STAR WARS: THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK They crawl, they fly, they climb, they go just about anywhere! MTV-7 is a MULTI-TERRAIN VEHICLE used by the Empire to scout the hostile ice planet, HOTH. It carries one Action Figure. It has spring-loaded legs and a movable laser cannon.
Image Source: 1982 Kenner Toy Fair Catalog |
Description:
The MTV-7 (short for "Multi-Terrain Vehicle"; I have no idea why there's a '7' in there) was cool; it was like the Empire's version of the Flintstone family car. Just look at those tires! The action feature of the toy made it even more goofy: when one pushed down on the top of it, those wheels spread out in either direction, thereby bringing the body portion of the vehicle down closer to the ground. Why? Don't ask; it's a closely-guarded Kenner secret.
Released in 1981, the MTV-7 was one of the first three mini-rigs to hit store shelves. 1981 also saw the release of a "Special Offer" version of the toy. It came with a free AT-AT Driver figure and a yellow sticker on the front of its box. Then, in 1982, the back of the package was updated to include the two new mini-rigs added to the line that year (for a total of five). The "Special Offer" version of the toy was again made available in '82, though the sticker this time around was a bit different. Specifically, the order of the colored stripes around its border was changed from red-black-yellow to yellow-red-black, the product number was changed, and the pose of the figure depicted on it was altered slightly. The stickers for '82 "Special Offer" mini-rigs also seem to have been placed on the reverse of the packages rather than on the fronts, as they were in '81. The 1982 version of the package can also be found bearing a $1.00 rebate sticker.
Finally, the MTV-7 was issued in a Return of the Jedi package in mid-1983. It did not survive into 1984.
First Issued: 1981 (ESB packaging, with 3 mini-rigs on reverse)
Re-issues: 1981 (ESB packaging, with "type 1" Special Offer sticker and AT-AT Driver); 1982 (ESB packaging, with 5 mini-rigs on reverse); 1982 (ESB packaging, 5-back, with "type 2" Special Offer sticker and AT-AT Driver); 1982 (ESB packaging, 5-back, with $1 rebate sticker); 1983 (ROTJ packaging)
