Box Back and Sides (click to enlarge)
|
|
Box Back and Sides (click to enlarge)
| Catalog Entry | |
 |
Catalog Description:
NEW! STAR WARS: THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK They crawl, they fly, they climb, they go just about anywhere! PDT-8 is a PERSONNEL DEPLOYMENT TRANSPORT which quickly gets two Action Figures from one place to another. It has entrance ramps that open and close, movable laser machine guns and movable side jet pod thrusters for quick getaways.
Image Source: 1982 Kenner Toy Fair Catalog |
Description:
In my opinion, the PDT-8 was about the least interesting of all the mini-rigs released by Kenner. It was basically just a crate with two engine thingies stuck on the sides of it. Early box mock-ups indicate that it was originally envisioned as a transport vehicle for droids. (Its original title was Droid Personnel Transport.)
Released in 1981, the PDT-8 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 2-1b 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.
Unlike its MTV-7 and MLC-3 counterparts, the PDT-8 did not survive into the Return of the Jedi era. It was cut from the line after 1982.
First Issued: 1981 (ESB packaging, with 3 mini-rigs on reverse)
Re-issues: 1981 (ESB packaging, with "type 1" Special Offer sticker and 2-1b); 1982 (ESB packaging, with 5 mini-rigs on reverse); 1982 (ESB packaging, 5-back, with "type 2" Special Offer sticker and 2-1b); 1982 (ESB packaging, 5-back, with $1 rebate sticker)
