Kenner 38140 Store Display Bin and Header for Early Bird Certificate Package | |
This is the header/bin assembly issued for the Early Bird Certificate Package. It's made of thin cardboard similar to what's used for the backdrop on the Sears Cantina Adventure Playset. Most subsequent Kenner display headers were made of corrugated cardboard. The header actually has a bottom part that is folded under in this photo. This part is almost the same size as the part with the artwork, but is solid black and only features the silver borders going down about 2/3 of it's length. This would have been folded under the items in the display box in order to keep it in place since there was no other means of holding it down. Kenner came up with the idea of this Early Bird Certificate in order to take advantage of the Christmas 1977 buying season. The certificate was mailed in to Kenner and entitled the customer to the set of four action figures which would be mailed out between February and June 1978, before they would be available in stores. The package consisted of a cardboard stand, some stickers on a sheet, and the certificate itself. The stand itself featured some perforated tear-off cards: a "space club" card, two photo cards, and a small card describing the figures offered in the Early Bird Set plus some of the other figures that would be available soon afterward. The art on the package itself was fantastic and was also the artwork on the stand included inside. Later on, that painting of the first twelve figures graced the backs of the original Star Wars figure cardbacks. It should be noted that this item was not a stand-alone piece of Kenner merchandising but rather integral to the method chosen to ship the Certificate Package, the envelopes being shipped to retailers inside the ready-to-use display. A larger, and significantly rarer, display was available separately to retailers who wanted to do something special to advertise the product. |
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Description by: | Chris Georgoulias |
Photo: | Ron Salvatore |
From the collection of: | Todd Chamberlain |
Country: | United States |
Film: | A New Hope |
Licensee: | Kenner |
Year: | 1977 |
Category: | Store Displays / Toy |