| Lando Calrissian Unproduced Large Size Action Figure | |
| Much of collecting revolves around putting together sets of related pieces, whether the items you are collecting are trading cards or, well, unproduced toy prototypes. Gus now happens to possess one of the most complete collections pertaining to Kenner's largely-unproduced Empire Strikes Back line of 12" figures. Not only does he have almost all of the box flats for these notorious figures, he has three of the four figures that were planned for the line extension but then cancelled prior to production. Here you see a piece that probably served as a stand-in for Kenner's Lando Calrissian doll.
Of all four unproduced ESB 12" figures, Lando is the rarest. Only one or two examples have been rumored to exist, and none that I know of has been photographed (photographs of the figure exist, but these are old Kenner file photos). You've no doubt noticed that the piece is 1) Caucasian, and 2) missing its head. It's hard to say exactly what happened with this figure. Did the fashion designers at Kenner simply dress a dummy doll in the Lando outfit to see how it would look? Or was this thing's neck at one time topped with a roto-cast copy of the Lando head? It's possible that they made a few Lando heads before the black-colored bodies were ready, meaning it was necessary to use them on Caucasian bodies. Whatever the case may be, at some point this figure lost its head. The outfit, however, is a real gem. It's missing its cape, belt and gun, but it's still the only Lando outfit collector circles have seen, and that makes it pretty special. While we're on the topic of Lando, you might want to check out the mock-up "Parker Stevenson Lando" also featured on the Archive.
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| Description by: | Ron Salvatore |
| Photo: | Gus Lopez |
| From the collection of: | Gus Lopez |
| Country: | United States |
| Film: | Empire Strikes Back |
| Licensee: | Kenner |
| Year: | 1980 |
| Category: | Toys / Action Figure Related / Large Size Action Figures |