| Side Gunner Vehicle | |
| The Glasslite company of Brazil issued two lines of Star Wars toys in the late-1980s: a film-inspired line, bearing the popular Power of the Force logo, and a Droids line, based on the short-lived animated series of the same name (in a show of good taste, the Brazilians passed over the Ewoks line entirely). The Droids series was comprised of seven figures and two small vehicles.
Here we have one of these vehicles, the so-called "Nave Estelar de Combate," a rechristened version of the American "Side-Gunner" vehicle. As is the case with its Glasslite POTF counterparts, the TIE Fighter and TIE Interceptor, the box for this toy makes use of a totally unique piece of artwork, bearing little resemblance to that used on the American version of the toy. To my mind, the fact that the artwork shows the Imperial Gunner figure in the side-car compartment, makes this piece all the more interesting. On the left side of the above image, we see the front (top) and back (bottom) of the box; on the right are shown each of its two sides. As you can see from the photo of the toy on the box's back, it is quite different in terms of appearance from the version released by Kenner a few years earlier. Specifically, it is bluer, and has a large red decal plastered on the cockpit canopy. You will also notice the shrinkwrap that is stretched around the box. Unlike the boxes for most of the Star Wars toys released around the world, those issued by Glasslite came in packages with separate top and bottom halves. Much like the boxes traditionally used for model kits, the package is opened by removing the clear shrinkwrap and lifting the lifting the top portion vertically. The other vehicle released in the line was a Brazilified version of the ATL Interceptor. |
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| Description by: | Ron Salvatore |
| Photo: | Joaquin Meier |
| From the collection of: | Joaquin Meier |
| Country: | Brazil |
| Film: | Droids Cartoon |
| Licensee: | Glasslite |
| Year: | 1985 |
| Category: | Toys / Action Figure Related / Vehicles |