| Aluminum Production Mold for Wilton R2-D2 Cake Candles | |
| While prototypes of Star Wars items are few and far between, actual production molds are virtually non-existant; such items rarely leave the places of their original use, and are usually sold and destroyed once they are no longer needed. Given this rarity, along with the essential role that such molds had in the production process, they're of some importance to collectors--this is significant stuff.
This mold, along with those for the Chewbacca and Darth Vader candles that Wilton also made, was nearly destroyed. Craig was fortunate enough to rescue it from a smelter, who had purchased it from the original manufacturer and was prepared to melt it down. Its nice to hear of such a thing happening--its a sad fact of mass production that such utilitarian production aids are destroyed once they are no longer needed.
Unlike most plastic products--action figures, for instance--the Wilton candles were not molded in two separate halves, but were cast in a single wax piece, with the backs being entirely flat and lacking molded detail. The mold is made entirely of aluminum, a much softer and less expensive metal than a company like Kenner would use to produce injection-molded plastic products. This is almost surely the last existing example of this mold. |
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| Description by: | Ron Salvatore |
| Photo: | Toys Buffalo |
| From the collection of: | Toys Buffalo |
| Country: | United States |
| Film: | A New Hope |
| Licensee: | Wilton Enterprises |
| Year: | 1977 |
| Category: | Prototypes / Miscellaneous Toys |
