| Unproduced Snowrider Concept Art and Mock-up | |||
| On this page are showcased photos of various pre-production materials relating to an unproduced Star Wars ride-on toy that Kenner appears to have worked on during the very late 1970s or early 1980s. The basic idea behind it seems to have been similar to the X-Wing Aces target game: kids would be able to use it to have mock space battles, shooting down fake TIE Fighters from an imaginary cockpit. But it took the X-Wing Aces idea one step further by allowing the user to sit down as though inside his X-Wing Fighter.
The first image you see above is of a piece of artwork, which appears to represent an early form of the toy. As you can see, its design is not very reminiscent of anything in the Star Wars films. Rather, it\'s blue and rather streamlined, looking a little bit like a race car. I have no idea what the SCC-42 designation on the side of it is supposed to stand for.
This second painting shows a child using the toy. The TIE Fighter image that appears to be being projected from the unit's front makes it obvious that this was intended to relate in some fashion to the Star Wars license. But given the odd look of the toy, I suppose it is quite possible that it was envisioned as a less defined production, which could be used in a multitude of ways. It is possible, for instance, that different program tapes were intended to be inserted into the unit, each of which would project a different image from the front end-- a race scene, Star Wars scene, plane scene, what have you.
But here we have another representation of the toy, which does have a definite connection to the Star Wars universe. As you can no doubt tell, this version of the ride-on toy is fashioned after the Snowspeeder vehicle that played a prominent part in The Empire Strikes Back, a film that debuted in 1980.
Back to that kid. This time, he is shown atop the Snowspeeder-style toy, but still aiming at that TIE Fighter.
Here\'s another painting, this one isolating the TIE Fighter targets. It is dated March of 1979, a little over a year before ESB debuted in theaters.
Now, here are some shots of a rough mock-up of this ride-on toy, apparently composed of styrene. You can see that, while it resembles the above snowspeederesque paintings in most respects, it incorporates the raised control panel of the blue SCC-42 model.
Finally, we have some views of a more finished mock-up of the toy. By this stage of development, Kenner seems to have opted to replace the front-projecting feature with something more akin to a video screen, which is situated on the raised control panel, between the two handles.
Another view. Keep in mind that this mock-up is almost surely not at full scale. It is more likely a smallish thing, which, when photographed without anything beside it by which its scale may be judged, can be made to seem large.
Two more shots, one of the back of the product and another showing a close-up of the control panel and aforementioned video screen.
Finally, we have an overhead view. It is a neat-looking toy and certaonly a shame it was never produced. Unfortunately, this prototype material is not known to currently be in existence. The images you see here come from a batch of slides unearthed by Chris Fawcett, web master of 12back.com. | |||
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| Description by: | Ron Salvatore |
| Photo: | Chris Fawcett |
| From the collection of: | Anonymous |
| Country: | United States |
| Film: | A New Hope |
| Licensee: | Kenner |
| Year: | 1977 |
| Category: | Prototypes / Product Artwork |
