| Conceptual Model for Unproduced Mini-Rig | |
| Kenner's line of small-scale "mini-rig" vehicles was designed in order to offer consumers a low-cost alternative to the company's many large scale action figure vehicles. Even though none of these toys was seen on film, they were designed to look as though they could have been present just off camera. These photos show an a mini-rig concept that, unfortunately, never made it into production. It's particularly interesting because its play features tie into another Kenner toy, the large Millennium Falcon vehicle.
As you can see from this second photo, the little vehicle was designed to fit perfectly between the Falcon's forward mandibles. For Kenner, part of the attraction of such a toy would have been its ability to bring new life to what was then a pretty old product.
Here's a profile shot. The vehicle you see in these photos is a hand-made model, made to demonstrate the concept in three-dimensional form. It looks to have been made of sheet styrene, foam coar and various parts of existing Kenner toys. If you look closely, you'll notice that those wing guns are actually modified Snowspeeder cannons.
Here you see the back...
...and the front. The mini-rigs seem to have been quite popular among certain Kenner designers, a fact which probably shouldn't be too surprising. The guys who worked on the Kenner Star Wars line invested a ton of time interpreting George Lucas' film vision into toy form. It must have been a blast to finally have been able to design some pieces of the Star Wars galaxy on their own! |
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| Description by: | Ron Salvatore |
| Photo: | Anonymous |
| From the collection of: | Anonymous |
| Country: | United States |
| Film: | A New Hope |
| Licensee: | Kenner |
| Year: | 1977 |
| Category: | Prototypes / Product Concepts |
