| Original Art for Imperial Sniper Blister Card | |
| Kenner's approach to Star Wars packaging art went through several phases during the vintage years. The early packages typically featured shots of the toys housed inside them, usually against solid-color backgrounds and accompanied by overjoyed children. Later, during the ESB and ROTJ years, Kenner switched to depicting the toys in imaginary settings inspired by scenes from the movies. Finally, for the Power of the Force line, the company began using meticulously-painted pieces of artwork to adorn their toy packages.
It's hard to say why Kenner took this route, but they were probably trying to keep the line fresh and compete with lines like Hasbro's G.I. Joe and Mattel's Masters of the Universe, both of which used fantastic paintings on their packages. There's even evidence that Kenner toyed with the idea of using similar art on their Power of the Force action figure blister cards. Had this choice been made, it's likely the POTF line of figures would be even more popular among collectors today than it already is. Above you see one of the paintings used for POTF toy packaging. It's for the blister card of the Imperial Sniper body-rig. Of course, it depicts the toy in action, using a high-angle shot into which two of the Sniper vehicles have just swooped.
One of the cooler aspects of this piece is that it depicts several vintage action figures. Here you see the Imperial Gunner, which had just been released alongside the Sniper in the POTF line. He's just captured a hapless R5-D4 droid. Something tells me his bad motivator is about to be the least of his problems.
Stormtrooper has also joined the action. Git 'im, stormtrooper!
Finally, we see tiny figures representing Princess Leia in Combat Poncho and several Ewoks valiantly guarding the Endor bunker. |
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| Description by: | Ron Salvatore |
| Photo: | Ron Salvatore |
| From the collection of: | Ron Salvatore |
| Country: | United States |
| Film: | Power of the Force |
| Licensee: | Kenner |
| Year: | 1985 |
| Category: | Prototypes / Product Artwork |
