| Conceptual Artwork for Kenner Switcheroos | |
| Long before a toy was prototyped in three-dimensional form, Kenner typically created 2-D concept images to use at in-house presentations, product pitches, and similar events. Here you see some early artwork meant to represent the ESB-era line of light switch covers known as Switcheroos.
As you can probably tell, it consists of several paper cut-outs onto which images of R2-D2, Darth Vader and C-3PO have been rendered in paint and marker. These cut-outs have been mounted on a piece of black paper drawn from a designer portfolio. I would not be at all surprised if these decorated cut-outs are the very ones on display in the concept art seen here. At some point they were probably removed from their old base and placed on this new black one. The awesome '80s-style bubble text is probably also identical to the one seen in the above link.
Here's a close-up. Each cut-out is strategically perforated so as to allow day-glo paper to show through. There are also some glow-in-the-dark elements, which matches up with a feature present on the production models. |
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| Description by: | Ron Salvatore |
| Photo: | Ron Salvatore |
| From the collection of: | Ron Salvatore |
| Country: | United States |
| Film: | Empire Strikes Back |
| Licensee: | Kenner |
| Year: | 1981 |
| Category: | Prototypes / Product Concepts |
