Vlix

Vlix
Among all the Star Wars characters who have had action figures made of them, Vlix merits special attention here, for more than a few neophyte collectors have found themselves a bit baffled upon first learning that the rarest of all Star Wars figures was something called a...Vlix. But it's true--Vlix is unquestionably the rarest of all commercially-released Star Wars action figures. Released solely in Brazil, by Brazilian toy company Glasslite, the number of known Vlixen in American collections is almost surely below 20. The character was actually planned for release in the States, as part of the second series of Kenner's Droids toy line; but the line was cancelled before mass-production got underway. Kenner probably then sold some of the tooling they had created for their figures to Glasslite when the Brazilian company acquired a Lucasfilm license in the late-1980s. For whatever reason, Vlix was one of the molds sold to Glasslite, and the rest is history--Vlix was resurrected and enjoyed limited release in South America. Over the latter half of the '90s, collectors wisened up to the fact that Vlix had, in fact, been released, and the rush was on. Today, the carded Glasslite Vlix is the stuff of hobby legend, and stands as a sort of Holy Grail for many Star Wars figure enthusiasts.

One has to be careful, however, not to confuse the Brazilian incarnation of Vlix with its Kenner counterpart, which exists in very limited numbers as a prototype.

Description: Ron Salvatore