The Ewoks Kneesaa Figure Sets An Exciting New Precedent

The Vintage Collection Wicket W. Warrick & Kneesaa (sponsored) set immediately establishes two things. First and foremost, all of the vintage Kenner Star Wars cards have now been brought into the Vintage Collection. This is the type of thing that excites me. It's taken thirteen years to accomplish this, and I think it's a major milestone in the history of the line. Obviously, the episode based cards are the bread and butter of the Vintage Collection just as they were for the Kenner line. The Kenner mainline transitioned to the "Power of the Force" (PTOF) line look in 1985. We have one POTF card in the Vintage Collection courtesy of the Yak Face included with the Sail Barge. Kenner also created two line looks for the Droids and Ewoks cartoons. The Droids line look was crossed off in the Vintage Collection with the Target exclusive Boba Fett, R2-D2 and C-3PO.

This meant that the only classic Kenner line look that was outstanding was the Ewoks card. The aforementioned Wicket and Kneesaa two pack checks that box, but it actually goes a little bit further. The four examples cited above, and the upcoming Wicket have something in common: all of them have counterparts in the vintage Kenner line. Kneesaa, on the other hand, establishes a new paradigm. There was no Kneesaa figure in the Kenner Ewoks line. I've often said that the figures that excite me most in the Vintage Collection are the ones that could have been in the Kenner line, but weren't. VC98 - Grand Moff Tarkin is perhaps the best example of this. VC57 - Dr. Evazan is another. I love the Original 96 figures, but those two examples thrill me even more. Maybe someday we will get a Garindan in the Vintage Collection, but I digress.

Obviously Hasbro has pushed far beyond the Kenner lineup of for the episode based cards, but Kneesaa is the first "new" non-episode line look figure. This means all others are fair game now. If Hasbro ever decides to do a run of Vintage Collection POTF cards, we're not restricted to the 37 (15 new and 22 repacks) that were in the Kenner line. Can you imagine a Darth Maul on a POTF card (assuming Hasbro tools up a new figure)? Or what about the other repacks that kenner had planned for 1986, which included Boba Fett:


So I owe a debt of gratitude to this upcoming Kneesaa figure for opening up these possibilities. The only downside is that the Ewok line look is butt ugly. Contrast that with the Droids line look which is absolutely stunning. With that in mind, I like to formally pitch my first "new" Droids figure:

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