Force fact:

Now things start to get very interesting regarding the backs. The Star Wars D back is actually released during The Empire Strikes Back and not as a first release but after 2 or maybe 3 waves of figures have been released. The major change is that this is a 12 C Back with an additional sticker on the back show Collect All 32 Figures which includes the first 11 figures of the new movie. The purpose or reason for this release is unknown but most likely Kenner found left over cards and, not to waste any material, simply released them with the sticker on the back. Interestingly the four figures that are found most from this wave are the four figures from the Early Bird Kit which has led to speculation that this is just left over inventory found in a warehouse. However other figures than those four have been found on this cardback but they are quite rare to find not that the first four are easy to find, they are not. Anyway this is the first of the unusual and more odd of the Kenner releases.

• Force fact:
  • The 12 C Back is next on our list. The C’s only change is again in the How to Work area. The instructions for the Lightsabers has changed reflecting a manufacturing alteration at Kenner. The original Lightsabers were designed to be “Double Telescoping” meaning the outer shaft came out and an inner shaft was then pulled out even further. This proved both overly costly and fragile so Kenner dropped this concept very early on. That has made the DT figures, as they are known, quite rare and difficult to come by. Luke is by far the easiest to find of the three but is still a difficult one to get.

  Darth Vader and Ben Kenobi are virtually impossible to find. Fakes abound on these Lightsabers so be very wary when you see one offered for sale.

Force fact:

• The offer on the Collectors Display Stand had been changed including a second way to acquire it with no money and 12 Proof of Purchases.  These Proof of Purchases were to become a marketing phenomena. Kenner puts these Proof of Purchases (or POP as they are referred to in the hobby), the small circular blue and white image in the bottom right corner, to be cut out and mailed in for new toys and this was the first example of their use.
  • The 12 B Back is the second of the 12 Back series from 1978. The 12 B had a few changes from the A.

  Additionally the Lightsaber artwork in Luke’s arm is a tad longer in the How to Work area.

Force fact: These were the very first Kenner Star Wars Action Figures to be released. The back shows the original 12 figures as well as the early vehicles and the Mail In Collectors Action Stand. Kenner used artwork rather than pictures of the toys themselves for all but the Display Stand. The Star Wars figures in 1978 were the only ones depicted this way on the back of the cards. From 1979 onward the toys themselves would be pictured rather than artwork renderings.

Please note there is a variation on the 12 A, just to make things more confusing.  It has nothing to do with the card itself but the earliest release of this batch had the SKU number printed on the footer underneath the figure itself inside the bubble.  These are referred to as 12A SKU releases.

These figures, as well as the other Kenner Star Wars toys, combined to make this the most successful movie related toy line ever. The Action Figures from the 12 Back releases sold a staggering 26,000,000 units in 1978 alone. Unheard of success for a toy line with similar amazing results to come for the next decade.