Week 5: Landspeeder

The Landspeeder for most kids (myself included) was the first Star Wars vehicle that we ever got back in 1978 or so. It was the cheapest of the first 3 vehicles produced (X-Wing Fighter and TIE Fighter being the other two), and a favorite for sure. Judging by the number of Landspeeders I see each week up for auction on Ebay, I would say that Kenner sold ALOT of these during the early years. The original landspeeder had a gear shift activated spring suspension for the wheels and hover effect. With the gear shift, the wheels could be raised or lowered. The gear shift lever was prone to breakage and you see many today that are broken; however, it was a very simple yet very effective feature that has survived pretty well over years and done again twice with the POTF2 release as well as the newest Saga release. 

The vintage Landspeeder (and later POTF2 version) also had a pop open hood that was activated by a button on the very nose of the vehicle. In many cases, loose examples are found with the seats or windshield missing and like many vintage vehicles the "glass" was prone to yellowing. My loose example was clear when I got it, but has yellowed a bit in the last couple of years. The vehicle could hold all four figures so that you could recreate the flight of Luke, Ben, and the Droids to Mos Eisley. 

The Landspeeder was only produced in Star Wars packaging. In 1978, it was also offered in a Special Offer packaging that included a free C-3PO and R2-D2 figures packed inside. It was never released in a ESB box or beyond, but it did make a return in 1983 in the "Star Wars Collector Series" box.

Since we are talking about the Landspeeder, I thought I would go ahead and mention the Sonic Controlled Landspeeder too. I do not have one myself and as a matter of fact, I dont even recall this vehicle back when I was a kid. This toy was sold exclusively through the JC Penneys catalogs of 1978 through 1980. 

The vehicle operated by using a sound activated clicker shaped like R2-D2 similar to old TV clickers used way back in the day. My grandmother use to have a TV that had one of these clicker remotes and sometimes if you jangled a set of car keys just right it would cut the TV off or on. I wonder if the same would work on the Sonic Landspeeder?? Anyway, you would click the clicker and the vehicle would reverse directions. That is about it. The vehicle was very prone to malfunction which is probably why it was somewhat limited in distribution. As a result, there are not nearly as many Sonics available as the original and it is much harder to find and much more pricier. As you can see from the pics the Sonic Landspeeder was much bulkier than the original to accomidate the electronics and batteries.

Sonic:

The original Landspeeder is very common and loose examples in very good complete condition can be found for $20 or less. A mint in sealed box landspeeder will cost between $50 and $100 (based on completed auction search on Ebay). The Sonic Landspeeder will cost much more. I couldnt find many completed auctions, but I found a loose complete one that sold for $125 and a boxed example that sold for just over $450!! Boxed pictures and loose Sonic Landspeeder pics taken from www.12-back.com and www.toysrgus.com Additional info provided by both sites as well. 

Next week, I will return to figures and with the help of Rik Biel we will talk alittle about C-3PO. 

 

 Thanks for reading!