Star Wars Follies: Second Hand Sorrows

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RetroBlasting's latest Star Wars Follies looks into the off-hand issues in the Kenner Star Wars figure line from 1978-1985. With special guests Jake Stevens from 4lomkuss.com and Tom Berges from igrewupstarwars.com
#RetroBlasting #KennerStarWars #igrewupstarwars #4lomkuss

[@jakeandzack5763]

Kenner: Makes only one hand on their figures useable. Lego: *I don't have such weakness*

[@boonsaksmasher21]

Well played

[@WCBs]

Phenomenal video. haven't laughed this hard in a while

[@retroblasting]

+WorldClassBullshitters Thanks man!

[@peyotepeckerhead4102]

@@retroblasting i just came everywhere

[@turtleanton6539]

Ha

[@dannydontgoin237]

When I played with Star Wars figures, even as an eight year old kid, I usually set them up like Army Men as opposed to actively playing with them, so their lack of articulation and limited use hands usually didn't bother me. Actually, the only thing I used to wish they had was bendable knee joints for a touch more poseability. The arm limitations didn't really even occur to me until I got my first G.I. Joe figures and discovered the genius of the Kung Fu grip.

[@scottboyer8450]

I just got home from work, fed the dog, and have a beer in hand. Its time to watch a new episode of Star Wars Follies and I couldn't be any happier. Thanks RB!

[@retroblasting]

+Scott Boyer You're welcome!

[@brett8481]

Yup, had the same thoughts as a kid. Probably why I totally abandoned the Star Wars line in the summer of 1982 (although my parents choosing not to get me an AT-AT due to price the year before was probably contributing too). There was no going back after seeing the possibility and versatility of the Joe figures (and the well written Larry Hama comic series helped flesh them out too).

[@brianomdahl8377]

I was able to do a “work around” on the original Luke Skywalker with the extendable lightsaber. I simply REMOVED the lightsaber. Then I “borrowed” one of the E-11 blasters from another figure and then jammed the .... stock?of the gun into the hole in Luke’s right hand. And PRESTO - Luke could now have a gun and could shoot it. Sure, it did look kinda odd. But it did the trick - Luke was now armed and ready to blast some Stormtroopers.

[@michaelwills1926]

I did the exact same thing brother.

[@MrAvenger1975]

Me, too!!

[@jessepinkman8821]

4:15 That Vader hand was used to block Han Solo's blaster shots in Empire, but we just didn't know it yet when the character was released. ;)

[@The_Jawnski]

"New From Retroblasting:" my favorite notification

[@retroblasting]

+Roadbuster Reviews Much appreciated!

[@billymusick]

Man, I've missed you guys...so excited to see this in my sub box...great video gents!

[@retroblasting]

+billmaa Thanks man! More videos are already in production!

[@DRAGOINTHEHOUSE]

+RetroBlasting I can't wait to see visionaries and centurions keep up the good work guys

[@edb.1577]

It's ashame they never elected to make a Death Star 2 playset for Jedi. It would've given Kenner a chance to reissue the 1979 Death Star and they could've made improvements like a throne room on the top floor for the Emperor to sit and get rid of that huge gun turret at the top which was dumb anyway..

[@bgddyphil]

cupping weequay's hahahaha. good stuff lol

[@ranwolf76]

+phillip powers please turn your head and cough

[@bgddyphil]

+ranwolf76 I laughed way to hard at that part. lol

[@Dormition]

I would always use Vader's hand for force chocking his victims, and Fett's hand for firing the rocket from his wrist guard. Ah, the power of imagination. Great video!

[@RageONTv]

Fantastic, just Fantastic. I wish Broken Vader had more scenes lol

[@troypol343]

Realistically as a kid that used to play with these the weapons were the first thing to go. My friends and I had to pretend they had weapons.

[@michaelbassett2056]

Time and again Retro blasting you make me fell so nostalgic for my childhood. Many thanks for another awesome video.

[@retroblasting]

+Michael Bassett You're welcome! Thanks for watching!

[@StarWarsObsessed]

Love your channel. I always look forward to Star Wars Follies.

[@retroblasting]

+Star Wars Obsessed Thanks!

[@jasonshannon8708]

Always happy when Retroblasting has a new video! KZbin would not be the same with out you.

[@retroblasting]

+Jason Shannon Thanks Jason!

[@aidanwilliams7568]

Long time no see retroblasting, I was so excited to see a new video from you guys, I hope you will have more coming out soon!

[@retroblasting]

+Aidan Williams Already working on the next videos. More coming soon. - Michael

[@SM_pai]

I love your videos . I am restoring a r2-d2 with para scope and a r5-d4 and your videos have been a huge help. THANK YOU!

[@retroblasting]

+Sonicminer Anytime and thanks for being here with us!

[@SM_pai]

***** thankyou!

[@dredd1981]

Best vid yet, well done guys!

[@etrangray-mane8610]

I know I'm late but I was actually waiting for the salute joke, then you exceeded my expectations. XD

[@sanroman3461]

Michael, your videos are a thing of beauty.

[@j4rp13bot4]

Yesss! I always look forward to these.

[@thecasualguy6009]

Ive always imagined the vintage star wars figures with the gijoe style articulation, really want to see it some day

[@retroblasting]

+Gman Stem That would take some serious customization!

[@woopman9937]

Thank you retro blasting.

[@FADE_FROM_VIEW]

Just read that Masters of The Universe book you're flipping through Michael, great stuff. Making my way through the mini-comic omnibus now!

[@retroblasting]

+FADE_FROM_VIEW Gotta get me that comic omnibus!

[@steelman774]

I just finished the Masters of the Multiverse (6of6) series. Good stuff! I liked it better than the Injustice Vs Masters series which was still pretty impressive idea.

[@t00lnin]

I get way too excited when I get the Retroblasting KZbin notification.

[@retroblasting]

+t00lnin I too get way too excited when KZbin tells me the processing on a video upload is finally done.

[@yvonnerogers6429]

Well there one good thing that emerged from "Solo," for you: it inspired me to watch the whole of Star Wars Follies! Picture's not a trailblazer, but my family and I had fun. It's the yellow light-saber of Star Wars movies: it's not exactly correct, but there's enough there to have fun with if you ignore its flaws. Oddly, the Force-Link ad keeps playing between your videos. Thanks for all your great content. It really makes me smile! I'm too young for Kenner Star Wars but was there for MOTU. I can't remember the one-working-hand issue bothering me much. That line also benefited from clip-on shield accessories, so both hands still had something to do. Similar clip-ons probably would've worked for the Star Wars line if Kenner had been imaginative enough. A good toy doesn't have to be film-accurate. At least that's true for me. Keep up the awesome work!

[@JackieWohlenhaus]

Oh my god, the fucking salute thing... I was snorting with laughter.

[@AkashicMoon]

Awesome...and as usual, thanks for the excellent laughs! XD Yeah, my SW figures tended to use a lot of chops and smacks with their left hands in addition to their right-handed weapons, though it kinda made sense/looked cool with Chewie, I remember...! Again, great work, and I look forward to the next #RetroBlasting! :) #BlastOn

[@peterpayne2219]

Love your videos. I honestly dropped Vintage collecting as a child, and got back into proper star wars collecting when the new figures got revised. Jawas with light-up eyes? Proper C3P0 waist coloring? I was in heaven.

[@robertsherman5485]

Knocked it out of the park, great job!

[@retroblasting]

+Robert Sherman Thanks man!

[@henrydouberly3950]

I wasn't even born until 2002 but I still love these 80s toys. They weren't oversaturated like today

[@johnwild8336]

Handy Information. Hands down your best Star Wars follies.

[@retroblasting]

+John Wild Thanks John!

[@thekillermanmurphyshow4410]

I love your videos especially your Star Wars videos rock on Retroblasting

[@thekillermanmurphyshow4410]

+RetroBlasting this is what I always wondered what happens if you give broke Vader his arms

[@strittar]

ow god the bad punz

[@joshgreen2520]

John Wild gotta hand it to you for making that pun

[@stevemcq.9911]

Oh, guys! You are sooo funny! You made my day! :-) Greetings to all KENNER fans in the world! Steve

[@derrickhollis7104]

good job as always M&M and also your guests. I give you a great big hand. hey yo!

[@retroblasting]

+derrick hollis HAHA

[@hector1011]

Yay ! Another RB video. Man, just look how much cooler Storm Shadow looks compared to all the other figures. Not only could G.I. Joe figures hold multiple weapons, they were super poseable and many came with multiple accessories.

[@No1.OriginalTrilogyStarWarsFan]

Very good video, it was carried over to some of the POTF2 figures as well, really annoying,

[@stevenmabee3232]

Yay! a new vid :) love the cutaways on this vid, Ewan Mcgregor almost had me spit out my tea ;p

[@retroblasting]

+Steven Mabee Glad to give you some laughs, Steven!

[@socialmedia4637]

With some of the figures, I used to pretend the flat hands were power hands that could shoot Force energy

[@anionhero]

Kenner just wanted to make a friendly bunch of toys. "Hey Luke! How's it going?" as Han Solo waves to Luke. "Great, Han. How about you?" Luke replies, as he waves back. LOL. Either that or that wanted to make sure the figures could protect themselves when they fell to face-first to the ground. LOL.

[@kerberos623]

Thank you, that was very funny. And entertaining.

[@retroblasting]

+kerberos623 You're welcome.

[@kevindeantonio5582]

"Karate Chop Hand..., 'Nuff Said"

[@CO2Giger]

Great video! ! !

[@NickBartolo]

At least their gun hand thumbs didn't always break off. Yes Indiana Jones, I'm looking at you.

[@samanthaadams619]

Early G.I. Joes were notorious for that as well. =(

[@COMBOY]

Tom Berges' Star Wars display poster looks cool! I think I'm gonna make one for my figures.

[@andrewgrant2990]

Thanks for another great & informative video! It would be nice if ever a toy company rep had answers to these questions though. But I do recall being slightly pissed as a kid that the weapons didn't always fit the hands properly, looking lame & goofy. Thus began the great weapon swap- sometimes even involving guns, etc from other lines. The other thing I did (sad to say) was modify the weapons- cut off straps, stocks & whatever to make them better fit. (Especially so as I was the kid who saved the weapons, accessories, boxes etc up until I moved in the early to mid 90s.)

[@JomasterTheSecond]

There's honestly nothing like the excitement of seeing a new Star Wars Follies episode.

[@daschyt2225]

as always... first class!!!

[@bgddyphil]

love it. love everything about it!

[@retroblasting]

+phillip powers Thanks!

[@logancreed1484]

+John Wild Then again, all of the star wars follies are really good. Extremely entertaining.

[@gusbaker4u]

Somewhere in the vault there's a deleted scene with Darth Vader giving a Storm Trooper a reassuring pat on the shoulder after he couldn't find the droids on Tatooine

[@retroblasting]

+gusbaker4u That's the holy grail of deleted scenes. I'd pay to see that.

[@ramsesrivera4332]

Worth the wait. Great as always. The Nazi scene killed me, Ha! Have you ever thought about making a full featured documentary on the whole 80's shabang. Well, you probably already covered most of it.

[@hmApollo101]

YES!!!!!!! Love the Follies!

[@wuebboltc]

Love this video -- your Star Wars episodes are what got me watching you guys in the first place. Btw, what is that book you`re reading at the beginning

[@retroblasting]

+Chris Wuebbolt Art of He-Man

[@wuebboltc]

Ah, thanks.

[@tylercarlson5093]

Never occurred to me that a lot of action figures only had one usable hand. Joe was pretty versatile however, the Kenner SW run were almost works of art imo. The paint apps and sculpting was far superior. Give and take I guess.

[@MrAvenger1975]

I got spoiled on GIJoe starting 1983. After that, I got very few SW figs.

[@jamalsoward8404]

I remember having the classic monsters figures. They glowed in the dark.

[@shoestringscifi]

One of my favorite RB videos! My guess is that sculpting an arm with a gripping hand that can be manufactured from a two-part mold takes more time (and thus money) than sculpting an arm with a hand in a simpler pose.

[@socialmedia4637]

The problem with 80's GI Joe's was that if you wanted them to hold their guns realistically enough, you risked breaking off their thumbs eventually. I ended up with SO many thumbless GI Joes...

[@MarcelosToyRoom]

4:45 Now think about the precision of this shot. The left hand is covering the Han's face and as the camera switches and see the other side and Han's face we get the mustache reveal. Brilliant my friend, brilliant. Kubrick would be proud.

[@brockbaby]

I never even thought about this. I always thought as a kid one hand each hand was shaped differently so we could see how they would look in two positions.

[@trooper326]

No complaints, they're all still awsome.

[@JD_Colton]

I have to hand it to you... Great Vid!

[@michaelwills1926]

I would remove the saber from Luke’s hand and replace it with a stormtrooper blaster using the knob on the end of the blaster to plug into the saber socket on the hand. It looked goofy AF but he could at least return fire.

[@MiKeMiDNiTe-77]

This was a problem with MOTU but as a kid MOTU figures usually only came with 1 accessory anyway it would of been detrimental a bit for Joe figures as they came with a lot (well most of them) of assessories and more than one gun later on..as usual great review

[@starlight381a]

Cool video, shared...I used the figures open hands to give big slaps to other characters...

[@MattDeckard]

The fact that Luke could hold a blaster in one hand, yet the light saber would semi fall out of the other for the later Skywalker editions was one of the major dissapointments of my childhood. MADDENING!. G.I. Joe in some cases... well I hate to admit it... but i could Jedi one or two just for their maneuvarability. Those figures are the finest ever made.

[@clownhead5918]

This video is fun, I like the part with their hands and Han Solo.

[@russco3375]

@7:59 Cupping Weequay's..... lol

[@stevenschwartzhoff1703]

I always thought the Star wars figures were more sleek and naturally proportioned than GI Joe etc…. figures and guess the one-handed design probably makes it easier to keep the proportions right as only one side has to be manipulated to get the geometry right.

[@JosephProductions]

4.40 Lol!! 😂😂😂

[@CaptainArrrgh]

The first line of star wars figures lost their heads so easily, that annoyed me more than the hand problem.

[@HouseClarkzonian]

Lucky Boba was seen using his gauntlets in the Films, that's how i justify the look of it.

[@LiamTheGreat]

I was not prepared for the Hitler Solo bit and laughed the house down at 7 in the morning. I'm guessing Kenner was trying to save money, seeing as there's so many individual characters in the line. Pixel Dan uploaded a PowerCon video (from a couple of years ago) with several of the guys who worked on the original MOTU line and one of the designers said how envious they were of GI Joe, with all the detail and articulation.

[@monkeybreath21]

Check out the mego Star Trek motion picture figures, they each had 2 open hands.

[@hailtothechin955]

Maybe the Tusken Raider could dual wield small blasters and hold them '90's movie gangstar style'?

[@tonyjackson1636]

The open palm was for real "Hey, hey waitaminute!" action.

[@markuswolf7884]

It never bothered me as a kid. I didn't even think about it.

[@MonsterGrove]

I got the early bird package . And i never noticed the 1 arm . I assumed 1 accessory 1 hand to hold it. I never tried to wield 2 weapons at once . I only had enuff guns for each figure.

[@keegannabors]

I love Star Wars.

[@kibagami74]

I love the Star Wars figures, but it will always be G.I. Joe FTW. The sheer posability, multitude of interchangeable weapons, backpacks, helmets and both hands being usable. Kenner got a little complacent with it's massive success and Hasbro seized the opportunity.

[@perfectallycromulent]

"At least if you were a kid who didn't care that these figures only had one useable hand you didn't care that they only had one useable hand"

[@LBDNytetrayn]

A lot of Playmates' TMNT figures were really good about this, thankfully. Not all (Shredder and April from the first wave come to mind), but a lot. I wish I could say the same thing about their Darkwing Duck. His hands were cupped so wide that he couldn't hold his included binoculars OR his signature Gas Gun. Hell, his CAPE didn't even go on in a way that would stay if you ever planned to play with it! I loved DW as a kid (still do, just not to the point where I crave an action figure to act out adventures), and this one disappointed me so much.

[@IStandForTJandTAW]

it is beautiful

[@dEnNiS_0175]

I was dying bro 😭 4:36

[@eightnickel1513]

4:00 “This isn’t Attack of the Clones.” Had to watch that a couple times to get that joke.

[@RubberTheRedneck]

I still don't get it

[@eightnickel1513]

Zack Michtels, Rembrandt when Obi-Wan tossed Anakin his lightsaber, during the Count Dooku duel?

[@RubberTheRedneck]

@@eightnickel1513 Oooooh, I pretend they don't exist

[@eightnickel1513]

Zack Michtels, What don’t exist? The Prequels?

[@RubberTheRedneck]

@@eightnickel1513 Yeah

[@TheGreatSteve]

That guy looks like a Care bear collector.

[@user-et8vm9cc3t]

Good Sir, that Nazi salute scene has earned you a like. Hilarious ! XD

[@CrimeSchool138]

My friend used to scotch tape the weapons to the hands.even the open hand FOR the weapons lol

[@redcardinalist]

Chewbacca petting lol!

[@YourUncleBenis]

Hands being in certain positions has annoyed me throughout both my childhood and(recently started)adulthood. Certain characters, it works alright, but it's worse when the figure needs to hold something but can't hold it worth crap. Example: Marvel Universe Baron Zemo. Has a sword and a gun, but can't hold either of them.

[@ryanbarker5217]

just a wild guess here, but i assume the droid hands were made that way to best accommodate the vacuum metalizing process used to put on their shiny coats. :)

[@ivanherrera7410]

Hey Michael im new on your chanmel and its an excellent channel your reviews on the star wars action figures are very detail im from mexico and i have a question for you do you have any lili ledy star wars action figure and what dou think about this company that is actually doesn't exist any more ?

[@joaomotta9652]

Hello from Brazil! You guys are my main inspiration aside from cinemassacre to make reviews,but i will review new toys,reissues and some new toylines like imaginext.

[@retroblasting]

+Ômega Nerd All the best!

[@joaomotta9652]

+RetroBlasting Thanks!

[@JestersDeadUK]

Plus the lights sabre was BLUE Kenner!!!

[@JosephProductions]

Wait a minute... Tom berges is from the documentary Plastic Galaxy!

[@bobafett1849]

JosephProductions He's also from IGrewUpStarWars.com

[@josevelador4156]

I like thinking Stan solo will make protocall droids with 4 loms arms

[@newwavepop]

maybe im weird but i remember as a kid before the Joe line came out in 82 i never really had any problems with the Star Wars figures hands, i never really thought about it honestly because they usually had one weapon and could hold it. what i remember being annoyed by was they had no knees or elbows, that may seem weird but it really bothered me that they couldnt sit down with out their legs sticking straight out. which is one of the things i loved about the G.I. Joe line when it came out, they finally had knees and elbows. of course that said a lot of the Joes bugged me because they actually came with more stuff than they could hold or carry, i actually still sort of dislike that today. i have bags full of extra weapons and stuff that i have no memory of what goes with who.

[@mws755]

I remember sticking certain guns in the hole in farm boy Luke's hand. It can be done lol