The Secret Origins of POWER OF THE JEDI and the death of Comm Tech 2.0

[@capybara2671]

I knew a kid who's room was lined with potf figures. But more impressively was that he used the smuggling compartment of the falcon to hide his weed.

[@SIFIactual]

Both POTF and POTJ lines really bumped up my display..I was happy they came out..wish Hasbro would new characters in all new releases..cheers🍺🍺🍻

[@georgecostanza8927]

My nephew loves the Power of the Force 2 figures. I buy him those figures from collectibles and thrift stores. They make excellent Christmas and birthday presents!!

[@maxmiller5619]

I really really really liked POTJ when it was coming out. AT the time I was thinking "It can't get any better," yet of course it did. But a decent surprising chunk of figures from POTJ hold up fairly well today. Maybe not so much in the articulation field, but their sculpts are so good some can fairly seamlessly mesh into a modern figure display without distracting. I do hope we get a remake for Tessek eventually, but I have the POTJ one in my Jabba display and he looks good still.

[@artkingofwholefoods74]

You have the MOST BRILLIANT ability to teach toy history. Thank you Mr. Specters. 🙏👍🏼🙌🏼

[@radartechnicianbob8208]

I still remember my mom cracking up at the horrible audio quality of the comtech figs. She dubbed Darth Maul Jedi Duel Darth Speak & Spell, and she jokingly said Tatooine Padme sounded like a life long smoker who resorted to an electrolarynx. Well, 15 year old me liked them, thank you very much!

[@ryanbarker5217]

no offense, but you were still playing with action figures at 15?

[@3Storms]

People can act like they're too cool for POTF2 now, but back in the late 90s/early 00s, you bought a ton of it. ADMIT IT! I know you did. I did. You also looked out for stuff like short-saber/long tray, the half-circle or full circle on Boba Fett's hand, the Darth Maul cards with the .0000 model number on the back, and other variants.

[@radartechnicianbob8208]

Hell, I'll never pretend I'm too cool for that stuff. Those were the first figures I ever got as a 90s kid. I mean, Darth Vader from the early waves may be a big beefcake of a Sith Lord, but well, I still like him. lol

[@ericlewis217]

OMG yea I worked retail at the time and I also looked for the .0000 versions. “The rare ones” LOL. 😂 👍🏻

[@Beedo_Sookcool]

Yeah, they were the best there had ever been, and I was thrilled to get every single one . . . at the time. Definitely feeling some retrospective buyer's remorse, though. Definitely would've held off buying quite a lot of them, if I knew then what I know now.

[@Pimpdaddysatan]

Nah.. I didn't care about long saber trays, short sabers, etc.. I just wanted one of every figure and I still opened them.. I also went bonkers for the 12" dolls at the time, running from Target to FAO swartz, toys r us, Kaybee toys, and even service merchandise and JCPenneys.. damn exclusives... 😈

[@ryanbarker5217]

@@Pimpdaddysatan i love the collector series, too. i'm thinking about selling my black series and picking that line back up, there are a ton of figs i'd still love to have, in particular the biker scout and ones with creatures. it was actually a really well done line, imo, the sculpts were good, the costumes generally great. for some reason about five years ago i decided i wanted as many stormies as i could get, and was hitting feebay all the time looking to score one for about $20-25. i do love 'em, but i also wish they kept their value. i spent more on the hong kong special edition back then than they're worth today. i even went out of state to an fao to get their exclusive, i think the one in particular was a hoth four-pack.

[@SlashManEXE]

Thanks for the backstory, this is the first line I really remember on shelves but had no idea of the history. In an alternate timeline, POTF2 would still be going strong today

[@GundamWarrior1]

Fans: "We want more Classic Trilogy and Expanded Universe characters." Disney: "No!" Fans: walk away. Disney: "IT'S THE FANS FAULT!"

[@CPTAnonymous]

Disney is murdering the movies, and Hasbro is murdering the toys.

[@ryanbarker5217]

yeah, how many black series did hasblo just cancel? almost ten years into the line, they have 457 boba fett and clonetrooper variations, but just now got the cantina band.... hasblo knows it's still the OT what holds this whole thing together and trickle these things out. the OT figs are going to start getting real thin sooner rather than later, there really aren't that many hot character figures to crank out, only so many stupid holiday figure repaints people are going to put up with, and a lot of collectors are starting to nope out of this.

[@Dragonrider1227]

@@ryanbarker5217there are reasons why when I collect, I mostly stick to 90s and early 2000s era figures

[@williamwilkinson6665]

Episode I had some good figures after the first wave that was filled with 4 or 5 different versions of the battle droids. .I passed when it first came out then picked them up for $2 each when they went on clearance at a computer store in the local mall. I bought all they had. I kept a set then took the extras to Toys are Us and got $100 in store credit and got the Royal starship which cost $100 so it only cost me $10 ...lol

[@radartechnicianbob8208]

Loved the Royal Cruiser! Lots of room in that thing.

[@robd1329]

What nostalgia. I remember when all the Star Wars packaging started to change from Potf (red cards to green cards) PotJ..Saga...Vintage Collection. It was exciting to see at toy shelves!

[@maxmiller5619]

I'd say stand-out figures from POTJ - for me - would be Tessek, Imperial Officer, Duros, Boshek, Bespin Han and Lando were amazing (for the time_, Dagobah Vader REALLY stood out as cool to me, Sandtrooper and Scouttrooper (for the time), Rebel Fleet Trooper (for the time), Amanaman, Bespin Escape Leia was really the first time I took note that it's NOT just Hoth Leia without the vest so I enjoyed that figure a lot, and perhaps my number one favorite POTJ figure - FX-7. FX-7 is a prime example of getting it perfect the very first time. We'll never need another one. It's ideal.

[@irish3335]

Fantastic! I remember those days of madness! Thanks for making this video!

[@seculartapes]

Personally I loved the “kitbashed” POTJ figures. How else were we gonna get a Calamari Officer, etc? The AOTC line was where I stopped being a completist. Too many extremely pre-posed figures for me.

[@manjiimortal]

Funnily enough, in my European country the Episode 1 figures were never packed with the Comm Ship thingy, and instead I think every figure (or a majority of them) came packaged with a battle droid, which was a less-articulated, no backpack, almost no paint, gun-moulded-to-the-hand of the single battle droid that was also on sale. I wonder if they did that to replace the comm chips?

[@gorrbaczow]

They did it to cut costs for countries that didn't bring back great profits, I think. Mostly in eastern Europe if I'm not mistaken. I would have preferred a Droid army over those stupid comm talk chips.

[@manjiimortal]

@@gorrbaczow Well, I'm on Western Europe, so there's that.

[@maxmiller5619]

The deluxe figures were really cool. I still display Amanaman, General Reekain, the Bacta tank, and I still use the Wampa cave pieces just with the modern Hoth Luke and lateset Wampa - though I think some of those were SAGA Ultra figures. I actually cut the peghole off that tongue Jabba the Hutt and when you do you can fit it into the mouth of the latest Jabba so it makes for a nice little alternate accessory for him.

[@dwitefry4157]

That was really interesting. The transiton from Power of the Force to Power of the Jedi was when I transitioned OUT of buying Star Wars 3 3/4 inch with any regularity so it's cool to know what happened, what I missed and why it happened. Ta, man.

[@ericlewis217]

Still have all my POT2-current together all in one display as well as a MOC set of red backs. It was my introduction into SW.

[@Beedo_Sookcool]

Fun video! Thank you! As much of a step up POTJ was over POTF2, I'm still wanting super-articulated TVC versions of Amanaman and Tessek. And U-8D8 and EV-9D9, and Barada . . . .

[@ironreaver4589]

As someone who just got into Star Wars collecting this year, it’s crazy how easy PotF2 and PotJ figures are so cheap and easy to pick up these days from different places. Local sellers ask top dollar but online sellers ask only a few bucks per figure carded.

[@radartechnicianbob8208]

I was happy to have found all of the Padmes and Sabes I lacked because they could be had for such low prices. Love the POTJ and POTF2 stuff.

[@paulfrench7222]

It is crazy. I have a bunch MOC, but given the low value I'm thinking of opening some up for better display. At the time, I bought one of every figure to keep sealed, plus doubles of the ones I liked most to open. My kids play with some and a few are on display in my office.

[@ironreaver4589]

@@paulfrench7222 open them up! They are so much fun to play with!

[@ReptilianRichardRamirez]

Easy because they are awful. I sold a box of like 60 for 40 dollars

[@white-dragon4424]

Your description for why Ep. I figures started to struggle was being, "kind". It's mostly because fans stopped buying them after seeing the film, hence why it boomed before the film was released, then started tanking after release.

[@DaBigCheeso]

Ah yes, I remember being a senior in high school and thinking buying the whole first wave of Episode 1 figures would be a good investment...and when I sold them a decade later for about $6 each and losing money due to inflation, well that was the FIRST and LAST time I ever bought toys as an "investment"

[@robd1329]

I bought them also as a sucker in the late 90s but more for fun and nostalgia. I was never in it for the money. My Shuttlecraft Tyridium and At-Ats should be worth something

[@CPTAnonymous]

@@robd1329 Toys can be an amazing investment (see: LEGO). You just went all-in on a bad line. (A "bad line" from an investment standpoint, that is. Some of these figures are great, especially the later releases.)

[@white-dragon4424]

No offence mate, but that's what doing things just for greed will do to yah! As others have said, I started to collect them primarily for fun. If they gained value later on then that'd be a small bonus, but I never did it for profit. It was fun, a hobby. I even stopped collecting them once AOTC came out, not because they weren't gaining value, but because I realised the films were crap.

[@CyclopsWasRight616]

i never owned the com tech player, but i liked the chips to help the figures stand up. Yes, I hung MOST of the figures up, but I opened some and put them all over the desk as well :)

[@spectorcreative1872]

Anything to help figures stand!

[@Dragonrider1227]

I remember seeing all this merchandise for Episode 1 and finding it exciting at first but after a while just not having any interest in it and I thought I had burned out on Star Wars. Then the Power of the Jedi line came out with more of the OT cast and I got excited again grabbing figures going; "I want this one, and this one, and..." and I had realized at that moment. No, I was not sick of Star Wars. I just didn't care for episode 1 XD

[@CPTAnonymous]

Comm Tech pro: Great idea. Comm Tech con: Didn't use the actual audio from the movie (or even audio from the actors themselves), and the sound quality was akin to using a walkie-talkie underwater whilst trying to stuff your mouth completely full of marbles.

[@CyclopsWasRight616]

i was working in a retail store when these toys were coming out. There was a cool double poster that I hung up and then i hung action figures all around it like a frame. Jar Jar was not included. I also owned that Aunt Beru. She used to get her own spot on the wall, but that was more than a thousand figures ago.

[@spectorcreative1872]

A thousand figures is more

[@sneakyskunk1]

I always wondered what happened to the Com Tech concept, and thanks to this video I now know. I really liked the '90s run of Star Wars figures, but one thing I was always curious about was why the first wave were those barrel chested 'roided out versions of the characters. I thought that was an odd choice. I should probably check to see if SC had already done a video on that.

[@adamn.4615]

I’m curious if the ComTech 2.0 chips would have worked on the 1.0 reader, or vice-versa. People who bought the first reader would have been pissed if they found out they’d have to buy another one to work with the new chips.

[@jaanikaapa6925]

That never forget picture has the wrong Death Star... I grew up with original trilogy with ANH being next to impossible to get on VHS... However, I love the prequels and really like the sequel trilogy too, even with its problems.

[@EnigmaticPenguin]

POTJ is the Alien 3 of the Star Wars Hasbro line: It's muddled, it has production issues in the final product and wasn't appreciated in it's time, but retrospectively it's very unique.

[@ciscodeer9094]

I only bought two POTJ figure R2D2 Naboo escape and Boba Fett 300th edition figure and that's it

[@ryanbarker5217]

i'm about ready to ditch the black series and go back to see if i can't finish the 12" collector series, which i was the most excited about anyway and there are plenty of pieces i would like to have.

[@RetroActionUK]

An interesting story alright. Episode I underperformed epically, but RIP POTF2.

[@maxmiller5619]

I hope the Mon Calimari Officer gets a redo someday. I mean really, just repaint TVC Ackbar and give him a helmet.

[@Daoloth]

Jar Jar was supposed to be Sith but Lucas wimped out making Count Dooku character from backlash. That is why he kept doing those amazing things. Darth Maul still most popular Star Wars character coolest design surpassing Darth Vader and Bobba Fett. Only Leia in Metal Bikini or Lando in disguise move for those figures anyways. Funny they did Aunt or some of these obscure characters like the Bar Tender from CAntina. Nobody seemed to be into that Comm Tech 2.0 kinda like NXT haha. Those image things were kinda meh. I still never used my Simpson Intelitronic tech or have any playsets other than maybe Comic Book Guy. Great another chip that isn't usable with the other tech item nobody used or owned raising cost of figures too :).

[@williamrandall9502]

I think I would have preferred a trading card instead of a comm tech chip.

[@scoutisabelle]

Me too, but there wasn’t enough room on the narrow packaging for full-sized 3.5x2.5 inch trading cards. The cards would have been partially behind the figure and look weird, unless they made the packaging bigger like Kenner’s Starting Lineup sports figures.

[@layouts77]

POTJ gave us some of the best figures ever but I seriously disliked that cardback design. I wonder what it would take to get Hasbro to release some vintage/retro figures on POTF2 cardbacks today in 2023. That would be intense

[@ZeroAnalogy]

No prize!

[@juliamenezes8053]

I was a teenager when the Return of the Jedi movie was in theatre the exact moment Titanic stayed on screen for several months so this craze didnt control my spending habits. However these characters were meant to be iconic regardless of the special effects so much hope was spent on these subjects. Its fame didnt last a long amount of time before memes replaced dialogue some people didnt see it as relevant to their own personality these groups wantex to get fully immersed in the 3D realm as a virtual reality game. I like the movies because the fashion style was becoming less hip hop and zumba related for the entire population had to be dancing or emulating kick boxing movements each waking hour of the day. Now that im an adult im urged to prefer stuff thats got more substance and could get bullied because balance is so important to the universe

[@Henez89]

The idea of Chewie with "double the speech" makes me chuckle. Commtech was such a dud

[@rodrickadamginsburg8960]

Specter Creative Binge Day 10, episode 3, overall 74

[@KasumiKenshirou]

I really don't understand why they went forward with Comm Tech. Didn't anyone actually listen to these things before they put them in stores? They sounded terrible. They didn't sound like the characters, they sounded like Steven Hawking doing impressions of Star Wars characters. Why did they think this technology was better than the old electronic battery "backpacks" other figures came with where you pushed a button and they "talked". The main problem with most of those is that they just didn't get the original actors to do the voices.

[@EdsterIII]

These macho wrestling looking figures were goofy. If I happened to see one with a unique accessory I might get it, but the figure went into a box of mine that was not seen again...lol.

[@raymondwright5996]

I thought Jar Jar was going to be the coolest. I’ve always like amphibians and saw a cool frog type figure in Mr. Binks. I didn’t see the movie before I bought the figure.

[@spectorcreative1872]

We all had high hopes

[@AnthonyBau1]

power of the force2 is the next best thing to the vintage kenner

[@Matt-fs1yy]

Hated all the 90's SW figures

[@jimgillespie6109]

I was already grown when the original film came out. It was great, and Empire was better. And then we got Return of the Jedi.... Ugh. I do prefer the prequels to the original trilogy, and I still consider RotJ to be the worst of the nine main movies.

[@ReptilianRichardRamirez]

POTF2 may be the worst line of figures ever made.

[@MrMark-hm9lk]

Episode 1 sucked.