Vintage Star Wars Dagobah playset repairs: Swamp Foam and Crates - Toy Polloi

The vintage Star Wars Dagobah playset has a couple of very common missing pieces. The swamp foam will have disintegrated over the years and the crates and levitation cylinder are long gone.
So today I show you how to make some replacement foam and get new crates to complete the set and get it displayable again.
#starwars #restoration #vintagetoys
Get the 3D files for the crates here: www.thingiverse.com/thing:224...
Make your own Dagobah version of R2 here: • 5 Min Custom Vintage S...
0:00 Intro
1:05 Taking dagobah apart
2:40 Cleaning
3:21 Replacement foam
15:12 Replacement crates
19:34 Rebuilding Dagobh
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[@daveyardbird7430]

I’ve learned so much from your videos over the years and I finally have a tip for you! The best way to cut foam is with an electric carving knife. The sawing action allows you to cut the foam without squishing it which can distort the shape you are trying to cut.

[@BennyLlama39]

Would that work on styrofoam?

[@geekstrong1]

Before Covid I was the ebay seller that sold a replacement felt swamp on ebay for a few years and helped out a lot of collectors.. great job and great videos

[@theebigda]

A native of Wisconsin, Stephen Geddes joined Kenner as an in-house sculptor in 1977, which coincided with Kenner’s acquisition of the toy rights for “Star Wars.” As a result, his early work involved sculpting, mold making, and casting hard copies for the Star Wars line. His first project was the Dianoga Trash Monster. Over the next few years, he would sculpt Walrus Man, the Tauntaun, the Dewback, Hoth Luke, the Hoth Rebel Soldier, Han Solo, the Dagobah playset, Lando Calrissian, the Rancor, Luke Jedi, and Chief Chirpa Ewok among many others. He also worked on other Kenner lines including Raiders of the Lost Ark, Strawberry Shortcake, Care Bears, and Alien. Geddes left Kenner in 1985 to freelance in the toy and product industry. In addition to Kenner’s Jurassic Park line he worked for LJN -ThunderCats, Amtoy - Mad Balls, and Hasbro - GI Joe and Indiana Jones. In 1995 he joined the newly formed Warner Brothers Toy Company, which eventually became the freestanding company N2. He focused on collectible lines included Starting Lineup, Sports Warriors, Space Jam, Hardened Movie Heroes, Frazetta Figurines, and Looney Tunes. He earned a B.S. degree in Art Education from the University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse. After two years teaching secondary art he accepted an assistantship in the Sculpture Department at Ohio University in Athens OH. Upon receiving an MFA in Sculpture he worked with the Kentucky Commission On The Arts in an “Artist in the Schools” program. At home in New Jersey, he is still sculpting figures for the next generation of toy entrepreneurs.

[@MichaelCarroll]

The foam works brilliantly, especially with the mud-spattered R2 -- excellent work, as always!

[@toypolloi]

Thank you very much!

[@ToySurprisevintage]

Fab set and fab repairs. I enjoyed this playset greatly in the early 80s and used it for the ewoks as well

[@dattallaudiophile236]

22:21 Nice! Detachable head Darth Vader for your Yoda house playset. I like it.

[@toypolloi]

You can see him being made here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/lYC0dY2Jqt2rr6s

[@andrekramer6608]

Came here so say that. :D

[@dattallaudiophile236]

@@toypolloi Yeah I already saw the video, another one of your great fixes. And the figure does have a place there, couldn't be more appropriate hahaha.

[@PedroGonzalez-yf6pg]

I was able restore my Dagobah playset. A new swamp foam was added when I bought it though Ebay. The foam was blue so I painted brown. The crates and the cylinder for R2 were repos. Like you I painted them. And the branch and force lever are original. Now my set is complete. Thank you always!

[@toypolloi]

Very cool!

[@jeditempletoys6073]

My foam replacement turned out perfect! Thanks again toy polloi! Yodas home looks so much better in my display now.

[@toypolloi]

Great to hear!

[@luvz2reed]

That coffee-dyed foam looked spot on!

[@UsualmikeTelevision]

Fantastic video! Soon as I saw playset I clicked it straight away!

[@BlackieNuff]

I would love to see the Dagobah set get a total makeover with lots of brown, green, black and rusty colored paints, to give the base and the stump more of an authentic "swampy foliage" look... maybe even glue a little bit of that green stuff used for "lawns" on train sets, to create mossy patches... maybe some green/brown/etc thread and other stringy materials for vines and such... maybe even some bits & chips of balsa wood (or any wood really) ...

[@toytantrumretroandvintaget7756]

This is a great little set. Does a few great gimmicks and is a house for Yoda :)

[@destinycaptain247]

You may also have some luck smoothing out the filament printed pieces by brushing on thin layers of acetone...

[@oele]

i really was into this set as a kid. yoda ging to sleep or eat was the best!

[@kek23k]

So much molded detail in the base, I can remember finding snakes and lizards moulded in there as a kid.

[@eltenda]

Cool restoration project

[@billpagan3070]

Amazing job Dave! Great little set!👍😁

[@TimePortalToys]

Love it! Brilliant work as always!

[@chookskapow]

Love it! First time seeing the Degoba set. Never knew it existed.

[@Tim-57]

Thanks Dave.

[@scubapete9500]

What a foam fix! 😎

[@AllysonA8281]

Replacing the foam really makes all the difference on this playset. I’ve always thought Dagobah was extremely versatile for such a simple construction. It really does allow you to recreate all the scenes that take place there in the films. Excellent restoration as always, Dave!👍

[@JonathanMedd]

Great video. Will definitely be looking out for one of these playsets now.

[@RMAILLER]

I never had that playset but I played with it, my neighbor had it, great repair!!!

[@Portal2099]

Thanks for posting this on my birthday, what a great gift!

[@toypolloi]

Happy birthday!

[@billpagan3070]

Happy Birthday! Today is also Dan Larson from Toy Galaxy’s birthday!👍😁

[@Portal2099]

@@billpagan3070 His is the 23rd? Mine is 22nd, me and Dan get a Toy Polloi gift! :D And thank you.

[@Portal2099]

@@toypolloi Thanks!

[@billpagan3070]

@@Portal2099 Well that is awesome!👍😁

[@raccabird8889]

Awesome 🤘

[@chanon07]

You’re amazing, man.

[@antman2919]

Thanks Dave, I must remember to keep packaging foam next parcel I get and try this.

[@SQLJedi]

Absolutely beautiful job Dave. Love your videos. Keep up the great work

[@toypolloi]

Thanks 👍

[@DarrensToychannel]

Looks awesome dave

[@seanlavoie2]

Pretty cool results :) The custom R2D2 sticker(s) look even better with the play set.

[@mikesmith2718]

Did the same thing for the foam a year ago but didnt think to use a hole punch that's genius. The levitation plug for r2d2 is the only piece I'm missing and I've been searching for awhile with no luck . Excellent restoration and I'm glad you made the sticker available for muddy r2 I loved making that custom . Thanks

[@1205neil]

You can learn so much from your videos. And I can’t wait to put a stronger spring in my ram man that was awesome

[@toypolloi]

Glad to help

[@metalmadsen]

That was awesome 😸

[@kingerikthegreatest.ofall.7860]

Well done .

[@KreedsToyCollection]

Dave! This is exactly what I needed, man! Have the replacement foam and just started taking my Dagobah apart to clean and restore it. The ring on the bottom was is annoying, I was afraid I’d break it but now I see it can be removed. Thanks!

[@toypolloi]

Glad I could help!

[@grimmace2131]

One of the few playsets I had, thanks to a garage sale. By the time I got it, the mud foam had greyed so far, it was close to the light tan of the base. Means your unpainted foam looked almost exactly what I remember. 😆

[@barryrice157]

Every time I see a star wars play set I'm transported back 40 something years. I can still feel the excitement of playing with them and seeing the ads on TV. Toys then encouraged us to use our imaginations, something which I think is missing today.

[@soyomero1]

Great video!

[@francoisregis2155]

Cool as usual a very interesting video

[@danlozza]

A good trick for cutting foam I saw an upholsterer do: use one of those old electric knives that you would see to cut a nice piece of roast beef. Spray the knife with some silicone lubricant before cutting the foam and it makes factory like cuts. Food for thought

[@thetworoos]

Wow, great work. Seeing the detail on the inside of the hut really took me back to playing with this as a kid! Such playset!

[@toypolloi]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@recoveringsoul755]

Did he show the inside of the hut/tree stump? Must have missed that and it'd be hidden

[@jpatt1000]

Today would be a good day to have a CNC water jet cutter! One could really fire a bunch of these out in short order!

[@toypolloi]

I will refer you to this video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/ZmKVZ3-dqbB3rbc Cheers 😎👍

[@namelessjedi2242]

I watched with interest as I’ve had some swamp-colored foam for years and been meaning to restore my Dagobah. Still surprised that Kenner made this (and even the Star Destroyer) but not Cloud City, where so much pivotal action happened in the film’s climax.

[@HectorMartinez-si2xy]

You are best !

[@andre816149]

in my childhood i owned some of the old star wars things like the ewok village and for yoda i used a smurf house and painted it green XD

[@mcgannahanskyjellyfetti6854]

What would look pretty cool, if you put a bunch of potted tropical looking plants around the Degobah System scenery to REALLY give MORE detail...

[@nerdcraftercoley7305]

I know you're busy with so many projects Dave and love watching all your videos. It would be cool to see you remake the boxes for this playset I know you have the reproductions and some Originals.

[@sbcinema]

You can use acetone to make the surface of 3D printed objects smoother

[@burtreynolds2969]

One of my favourite play sets. I always thought that they should have made the colour of those "antennae" things that raise the crates, the same colour as the base of the set, so they would blend in when they pop up.

[@darthcerebrus5074]

For coloring the foam,Rite makes dye for clothes and fabrics that will work.you just mix it up to desired shade and soak the foam for a few hours.

[@loganjorgensen]

See somebody already mentioned acetone as a layer smoothing option but was also thinking that plastic weld you use often might work well for that too. Yeah those resin printers are very good for the small stuff.

[@rochedl]

Cool Video, my cats HATE the speak and spell voice lol, they actually growl when they hear it. Of course they also hiss whenever they hear the doorbell, be it in real life or on the tv lol. I remember this toy, never had one but even after they came out the foam went missing very early on due to playing with it.

[@chrismayer3919]

What a dreadful use of coffee! that said, I LOVE your channel!

[@Dogesaywhat]

I was hoping to see you replicate the branch piece that holds Luke. That's the piece that is missing from my playset and is so expensive to buy. Great technique on the foam swamp. Thank you for sharing.

[@toypolloi]

I would make something out of styrene tube and miliput if I didn't have one. Wouldn't be too hard at all to make.

[@Dogesaywhat]

@@toypolloi absolutely. Would love to have one. Thank you.

[@Dogesaywhat]

I will look for the stuff to make it

[@bob6969]

I found the perfect replacement foam. It's brown and porous and looks almost identical to the original. I cut it from a foam air filter for a lawn mower.

[@toypolloi]

Nice.

[@bob6969]

If I find it again I'll share with you the manufacturer and model number.

[@stevebragg4256]

@@bob6969 Let us know please, thanks.

[@matfowler]

Cutting foam works well if soaked in water, then frozen in the freezer. Very easy to work with using normal DIY tools afterwards.

[@IMJACKMADDEN]

Another really effective way to make those holes in the foam is to burn through it with a joss stick

[@danielwelch3267]

Fantastic restoration Dave! I’m glad to see you bring it back to life for display at Toy Polloi. I’ll be getting a beater R2 to put your sticker file on to add to my Dagobah for sure! Best, Dan

[@toypolloi]

Thanks Dan. It did take me a while to get around to fixing this one. Hope it was worth the wait.

[@danielwelch3267]

@@toypolloi totally worth the wait! Each week's video from your channel is worth the wait!

[@beyondedgeverse1139]

For the boxes, have you ever tried primer/filler. It's a model paint that works as a primer but is thick enough to fill in the filament printing lines. Might be worth a try. I used to get it at the 4D model shop in London but I've been out of the country for a long time.

[@horrorfan1455]

Great video dave suggestion for a future video can you do a video on how to make a replacement endor leia poncho

[@toypolloi]

It's already filmed along with Luke's Poncho and will be along in a few weeks. Quite a lot of Star Wars content coming up. Cheers

[@jacenstarhunter3040]

Hehehe i could use a being of your mystical talents well done!💀💀💀🌌

[@leroysgamesandmore2226]

Another awesome video wish you could do some Star Trek toys as well

[@toypolloi]

Which Star Trek toys? Always open to suggestions. Cheers

[@leroysgamesandmore2226]

@@toypolloi the starships mainly if possible no rush man I know you have a lot of restoration/repair projects

[@willman85]

I never knew this playset existed.

[@behindthespotlight7983]

19:29 you could almost add tiny wheels to one, paint it dark gray/ black and cheat it as the little trolley in the Death Star play set

[@darkwind9000]

If the sticks that move the crates were broken I'm sure you could substitute them by using those long Lego antenna. To get the slight bend just dunk them in some hot water and you should get the bend you need.

[@toypolloi]

Yes. That would be my first thought as well. Or thing styrene rods. Either would work well.

[@BluejuiceT4]

Literally every piece of plastic Dave touches I see a piece of lego that could fix it if it was broken! What has he done to me!!

[@1980mke]

thinking you should of watered down the acrylic in a small container and soaked the sponge with it. it saturate the whole piece in one step.

[@ScruffyLookinRGB]

Great repair job as always i really like the muddied r2-d2 you designed too. I live in Japan where star wars is not as easy to come by just curious how much busted up r2-d2 figures go for in your neck of the woods? id like to make some custom r2 figures of my own.

[@toypolloi]

I hope to get back to Japan very soon! Prices vary massively here. With patience you can still find them for a few pounds each. eBay is always crazy money.

[@BlackieNuff]

Hahah you made a Darth Vader figure with a removable head? That's cool.

[@toypolloi]

I actually repaired a broken Vader with the added bonus of a removable head 🤣 kzbin.info/www/bejne/lYC0dY2Jqt2rr6s

[@BlackieNuff]

@@toypolloi Ah, yes, the famous decapitation repair. My dad did that for many of my figures back in the day, usually by sawing off the head of a screw or bolt. Here's a fun project ; obtain a loose Vader head and a loose Luke head and carve out the mask to insert Luke's face inside for the famous "dark side foreshadowing" omen after Luke lops Vader's head off in the swamp, lol.

[@Steve-wo7gt]

Great Video as always, Dave. Two things: 1. A thought: the paint you used on the crates would've worked great on the knob you fashioned for your Han Solo Blaster better than the paint you used on that video. 2. A question: Why did you choose to use paint for the foam instead of something like Rit Dye? It seems like the sponginess of the foam would've worked great with the dye.

[@toypolloi]

Thanks. 1. I didn’t have that paint back then, and I now have an original knob so the one I made is in my spares box. 2. Use what you have. No need to spend money on something if you can get a good result with materials you already have. Cheers

[@GM-NSD]

Ha Ha, for years I had these parts in the bottom of my toy box and no idea what they were for.

[@odiotreze]

One word : kinetic sand

[@vortexau127]

Hi toy polloi love your videos and was wondering if you could do a battle ram repair video thank you 👍

[@toypolloi]

It’s in the works. Filming that very fix and a custom for Iconicon in July. More to come on that soon.

[@ianislater1]

awesome as always, any tips on maybe making the levitation lever, the piece that Luke clips into to levitate upside down please?

[@toypolloi]

Styrene rods and a round plumbing clip. You could sculpt the tree branch bit using miliput.

[@ianislater1]

@@toypolloi thank you I’ll send you some pics of the results 👍

[@mgs6490]

How dare you breathe new life into an old playset, you should be ashamed of yourself ;) Great job! I've been looking forward to this video for a while, can't wait to try it on mine. Thanks!

[@aaronwolfe7707]

Awesome work but I would have Primer the crates before painting it would help the paint stick to the crates

[@TheDing1701]

Great restoration, Dave! Does anyone know if anyone ever paints these toys? I mean detailing all the roots and rocks and such? I've often thought of doing G.I. Joe vehicles , also. Y'know, the engine compartments, the sculpted shovels on the side of the VAMP or MOBAT, etc.

[@MightyEmperor]

It's definitely possible and has been done before on this playset: kzbin.info/www/bejne/qKeUnI2Zirllmc0 Those early playsets are very plain to modern eyes (seemed like magic back in the day!) and so some weathering or even a repaint would do them wonders. For me, there might be a bit of a psychological barrier as I can't quite shake the awe I held them in and even if you had a beaten up, unloved playset there is often much that can be done to restore it (as demonstrated on this channel). That said, if you own it you do what you like with it. And, in fact, I have an original, badly-faded Max Rebo on the way to me that I'm going to repaint - it was cheap and you'd not really want to display it like that unless it had sentimental value, so I won't feel too bad doing it. I plan to make my own Remnant Stormtroopers (as I need quite a few) so will use the cheapest ones I can find. tl;dr: if you want to do it, go for it and let us know how it works out.

[@recoveringsoul755]

It would look good painted, but no longer original.

[@georgemartinez1720]

You can mix the Paint with Bath room Chalking

[@MadTheDJ]

I had this playset as a kid. And yeah, not the most fun thing to play with as designed. The gimmicks' novelty wore off fast, as I was never into recreating movie scenes. I'd have rather created *new* adventures for my toys, so I'd find ways to use sets and vehicles differently. For Dagobah, I'd take the tree off and set it to the side and pretend the rest platform was swamp all around it, with the tree coming out of the water. The branch and flat top helped playability, giving figures a place to stand. Flip the tree upside-down and you have a pit they could get trapped in. Aw, imagination!

[@YarDarkwood]

You might invest in a proxxon foam cutter fir clean foam cutts.

[@dantravis4483]

Nice one Dave, not a set I had or indeed have...I had a thought about colouring the foam, I wondered if brown scuff stuff ( liquid shoe polish) might be good? Super liquid-y, might be easier to get into the core? Just a thought...👍

[@toypolloi]

Could be worth a try, but it may be like most show polish and not ever really dry. In which case it would stain whatever figure you put in the swamp. So do some tests first. Cheers

[@dantravis4483]

@@toypolloi indeed, as it’s more of a “stain” than paint, you may get a similar finish to the coffee soak, retaining more foamy flex, but a darker shade, I’ve used it for weathering before and it dries great 👍

[@pete4ever958]

Fun fact: the guy who works with kenner, he put his daughter Emily's name on the playset while making the playset

[@80salive96]

G’day Toy Polloi! Thanks for your super vids! I’ve recently got one of these and it needs a foam job also. Problem is the foam bracket won’t budge at all. If I try to pull it any harder it’ll snap. I’ve tried with all manner of spreading action and nothing. Tried oiling, soaping, soaking. Not a millimetre! Any thoughts? Love to hear em! At this stage I’m thinking its gonna have to stay in and just jam some oversized foam in there😕

[@toypolloi]

Try warming it up under the hot tap.

[@80salive96]

@@toypolloi roger! Yep had it soaking in hot soapy water. I’ll keep at it. Perhaps a hair dryer🤔

[@gamerid6507]

question : can we use sewing machine oil to help remove tight or stuck plastic parts?

[@martynshaw8395]

Electric carving knife best to cut foam

[@splat668]

Hello buddy, been watching for years on and off, I seem to remember watching you do a Death Star play set but I went on deployment and never finished the series, did you end up finishing that one?

[@toypolloi]

No. Still hunting down the canopy for the top. I think a few people make reproduction versions of that part now.

[@BlackieNuff]

Paitning the foam : I would have put the paint in a large saucer and pressed the entire foam piece in one motion, pushing down on the paint to "soak up" the paint into the pores. Any brush work I would have used a bigger/broader brush - that fine little model brush looked os tedious and time consuming, lol. But I may have also just done the "coffee soak" method cos that looked like the most effective and easiest (least messy) way?

[@toypolloi]

Do it whatever way you see fit. I like he control of this and it wastes less paint. But there are many ways to get a similar result.

[@BlackieNuff]

@@toypolloi For sure. :-) The cool thing about this channel is not only seeing clever ways to restore and repair old toys, but many of those methods can inspire other ideas as well. :-) Excellent work!

[@Straight0uttaCrofton]

maybe dip that sponge in some Minwax stain or whatever you have over there across the pond

[@mcgannahanskyjellyfetti6854]

Since it's the Degobah System scenery, you probably were better off just leaving it as is with it all being dirty since it's all basically swampland. The dirtyness would've given it a possible realistic look...🤔

[@billymac72]

Did you consider using Rit dye? I’ve seen you use that before.

[@namelessjedi2242]

I was thinking the same. It does come in brown.

[@georgemartinez1720]

How do remeber were everything goes back together

[@TheDing1701]

I would take a picture before I took it apart, for reference.

[@daviddunn4538]

A nice strong cup of black tea will stain a white Star Wars T shirt so it might also work on foam...

[@BlackieNuff]

If you're gonna go through the trouble of removing the oval ring that holds the foam bit, why not also remove the "lightsaber duel" motion levers and the "levitation" rock from the base as well? Seems odd to remove a part that no one will ever see and has no moving parts?

[@toypolloi]

You need to remove the oval ring to replace the foam. You don't need to remove the levers or levitation buttons, so why would you? Not sure what you are getting at.

[@BlackieNuff]

@@toypolloi The cleaning. I thought you were saying the entire playset needed a good thorough scrubbing inside and out, and I assumed you would have disassembled everything that was not glued/bolted together, but I guess not, lol.

[@stevebragg4256]

@@BlackieNuff it can be cleaned pretty darn well without removing the levers.

[@leonidas1029]

apply a dark wash to the ground

[@80stoymania]

PLAYMOBIL makes tree parts that look just like the degobah tree branch. Same color, and they are just a couple of dollars.

[@toypolloi]

That's good to know. I'll take a look.

[@BreakingBatman187]

Poor R2. He'll never get that out.

[@greensun5998]

I hate foam more than Anakin hates sand.

[@leeislee]

5:03 RIP headphone users

[@timbrown5720]

Why not dip the sponge in Brown dye ring it out let it dry