Kenners replacement parts program
Frank Mewes
Chihuahua
Chihuahua
TABLE OF CONTENTS
SINGLE FIGURE MAILERS
– Palitoy Issued
– Clipper
– Toltoys
– Kenner
– Kenner Canada
– Poch/PBP
– Harbert
KENNER REPLACEMENT PARTS PROGRAM
Kenner ran a great customer services program under the heading “we really do care” they offered replacements free of charge to customers for missing or broken items with their toys, not just their star wars toys but I think almost if not every line they made, it was included in slip or printed on instructions sheets format inside the packaging for most toys, & came in a few different formats which will be outlined below, the service then sent out replacements for the missing or damaged items & it’s these replacement items & the packaging in which they were sent that I hope to cover in this section of the guide, it’s a subject I feel is worthy of inclusion on a focus guide such as this as most of the replacement items were sent out in baggies, some in baggies & mailer boxes that we are familiar with & shown in other sections on the guide, like the single mailers section on page 5, others like play set & vehicle parts being sent out in plain heat sealed baggies with no text on them, I think the only things they did not send out bagged were things like instructions & sticker sheets for obvious reasons.
Firstly I’ll be showing a few different examples of the offer slips & later I will focus more on some of the packaging variations that have been documented.
1st up is what I would consider to be the most attractive version of the programs customers service offer in the form of this dual colour stuffer slip which was included with the 12″ figure line, I am not sure if the slip was included with other items or if the slip has a reply section on the reverse, I would assume it’s blank & you sent those details in on another piece of paper, I will find out & confirm this later.
These are the format I am sure most of us are very familiar with & they type printed on the instructions within larger items & also as just a stuffer (1st image), I’ll add an example in from a set below.
Above showing the droid factory parts list which as you can see included the slip at the top, I could show countless images of various vehicles & play set instructions with the inclusion but you get the idea & no point showing more than the one IMO.
First up some packaging we are all quite familiar with that being a standard single mailer box & ESB-c baggie for the replacement Nien Nunb mailer, this one is shown with the Kenner Products blue address sticker & the 3rd class postage mark, boy that postage mark alone just screams vintage.
Next up a replacements parts version which has been mailed out in a box which again seems very familiar & does look very much like (if not the same) as the brown box SW era multi packs boxes, this time in a plain no text baggies & with a self addressed return slip.
This again an example for replacement parts & again in a brown box & with the reinforced brown tape & multiple no text baggies as well as a sticker sheet, as you can see all parts for the millennium falcon, this time with the Kenner Products blue printed address sticker, like the NN mailer above, NOTE the writing on the end flap of the box which I think reads steth and spectrograph S / W ??, though I have zero idea what that means as I can’t unearth anything from Kenner with that wording.
Another set of replacement parts for the falcon, but as you can see this time sent out with very different packaging, this one has been sent in a heavyweight padded jiffy envelope similar to those found with the very first issue Boba Fett Mailers & this time with a different printed version of the address label, this one with a pink/red font & no Kenner logo, just the well know Maple Plain company address.
I must say this label type is the one I am least confident about in terms of authenticity, but there are 3 of this type shown in this section.
Similar address label as the above example with the printed address label & the Maple Plain address, but this time with the inclusion of the words “promotions fulfilment division” as well as a code bringing with BAG & then numbers code, possible referencing the included parts (see replacement weapons lots below regarding part codes), this example is in a thin white box, looking very similar to the multi pack boxes used in the ESB & ROTJ era, but obviously to small for more than the single figure.
I must say this label type is the one I am least confident about in terms of authenticity, but there are 3 of this type shown in this section.
This one being the same format as the 2nd shown falcon replacement parts, this time with a set of replacement light sabers, I have no doubt any one of us would be thrilled to have this pop through our letterbox today, the baggie is rather unusual as it has very well defined thick heat seals on both sides of the bag, note there is no indication again of the department, just the Maple Plain address.
I must say this label type is the one I am least confident about in terms of authenticity, but there are 3 of this type shown in this section.
This one would have to be the holy grail for any enthusiastic baggie collector, as you can see it’s a Luke farm boy in the SW-a small font baggie & it certainly looks to be a D.T version, I dread to this which body parts I’d have to sell to fund this one, this time again with the Kenner blue printed address format, but this time in a different packaging again, a white jiffy envelope, it seems they’d send these things out in just about anything they had at hand.
1- Micro MF – Bagged figures / 1- Micro DC Compactor Bagged Figures
Another example with the blue printed address / brown box / reinforced tape, this time an included apology note as well as items wrapped in brown paper rather than bagged, interesting to see this variation & be able to document it, the MF training ball baggies is also an error baggie (2 training balls & will be shown on the error baggies section below), parts numbers & description as follows –
1=69780-XWF- 4 laser guns
1=39110-MF- light saber ball
1=71360- Rebo Microphone
Replacement weapons pack
Replacement capes pack
Another example with various replacement items. It is interesting to note the tape type used here, it certainly looks to be the same frosted scotch tape found on all the baggies in the Yvonne Sexton find, this goes some way toward backing up the finds authenticity.
Again the blue printed label & brown box/brown tape version, sadly already removed from the baggies they arrived in & shown in replacement Ziplock baggies, parts numbers & description as follows –
1- 69570- PKG of SW Guns
1- 39110- MF-cannon, false floor, Ramp Struts
1-70500- Speeder Bike – PB 1
Again the blue printed label & brown box/brown tape version & sadly all the weapons & accessories removed from the baggies they came in, but what an epic lot to have been given free as replacements, if only Palitoy had been as forthcoming, description as follows –
1-69570-PGK of SW Guns & Capes
1- Yoda Snake / 1- guns & cloaks
If you do a google image search a couple of others have been found.
This time an example that has been cased up & looks to be a brown padded envelope with the Kenner blue printed address label, I would assume the parts were all in baggies, sadly they have been removed to display them like this, though I have to admit even as a hard core baggie nut it does look impressive displayed in this manor.
Below are a few more examples, sadly not showing what was in them as some are empty, but nice to be able to showcase a few more, all have the Kenner blue printed address labels on & are a mix of the brown boxes with the usual brown tape & thick brown jiffy envelopes. I’ll add what’s in each as stated on them below each image, note some have date/year postage stamps.
1- micro ds escape 2nd floor and platform with ramp.
1- r.c. r2d2 hand control
1- tt reins 1- INT-4-decals
1=SWF Greedo
Not quite sure what gives with this example as it just has Snaggletooth stamped on the back from what I gather, not sure if there’s an address on the other side.
I-JH Dung Klaatu 8D8 Nikto
Above yet another incarnation/variation on replacement packaging, this time replacement micro collecting parts in yellow jiffy’s with a printed address & some other “made in” info on the flap.
I find it interesting that at least Palitoy & Toltoys offered similar promotions, which are confirmed by the images below.
I have to date not managed to find any examples of either Toltoys not Palitoy replacement offers sent out, obviously this means we have no idea in what format those replacements were sent out in.
One would assume all the other vendors like Harbert / Meccano / Clipper etc would also have ran a similar program, I have as yet not managed to find anything confirming this though.
Image above showing all the full envelopes of accessories from the find as well as the included documentation.
Front & back of one shown to indicate what they are as well as an inside view so you can see they are individual loose accessories, the rest will be shown front view only, as lets face it who wants to see another example of the reverse. This was the only duplicate found in the lot. There were 2 envelopes of the Chewbacca bowcasters, all the others shown are only known examples.
Special thanks to these contributors for their knowledge and image contributions:
Laurence Dyer, Arnaud Heyser, Andrew Neo, AJ, Snaggletooth, Kevin Bletsoe, Brett Meyer, DEL, Gary Borbidge, Edd Grant, Chris Eddleman, Vince Hely, Nathan Maunder, Jamie Woollard, Niels Pit, Andrew MacLachlan, cantina_patron, Franck Gadal, Joe, Richard Temple, Sven Schneider, Steve Savory, Shane Carter, Chris Fawcett, Andy Clarke, psybertech, Jake Neilheisel, Alex Pardi, Marc Caraway, Spookedhippy, Frank Ferro, James Body, Jonathan Freeman, Grant Criddle, Chris Arbizzani, RobbieZombbie, Narayan S. Naik, Mark Yeo, SHAWN_K, Andy Raymond, MOMIKE, theguiltyone, Sublevel Studios, Mike Silver, Mr Palitoy, Ronny Anngren, Willem-Jan Bos, Robert Heron, Darren H, REBELALLIANCE, Uncle Ron, LandoSkiff (Dan), Mike Horn, Pat O’Brien, Benjamin, Samir Krim, Pete Fizke, Final Frontier, Mike Heel, MR KENNER, John Kellerman, Paul Naylor, Matthieu Barthelemy, Stéphane Faucourt, Yogi, Chris Simmons, Stormtrooper37, Thomas Derby, Todd G, Sheldon Wagstaffe, Derek Ho, Broc Walker, Adam Marks, James Gallo, Charles Jones, Darrell Johnson & Brendi Burton, Christian Somma, Johnpaul Ragusa, Jesse Cedar Soberman, Dorothée Drouin, Dennis Hall, Javier Ruilopez, Enric Rovira, Matthew Carlise, Stephen Tzaras.
Photos in the guide galleries below are compiled from a number of photo sources. It’s not been possible to find credits for each one, however, if you own one of the featured images and want to have your credit added, or don’t wish to have your photo included, please let me know and I’ll arrange.
Thanks, Chihuahua.
