Palitoy Trilogo Cardbacks
Chihuahua
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PALITOY SW CARDBACKS
– SW 12a
– SW 12b
– SW 12c
– SW 20
PALITOY ESB CARDBACKS
– ESB 30a
– ESB 30b
– ESB 41a
– ESB 41b
– ESB 41c
– ESB 45a
– ESB 45b
PALITOY ROTJ CARDBACKS
– ROTJ 45c
– ROTJ 65a
– ROTJ 65b
– ROTJ 65c
– ROTJ 65d
PALITOY TRILOGO CARDBACKS
– ROTJ/TL 70a
– TL 70b
– TL 70c
– TL 70d
KENNER/PALITOY STICKER MATRIX
– ESB KPS45a
– ESB KPS47a
– ESB KPS48b
– ESB KPS48c
– ROTJ KPS48d
– ROTJ KPS48e
– ROTJ KPS48f
ROTJ/TL 70A CARDBACK
The 70A card variation is a transition between the ROTJ 65-back cards and the Tri-Logo 70-back cards. It is often called a Hybrid. The front is similar to the 65A, 65B and 65C variations with the text Ages 4 and up in multiple languages on the top left and right hand corners of the card. The ROTJ logo has no black border underneath it though, making it the same as the 45C and 65D variations in that respect. The back of the card has the ROTJ logo tiered from right to left in English, Spanish and French at the top. To the right of this is the text Action Figures Collect all 70 in English, Spanish, German, French, Italian and Dutch. Underneath this the figures are listed with the numbering ending at 79 rather than 70! The numbers 22, 24, 25, 44, 52, 55 and 60 are missing from the figures and the names listed underneath. The 9 figures that are missing are Greedo, Hammerhead, Snaggletooth, Walrus Man, Power Droid, Bespin Security Guard (White), Cloud Car Pilot, Bespin Security Guard (Black) and 4-LOM. Two of the figures, Paploo and a nameless Ewok Warrior (presumably Lumat) are blacked out in the same way as Logray (Ewok Medicine Man) and Chief Chirpa were on the 65A variation. Though why they bothered here is odd, as other Ewoks are shown in the figures not blacked out, so the cat was definitely out of the bag. It may be the case that those figures were not finalised at the time. At the bottom of the card is the Palitoy manufacturers address in the UK and underneath it is one in French for Miro-Meccano and Clipper Benelux. To the right of this is a large white square where stickers or writing could go. This card variation was manufactured in a number of European factories, including the Coalville factory in the UK.
Only 6 figures could be found on this card variation. These are Greedo, Hammerhead, Snaggletooth, Bespin Security Guard (White), Cloud Car Pilot and Bespin Security Guard (Black). These are 6 of the figures missing from the listing of figures on the back of the card! The other missing figures are Walrus Man, Power Droid and 4-LOM and have never been seen on any Tri-Logo 70-back, though some have appeared as mis-cards which were common on Tri-Logo cards. Death Squad Commander, despite being listed, also never appeared on any Tri-Logo 70-back card.
The 70B card variation is the first card to feature the now familiar ROTJ logo in English, Spanish and French on the front of the card. This card and further variations 70C and 70D are known as Tri-Logo cards. The 70B is the first of the 2 standard variations of the Tri-Logo card. To the left of the tiered logo at the top of the card is the text Ages 4 and up in English, German, Dutch, Spanish, French and Italian. The name tag has moved from the upper middle of the card to the bottom right hand corner and is much bigger than previous card variations. The names used for figures on Tri-Logo cards tend to differ from the ones used on previous cards. Also, the character pictures used tend to be different too. The bubble area is also much larger than before. The bottom left hand corner has the Lucasfilm copyright text and year in white text on the black border beneath the bubble. This area differs on the 70C card variation. The back of the card is the same as the 70A variation and features 70 figures. The punch is either perforated or unperforated on this card variation. This card variation was manufactured in a number of European factories, including the Coalville factory in the UK.
All the figures shown on the back of the card with the exception of Death Squad Commander were available on this card variation. The 70C is much less common and has been seen with much fewer figures. The fact that they have different character pictures, different figure variations and were manufactured and sold Europe wide and sold later in America at discount giving them a wide audience has made them popular with collectors. Collecting a full set of Tri-Logo figures MOC is quite a challenge as some of the figures are very rare. General Madine is the rarest, followed by Boba Fett, Jawa and Emporer’s Royal Guard. The Hybrid 70A cards can be tricky too, with Cloud Car Pilot being the rarest.
Towards the end of the production cycle of Tri-Logos, figures that were similar were mixed and matched with their cardbacks. These are known as miscards. The most common one is normal Klaatu figures on Klaatu (Skiff Guard Disguise) cards. Weequays on Barada cards, Han Solo and Han Solo Bespin on Han Solo Hoth cards and Imperial figures on AT-ST cards are the other common ones. There are many rarer ones too which can make collecting miscards a focus in itself.
The hole punch on the card can have a larger circular hole on some cards rather than the regular punch seen on all the other cards. This is a Meccano style hole punch.
There are sub variations of this card where there is a different country of origin than the standard Hong Kong. The 70BC says Made in China rather than Made in Hong Kong on the bottom right hand corner on the front of the card. The figures Luke Skywalker, Ben (Obi-Wan) Kenobi, Han Solo and Luke Skywalker (X-Wing Pilot) have been seen on this sub variation. The 70BW says Made in Taiwan and has only been seen on the Jawa figure. The 70BX says Made in Mexico and has only been seen on the Lumat figure. The 70BM says Fabrique a Macao, but this has been done by placing a small black adhesive sticker with white text over the original country of origin text. This sticker can also be found in black text on a white background. There are quite a few figures that have this variation. Cards with this variation also have the circular hole punch and are early Tri-Logos made for and sold on the French market. The 70BE says Fabrique en Espagne with a white sticker with black text and was sold on the Spanish market. The 70BI says Fabrique a Taiwan using a black sticker with white text. This has only been found on the Wicket W. Warrick figure so far. The 70BH has a Made in Hong Kong sticker with white text on black background covering over Made in Taiwan or Made in China printed on the card. This has only been seen on the Jawa and Luke Skywalker (X-Wing Pilot) figures.
Tri-Logo cards were also manufactured by PBP in Spain. The initial card they released has the standard Tri-Logo card front and the PBP card back they used on their 65 back cards. This card is referred to as a Hybrid PBP Tri-Logo. This variation is known as 70BP on the matrix. The punch used was a standard punch rather than the Meccano style one. Only 8 figures have been confirmed on this card variation. These are Wicket W. Warrick, Teebo, Luke Skywalker (X-Wing Pilot), Rancor Keeper, 8D8, Nikto, B-Wing Pilot and Zuckuss.
The Spanish address was updated on the back of this card from Rodgau BRD, PBP, S.A. Spain to Rodgau BRD, GMJ, S.A. Spain. And the Meccano address was updated from Miro Meccano S.A., 118-130 Ave. Jean Jaures, 75019 Paris to Miro-Meccano, Tour Essor 93, 14 Rue Scandicci, 93500 Pantin, France.
In the Netherlands the 70B card variation was released with a tearaway mini catalogue on the back of the card. The front page with pictures could be torn off revealing the catalogue underneath. Some also have a small round yellow star sticker on the front of the card in the top right hand corner of the card that says Nieuwe Premies Nouvelles Primes. The phrase is the Dutch and French for New Rewards.
This is an Italian sticker that appeared on a Rebel Commander on this variation. There is also an Italian sticker that was applied to the back of some cards.
There were a few figure variations that only appeared on this card. Yoda with orange and green snake instead of the usual brown. And Luke Skywalker (Jedi Knight Outfit) with a blue saber rather than the usual green.
The are a few different bubble types that appeared on Tri-Logo cards. The most common bubble type has etched corners that ident inwards on the four corners of the bubbles. There are short indented bubbles where the ident does not extend to the front of the bubble as can be seen on the B-Wing Pilot below. The other type is the long indented bubble where the indent extends all the way to the front of the bubble as can be seen on the Klaatu (Skiff Guard Outfit) below. The next most common bubble is the standard Tri-Logo bubble with rounded corners seen on 45C, 65A, 65B, 65C and 65D variations. This can be seen on the 8D8 example below. Much harder to find outside of Spain are PBP bubbles which have rounded corners where the bubble attaches to the card instead of square corners like the two last bubble types. This can be seen on the R5D4 example below. Lastly are Meccano bubbles which are much harder to find outside of France. The bubble is much more rigid and has square corner edges. The bubble also has rounded corners where the bubble attaches to the card. An example Meccano bubble can be seen on the Luke Skywalker (Jedi Knight Outfit) example above. There is normally a gap above the bubble where the backing card bubble is visible due the snug fitting size of this bubble. All of the bubbles can come in a variety of sizes to accommodate the figure like with the Yoda example above.
The 70C card variation is almost the same as the 70B card variation with one visible difference on the front of the card. The bubble area with the coloured paper is slightly bigger on the 70C variation which makes the border area of the bottom of the bubble half a centimetre lower than on the 70B card. On the 70B the bubble border is flush with the bottom of the name tag. This has moved the Lucasfilm copyright text so it is printed in black text on the white border on the bottom of the bubble instead of being printed in white text on the black background of the card. The other difference is that the card is of a slightly thinner thickness than the 70B. This can just about be seen when holding the cards side on but is more prominent when the cards are waved from side to side. They give noticeably different sounds when you do this. This can be the only way of identifying lose cardbacks because when the bubble is ripped off it tends to rip off the differentiating bubble area of the card on the thinner 70C card. This card variation was manufactured in a number of European factories, including the Coalville factory in the UK.
There are only a few figures that came out on the 70C variation which makes them rarer than the more common 70B. Some have only been seen on a single card, Nikto and 8D8 being examples of this. The two blacked out figures on the back of the card, Paploo and Lumat, are only seen on this card variation. These figures were released later than the other figures on Tri-Logo, making the 70C later than the 70B variation.
There are also sub variations of this card where the country of origin is different from Hong Kong. The 70CC sub variation says Made In China rather than Made In Hong Kong on the bottom right hand corner on the front of the card. The figures Han Solo and Luke Skywalker (X-Wing Pilot) have been seen on this sub variation. The 70CM is Made in Macao with the addition of a small adhesive label over the original country of origin text. Various figures have been seen on this sub variation. The last sub variation 70CX says Made in Mexico. Paploo and Lumat are the only 2 figures to come on this sub variation.
In the Netherlands this card variation was released with a tearaway mini catalogue on the back of the card.
Tri-Logo style bubbles featured on this card variation. The majority of bubbles seen on this card variation are the short indented bubbles seen on the 70B variation. The Lando Calrissian (Skiff Guard Disguise) example below is one of these. The Paploo and Lumat figures came in much smaller bubbles as can be seen in the Paploo example below.
The 70D card variation was the last card to be released by the Palitoy factory. The front is similar to that of the 70B and 70C variations with the addition of a barcode to the right of the Tri-Logo tiered logo on the front of the card. The Lucasfilm copyright text has also disappeared from the bottom left hand corner of the card. The bubble area is the same as that of the 70B, where the bubble border is flush with the bottom of the name tag. The back of the card is the same as the 70B and 70C. The new figures were not added to the list of figures displayed. The card thickness is also thinner like that of the 70C variation. This card variation was manufactured in a number of European factories, including the Coalville factory in the UK.
There were 15 new figures that were released on this card. Along with the 2 bonus figures that were blacked out on the back of the card, Paploo and Lumat, these figures are known as the “Last 17” and can cost much more than other figures due to their rarity. In the US, these figures appeared on Power of the Force or POTF cards.
In the UK this card variation can often be found with a large yellow sticker positioned on the top left hand corner of the front of the card. The sticker says NEW Figure in red letters with £1.59 in blue letters beneath it. It was a promotion used in several UK retail chains. This sticker was applied in the factory as examples of cards have been found where the edge of the sticker is underneath the bubble, meaning it was applied first.
Tri-Logo style bubbles featured on this card variation. The bubble for Han Solo (In Carbonite Chamber) was two layered to accommodate the chamber behind the figure. The EV-9D9 figure had a bubble with a massive back to it that extended out into the card unlike the bubble that contained the figure.
