There
were 3 hand held weapons that were available in the Star Wars range
from Palitoy. These were the Laser Pistol, Laser Rifle and Inflatable
Light Saber and featured on the back of the cardback for Series I
diecasts. These weapons came with identical packaging to their Kenner
counterparts with exception of the Kenner logo which was replaced with
the Palitoy one.
The most iconic of the two guns is
the Laser Pistol which is also referred to as a Laser Blaster or Han's
Blaster. The front of the box is open showing the gun inside with a
picture of Han Solo holding the weapon in the bottom right hand corner
which also features on the 12 back action figure cardback. The text
'Secret Button activates 2-speed "Laser" Sound!' is at the bottom of the
box with the Palitoy logo to the right of this. A yellow star with
arrow on the back of the inside of the box says 'Press SECRET BUTTON and
pull trigger at same time to make sound' with the yellow arrow pointing
at the not so secret button on the gun. The back of the box has the
same picture of Han Solo in the middle with pictures each side showing
how to use the gun.
The
second gun is the 3 Position Laser Rifle which was a weapon use by
Stormtroopers and used by Luke Skywalker while escaping from the Death
Star. The front of the box is open again, showing the rifle inside, and
has a clear plastic window covering. The bottom right hand corner has a
picture of Luke holding the rifle in the scene where he swings across
the walkway gap with Leia. The text 'Secret button activates "Laser"
Sound. Laser Rifle has 2 exciting "Laser" Sounds! Barrel interior
rotates with each "Laser" Sound. Uses 2 HP2 batteries (not included).'
is at the bottom of the box with the Palitoy logo to the right of this.
The Kenner version says "D" batteries rather than HP2 batteries. The
Kenner version features the same yellow star with arrow pointing at the
secret button seen on the Laser Pistol along with 3 pictures of a child
holding the rifle in the 3 different positions on the back of the inside
of the box. However, this is not seen on the Palitoy version which has a
plain red back. The Palitoy version includes a folded instruction sheet
behind the rifle which is not seen on the Kenner version. The back of
the box features pictures showing how to fire the rifle and the 3
different positions the rifle can be configured in.
The
instruction sheet inside the Palitoy version has the Palitoy logo in
the bottom right hand corner and details how to insert batteries and
fire the rifle.
There is also a rarer variant of the packaging which has a purple backdrop rather than the usual red.
The
third weapon in the Palitoy Star Wars line was the inflatable Light
Saber and had the same packaging as the Kenner version with the Kenner
logo replaced with the Palitoy logo. The box came with a flap attached
to the left hand side of the front of the box and featured a picture of 2
children playing with the sabers in a mock light saber fight. The
Palitoy logo is in the bottom right hand corner with the text 'Contents:
One Light Saber inflatable sword, lights up with the flick of the
button! Uses two "D" batteries (not included)' and '35''Inflated Size'
to the left of the logo. Because they forgot to change the American
battery size from "D" to UK HP2 on the printed packaging, a purple
sticker that say 'Uses two HP2 batteries (not included) is placed over
the American battery size. The back of the box features 2 more pictures
of children playing, one with the suggestion to use a balloon as a
pretend remote training ball as seen on the Millenium Falcon. The back
of the flap shows 3 pictures of Ben (Obi-Wan) Kenobi, Luke Skywalker and
Darth Vader holding light sabers.
The
contents consisted of the saber hilt which was essentially a
flashlight, the inflatable saber a set of Palitoy instructions and a
Kenner branded bag with some puncture repair plasters inside. The sabers
weren't very good for play fighting and quickly punctured so this
problem was acknowledged with the inclusion of the repair kit. Once
punctured, your light saber effectively became a torch.