Let the Star Wars Force be With You

QUESTION: My son was a big Star Wars fan when he was younger. He had just about every Star Wars action figure that came out—at least of the smaller ones. But now he’s grown and has his own family, and I seem to be left as the caretaker of his collection. I’d really like to know if these figures are worth keeping. Can you tell me something about them and if they’re collectible now or were they just a fad like Beany Babies?


ANSWER: Even though the first Star Wars movie premiered 40 years ago, the action figures that came out as a result of it and other Star Wars films are still highly collectible. Whether or not they’re still in their original packages will tell how much they may be worth.  If they’re still in unopened packages, then you have something. If not, maybe not.

In May 1977 "Star Wars: A New Hope" exploded across the big screen in a symphony of sound and light unlike anything audiences had ever seen. Fans went crazy over the film, some seeing it hundreds of times, and sci-fi films haven’t been the same since. Star Wars was the first movie franchise which created a voracious demand for film-related products. Fans clamored for tangible souvenirs of the new universe they were coming to know and love. Director George Lucas and film industry leaders were all taken by surprise.

While the variety and forms of Star Wars items are almost as numerous as the stars themselves, the most popular objects of Star Wars collectors’ desires are the toys. Furthermore, among the toys, the  most sought after are the 3 3/4-inch action figures.

Kenner Products is responsible for the most of the Star Wars toys that are on the collectibles market today. The firm obtained the original license to manufacture toys, games, puzzles and a few books prior the release of the first film in 1977. In time, the resultant outpouring of products from the Kenner factories far outstripped Lucas’ expectations. In fact, all he expected from his merchandising rights were a few posters and T-shirts with which to lure more children to his film. At a base price of just $2 or less, not only kids but adults quickly bought up the stock of figures. And over the years came back for more in a variety of re-incarnations.

Following Kenner, other toy manufacturers joined in on Stars Wars’ success. Chief among was Galoob, a company determined to "out-small" Kenner with its Star Wars Micro Machines. Play sets and spaceships were this company's main products. Action figures by Galoob were about the size of the smaller accessories that accompanied Kenner's figures. Galoob sold these tiny action men and women as part of  play sets. No other company ever came close to the Star Wars toy output of these two firms.

By definition, action figures are molded of plastic and designed for play. While they’ve varied in size over the years, the original ones were only a little over three inches high.  Kenner made these figures to have five points of articulation—at the neck, shoulders, and hips. They also had their clothing molded as part of the body, while some of the larger figures have removable clothing.

Toy companies package action figures of different sizes differently. The 12-inch and 8-inch figures generally are packaged and sold in boxes. The 3 3/4-inch-tall figures most often appear on store shelves sealed against a decorated cardboard backing within a plastic bubble commonly referred to as a blister. The package for the 3 3/4 inch figure is thus referred to as a blister pack.

Kenner designed its 3 3/4-inch high Star Wars figures for use with play sets, spaceships, and other accessories. But their 12-inch figures of Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader and such were too large to be equipped with play sets. But one thing that action figures have in common is that the come with a array of small accessories that tend to disappear quickly once a child removes the figure from its packaging.

Then Kenner’s line seemed to die out for a while. In 1995, the firm re-introduced its Star Wars figures with a new design and/or a repainting that appealed to both kids and adults. But one thing to be aware of is that the newer figures tend to come and go. From time to time, Kenner would play with the mix of figures on the market at any one time. It would remove some of the older models and replace them with newer ones.




Kenner first released its line of 12-inch figures in the late 1970s, sticking mostly to the film’s main characters. But these 12-inch figures didn’t compete well with Kenner’s 3 3/4-inch ones and the company stopped making them. But its smaller figures live on. 

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Hold That Door

QUESTION: My mother collected doorstops. She had a collection of about 50 which she left to me when she died. I know very little about them, but I’d like to continue collecting them. What can you tell me about them—how did they originate and when, and how collectable are they today?

ANSWER: It’s great that you plan on continuing your mother’s collection. Most people seem to want to get rid of whatever items they inherit while others just warehouse them. But curating and growing a collection is different. Now it’s up to you to figure out just what doorstops you have, selling those that aren’t very good and adding those that will enhance your collection. But first, you need to learn a bit about their history.

Doorstops date back to the last quarter of the 18th century, around the time of the American Revolution, but in England. They came in a variety of shapes and sizes and held open large doors. The British called them “door porters” and liked the cast in iron or bronze.

By the early 1800s, doorstops began appearing in a variety of materials, including wood, glass, and earthenware. The cast-iron doorstops had flat backs from the hollow molds used to make them, allowing them to stand flat against the surface of the doors.

By the middle of the 19th century and especially following the Civil War, doorstops had evolved into full three-dimensional figures and were becoming increasingly popular in the United States.

American manufacturers followed the basic English tradition of making cast-iron doorstops in the familiar shape of baskets and flowers. They also began to develop a variety of attractive shapes, including houses, ships, stagecoaches, and all kinds of wild and domestic animals. American makers hand painted them in bright colors until all sorts of colorful doorstops were readily available.

By the 1880s, it wasn’t unusual to find iron birds, story book characters, and even a few human-type figures propping doors where ventilation was seasonally so important in so much of the country.

Some believe the Amish developed the use of the human figure as a doorstop to its fullest form starting in the 1880s and continuing into the 1930s. They cast figures of men, women and children, painted them with pleasing facial features, and dressed them in time-honored Amish clothing. These seven to nine inch high doorstops today sell for a minimum of several hundred dollars each.

Casting techniques had improved enough prior to the turn of the 20th century to enable foundries in the U.S. to manufacture nearly every design of doorstop a home owner could want. In fact, some of the firms invited customers to send detailed sketches of doorstops, so that they could create them. But all this variety of design resulted in variations in both the size and weight of doorstops. Heights ranged from four or five inches to two feet.

One of the most popular forms of doorstops was the dog. Manufacturers produced doorstops in the shapes of just about every breed of dog, from Alaskan Malamutes to Russian Wolfhounds to a variety of terriers. Many of these animals were full figure, cast in two parts, screwed together, and painted.

The Albany Foundry Company of Albany, New York, and A.M. Greenblatt Studios of Boston, Massachusetts, were among the major manufacturers of doorstops in the early 20th century. Both did a booming business in the late 1920s, selling cast-iron doorstops  for about a dollar each.

Additional firms included Hubley Manufacturing Company in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, which made toys, Littco Products, National Foundry, and Eastern Specialty Manufacturing Company.

Doorstops were still quite effective and desirable well into the 1930s. Generally, production ceased abruptly at the onset of World War II, since factories converted to production of war materiel.

Today, antique doorstops sell for $50 or so in good condition, but can go as high as $200 for some special ones.

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A Platter Fit for a Turkey

QUESTION: For my family, Thanksgiving was the biggest gathering of the year. I remember my mother planning the event as early as October. Back in the 1950s, we'd pile into the car and drive to the local turkey farm to order a very large bird. My mother would have never considered buying a frozen turkey at the local market. I heard her speaking on the phone to my grandmother about how many were corning, what kinds of pies should be baked, or whether we would add some new recipe for cranberry sauce. At the center of it all lay the traditional turkey platter, which had been handed down for generations. Can you tell me how these platters came to be, who made them, and why they became so popular?

ANSWER: Many families still use a large turkey platter. Though large but not very sophisticated, it often features a 22-inch pattern with yellow roses manufactured by Homer Laughlin. It’s got high sides and can hold a very large turkey, and by now it’s even got a few rim chips, but it’s part of the family, so it means a lot.

The turkey was the last dish to be brought to the table and the senior member of the family would always carve the bird. Everyone would say grace and eat more than any thought humanly possible. While sitting around the table, family members would tell stories—Grandpa always seemed to tell the same ones to the embarassment of his wife. In many cases, this holiday feast was just as Norman Rockwell painted it.

The first turkey platters appeared in the early 1870s, when East Liverpool, Ohio, was the setting for the founding of several important American potteries due to the existence of raw materials such as clay, coal and natural gas. One of the largest and most successful, was the Homer Laughlin China Company, founded by brothers Homer and Shakespeare Laughlin in 1897. It went on to become one of the world's major producers of institutional china, including Fiesta ware. They based their holiday platters on several of their most popular dinnerware lines and decorated them with colorful printed transfers.

Thus, the same image often appeared on many of their turkey platters—a bird with its tail feathers fanned out fully, set against a rural farmyard background. The platters featured wide rims in Harlequin yellow and turquoise blue.

In the mid-1950s, a similar design appeared on Thanksgiving platters made by Taylor, Smith & Taylor, which the company sold to retailers to use as an advertising premium.

In its "Historical America" series, Laughlin also produced an elaborate scene from 1621 called "The First Thanksgiving," transfer printed in rose pink and sold exclusively through F.W. Woolworth. The company also produced a similar "Bountiful Harvest" platter showing Pilgrims and Indians gathering and sharing food.

A somewhat scrawnier bird appears on platters and plates made by Southern Potteries Inc., a Tennessee firm formerly known as Clinchfield Potteries. It began in 1917 by producing commercial, semi-vitreous china tableware decorated with stock transfers.

Its better-known trademark, Blue Ridge, debuted in 1932. By the late 1930s, it had switched from transfers to underglazed hand-painted decoration. Within 15 years, it had become the largest American producer of hand-painted china, with an annual production of 24 million pieces. Some of the firm’s top artists signed a limited number of special designs, and these are among the most coveted pieces for collectors.

For example, there’s a wild turkey platter painted and signed by artist Mildred L. Broyles, depicting a standing, long-necked bird eyeing a bug, valued at over $2,000. Another, signed by Louise Gwinn called “Turkey Gobbler,” shows a bird in a woods and sells for over $1,750.

While Homer Laughlin and Southern Potteries dominated the market, there were several other companies, from California and elsewhere that staked their own claims. Among these are platters produced by the Nelson McCoy Pottery Comapny of Roseville, Ohio, featuring a solid brown embossed relief of Tom Turkey, the Delano Studios of Long Island, featuring a soaring bird in flight, and the Hadley of Louisville platter, with its whimsical, schematic turkey in blue on vitrified stoneware.

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