I decided to start this thread following the purchase and subsequent limelight of my Top Toys silicone mold of chewie's torso.  There were many of my fellow collectors asking a lot of questions surrounding the pre-production process and prototypes in general.

The thread is designed to show the collecting community the wide variety of prototype and pre-production items that are available for the entire vintage Star Wars figure line.  It is also intended that this thread will grow by other collectors here on the forum being prepared to share any items that they may have.  

Please note - items added to this thread may have changed hands. If you are the new owner and do not want it listed here then please contact a Moderator.



Moderator's note: Big thanks to Steve for starting this thread. Unfortunately he is no longer able to update the index, so the TIG Moderators will be taking on this task. Please continue to add your photos and discussion in the thread and we will update the index with thumbnail versions of the photos. We've also added a new part to the index where you can include non character items such as vehicle/playset packaging, three packs, etc.
Thanks! - TIG Moderators







Character related prototypes/preproduction


Admiral Ackbar



Admiral Ackbar Hardcopy




Anakin Skywalker



Anakin Skywalker Charcoal Robes First Shot




AT-AT Driver



AT-AT Driver ESB 45 Back




Ben (Obi Wan) Kenobi



1st shot Ben with early translucent DT saber
Ben Kenobi ESB 47 back




Biker Scout

   

Biker Scout Cromalin
Biker Scout ROTJ 65 Back A Proof
Biker Scout ROTJ 65 Back B Proof - Revenge Transition on Rear




Boba Fett

 

Boba Fett 41 back Survival Offer Moc Quality Control sample
Boba Fett Revenge Proof




Bossk



Bossk ESB 31 Back
Bossk ESB 45 Back




C-3PO



 



C-3PO Lili Ledy Proof Card
C-3PO ESB 45 Back
C-3PO POTF Proof
C-3PO POTF Proof Cut From Sheet Front
C-3PO POTF Proof Cut From Sheet Back
C-3PO Pre Production 'Rusty' Coloured 12 Inch Figure




Chewbacca

 

Top Toys Hardcopy
First shot with weapon
Top Toys Silicone Molds - Chewbacca Torso
Top Toys Silicone Molds - Chewbacca Legs
Top Toys Steel Molds - Chewbacca Limbs
Chewbacca Signed Sample - Made in Macau
Chewbacca Bandolier Strap Proof
Chewbacca Bandolier Strap Cromalin
Chewbacca ESB 31 Back Proof
Chewbacca ESB 45 Back Proof
Chewbacca ROTJ 65 Back Proof
Chewbacca SW Proof (Blank Back and Square Corners)
Chewbacca Revenge Proof
Chewbacca First Shot
Chewbacca Proof Rounded Corners Non Blank Back




Chief Chirpa



Chief Chirpa Lili Ledy Mold Purge



Descriptions to follow




Darth Vader



Darth Vader Lili Ledy Proof Card
Darth Vader Unproduced Mock Up First Shot




Death Squad Commander



Death Squad Commander First Shot




Death Star Droid



Death Star Droid First shot




Dengar



Dengar Revenge Of The Jedi proof
More descriptions to follow




Emperor



Emperor First Shot




EV-9D9



EV-9D9 POTF Proof Cut From Sheet




FX-7



FX-7 unpainted First Shot
FX-7 ESB 45 Back




General Madine



General Madine Mock Up on 47 Back Snaggletooth Card




Greedo



Greedo First Shot
Greedo ESB SK Offer 41 Back




Hammerhead

 

Hammerhead ESB 21 Back
Hammerhead First Shot front
Hammerhead First Shot back
Hamerhead First Shot showing hand painted eyes
Hammerhead First Shot (left) comparison with production version (right)
Hammerhead First Shot possible stress test showing damaged foot




Han Solo Bespin




Han Bespin POTF Cromalin
Han Bespin ROTJ Cromalin
Han Bespin Revenge Cromalin
Han Bespin ROTJ 65 Back
Han Bespin Revenge 48 Back
Han Bespin ESB 48 Back Offerless
Han Bespin ESB 47 Back 4-LOM Offer
Han Bespin ESB 45 Back With Colour Bars
Han Bespin ESB 45 Back
Han Bespin ESB 45 Back QC Moc
Han Bespin ESB 41 Back SK Offer QC Moc




Han Solo Hoth

      

Han Solo Hoth First Shot
Han Hoth Head Pull
Han Hoth Revenge Proof




Imperial Commander



Imperial Commander Head Pull Test With Production Limbs




Jawa



Jawa ESB 31 Back




Klaatu

No Prototype or pre-production items submitted




Lando Calrissian



Lando Calrissian First Shot with Wax Sculpt
Lando Calrissian First Shot x2 pics
Lando Calrissian Wax Sculpt details x5 pics




Lobot



Lobot ESB Offerless 48 Back




Luke Skywalker (Bespin)
   

First Shot Luke Bespin




Luke Skywalker (Farmboy)



Luke FB varous items
Luke Farmboy Engineering Pilot with Engineering Pilot saber
Luke Farmboy Engineering Pilot
Luke Farmboy Engineering Pilot with number '16' on underside of foot
Luke Farmboy Engineering Pilot saber
Luke Farmboy Engineering Pilot saber




Luke Skywalker (Jedi Knight)



Luke Jedi Kenner 65 Back A Proof Card
Luke Jedi Reference Photo
Luke Jedi Protomold
Luke Jedi First Shot Head Pull Test




Luke Skywalker Hoth



Luke Skywalker Hoth ESB 45 Back




Luke Skywalker (X Wing Pilot)

   

Luke Skywalker X-Wing Pilot unpainted First Shot Head (1st pic displayed on Kenner production figure).
Luke Skywalker X-Wing Pilot / Jedi Knight Prototype coin.
Luke Skywalker X-Wing Pilot head pull safety test piece and 1st shot leg.




Power Droid



Power Droid ESB 21 Back
Power Droid ESB 45 Back
Power Droid 20 Back proof
Power Droid Protomold (x7 photos) - pictured on the right of all photos next to a Kenner example on left.




Princess Leia Organa



Princess Leia Organa Engineering Pilot
Princess Leia Organa 12 back Cromalin + 12 back blank back Proof Card + Non Sonic Welded Hand Painted First Shot with Round Footholes
Princess Leia Organa Non Sonic Welded Hand Painted First Shot with Round Footholes




Princess Leia Hoth



Princess Leia Hoth First Shot hand painted boots




Princess Leia Bespin



Princess Leia Bespin Revenge Proof




Princess Leia Poncho



Description to follow




Princess Leia Boushh



Princess Leia Boushh Unpainted Dark Brown Torso First Shot




Pruneface



Pruneface bagged First Shot yellow eyes




R2-D2



R2D2 POTF Proof
R2D2 Engineering Pilot (x2 photos)




R5-D4



R5D4 ESB SK Offer 41 Back




Rebel Commander



Rebel Commander Hardcopy




Rebel Commando

       

Rebel Commando 65 Back A Proof
Rebel Commando POTF Proof
Rebel Commando POTF Cromalin
Rebel Commando Paint Application Blueprint
Rebel Commando Unpainted Hardcopy Head and Hand Painted Protomold Figure
Rebel Commando Unpainted Protomold figure
Rebel Commando 35mm slide
Rebel Commando 35mm photo art slide
Rebel Commando 8x10 transparency
Rebel Commando Internal Weapons Transparency




ReeYees



ReeYees mock up on ESB Zuckuss card




Romba



Romba Dark Brown First Shot




Sand People (Tusken Raider)



Sand People ESB 45 Back
Sand People First Shot (x4 pictures) This is a First Shot that was hand painted and glued together at Kenner.



Snaggletooth



First Shot Blue Snaggletooth
Snaggletooth ESB 21 Back
Snaggletooth ESB 31 Back
Snaggletooth ESB SK Offer 41 Back
Snaggletooth 20 Back Proof




Stormtrooper



SW 12 back Stormtrooper proof
ESB 21 back Stormtrooper secret offer
ESB 31 back Stormtrooper proof
ESB 45 back Stormtrooper with display arena
ROTJ 65 back Stormtrooper sample card
Stormtrooper Revenge Of The Jedi proof
Stormtrooper ESB 45 Back Two-Colour Printer's Proof. One Sided. Yellow and Blue.
Stormtrooper ESB 45 Back Two-Colour Printer's Proof. One Sided. Red and Blue.
Stormtrooper ESB 45 Back All-Colour Printer's Proof. One Sided. Yellow, Red and Blue.



Kenner Stormtrooper unpainted non-sonic welded First Shot
Kenner Sormtrooper no coo painted First Shot
Kenner Stormtrooper engineering pilot with numbered feet
Kenner black and yellow Stormtrooper First Shot



TopToys Stormtrooper hard copy
TopToys Stormtrooper sample card mock up
TopToys Stormtrooper silicon mold



POTF Stormtrooper coin original sculpt
POTF Stormtrooper coin Stage 1 hard copy
POTF Stormtrooper coin soft copy (or rubber)



4ups unpainted dynecast Stormtrooper Bespin Freeze 1
Stormtrooper Bespin Freeze 2
Stormtrooper Death Star Escape
Stormtrooper Death Star Compactor




Ugnaught



Ugnaught 48 Back Revenge Offer




Walrus Man



First Shot Walrusman




Yoda



Top Toys Yoda Snake Silicone Mold
Top Toys Yoda Snake Silicone Mold
Yoda ESB 45 Back






Other Prototype Items



Jabba the Hutt

     



   

Pre Production Jabba.




First Shot Jabba head.




TOPPS TRADING CARDS



Topps Burger King Stormtrooper Card. Blue and Red Separation Printing proofs.




12 INCH DOLLS



12 INCH BOBA FETT FIRST SHOT




VEHICLES





AT-AT Revenge Proof.






INT-4 Rebate Cromalin






Revenge Of The Jedi Millenium Falcon proof






Endor Forest Ranger Marked Cromalin






Skiff Reference Photo




Other stuff



Revenge Force Lightsaber



Revenge Force Lightsaber Display Proof Sheet




Three packs



Kenner Employee Prototype Android Set





Series 1 Unproduced Prototype Box Flat




Series 1 Prototype empty box




ESB white prototype test package Rebel set




ESB Series 2 Bespin Set 3 pack Quality Control sample




Logo Concepts



The Force Forever (one of a kind logo concept) originated from Tom N







Useful Websites for prototype and pre-production information


Write up on figure manufacturing process by ChrisG
SWCA write up on prototypes

Awesome Thread Steve!!!

I really hope anyone who owns any pre production material can help this thread grow by providing info and pictures of their items that Steve can then add to the catalogue in the first post

Just to note any pictures submitted or added will of course be credited to the owner / source

I just want say those Top Toys Yoda Snake silicone mold are awesome Steve!

Cheers Jay

Wow what a great thread Steve and cant wait to see what feedback you get and only wish I had something useful to contribute still here's hoping one day
Tony

Great idea Steve! I think this will be a wonderful resource to TIG!

Hopefully this will help our new collectors understand the process of making these great figures we all know and love!

Thanks for taking the time to tackle a project like this!

Great work Steve.

Very informative stuff here.

Dan.

I can only imagine what this thread will look like in time. Excellent idea Steve.

Are you mainly looking for things like molds, hardcopies, 1st shots, etc or are you also looking for Reference Photos, Cromalins, Proofs?

ive got a firstshot , and a hard copy of a biker scout , but not vintage do you want these aswell

ive also got a polish bootleg spreu tree for limbs and torso

I was wondering about the bootlegs also. I got 4 sprues if your planning on adding the bootleg line in at some time.

Steve

Nice idea. This should be a blast to watch!

Steve Pictures sent

Cristian

Great idea!!!!

This will be one of the best threads in the net!!!

To answer all of the questions so far:

1. I want to concentrate initially on vintage and licensed manufacturers.
2. Within that i am happy to add anything - molds, proto figures, cromalins, photoart etc etc.

If in any doubt send me a message or email with the pics and description and a decision will be made from there.

A new item added - chief chirpa LL mold purge.

Steve

A quick bump as a few more pics have been added.

Does any other forum members have anything that can be added to this informative thread?

Steve

Great thread Steve! Dig the TT Chewie stuff a LOT!
Will make a small contribution too. (so even Joe can see )
Thread could become massive if 2D and 3D pieces are submitted, looking forward to it

Not to spoil things btw but the polish unpainted torsos and limbs on sprues are 'just' overstock pieces just like the Uzay AAD and Vader limbs.

~Martijn

Martijn,

thanks for the comments and cant wait to receive pics of your items.

I am sure it will be an awesome addition to this thread.

Steve

Martijn, thanks for the heads up on that. I was under the impression that the Polish sprues were pre-production pieces, at least thats what most are selling as. For overstock, they sure go for some mad money.

A few more peices added.

Is there any more out there in the land of TIG that you guys want to let me use.

Steve

damn whos crom is that

Steve you are doing a great service here for all.

My hat's off to ya bro.

Dan.

Jimmy,

i will leave it to the owner of that peice to own up if he wants to .

Steve

vintageSWfan wrote:

Steve you are doing a great service here for all.

My hat's off to ya bro.

Dan.

Dan,

I have a real interest in this particular part of collecting. I am no expert but it will help me learn as well as the other forum members. Just need more pics to add to the thread.



Steve

if all goes well , i should be able to help ya with some first shot parts for the speeder bike

Ledy proof cards

A few more added. I am sure i have a few more pics on my hard drive so gonna check.

Any more from ou guys?

Steve

Hi Steve, congrats on a great thread for pre-production & proto-types. An area of the collecting world that is completely new to me - so I'm pleased to see the pictures up so far. Top marks mate!