| MERCHANDISE - ACTION FIGURES |
| Standing Figures |
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Tonka (a division of Hasbro) produced twelve standing action figures: six Heroic
and six Evil. The figures were painted pieces of molded plastic with nonmoveable
joints and painted metal stands (tan for the good guys and black for the bad
guys). Some of the figures had easily removable stands; in other cases, trying
to remove the stands carried a strong risk of breaking off the plastic tabs on
the figure's feet. The figures ranged in height (head to toe) from about two
inches for the smaller figures (like Willow) to about three inches for the
taller figures (like Madmartigan). The Willow figure came in three variations:
the standard figure, a mail-away figure identical to the standard figure except
that it had a green shirt, and the standard figure with Elora Danan and papoose
basket.
Apart from the name and brief description at the bottom of the card front, the card fronts were all essentially the same, except that the Heroic figure cards had a yellow background and the Evil figure cards had a red background. Each figure had a unique card back, with a picture and description of the character. The whole toy line carried the slogan, "The magic lies within!" Collector Paul Falconer is interested in finding any prototypes from the toy line that may have survived. In particular, he's looking for toy designers and/or sculptors that worked on this project or even worked for Tonka during the time in question. If you have any helpful information, please write to him at madmartigan37@yahoo.com. |
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Protector |
Willow |
Elora Danan |
Cardback |
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Renegade Swordsman |
Cardback | Warrior Princess |
Cardback |
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Rebel Commander | Cardback |
Wise Man |
Cardback |
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Heroic Soldier |
Cardback |
Evil Sorceress |
Cardback |
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Nockmaar Commander |
Cardback |
Evil Beast |
Cardback |
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Evil Trooper |
Cardback |
Evil Soldier |
Cardback |
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Vicious Creature |
Cardback |
Cardfront |
Cardfront |
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| Here are a couple of variant figures. They were purchased by Paul Falconer at a toy show in Canada a few years ago, and it looks as thought there may have been some production differences between the US and Canada. Thanks to Paul for the pictures. |
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| Special Limited Edition Figure |
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This limited edition figure was created by Warwick Davis himself to commemorate the
movie's 15th anniversary in 2003. The actual figure is a mint-condition classic 1988
green-shirt Willow, as seen in the first row at the top of the page. Warwick didn't
just issue the figure; he also contributed some artistic vision, because the fine print on
the back of the card says "Limited Edition figure package design by Derek Maki &
Warwick Davis, 2003." With so much star involvement in this rare collector's item, it's
something that every serious Willow fan will want to have!
While supplies last, the figure is available from Coolwaters Productions. At present it's shown in the 8th row of pictures on the Coolwaters site. Only 300 of these figures were issued, and some of them were sold at conventions. I don't know how many are left! The card measures 5½ x 8½ inches and is printed on both sides. The artwork on the front of the card is very unique, and is based on a rare photo that can be seen here. It's signed and hand-numbered by Warwick Davis in gold Sharpie. The one shown here is #106 in the series; the picture includes some scanner glare that isn't part of the actual card. The back of the card has a photo collage of Willow and some of Warwick's other best-known characters, along with Warwick's filmography from 1983 into 2004 and a declaration that "This Special Limited Edition action figure has been created to commemorate the 15th Anniversary of 'Willow'." |
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| Mounted Figures |
| Tonka also produced five figures on horseback. Like the standing figures, the mounted figures were painted molded plastic with painted metal stands color-coded for the rider's affiliation; the stands were easily removable.The cardfronts were larger versions of the standing figures' cards. Each figure had a unique cardback that was different than the cardback for the corresponding standing figure. |
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Warrior |
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Cardback |
Cardback |
Cardback |
Cardback |
Warrior Cardback |
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| Collector Sets |
| Tonka produced four collector sets (two Heroic and two Evil). Each set consisted of one mounted figure and two standing figures. These did not differ from the individually-purchased figures. Apparently one of these sets is very rare; I've seen numerous sales of three of the sets on eBay, but I've never seen a sale of Evil Collector Set 2. |
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Mounted Madmartigan, Sorsha, Willow |
Mounted Airk, Madmartigan, Rebel Trooper |
Mounted Kael, Nockmaar Warrior, Death Dog |
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| Vehicles |
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Tonka produced three vehicles. These were all supposed to be Sears exclusives,
although there was at least one 1988 sighting in a Toys'R'Us. The vehicles are now
the rarest and hardest to find of the Willow toys. The figures included
with the vehicles had different paint schemes than the indivually-packaged figures.
The pictures below were provided by Kevin D. O'Connell of Chicago, who acquired them after a great deal of personal effort and expense. He might be willing to part with them if the price is right, but warns that it would have to be a high price due to the difficulty of finding the vehicles. If you're interested in testing the market, let me know and I'll try to put you in touch with him. |
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| The chariot came with two removable spears, a variation of the Nockmaar Lieutenant figure, and an axle-driven mechanism inside the chariot to flip figures out. |
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| The catapult came with three spiked throwing stones and a variation of the Rebel Trooper figure. |
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| The mangonel came with three crossbolts and a variation of the Nockmaar Warrior figure. |
| The Eborsisk |
| Is there anyone out there who doesn't think that the Eborsisk is the coolest of all the Willow toys? According to the Lucasfilm Fan Club this item was never released, but a number of them actually did make it onto store shelves. This tribute to Siskel and Ebert is 9½ inches high, 7½ inches wide, and 16 inches long. |
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| Here's an unusual item that was offered for sale on eBay in early 2003. It's said to be a 3-piece resin model of a two-headed dragon based on the Eborsisk, by sculptor and character designer Tony McVey. He's worked on a number of well-known movies, including parts of the Star Wars series; you can visit his website here. I'm unable to verify the inspiration for the model, but it looks pretty cool! |
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