Via Starwars.com:
THE SHELL OF THE ORIGINAL DROID-DEPOT-ON-WHEELS IS FOUND INTACT!
I’ve been an avid fan and collector of Star Wars action figures since Kenner Products issued the Early Bird Certificate Package in late 1977. I bought every single action figure, vehicle, and playset made by Kenner during those early years except for one: the Radio Controlled Jawa Sandcrawler. The Sandcrawler was one of the first widely available radio-controlled toy vehicles, and like the film version it came loaded with features. A bit beyond my budget as a paper boy for the Star Ledger, it wasn’t until I relaunched my obsession with Star Wars collecting in the early 1990s that I finally acquired this highly-coveted grail from childhood.
As a Kenner toy aficionado, I continue to be fascinated by the stages of design and production of the original Star Wars line. Like most of the vehicles made by Kenner, the Sandcrawler was crafted from large wood pattern pieces to form all the sections and faces of the toy. A wood pattern is a detailed model made using advanced woodworking techniques to achieve intricate detail. For toys like the Star Wars vehicles that contain many straight edges and mechanical features, a wood pattern is preferable to clay or wax sculpts — which are better suited for organic shapes.
Surprisingly few Kenner Star Wars patterns are known to exist today, but a small cache were uncovered last year at a shop in Michigan which had produced patterns for Kenner in the late 1970s. During that time, it was common for Kenner to outsource various pre-production stages to outside firms specializing in various steps of the process. The owners of the Michigan shop held on to these handcrafted pieces. After years of negotiations with the owners, a friend and I were able to close a deal on one of the most amazing finds in all my years of collecting directly from the original source, avoiding any middlemen along the way. Among all the great wood pattern pieces uncovered that day, I was thrilled to add the Sandcrawler pattern to my collection!
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