Spotted Online – Unused Kenner “Manga Darth Vader” at Behind the Toys

As much fun as it is to read about Kenner’s early nineties pitch for the Star Wars license in this Behind the Toys post the real excitement is the Manga Star Wars concept. Unfortunately, it looks as if Pokemon murdered our late nineties Manga Star Wars action figure line before it could even get off the ground:

The ideation for the Star Wars Manga was incredible and I was looking forward to developing that line and bringing it to market but the decision was made to abandon that and focus resources on Pokemon.

There is some good news, though, because the Hero Mashers* line from Hasbro is getting a Darth Vader which looks awfully close to this old concept art.

Related articles

• Hasbro Reveals Animated-Style Darth Vader and Older Ahsoka Figures (geeksaresexy.net)
• Spotted Online – Vintage Kenner Collector’s Cases at Star Wars Blog (battlegrip.com)
• “The Mystery Behind Darth Vader’s Proesthetic Armour” (battlegrip.com)