A Cantina to Remember
When it comes to the Star Wars Cantina and 3.75-inch scale Star Wars action figures there have been several playset/display options over the years. From a cardboard playset to a plastic and cardboard set in the seventies to various displays in the nineties, Star Wars fans have never lacked for a home for their Cantina action figures. Hell, even Gentle Giant (website, Twitter) is getting in on the action with a Jumbo Cantina Playset for use with their Star Wars Jumbo Vintage action figure series (Amazon.com search*).
But all of those commercial options pale in comparison to the custom Cantina shown in issue eight of the old Star Wars Gamer magazine.
Created for the Star Wars Roleplaying Game
Star Wars Gamer magazine (Amazon.com search*), as the name implies, was a magazine devoted to Star Wars gaming. Published in the early 2000s by Wizards of the Coast, the magazine ran for only ten issues and primarily focused on the (at the time) Wizards of the Coast-published Star Wars Roleplaying Game. The magazine included a mix of fiction and articles, and the photos shown here are of a Cantina constructed for use with Star Wars action figures; the idea was to use this space as a location for encounters, but I’m sure action figure collectors would also find this to be a fabulous diorama piece.
Quite Large
Using 1.75″ x 1.75″ squares as the base, the Cantina shown in the article measured 43.75″ x 26.25″, making it an outrageously massive environment that would be tough to display nicely; just think of all of the dust this piece would accumulate if it were in your collection! And what’s truly terrifying is that, as is pointed out in the article, the entire design has been scaled down slightly and should actually be 50″ x 30″ if it were to really be to scale with the action figures. No wonder Kenner’s toy designers scaled all of the old Star Wars vehicles down just a little!
Rough Instructions
Despite covering five pages and being packed with over a dozen photos and a floor plan of the Cantina the instructions on building the display are very rough. You don’t get step-by-step instructions in the article, so unless you’re already quite handy and have built dioramas or miniatures terrain in the past don’t chase down the magazine in the hopes that you’ll find a detailed guide and soon be building your own giant Cantina. The basic ideas are presented in the article, but you’ll need to make up a lot of the steps as you go from the article to building your own Cantina.
Only $2!
If you want a closer look at the article and the photos then you can find the magazine (issue eight) for only $2 at the Paizo website. Being over a decade old and with a $6.99 cover price the clearance price at the Paizo site is better than I’ve seen anywhere else online, but since there’s no telling how long the magazine will be in stock it’s possible it will be gone by the time you read this. The article’s worth a couple of bucks, but unless you’re a hardcore Star Wars fan and trying to complete a collection of all ten issues of Star Wars Gamer magazine (Amazon.com search*) I don’t suggest paying more than $2 or $3 for the issue.
Good Luck!
Looking at the photos in the article, and reading through the article again after about a decade since last opening the magazine, I can say that there’s nothing quite as inspiring as seeing a well-crafted display to make me wish I had time to tackle such a large project. I’m certainly no stranger to building action figure displays — see “Creating a Custom Action Figure Display” — but something the size of the Star Wars Cantina is just too big for me to attempt at this time.
But maybe you have the time and skills to build one. If so then good luck, and please be sure to share photos of your construction with all of us once you’ve finished.
Related articles
- Star Wars Jumbo Vintage Cantina About to Ship! (battlegrip.com)
- 1978 : Kenner Cantina Adventure Playset (retronaut.com)
- Five Reasons Why Action Figures Cost More Today (battlegrip.com)
