ToyFare’s 1996 “Winter Special” Top 10 Action Figures
When I sat down and started work on my next book (Universe Expanded at Kickstarter) I had two separate Kenner Star Wars sublines to choose from. I may have selected the 1998 Expanded Universe, but that in no way means that I’ve forgotten the 1996 Shadows of the Empire toys. If this current book meets its funding goal then I will return in the future to the idea of a Shadows of the Empire book.
Fortunately, when that time comes I’ll have already been exploring those 1996 toys. As I go through books and magazines from the time I cannot help but stumble across instances of the line’s existence. For example, this two-page spread from the 1996 ToyFare Winter Special shows us that the Leia In Boushh Disguise action figure was definitely in demand at the time. #2 spot!
Related articles
- 1998 Star Wars Expanded Universe: “A Starship is Born” (battlegrip.com)
- Universe Expanded now on Kickstarter (battlegrip.com)
- June, 1998 Star Wars Expanded Universe Profiles (battlegrip.com)
This was my first issue of ToyFare ever! Yup, I was in from the beginning. I loved this and my 7th grade mind laughed at every joke in the book. I remember a teacher taking it from me in school and not giving it back to me until the end of the day. I really do think that reading ToyFare was the first time that I ever felt like there were other people like me out there.
Good memories, Phil. Good memories. My mom bought this for me the day of our city Christmas parade. We had just moved to Hendersonville, TN before Thanksgiving. I met one of my two best friends in the world around that time because we were both wearing Star Wars t-shirts. It turned out that his dad worked for a factory that printed Toy Fare and they got copies of the magazine. His dad brought them home to him and thus we had a mutual love for the irreverent humor of Toy Fare.
Dang I miss Toy Fare!
@barbecue17 – Free magazines? You were one lucky kid! At the time these were new I bought them when (a) I could find them and (b) afford them. Gina was in school at the time, I was working in the ag industry, and we were both just getting a handle on things.
Looking back now I can see just how lucky we both are today to have such great jobs.
But free magazines? That would have been awesome!
And I had never thought of the magazine as something that would help kids understand they weren’t alone in the world. Now I’m even sadder that magazines are dying out.
My buddy got his magazines free but I had to hunt mine down and pay for them just like everyone else. Fortunately at that age, that meant mom and dad picked them up for me. They were always good about providing reading material!
I miss magazines, too, although with the internet being much different than it was in the mid 90’s I always hope that kids have more outlets to find others like them. Of course, they also can’t escape from their classmates or folks who bully them because of their interests and such, so it’s a real Kobayashi Maru situation.