"Collect All 32" Design Mock-Up: This series of photos provides a fascinating look into the design process behind the vintage toy displays. As you can see, this particular mock-up is for the "Collect All 32" hanger that was released in conjunction with the second of wave of Empire Strikes Back figures. As such, it fits somewhere between the "Collect All 31" prototype sign, which didn't feature Yoda and was never issued, and the '32' production display, which added Yoda into its uppermost line of figures.

If you compare this mock-up with both the '31' and '32' versions, you'll notice that it combines aspects of both, in what amounts to a transition from the prototype sign to the display that was actually shipped to stores. While it has the correct number of figures and does feature the late add-on of Yoda, the mock-up retains some traits of the '31' prototype which were altered by the time the '32' was finalized. The Boba Fett figure, for instance, is here shown as the production version, while on the '32' it has been replaced by an image of the early "kit-bashed" prototype. Likewise, the orientations of some of the figures, such as Greedo and Hammerhead, have been altered on the production sign, the direction in which they face having been reversed from the '31'.

You'll also notice that each of the figure images (aside from Yoda, which is un-obscured) has been tagged with what appear to be small pieces of tape. On these tags is written a product number of some sort and, in the case of the lower two rows, the word "resize."

Lastly, comes an overlay of tracing-type paper used to annotate the mockup with artistic directions to be implemented for the finalized version of the display. Some of these mark-ups read, "type, drop out white," in reference to the character titles below the figures; and, while indicating the background's large ESB logo, "shoot board art full color." This overlay also provides color directions, providing both written notes and a diagonal swathe of color, to indicate what would come to comprise the background's main colors--"warm red," "yellow," and, interestingly, "Kenner blue."

Stuff like this is not something you see every day, and its simply fascinating when something like it does pop up. As collectors with an eagerness to learn about the creation process behind our collectibles, we're all very lucky that numerous examples of these mock-up displays were saved from the trash and reside in personal collections today.