| Small Wing Die-Cast Darth Vader TIE Fighter - 2 Carded Samples | |
| The version of the Die Cast Darth Vader's TIE Fighter with smaller wings was never released to the public. The existing mint-on-card examples are probably early packaging tests, made at a time before the wing size was enlarged. Here you see an example of the small wing DV TIE (right) beside the standard production piece.
This closeup of the two toys should give you an idea of how greatly the wings' sizes differ.
Now here you see a carded DV TIE sample that's probably from even earlier point in development than the one seen above. This one has been attached to a regular TIE Fighter blister card, probably for the purpose of testing and approval. This sort of thing--that is, attaching newly developed toys to incongruous blister cards--was done quite frequently in the vintage era. Collectors are probably most familiar with miscarded action figure samples, several of which can be seen on the Archive.
Here's a closeup. |
 | |
| Description by: | Ron Salvatore |
| Photo: | Tze Ing |
| From the collection of: | Tze Ing |
| Country: | United States |
| Film: | A New Hope |
| Licensee: | Kenner |
| Year: | 1977 |
| Category: | Prototypes / Miscellaneous Toys |
