ACTION FIGURES

Lili Ledy was one of the top enterprises in Mexico on the 70s and early 80s; it also was the exclusive importer of Kenner products. Nevertheless, none of the first Star Wars action figures made it to Mexico. Only after the success of the action figure line in the United States and the movies themselves was that Lili Ledy decided to import some figures from Spain. Those are the rarest Lili Ledy figures since the distribution was scarce, even some people related with Lili Ledy refer to them as a market test. These figures had all the same card with no photo of the character but a Millennium Falcon and the logo was based on "El Imperio Contraataca".

The cardback included two unproduced figures which were the Han Solo in Hoth Gear and the Snowtrooper; also the figure labeled as "Comandante Rebelde" actually was the Rebel Soldier, a few years later the real Rebel Commander figure was the one that Lili Ledy made.

Early on 1983, the company acquired the rights for a massive distribution of a twelve action figure collection with a card similar to the one Kenner used but completely made in Mexico.

The first figures to be announced on a TV spot by April were Luke Skywalker on Bespin fatigues, Han Solo in Bespin Outfit, Darth Vader, Yoda The Jedi Master, See-Threepio and R2-D2 (known to the kids as AR-TU-RI-TO).

With these figures, the variations also began. Little was known about the actual title for the third movie of the saga (Revenge or Return) so as soon it was confirmed the Return of the Jedi title Lili Ledy went on producing cards reading "La Guerra de las Galaxias: El Retorno del Jedi" this was a correct translation but a word hardly used in Mexico.

The "Retorno del Jedi" action figure cards has the same photographs as the Kenner ones with one exception: The R2-D2 had a completely different picture taken from a scene on The Empire Strikes Back. On the other hand the cardback was exclusive to the Lili Ledy collection...they didn´t had the color picture of the Kenner figures and the reasons were simple: to lower the production costs and mainly because Lili Ledy never had in mind bringing the whole Star Wars Collection.

All the first cardbacks had black and white drawings with twelve different characters and two vehicles: The Rebel Armored Snowspeeder (Halcón de las Nieves) and TIE Fighter (Nave Imperial), the latter was discontinued almost immediately. At the end of the cardback a sticker was added (stating the product guarantee) over the Lili Ledy logo and address.

For the second wave scheduled for late september 1983 the following figures were made: Lando Calrissian with Skiff Guard Disguise, Ree-Yees, Klaatu, Squid Head (Hombre Calamar) and the Guardia Gamorrian; all five had the same card with the Retorno del Jedi logo.

Matching the release of Return of the Jedi movie by December of the same year, Lili Ledy changed the logo from "Retorno del Jedi" to "Regreso del Jedi" (a more accurate translation) and two new figures went out to the market: Cacique Chirpa and Logray. The cardback also changed, the TIE Fighter was substituted for a Darth Vader TIE Fighter and instead of a sticker the guarantee was written on the card.

The third wave had all the previous figures with the new "Regreso del Jedi" logo and Nien Numb was added to the collection.

In April 1984, after the big hit Return of the Jedi was, Lili Ledy increased drastically the collection expanding it to 16 figures plus the following: Halcón Milenario, Vehículo-Explorador or AT-ST, 3 mini-rigs, Jabba el Hutt, Velociclo or Speeder Bike, Nave de combate Y-Wing and Espadas del Poder. All these items were added to the cardback with the exception of the Y-Wing, also the cardbacks could be found in two different ways: light background with the drawings on black and another with black background and images on "negative".

By September 1984, another two figures were made, Paploo and Wicket and with them the last cardback variation with 18 figures. From this last cardback its worth mentioning that the Cloud Car Pilot and the removable limbs C-3PO had a sticker covering the cardback and underneath it you could find the Kenner cardback showing 92 figures and a coin promotion.

The complete action figure included 50 figures listed below.

Darth Vader (No. 3485)
Luke Skywalker Bespin (No. 3481)
Princess Leia Organa
"See Threepio"
Han Solo Bespin
Artoo Detoo (No. 3489)
Chewbacca (No. 3486)
Ben (Obi-Wan) Kenobi (No. 3475)
Yoda (No. 3487)
Stormtrooper (No. 3484)
Ree-Yees (No. 3492)
Gamorrean Guard (No. 3495)
Nien Numb (No. 3493)
Klaatu (No. 3496)
Squid Head (No. 3494)
Lando Calrissian (Skiff Guard Disguise) (No. 3491)
Logray
Chief Chirpa (No. 3498)
Boba Fett (No. 3483)
General Madine
Weequay (No. 3520)
Emperor´s Royal Guard (No. 3521)
Imperial TIE Fighter Pilot (No. 3522)
Bib Fortuna
Princesa Leia Organa Disfráz de Boushh (No. 3524)
Biker Scout (No. 3525)
Star Destroyer Commander (No. 3527)
Imperial Commander (No. 3526)
Admiral Ackbar (No. 3528)
Luke Skywalker Jedi
Paploo (No. 3554)
Wicket W. Warrick
Lumat (No. 3553)
Emperador (No. 50701)
AT-ST Driver
Prune Face (No. 50703)
Lando Calrissian (No. 50708)
Teebo
Han Solo Endor (No. 50706)
Jawa (No. 50731)
Klaatu Skiff Guard (No. 50704)
Rebel Commander (No. 50729)
Princess Leia Organa Endor (No. 50722)
8D8 (No. 50728)
B-Wing Pilot
Cloud Car Pilot (No. 50711)
Rancor Keeper
Zuckuss (No. 50727)
Nikto (No. 50725)
C-3PO Removable limbs (No. 50709)

Variations:

The Lili Ledy Star Wars figures were made on a slighty different plastic and the paint job was also distinitive so the variations found on this series are extensive but some of the best known include the following.

Molding variations: Perhaps one of the best known is the Biker Scout "small mouth", although this is not exclusive to the Lili Ledy line all of the mexican Biker Scouts are the same. Also they are a little slimer than the regular Kenner action figure.

Clothing variations: In this category the most known variations involve the clothing for Bib Fortuna and Squid Head but there are also other variations including the Han Solo Trench Coat which can be found in two versions, one with reddish camouflage and the other in brown. The Jawa clothes of the Lili Ledy line had the peculiarity of a removable hood.

Painting variations: By far the most representative example of paint variation is the Cloud Car Pilot which is famous for its bright yellow boots, but almost every figure from Lili Ledy has a painting difference.

Accesories variations: The Lili Ledy action figures lacked of weapon diversity. In fact two types of weapon were the most common; the first one was the one originally packed with the TIE Fighter pilot, this weapon could be found (besides the Cloud Car Pilot and TIE Fighter Pilot) with the earlier Biker Scout, Nien Numb and the Jawa. The second weapon was found on figures ranging from Han Solo Bespin Outfit, Han Solo Endor, Squid Head to the Luke Skywalker Jedi Outfit; also thw Wicket action figure came with Paploo weapon; but the weirdest variation was those found with the Emperor figure which had a black Chief Chirpa ewok stick intead of the Kenner cane and the first Luke Skywalker Jedi Knight came with a General Madine baton instead of a lightsaber! So its important for collectors all around the world to know that you can find some mint on card Lili Ledy action figures with the wrong weapons but also you can find them with the right accessories.