This wind up R2-D2 was made by Takara in Japan in 1978 and was initally only available bagged. Unlicenesed at first, Artoo was later licensed by Kenner and distributed carded in Canada. It is rumored that George Lucas liked it so much he gave them out to Lucasfilm employees.
If you can't afford the huge prices the carded versions of this toy brings, perhaps this opened version is for you!
For more information on the history of this toy, please check out the link below to our previous eBay Today post in 2003 which describes the item in more detail.
TAKARA R2-D2 WIND UP VINTAGE STAR WARS COMPLETENOTE: If you do not see the link above, it is probably due to your security software. Because some of these programs see the link as an ad, it is blocked. By disabling just the ad blocking portion of the software while still having all the other features activated, such as antivirus protection, firewall and pop-up blocker, you should see the link to the auction. 1018
