In 1978 it was the Italian toy company Harbert that was granted license by LFL to produce Star Wars toys for that particular market. Star Wars translates to Guerre Stellari in Italian and as such, the figures produced by Harbert feature this logo prominantly on the front of the card where it shares space with the Harbert logo. Of course, the rest of the packaging is also printed in Italian and many of the figures produced by this company feature slight changes to their name. C-3P0 was known as D3B0, our beloved astromech droid R2-D2 was known as C1P8, and the Dark Lord of the Sith, Darth Vader was known as Lord Darth Fener. Strangely enough, Darth Vader figures tend to turn up with more frequency that other Harbert 12 backs and it just so happens that there is one currently listed on eBay:
Harbert Darth VaderThis particular example is suffering from what collectors have dubbed "mould" which is a white film which can build up on both loose and carded figures. This mould can easily be wiped clean from loose figures and believe or not, can also be removed from carded figures as well. All one has to do place the figure under a hot light bulb or in direct sunlight for a very short period of time and magically, the mould will disappear. When conducting this rememdy, it's best to keep a close eye on the item and make sure that you don't leave it unattended for a long period of time. For this and other vintage repair remedies, check out
The Vintage Restoration Site.
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