Jawa Guide WIP
Chihuahua
- August 6, 2023
TABLE OF CONTENTS
DON’T RELY ON JUST THE COO TO IDENTIFY A FIGURE. Mould, paint colour, plastic colour and figure assembly traits are also needed to confirm your figure’s origins.
KADER HONG KONG
Above you can see following figure and accessory combinations (left to right):
- Vinyl Cape. Rectangular very dark brown bandolier. Transparent oval yellow eyes.
- Rectangular very dark brown bandolier. Transparent yellow oval eyes. Cloth Cloak
- Rectangular mid-brown bandolier. Solid yellow oval eyes. Cloth Cloak
- Rectangular caramel bandolier. Solid yellow oval eyes. Cloth Cloak
- Rectangular chocolate brown bandolier. Solid yellow oval eyes. Cloth Cloak
- Rectangular light brown bandolier. Solid yellow oval eyes. Cloth Cloak
F1 foot detail
KADER HONG KONG COO
Above you can see following figure and accessory combinations (left to right):
- Rounded dark brown bandolier Solid oval yellow eyes. Cloth cloak.
- Rectangular dark brown bandolier Round yellow eyes. Cloth cloak.
KADER (CHINA) NCOO
- Rectangular dark brown bandolier Round yellow eyes. Smooth cloth cloak.
F2 foot detail
F1/F2 Kader parts: Toltoys Vinyl Cape
KADER HONG KONG COO
Above you can see following figure and accessory combinations (left to right):
- Toltoys Vinyl Cape. Rounded light brown bandolier. Solid oval yellow eyes. Degraded limbs
This figure should be seen as a completely separate variant to the original vinyl caped SW-era Jawa release. This figure was traced back to a 41-e cardback, distributed to the Australian market by Toltoys. Of course there was nothing deliberate in the production of this odd little figure. In truth this is most likely from a “seconds” grade batch of figures, shoddily assembled and accessorised with a poorly cut cape which the Australian licensee Toltoys purchased a batch of cheaply.
This figure was cobbled together from a mix of two mould families and the vinyl material available at Kader’s Hong Kong based factory at the time.
Some notable points about the figure itself which make it unique. The parts used for this short release are a mix, where the limbs are family one (note thumb and COO), while torso is from family two (note rounded bandolier). The plastic used by Kader is notorious for degrading, and while you can find all kinds of Jawas with degraded limbs, it’s a near certainty that the plastic for the Toltoys Jawa will be either green spotted or have turned completely green (as pictured).
The cape as mentioned above is the darker vinyl used on the Ben cape. As the original lighter brown vinyl was disused years earlier, this darker material was the only vinyl in circulation at the mid ESB era of production. It’s common for these capes to be poorly die cut, although there are tells which help us authenticate genuine examples from the plethora of fake’s in circulation after decades of badly cut down Ben capes and more recently higher quality fakes flooding the collectors market.
The blaster should ideally be the bluish version of the M3 Jawa blaster. This has been confirmed on a few surviving MOCs and fits with Kader’s colour selection for accessories through this era of production.
F1 foot detail
UNITOY HONG KONG COO
Above you can see following figure and accessory combinations (left to right):
- Rectangular mid-brown bandolier. Small dot yellow eyes. Cloth cloak
- Rectangular dark brown bandolier. Small dot yellow eyes. Cloth cloak
The Unitoy Jawa debuted on the 12 bk card. This figure continue from SW through to the ESB era and the last Unitoy release I found was on the 47bk. The F3 Jawa was produced with the rectangular bandolier mould, although mixed rect./rounded examples have also been noted. These were produced in the same factory after all and parts from different runs would have overlapped during assembly.
The Unitoy figures were shot in a darker reddish-brown plastic. Another key detail is the eyes, which are small yellow dots as opposed to the larger oval/rounded versions found on the Kader versions.
There was no Unitoy release with a Vinyl Cape. The Unitoy cloaks tended to have a loose, oversized fit and a larger hood.
F3 foot detail
UNITOY HONG KONG COO
Above you can see following figure and accessory combinations (left to right):
- Rounded light-brown bandolier. Small dot yellow eyes. Cloth cloak
- Rounded dark brown bandolier. Small dot yellow eyes. Cloth cloak
As the figure is cloaked and sealed in a bubble, there’s no way to determine which set of tooling was used and when. With this in mine, the cardback information will be the same as the F3 Jawa above.
The F4 Jawa was produced with the rounded bandolier mould, although mixed rectangular/rounded examples have also been noted. These were produced in the same factory after all and parts from different runs would have overlapped during assembly.
The moulds, plastic type and paint application is the same as the family 3 Jawa above.
The accessory information is the same as the family 3 Jawa above.
Lili Ledy
Lili Ledy
LILI LEDY HONG KONG COO
Above you can see following figure and accessory combinations (left to right):
- Grey brown rounded bandolier
- Purple brown rounded bandolier
- Dark brown rounded bandolier
- Removable hood cloak
- Stitched hood cloak
During the ROTJ era, the Family 4 tooling was sent to Mexico for Lili Ledy to begin production on their version of the Jawa figure. The Lili Ledy Jawa was released on the 50 back Regreso card. This is an exiting variation with many unique features when compared to it’s Kenner counterpart.
Most immediately, the bright yellow, almond shaped eyes set this figure apart. The bandoliers were painted in subtle shade variations (as shown above) which vary to the other licensees. Another distinct feature of this figure was the production decision to give him a removable hood on the cloak. The removable hood cloak is found with light and dark stitching and in vary low numbers, the hood can be found attached to the cloak.
The last peculiar choice Lili Ledy made with this figure was to package him with their own in-house version of the pilot blaster instead of the more conventional Jawa blaster. I can only speculate here, but I believe the tooling for the Jawa blaster was still needed in Asia for the Kenner Jawa production run, so Lili Ledy improvised by using the nearest “blaster” type accessory available that fit comfortably into the figures hand.
POCH 1977 HONG KONG
Above you can see following figure and accessory combinations (left to right):
- Poch dark purple-brown bandolier
- Poch mid-brown bandolier (Kenner paint?)
- Poch light brown bandolier
The Poch Jawa figure was assembled from a combination of Asian produced Kader and Unitoy parts. The figure itself at a glance is similar to it’s Kenner counterpart, however the tells below are a good start to differentiate the Kenner and Poch counterparts from one another.
The bandolier colour is most often either a dark purple-brown or light-brown. I have shown an example in the centre which has a mid brown bandolier, however it’s very possible this was a pre-painted in Asia before being dumped in the overstock lot that went to Spain.
The paint on the face and hands is a glossy black. The pupils are very small lighter yellow shade and often can be positioned very unevenly. There is often a plastic burr on the torso from parts being twisted from the sprue tree instead of cut cleanly. Lastly, the sonic weld holding the figure together is often weak and torso halves can partially or completely separate.
The Kader parts seem to be specifically from family 1 and Unitoy parts from families 3 and 4. If anyone has Poch examples that contradict this information, please get in touch and I’ll revise the text here.
