Vintage 12 Back Vinyl Cape Jawa AFA 85 (Product Review)

We pay up to $5,000 for a 12-Back Vinyl Cape Jawa in AFA 85 condition! Please e-mail to buying@brianstoys.com if you have one you'd like to sell.

The Star Wars 12 Back Vinyl Cape Jawa (or Plastic Cape Jawa) is one of the best known and most valuable vintage Star Wars action figures. So what makes this small, and relatively obscure character so special? He was to become the most famous of all of the Star Wars "variants". Due to cheaper production costs, Kenner (the manufacturer of the original Star Wars toy line) produced the first version of the Jawa with a "vinyl" or "plastic" cape. However, due to early negative feedback from kids and parents, Kenner quickly changed course and a new "cloth" cape version of the Jawa was available relatively early on in the product's life cycle. So the vast majority of Jawa action figures produced during the late 1970's were the cloth cape version.

This Vinyl Cape has an overall AFA grade of 85. There is slight discolorment to the vinyl cape's lapel. This figure is available at the official Brian's Toys website. http://www.brianstoys.com

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[bluesnagg]

I have a genuine vintage vinyl cape Jawa. I understood that Kenner changed the cape to a cloth version because it appeared to be of a higher quality addition to such a small figure that cost as much as the other figures in the line that were taller. I've never heard the story about negative feedback from the parents to change the cape, but I suppose that could have happened.

[BriansToys]

Good point, the perception in quality was part of the reason along with the vinyl's color not looking accurate to the movie. All said and done, the primary reason for the change was simply aesthetics, according to Gus Lopez.

[flyguy]

Excellent review guys, so nice to see these rare items up close.

[Alejandro Guzman]

Like it !