The Star Wars universe is filled with monsters of all kind. No, I’m not talking about the Sith, bounty hunters, or those that live in wretched hives of scum and villainy; I mean actual beasts that will kill and devour you if given the opportunity. From the gigantic, starship swallowing Exogorths that live on asteroids, to the franchise’s own abominable snowman, the Wampa, there are plenty of terrifying beasts to watch out for in the galaxy far, far away. However, when it comes to hostile fauna, none come close to the iconic Rancor. The hulking, bipedal beast was first seen in Jabba the Hutt’s palace in Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, and even gave a fully trained Luke Skywalker a hard time.
Kenner really went all-out when it came to bringing the monstrous Rancor to life, breaking all norms it had set with previous action figures. It’s no wonder that an AFA NM 80+ version of the figure is currently being auctioned for $605 at Goldin. Much like the monster itself, this action figure is absolutely huge, standing at almost 10 inches tall, while the manufacturer’s other figures were roughly about 4 inches tall. However, the Rancor figure’s size wasn’t the only unique thing about it. Besides looking absolutely terrifying, thanks to the detailing all over its face and body, the action figure also included some neat features which could be considered revolutionary at the time. In fact, even most modern figures don’t come with some of these features.
Firstly, the Rancor’s mouth can be opened by pushing up the lever on its back. The innovators at Kenner clearly knew what they were doing, as who wouldn’t want to fit another figure into this one’s mouth? It looks like limbs, heads, and entire torsos of Kenner figures could fit into the Rancor’s mouth, making for some great playtime or posing options, if you want to open it up. Unfortunately, it doesn’t include a bone to stick in there. That’s not all though. Probably in an attempt to show off the beast’s brute strength, Kenner decided to make it arms spring-loaded. Thanks to this, as well as its movable wrists, it can toss other figures across the room, or dungeon, with ease. While Kenner is known for its wide variety of Star Wars action figures, most of them are featureless, except for a select few accessories. The Rancor might just be the most feature-heavy figure the manufacturer has ever put out.
At a time when most action figures barely had five points of articulation, this 1984 Return of the Jedi Rancor came with seven, including its openable mouth. It was clearly a major leap forward when it came to action figure manufacturing, and Kenner brilliantly portrayed one of the franchise’s most iconic monsters brilliantly thanks to this vintage action figure. It’s still hard to believe that it had some of these features in the early ’80s, but it sure does explain why it has received so many bids. With 15 more days to go, you can bet the bid price might become as monstrous as the Rancor itself.
