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The Kenner Speeer Bike was a fantastic small vehicle and our appetite for it had been whet very early on in the trailers for The Return of the Jedi. The Speeder Bike itself did not disappoint and felt very accurate to the movie. Even today the design has barely been improved upon with even the 2008 Legacy Collection Hoth Speeder Bike Patrol pack using pretty much exactly the same design.

Find Vintage Speeder Bike on eBay

The Kenner Speeder Bike (like the Hoth Radar Laser Cannon before it), could be blown up by pressing a button on its back. Unlike the Rader Laser Cannon however, the Speeder Bike came in quite a few parts, not just the parts into which it separated for the explosion effect, but also mud guards and handle bars, as well as the blaster under the main body. This made it especially susecptible to loosing peices. Moreover, removing the mud flaps and handlebars was pretty addictive much like pulling the legs off a daddy longlegs for a fidgetty child (only that you could put them back on again afterwards). Especially fiddly children were likely to start loosing parts off their Speeder Bikes very quickly. As such on eBay these days there is a roaring trade in selling loose vintage Speeder Bike parts.

The blast-apart effect was pretty appropriate since just about every Speeder Bike we encounter in The Return of the Jedi ends up being blown up when it hits a tree. In fact, we might surmise that the life expectancy of a Biker Scout was probably about as short as that of a World War II RAF pilot.

Having rummaged through my vintage Speeder Bike spares recently I came across a chassis and seat which didn't match the tan body colour of my other Kenner Speeder Bikes. On closer inspection these khaki shaded peices turned out to be from the Taiwan Raised bar version which is rather rare. Having inspected some photos of the Taiwan Raised Bar Speeder Bike online, the chassis turned out to be even more unusual than I first thought since its rear end is the colour that matches the raised bar version but the front end is the colour of the common Speeder Bike (Taiwan COO without the raised bar). In the second photo you can see the colour contrast with the more common Taiwan Speeder Bike which has the regular embossed lettering on the COO.

What's perhaps most surprising is that I seem to have used the Taiwan raised bar Speeder Bike parts for the Paploo Speeder Bike chase in the top photo without even noticing that this bike was a distinct variant. Perhaps because the chassis is the tan colour at one end at the khaki colour at the other end I didn't think to check.

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All Star Wars action figures, vehicles, collectibles and Star Wars toys shown on this website are the 3.75 inch scale and from my own private Star Wars collection unless otherwise stated. Where possible original vintage accessories have been used but in some instances I have placed Kenner Star Wars figures with either reproduction weapons and accessories or for Hasbro figures close approximations have been used. This is mostly the case for modern Star Wars lightsabers where the correct item can be very difficult to identify on some ocassions. Vintage Star Wars action figures are shown with their original weapon or accessory when I have them. When a vintage Kenner action figure is shown with an accessory which is not original I have tried to point this out where possible.

All of the Star Wars action figures shown were purchased second hand, usually incomplete, and in bulk. They have been reunited with their original weapons and accessories where we could get hold of them.

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