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The vintage Kenner Tauntaun came in two versions; the one with the split belly into which you could partially insert a hypothermic Luke Skywalker and the one with the solid belly. Very few Tauntauns still have their reins these days as they had a tendency to snap in two.

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The split-bellied and solid bellied Kenner Tauntauns came with different saddle straps. The strap for the split-bellied version is much thicker than that of the solid bellied Tauntaun. Both Tauntauns came with either a light or dark brown paint application on the horns. All the Kenner Tauntauns I have come with a 1979 Hong Kong date stamp on the feet regardless of variation.

I'm missing the reins on all my vintage Tauntauns. I did manage to pick up a Kenner Tauntaun complete with reins on eBay as part of a job lot but only half of the Star Wars collectibles got delivered which led to eBay having to settle a dispute over this.

The Tauntaun creature itself seems represent a failure in animal welfare the part of the Rebel Alliance in The Empire Strikes Back. Why didn't they bring steeds which weren't going to freeze to death in the harsh arctic conditions of Hoth?, is the first question that springs to mind. Certainly Han Solo has little to say about the death of his Tauntaun other than he was a bit smelly. Han is obviously not an animal lover and this is something that is compounded in The Force Awakens when we find him smuggling exotic animals – not a very PC activity at all. The second question is, 'What happened to all the Tauntauns during the evacuation of Echo Base?' Were they all herded two-by-two into one of the transports or were they left behind on Hoth to fend for themselves? No one seems to give a second thought to the poor Tauntaun. Is there perhaps a Tauntaun rescue centre somewhere in the Galaxy where they can live out their days munching on whatever it is that Tauntauns munch on?

In the 2014 Star Wars Character Encyclopaedia Tauntauns are described as being indigenous to Hoth but this doesn't seem very probable, not only because they have a habit of dying if left out in the cold overnight but also because that wouldn't have given the Rebels much time to domesticate, tame and train them without Jedi skills to speed up the process. Tauntauns on Hoth are mentioned in the Star Wars Droids cartoon Escape into Terror eposide (1.2) when C-3PO comments that he'd rather be feeding Tauntauns on Hoth. Sinced the Droids cartoon is set before Episode IV A New Hope C-3PO can not just be refering back to his time on Hoth and as such this would indicate that Tauntauns are indigenous to Hoth. However, the Droids cartoon isn't really a canonical source of information.

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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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