Support us on PATREON: / retroblasting RetroBlasting and Broken Vader examine one of the Holy Grails of vintage Star Wars toys - The Palitoy Death Star playset! #RetroBlasting #BrokenVader #Palitoy #DeathStar
It's kind of sad that there are probably never going to be playsets like this ever again. There's a lot of talent involved with the art used for the backgrounds that just isn't there with today's toys.
I think you may be being overly pessimistic. The advent of 3D printing makes having a brand new Kenner Deathstar playset a possibility. One could even choose to upscale the old Micro Collection playsets to 3 3/4" size. Patterns for simpler playsets like the Palitoy Deathstar are available online today.
Honestly, the artwork on palitoys Death Star is pretty poor. The colors are all wrong, its way too colorful. It seems the designer didn’t even watch the movie.
@@ParumPirum Children like colorful things. Look at the Kenner Super Powers Hall of Justice. It's bright yellow, red and blue plastic! It's awesome! Of course the whole Super Powers line is colorful, but they could have made it the HOJ out of grey plastic. I think the yellow was a much better choice.
It is, the sneaking around the death star hiding behind the trash compactor, and I would slowly destroy the death star while troopers and the rebels tried to escape on a tie fighter.
This one of my favourite things I've ever owned. I remember looking at it on the back of the figure cards as a 3 year old singing Super Trouper to myself and dreaming of playing with it. I soon got it second hand. My only real gripe was troopers and officers being painted on the walls as it looked silly when my good guys were hiding in a room and making plans. Some years later in my twenties I got it out the attic and made my own parts to replace what was missing like the hatch on the trash compactor.
I actually won one of these (Palitoy) back in 1977/78 (here in Australia)...I was 7 years old and won it on a TV contest at the time. My name was read out on tv and I was so excited. We drove out to the tv studio to pick it up :) I played with it for hours and hours......sadly, I have no idea what happened to it, lost in time....was so long ago. It'd be worth thousands today (especially unpacked!)
With the Stormtroopers being printed on the walls,I had a way around this when I played with mine, printed stormtroopers were asleep and you had to quietly sneak past them or they would wake and sound the alarm.
I have the Palitoy version and its the only one I want. The look, feel and artwork is so 70s and brings me back to when I was a kid and drooling over Star Wars in stores and Catalogs. We had the Palitoy version in Canada as well as the Kenner.
I never knew this existed. It would've been cool to have both playsets. I had 2 of the Kenner Death Star playsets when I was a kid...both were from garage sales, and were incomplete. I never had the foam or the monster, but I remember both guns were intact. I'm pretty sure my mom trashed them when we moved when I was 11 years old. When I was 12 my mom got me the GI Joe USS Flagg, which was ridiculously huge, and not much of a playset...it was a huge parking lot with a small area to play in and you couldn't move it around. I had way more fun with the Mobile Command Center when I got it a year or 2 later. It was more practical and was more of an interactive playset.
The Kenner Death Star was the centerpiece toy of my childhood. PLENTY of play space and very creative mechanics on every floor. The big gun also doubled as your own personal blaster if carried it around pretending it had a pistol grip. Plus there were action figures who, otherwise worthless (I'm talking about YOU, Death Star Droid) who now finally had a purpose. I can still recall the Christmas morning surprise - my highest hope was for the cantina and this just blew me away...
Broken Vader's first review! Awesome! I think its a well constructed playset, the hemisphere design actually makes it very solid and sturdy despite being made of cardstock. No jutting corners you might end up bending or creasing, and I was surprised it actually has plastic parts for the gun turret. Also, BV TOTALLY meant to go there. He should do more reviews, at least he can make himself handy...
great video as always , i remember a friend of mine had one when we were kids , but left it outside.... which is a bad move in the uk, great to see one again ,keep up the good work , its appreciated.
Got this for Christmas79 & seeing this just brought back all the memories. I’m 45 now & if i saw one of these on offer in good condition i would purchase it within a heartbeat. Great toy, loved it!!
I've had my Palitoy Death Star since 1978 / 79 along with my Palitoy Cantina. Apart from the box. I'm just missing the clear canopy which went missing when I moved to the U.S. from Scotland. The amount of hours I spent arranging figures in this toy were countless and I still find myself lost in the 3d joy of it. The trash compactor was so much more realistic than the Kenner version and I used to make my own accessories from cardboard as well as later using the vehicle maintenance energizer and tri-pod laser cannon. Adding Darth Vader's Tie Fighter didn't look too out of place in the hanger though the Palitoy Landspeeder made an occasional appearance because it was one of the earlier vehicles I owned.. I also had the Palitoy Land of the Jawa's and Droid Factory which I unfortunately lost track of along as years went on. This is probably my favorite childhood playset alongside the Palitoy Action Man Training Tower, Command Bunker, Dr. Who Tardis and the Palitoy Tree Tots Treehouse which my nieces now own and love. For all the gimmicks Kenner puts into their new Star wars toys and playsets nothing will ever replace the joy of using your imagination and initiative with the original figures and toys. Palitoy rocks.
A friend gave me his one of these when we were kids, as he had gone off of Star Wars. It eventually got sold with my others. If I knew then....Nice info on Palitoy. I remember the X-Wing not having electronics, but I didn't remember the chromed Artoo.
BV is a great reviewer, being both informative and hilarious at the same time. The kindness and generosity of William Kilford as really enriched all us viewers. One of the UK's best ever toys. Keep up the good work.
Bonjour from France, I just discover your channel...and i immediately subscribed In fact, i have it...Christmas 1981...bought in the Galleries Lafayette in Paris….happy and proud to have it !
Really enjoyed as always Guys, for me great we have two takes on the Death Star, given brand continuity and global shopping these days it's unlikely to be seen again. Cheers, Fuzz.
Palitoy DS 10/10 Kenner DS 6/10 so definitely circumference - very entertaining video thanks. Never had a Palitoy DS as a kid since they sold quicker than they were made. I used to try and build my own by looking at the small picture on the back of my 20 back cards. Cut out of brown cardboard boxes and full of 8 year old drawing it looked shiite but I was over the moon with it.
I had 1 and a half of these; one bought in the shops after pestering my parents enough, and the other "half" because my friend's mum worked in a place they assembled the pieces and managed to get the cardboard parts minus any of the plastic accessories. When I moved to the States in 1980, I bought the Kenner version but honestly had a lot more fun with Palitoy's Death Star.
A very cool item and Broken Vader did a fantastic job briefing this other version of the technological terror. The Pallitoy DS demonstrates what folks can do when they are limited. I totally agree that each playset has both pluses and minuses. It sure doesn't look like something that cost less money because it looked so well executed. Good for any kids that got that one instead!
Great video guys! The palitoy Death Star is most definitely one of those Star Wars toys that has eluded me! Especially finding one that's complete and not broken.
I just watched the video "80's Commercials Volume 385" (from 1980) which has a Moppet's Secret Dollhouse of a similar design to this Death Star. That video also features commercials for the Slave One and the Darth Vader Collector's Case.
Wow! I had a friend that had this. I remembered it vaguely mostly the garbage shoot! For years I wondered what I remembered. I had the Kenner one and wore it out. Not only did the turret break but the pegs that held the levels together kept snapping so it was mostly tape by the end.
+PalJorgensen Sure thing, Pal. More Star Wars Follies are already in the works. We just like to do videos on other subjects in between that also interest us.
Another excellent video! It's nice to get an opportunity to see those playsets up close rather than looking at the same tiny photographs in books or online and squinting to make out the details. I always thought there should have been a Jabba's Palace playset for the Kenner figures as well. Anyway, keep up the good work guys. I always find your videos entertaining and informative. They're much appreciated.
+scottcongdon Thanks Scott! I wish I had an answer to that. We seem to remain RU-vid's best kept secret for our audience. Anything our subscribers can do to get around the word of mouth is always appreciated. - Michael
Loved the video! The day after watching this I came across a 'Toltoys' Death Star in a second hand shop here in Tasmania. It was complete with box, although the floors seemed a little sagged. It was going to be put on eBay with a starting bid of around AU$700.00. A bit rich for my blood, but there is no doubting how cool this play set is. I could watch you guys all day! Thanks!
Well done, Broken Vader, thanks for the cool video! Oh, and I really dig the bit of Death Star music from the Star Wars NES game...my retrogamer ears caught it immediately and I could almost hear the "low growl" of those seemingly endless elevators. ;) 'Blast on...!
I had the Palitoy Death Star as a child and, sadly, it's about the only Star Wars toy that I had from the range back then that I no longer own now. I can only assume my parents chucked it out at some point (perhaps because they thought it had become too tatty?) Fortunately I still have all of my original figures and vehicles (I never owned any other location playset).
Great video, in the UK Palitoy also released the Gi Joe/Action Force headquarters playset and it was just a repaint of the Death Star, minus the turret, replaced with a fold over landing strip. I got it for Christmas 85.
***** Well i never got to play with the Death Star set, although my cousin did have the Palitoy one. I did get a lot of play from it, i always enjoyed the painted on backgrounds and it 'doubled' for the Death Star, when my Gi Joes wanted the day off.
Some toy companies still make play sets where you assemble them this way. Except they now use thick sturdy wood with printing on them, rather than cardboard.
Awesome Vid! I found playsets to be rather limiting and much preferred to build outside backdrops with wood and whatever other materials me and my friends could find.
Very cool. I wonder if you could take the cardboard pieces to a professional printer and make replica cardstock pieces so you could play with the set without worrying about damaging the original pieces.
