Support us on PATREON: / retroblasting RetroBlasting completes the restoration of Michael's childhood vintage Star Wars Kenner Millennium Falcon! #RetroBlasting #MillenniumFalcon #toyrestoration
I love the idea of an old man Han using dried up clay to keep his old busted ship from falling back onto itself lol Good restoration man, lots of nostalgia.
This takes me back! I think I must've lost everything on my falcon as a kid.....lost the training ball and arm, lost the door and door struts, lost the gunners chair and gun, and even the circular window between the chair and gun came loose!!! Ah the good ol days!!!!
My son , 6 yo, and I are sitting watching this with my Falcon that has just left the box for the first time in 20 plus years. Time for a restore here! Thanks
I still have my vintage Falcon and one I got from a boot sale years ago. Hands down the best toy I ever played with as a kid. Brings back so many memories. I never got an AT-AT Walker as it was too expensive but I bought one for my Eight year old Boy last year. It's awesome. Thanks for posting!
I'm an 18 year old Star Wars fan, when I was 8 my parents brought me the 2004 Falcon. The chair I had broke when I played for it the first time, I've had a lot fun times playing with it. It's even still in my room till this day & the 10 year old batteries still work! I've kept mine in really good condition like I did with all my figures which are the only toys I refuse to put in the attic & kept in a box under my bed. It's interesting seeing there difference between the our generations in these videos
Griffami I hope you changed the batteries. My 1995 PotF2 Falcon I got when I was 8 had batteries that lasted 18 years. And then leaked and almost ruined all the sound effects. I managed to clean all the corrosion off of the battery contacts and sound board. Wasn't easy though and could have been avoided. The same happened to my X-Wing and Snowspeeder. I got the latter up and running again, but the X-Wing is a lost cause.
It's made from the same mold as the vintage toy (with added electronics), but with somewhat more accurate sticker and art details (similar to the 2000's version shown here). It actually works better for the original figures than the 90's PoTF figures due to scale and figure molding issues.
@@RCPhotosVideos It's basically the 2000's version shown in this video except without the light up engine and with the cockpit still molded to the vintage scale (meaning it can't properly fit the 90's figures and probably why the implemented the new hinged cockpit in the reissue.)
I know you did this a long time ago but I just watched. It was really fun to watch and to hear your stories from childhood along the way. I saw a 1979 Falcon at a vintage toy store that I could restore. I had very few ships in the 80s. I mostly had the playsets. I am in the process of restoring a Kenner Dagobah playset and even though it is a lot less involved, some of the same concepts apply. I like your take on repro vs originals too.
Dug up my vintage kenner falcon this weekend and gave it a good cleaning, started bidding on the parts i lost. Im hoping to have it complete soon. Great videos. Thank you.
Hey Retroblasting! I found a way to fix the landing gear on the falcon so you don't have to use the poster putty. I did it on mine today and it worked great! Take out the back legs and use a hair dryer to heat up the bottom tabs that hold up the falcon. Try to be specific to that spot and don't heat it up too much. Just enough to make the tab pliable. While it's warm, take an ink pen and go behind the tab to pry it out wider to accommodate the larger opening on the falcon. Hold it in place until it cools or run it under cold water to solidify it in place. Then do the same to the tab on the other side of the same leg. Repeat to the opposite leg. Pop them back in the falcon and it holds it up like it's brand new. No need for poster putty anymore! My falcon sis like a champ now. I even tapped on it a little to see if it would release but it's firmly locked in place until you put the landing great up! Hope this is helpful. If so, do a video on it so it helps other restorers. Didn't cost a dime!
Thanks for the tip! My 1995 PotF2 Falcon had this problem as a kid and I've looked everywhere how to fix it for my son (it's new owner) and this worked great. I didn't even take the landing gear out. I extended them, blasted them with a hair dryer, and stuck a small screw driver beneath the tabs one at a time to push them out. Now the ship is worthy of both display and play.
Watching your video made me want to restore my Millennium Falcon, its the only ship I have left beside all my figures ... Thanks for the sharing this....Been a fan since 77
Just got a vintage Empire Strikes Back Millennium Falcon (complete) with the original vintage box in excellent condition! It has English wording on one side and French wording on the other!
I really liked this 5 part series. Its interesting to see the changes they made. I have a 1995 Kenner Millennium Falcon from when I was 15 and they rereleased the original trilogy. It has options from both the ships you show and talk about at the end. Its somewhere in the middle. Really great videos. Thanks for sharing your restoration journey.
I got lucky when my dad bought me a whole bunch of older Star Wars models and ship at an auction including The Falcon...It's missing the radar dish but still has the the original black Jedi probe training deal. (With the ORIGINAL STRING HA!) It included Han Solo but in fear of it being older and not ment for play any more like the Tie Fighter Pilot and Rebel Pilot it remains on my shelf. I loved seeing you restore yours and might do the same as well even if I do just find a spare Radar dish to complete the outside look. I have it hanging on my celing but will have to take a look a it now. Great Restoration and hope to see more!
I have to do the same thing to my original childhood falcon Absolutely love my almost complete vintage Star Wars collection Thanks for the awesome videos
I never lost the Jedi training ball and arm. I dug my Falcon out of the crawlspace and was shocked to see the arm still attached to its mount. The ball was nit attached and I just remembered why I never lost the damn thing. My brother and I used to use it as the Witches "Eye" from Clash of the Titans. I found it (well heard it rolling around) in the back of a tractor trailer truck I used to put smaller things in. It had a locking door so nothing would ever fall out. My Dad always made us clean up every night and put our stuff away so we didn't loose anything. Gotta say I probably only lost a few guns, probably in the vacuum. My Dad was super poor so he only had a few toys and lost them all while playing out in his yard. Garbage men came by and threw them all out while he was in having lunch. It was the 40's so I guess if it was in the front yard it was trash. So he made sure I never neglected any of my toys and to this day I still have almost every toy I had has a kid. Only toys that are KIA or MIA are Stretch Armstrong, The hulk Rage cage and Maximilian figure from the Black Hole (Lost that in my 20's somehow). Thanks for the Nostalgia guys!!!
it was great to see these series of vids showing the restoration,and its good to see your falcon back to as close to its original state as possible. i have to agree the original version just has that something special (even though i never had one),but you have to admit there are some nice things about the newer versions as well.
Try using, "JB weld" for the third tab on the ramp. it is stronger once set than the original plastic and can be sanded down and touched up with paint for display.
You guys are awesome! You've taught me so much about vintage Kenner Star Wars and I thank you for that, but, you're also hilarious! Your Star Wars follies videos left me hysterical! They're hilarious! Anyway, keep the videos coming, you guys rock. -Peace!
Nice work! For the landing gear, you really NEED to get that fun-tak or goo off the legs! Hit the upper tabs (the tabs that are tucked up inside the housing) with a heat gun (or even a soldering iron in close proximity without touching) while pushing outward on the tabs. This will make the locking action when the landing gear deploy nice and tight again. I did this for my restoration and it they haven't bent back since (2 yrs ago)!
Just fixed my landing gears today by placing them in hot water and then use something to wedge between each side clip to flex them outwards. I used 2 thick Allen keys (or screwdrivers will do). Then I just left them in the sun and let cool down naturally. It was enough to have the clips sit out a little further and catch where they're supposed to.
Thank you for a great set of videos on the Falcon restoration. I put my example through some of the process. Granted it has a couple of issues like damaged cardboard wall and the entrance ramp had broken exactly like you mention in the videos.. one day I will see about getting replacements??
Have you seen that newer one? That thing is amazing. I loved my vintage one, but I can admit how much better that 2008 version is. (And that AT-AT is outstanding as well.)
@@WiGgYof09 Now, I only own the vintage version, but I think the 1995 Power of the Force 2 Falcon is probably the happy medium between the vintage version and the 2004 version: it is an almost identical mold to the vintage, but with added paint detail. POTF2 is maligned by collectors, but I rather like them. The vehicles in particular are great alternatives for people who can't afford vintage, but want the vintage mold with an updated paint job.
Nice vids. Now that I'm an adult and have a LITTLE money, I can get one. Have 3 now that I found in junk stores, all in various states of disrepair. HOPEFULLY I can combine all the pieces into one MOSTLY complete.
Always wanted the falcon vehicle/playset as a kid. Never got it😔. Bespin Han Solo would have been my choice for pilot too. Pointing out the nail polish marks on Chewbacca brought back memories of my mother putting black magic marker dots on most of my figures backs...with certain figures it would be an X on their feet such as the power unit droid or (gnk), IG-88, and a few others. I also remember my first figure purchased for me in the early 80s from David Jones in Newcastle....C3P0 on Empire Strikes Back card.
Okay, you made me dig out my vintage collection to repair. I thank you! Question: do you have a recommendation to fix the post that the jedi training equipment hangs from? I refer to the post sticking directly up from the body of the Falcon, beside the table. It was broken off at some point. Like you, we never used it in play and I barely noticed the post was even there. I would like to minimize any damage to the body. I followed your videos to the letter and now I have an almost restored (waiting on some replacement parts) vintage Falcon again! Thanks for lighting this fire in me! As someone who watched the original Star Wars at a drive-in (!) as a lad, I thank you for your dedication and instruction for those of us less inclined to open up an old toy. You rock!
Hey!…you didn’t mention the new cardboard partition in the new falcon….it shows the tunnel to the cockpit!….one of the few Star Wars play sets that I never had. Strangely, my Falcon was a toy pool table that had the same shape as the falcon and the passengers fit into one of the various pool “pockets”. Great restoration!…thanks for the journey.
Actually another guy out of Britain on youtube Toy Beloi I think is what he goes by was able to create a metod to repair the ramp hinge. He simply used some white plastic tubing that he then cut in half and glued on. It worked out quite nice. He's quite good at fixing broken star wars toys. Legos seem to be the key. He cuts posts from lances and other legos to make repairs. In case someone doesn't have the money or can't find a new ramp it can be repaired
I never had any Star Wars toys when I was a kid so I don't have the sentimental bias for the vintage stuff. I personally feel the 2004 Original Trilogy Falcon with all of the awesome improvements is far superior to it's vintage counterpart. It comes from the actual Kenner mold so you get the best of both worlds, the old toy with the new technology. The re-designed rear engine is what sold me. Not only is it screen accurate in design and color but it lights up! Kids would have killed to have this version back in the day. The vintage feels like nothing but a big piece of plastic with only one action feature that sounds nothing like the alarm siren it's supposed to represent. For nostalgia and collector value the vintage wins. For build quality and overall better representation the 2004 re-manufacture wins.
Hope you eventually discovered the Legacy version of the Falcon. Almost too big, unless you have a lot of storage. But it was darn near the perfect toy for a collector (not a kid). I always did like this video of yours.
I treated all my toys like crap, and lost them a long time ago. My friends dad worked for Hasbro (I grew up in RI, and we lived not too far from Hasbro HQ), and they used to have him buy toys from other manufacturers in order to keep up on what other companies were doing/see how their stuff compared. He would go out and buy a ton of stuff, keep it in his office for a few months, then give some of it to us. I used to have SO much STar Wars stuff it wasn't funny, and instead of taking care of it I abused it. I don't sit around regretting it or anything but at the same time it's taught me to take care of stuff I care about.
i have the 2 1/2 ft Hasbro millennium falcon. It is way more detailed and much nicer but its was expensive. It has many different sounds and lighted cockpit with 4 chairs and a dashboard. there are even lights on the game board and sounds and lights when the ramp lowers. IMO its by far the nicest falcon made.
I know you typically don't do "modern" toy reviews, but I would really like to see your opinion on the "Legacy Millennium Falcon". With its $100+ price tag upon release, I was never able to afford one, but for years it has been my personal mission to acquire one. But now a mint in box version can set a person back $600 - $1000! Heck, even used versions with 90% of the accessories missing are going for $200+! I guess what I really want to know is, "Would you consider the Legacy Falcon to be worth that much of an investment?" If you don't have the time (or the desire) to make a video, I fully understand, but I would greatly appreciate your opinion on the matter.
Nice videos. I recently dug mine out of the attic for my 7 year old nephew. Doing some restoration with him. The batteries were still in it. That part is toast.... Does anyone know where I can obtain a new motor, with the contacts? Thanks, Travis
I have the 2004 Falcon. We (I) couldn't afford getting the 1977 version, so I had to wait. For some reason, I think it was cheaper than the original one, but I could be wrong. The only thing missing from mine is the turret gun in the middle.
I used to have a softball that I attached a thin rope to and hung from the garage rafter. I had a broomstick lightsaber I would use to "practice" my lightsaber skillz
Did they get rid of the smugglers compartment on the new Millennium Falcon? I used to love to pretend my figures were hiding and able to get away at a later date. I loved that piece
+RetroBlasting I agree, when I got the 2004 Hasbro version for Christmas as a kid, it never came with the training remote, I never had the original Kenner mold, but it was like you described, sounds and lights...wow, I never thought about that when I was younger, before I got the Millennium Falcon, I had the POTF Luke's X-Wing Fighter a few years before I got the Falcon, I kinda lost it after I got older, same with the falcon, the only figures that were left were Chewbacca and Han solo. Of course, I still had also been into Transformers at that time, and I still am, same with Star Wars and Robotech. I just wish that I still had both the X-Wing and the Falcon, that'd be nice to see though.
On my rear landing gear i used needle nose pliers from the front to keep the tabs separated and used a hair dryer for about 30 seconds on hot to get the tabs to hold in place so the Falcon didnt sag in the rear.
How do you grade or compare the 1995 Millennium Falcon. It's made of grey plastic, but funny thing is that mine came with a white landing ramp, just like the vintage falcon. Could this piece be left overs that they had in storage from an older run. Curious what you think.
I have a bare shell of the original Falcon and the newer 2004 version. The 2004 version is nice. I plan on restoring the original Falcon at some point.
5:41 starts my favorite part! The best things in life aren't necessarily the most aesthetically perfect. The best things involve shading of an aura of love and passion rooted in fond memories of long, long ago. :)
Don't know if anyone's mentioned it but for the Training Ball I would attach it with fishing line to give it that floaty-float look; if I still had it. Hoth Han FTW!
I've been enjoying the videos. Do you, or any of your viewers know of a good way to remove the cockpit panel and seat pieces from the vintage Millennium Falcon without breaking or cutting the center post? Thanks for any advice
If it has all the pieces you should definitely get it. I've been trying to find a complete one on ebay and they are always missing the ramp, the blue struts, the chess table or 99% of the time the dreaded Jedi training arm with black ball! You can buy individual missing pieces but the prices are ridiculous!!
My original still has the training ball on it. I remember everyone telling me what a miracle it was that it wasnt lost haha. Does the remake not include the ball?
