Star Wars 1980 and 1983 Vintage Kenner The Force Lightsaber Artwork (2 pieces)

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These one of a kind The Force Lightsaber original packaging (ROTJ 1983) and Kenner catalog art (ESB 1980) pieces were created by LPK (Kenner's packaging vendor), for use on the toy ’s sleeve and in retail trade catalogs. The art would appear in store and on catalog pages from the early ESB years until ROTJ (beginning in 1983). Each and every ROTJ era example of the toy featured this stunning art, which was added to packaging after being photographed by an analog color separation camera. The final exposure was divided into CMYK layers, then mastered to print handmade Cromalins, proof sheets, and later the final product. Both pieces of art feature substantial air brushing and additional detail, with the entire background, lightsaber blade, and blur motion of the large, brightly colored catalog piece particularly stunning. The ROTJ packaging sleeve art is no less detailed, with the entire saber 'swirl', the saber blade and handle reworked against an airbrushed black background. Almost all of Kenner's Star Wars packaging art was created by hand using the the 'photoart' mixed media, entirely analog (paper, paint, glue and scissors) process. Handmade art creations such as this were the industry standard for the entire toy industry prior to the arrival of digitization in the 1990s. They offer a view into historic, old world design, when everything was assembled and re-touched by hand. When the Graphic Design world moved across to Photoshop, Indesign and other digital editing software, these processes were steamrolled by progress, and the expertise that created them was lost. The art features the original crop marks, notes, percentage ratio, and item name written along the bottom edge. 99 percent of all surviving packaging artwork examples trace back to a single find from former Kenner Marketing Executive Tom Neiheisel. He was fortunate to have rescued the majority of vintage Star Wars character, vehicle and playlet packaging artwork from the trash when Kenner 'cleaned house' in the early 1990s. Show more