• Home
  • TV & Movies
    • Star Wars
    • Battlestar Galactica (1978)
    • Indiana Jones
    • Star Trek
    • Planet of the Apes
    • The Real Ghostbusters
    • The Six Million Dollar Man
    • Universal Monsters
    • Doctor Who
  • Comic Book Heroes
    • Kenner Super Powers
    • Mattel Secret Wars
    • Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
    • The Uncanny X-Men
    • Spider-Man
    • Batman
    • Superman
    • The Incredible Hulk
  • Mego
  • MOTU
  • G.I. Joe
  • Transformers
  • Wrestling

Vintage Action Figures

Reviews of collectible action figures inspired by comic books, TV shows and movies from the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s

  • Facebook
  • Twitter

The Palace Guard formally known as Klaatu!

July 17, 2013

Klaatu

I seem to have added quite a few aliens from the original Star Wars trilogy to my vintage action figure collection this year, particularly henchmen of Jabba the Hutt seen fleetingly in the palace scene and the various guards riding the desert skiffs in the Sarlacc Pit Battle scene in Return of the Jedi. Whilst these figures may have enjoyed only split seconds of screen time, they were still important players in the imaginary Star Wars universe created by kids back in the day. Bewilderingly, they’ve since acquired gloriously complicated personal histories and new names in the Star Wars Expanded Universe. This fella “Klaatu” was originally one of a trio of characters named after the famous phrase “Klaatu barada nikto” from the cult science fiction film The Day the Earth Stood Still – “Nikto” and “Barada” also appeared in Return of the Jedi – but nowadays he is known by the far less dignified name of “Wooof”. Wooof?! Seriously? Most likely, as with the skiff guard Weequay aka Queequeg, Wooof was an on-set production nickname for Klaatu.

Klaatu - Who you looking at?

Klaatu – Who you looking at?

Klaatu - grey boots and copyright info

Klaatu – grey boots and copyright info

The fact remains, however, that whatever name you choose to give him, this 1983 figure is one of the coolest of Kenner’s 3 ¾ inch Star Wars alien action figures. And if you’re into collection Star Wars variations, you’ll have a field day with this one, as he was issued with several major differences in sculpt and paint. My Klaatu has four grey limbs, but as limbs were also produced in tan, variations exist with not only four tan limbs, but with a variety of colours on a single figure! Harder to identify is whether the head on my figure is cast in green plastic with his helmet painted in silver, or cast in silver plastic with the face sprayed green. Having inspected it closely I’m pretty certain it’s the latter. Finally, the boots and thigh belt on Klaatu are found in black or grey. My figure is sporting slate grey boots. Does he remind anybody else of Madame Vastra from Doctor Who?

Am delighted that my figure is still wearing his furry Klaatu Skirt and has his Skiff Guard Vibro Axe weapon accessory (the skirt is actually firmly attached and would require scissors and real determination to remove). He’s is in excellent condition with zero paint wear, and stiff limbs. The country of origin is stamped as “H.K.” (Hong Kong) running downwards on the back of his right boot, whilst the copyright information and date – © LFL 83 – runs downwards on one line on the back of the left calf, starting just above the boot.

A must-have vintage Star Wars figure for any collection!

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)

Filed Under: Vintage Star Wars (1977–1989) Tagged With: Kenner, Return of the Jedi

Action figure search

Recent Posts

  • Ghostbusters Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man …signed by Sigourney Weaver!
  • It’s Clobberin’ Time with The Thing by Mego!
  • Up, up and away! Comic version 12-inch Superman by Mego
  • Remembering Princess Leia Organa
  • Indiana Jones, the daring archaeologist and world adventurer of the movie Raiders of the Lost Ark!
  • Stunning C-3PO sixth scale figure by Sideshow Collectibles
  • It’s Alive! The Monster Frankenstein from Mego’s Mad Monster Series
  • Wonder Woman the Amazing Amazon – Kenner Super Powers
  • Grrr…it’s Grizzlor! The Hairy Henchman of the Evil Horde
  • Ming the Merciless – The evil emperor of Mongo by Mego

Archives

Copyright © 2009-2023 · VintageActionFigures.net · All trademarks and copyrights on this page are owned by their respective owners. Comments are owned by the Poster and opinions expressed are those of the Poster and do not necessarily represent the views of VintageActionFigures.net · Please read our Privacy Policy, GDPR Compliance Statement, Affiliate Disclosure and Cookies Policy - We know...Zzzz!!