Weekly Review: Creature Cantina

[LusiferSam]

It's time to belly up to the bar and enter the Creature Cantina (http://photos.sirstevesguide.com/showphoto.php?photo=8954&cat=3381), this week's playset. I tried to fool a few of you several weeks back when we talked about the Cantina Adventure Set and a number thought it was the Creature Cantina. But no it's happing this week. The Creature Cantina features a colorful cardboard backdrop with the cantina denizens that were never made in to figures by Kenner. A spring (rubber band) loaded door for quick exits (or for knocking around other figures). Two action levels, one to reenact Ben's hack and slash of Walrus Man, and one for Han to shoot Greedo. And it also had a table and bar, everything you'd need for a real cantina except for the booze and a band. The Creature Cantina was released in 1979 and was available until the end of 1980. There are no variations of the Kenner version. Palitoy (http://photos.sirstevesguide.com/showphoto.php?photo=8926&cat=3381) released a different version of this set simple titled Cantina. The backdrop was the same, but rest in completely different.

I really like the Creature Cantina, despite its cardboard backdrop. This is one of those toys that let's you do so much more than what was in the movie. You could easily have a full blown bar brawl, have the rebels meet in secret, have the imperials meet there have a hard day of rebel hunting. The possibilities are endless. I will say I like the Palitoy version a little better. I don't own this version, but from photos it looks like it does a better job capturing some of the elements better than the Kenner version. But like the Kenner version it too has it's short comes.

[vader121]

I have this now but didn't as a kid. I never even saw it as a kid. It's an ok piece but I don't think I would have been too crazy about it as a kid. I was never much into recreating scenes for the movie and my playtime consisted of battles. Cantina probably would have reminded me too much of a dollhouse setting and so I would have probably not played with it much.

I will say this though, it does have some cool features which were already mentioned. The cardboard backdrop would have probably gotten destroyed early on for many. Would have been better if Kenner had a plastic backdrop that the cardboard could slide into. That way even if the cardboard was destroyed you could have some backdrop. Could even draw your own backdrop on it.

Now it works well to display figures.

[Ji'dai]

This is one of the few playsets I didn't receive as a kid. I now have the plastic base to the playset but not the cardboard insert. I'm not sure if I have the doors or not.

I'd always see it in my mini-catalogs and wish I had one. It had an actual doorway, a rounded bar section with room for the bartender, plus the alcove with table where Han & Chewie conducted business with Old Ben and Luke. Not to mention where Han blasted Greedo - ah, the good old days before the movie was ruined with that Greedo shooting first nonsense.

Since I didn't have a cantina I always built the outline of one out of wooden blocks. It ended up being much larger than the Kenner playset, and since we didn't get too many Cantina aliens back them, it was pretty empty a lot of the time.

[Kidhuman]

I loved this piece as a kid. It was one of the few playsets I did have. I played with it almost every day and wish I still had it. It is on ly list to track down on ebay