Published: November 2020
Publisher: Dear Publications
Author: Mattias Rendahl
Pages: 152 (Softcover)
RRP: $55
The synopsis;
A LONG TIME AGO ON A PRINTING PRESS FAR, FAR AWAY.… THE STORY OF KENNER’S STAR WARS TOY PACKAGING, FROM CONCEPT TO FINAL DESIGN.
A NEW PROOF: KENNER PACKAGING DESIGN 1977-1979 spotlights vintage Star Wars action figure packaging design through the Star Wars (1977-78) years. Explore insights into how proof cards were used at Kenner, a step by step guide to the action figure blistercard creation process, comprehensive checklists and explanations of known proof cards and Cromalins, along with former Kenner employee interviews, all 21 characters are featured and their known packaging design stuff and much more. Discover the pre-digital, old-school era of design that drove Kenner’s ground breaking toyline, and helped make it such a pivotal part of our pop culture world.
The review;
Kickstarter can be the bane of my bank manager. As a collector of Star Wars books, I am slowly amassing a huge collection of books created through the crowd funding model. And when I signed up for my copy of A New Proof, I even had a security call from my credit card company to check it was me making the purchase!
Before I start, I must admit that I had not got a clue about Cromalins and what they were. But now after reading through A New Proof, I do, and I now feel like I have been missing out on an aspect of collecting that I had not really given much thought to.
This book delves deep into the creation and design of the original packaging. The content is well researched and delivered in a colourful and clear layout. The interviews have some excellent questions in there, that really dig deep into the decision-making process for the creation of the card backs.
Seeing those card backs in their different incarnations has brought back my own memories of drawing my own designs in my childhood. The only use for a card back at that time was to cut out the name tag and send to Pailtoy to redeem them against a mail away offer. When we receive a toy or collectible, not much thought is given to the packaging, especially as a child. But this book promotes the unsung men and women who brought us that amazing packaging that still holds up in today’s market.
This is the third printing, so this book has already been successfully released, but I can see creator and author Mattias Rendahl needing to go to a fourth printing in the next couple of years.
Now that I have a new area of interest in collecting, I think it’s time to order my copy of The Cromalin Strikes Back. [Insert groans from my bank manager here!]
Availability;
A New Proof (3rd Edition) by Mattias Rendahl is published by Dear Publications. It can be ordered direct from the Dear Publications website. It has a retail price of $55 and ships globally.
