Jawa Cardbacks

CARDBACKS

Jeff Echtenkamp

Chihuahua

February 7, 2023

STAR WARS

THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK

THE RETURN OF THE JEDI

TRILOGO/ POWER OF THE FORCE

FURTHER READING

The Jawa cardback guide is a long term project.

This page describes all the known US Kenner cardback/front combinations for the Jawa. I personally don’t get too deep into weapon/figure variants, so I’m not trying to collect and document which figures showed up on which cards (other than the major variants like the VCJ).

The pictures on this page are from my personal collection. In some cases the piece is known to exist, I just don’t currently own one for whatever reason so I don’t have pictures yet. I’ll try to discuss relative rarity in most cases, but don’t necessarily read into the fact that I don’t have one as meaning the item is rare. I’m not a Jawa focus collector, so missing a piece short term doesn’t bother me. I look for the right pieces, at the right time and price. I pass on pieces all the time.

If you have a Jawa MOC entry that isn’t shown, please get in touch with either of the authors about a credited addition.

Vinyl Cape

The vinyl cape Jawa (aka VCJ) was the first iteration of the Jawa action figure. With the exception of the Toltoys VCJ, he only appeared on Star Wars 12 backs. The bulk of the VCJ’s appear on 12A cardbacks (maybe 90%), and a few are found on 12B. While VCJ’s on 12C’s were rumoured to exist (including 2 with Harbert stickers applied), a true US Kenner 12C Jawa was never documented until recently (2018). As of 2022 I am aware of 3 that exist.

12A Back Cloth Cape

The vinyl cape Jawa was quickly replaced with a cloth cape Jawa, as the small size and cape was viewed as less of a value as compared to other figures in the line. Like the vinyl cape Jawa, the cloth cape came on 12A, 12B and 12C cardbacks. Since the transition happened on the 12A cardback, 12A cloth cape Jawas are extremely difficult to find (even moreso than the vinyl cape jawa)

The 12 Back cloth cape jawa came with 3 different bubble/tray combinations

Square (R2) Bubble / Yellow Cardboard Tray
Square (R2) Bubble / Plastic Tray
Angled Bubble

In addition, a 4th combination has been found on the 12A cloth cape Jawa which uses the square R2 bubble but uses an orange cardboard tray, which is folded like a “Z”. This piece is most likely a transition and sample piece as I’ve only uncovered 2.