My next door neighbour had this when i was child he was from the uk and had migrated to Australia so 8 feel blessed to have played with it i think its the best star wars playset ever made with Dagobah a close second.
Great video Dave, remember about 3 years went to a toy fair and purchased a large number of items. On going back to the table the guy had got more items out and there was the Death Star canopy and chair and asked how much the guy said £5. Quickly snapped that up.
I also stuck the reflective surfaces down incorrectly. There was no way they were moving! What an amazing playset, features, dimensions, the pure size of it. Just right to accommodate the sort of imaginative play of the era. Great to see it brought back to life.
Considering the original state, the work you've done has transformed that old playset. Brings back so many memories of playing with one at my friend Gary's house in the late 70's.
Thanks Alan. It's never going to be a prefect set, but for me that's not the point. Just nice to have it displayable again. Should last a good many years more now.
Actually watching the boba fet video whilst doing an old beater boba up as my teenage son is collecting old vintage loose figures, it's awesome to see my boy collecting the figures I have, he's really become a kenner star wars fan, I'm so glad that he has gone for the original stuff, we have the new retro stuff and it's great to open up as well.
From a point of view of a collector I see this more like a great display option for the action figures more than a play set, as a play set it looks very delicate
Thank you! really really thank you for giving the measurements in centimeters! I never could find them anywhere on the Internet until now! You're a lifesaver, man! 🙏
I so adore this playset. I'm from the US and had never seen it until a few years ago. I found the scans online and had them printed out on large format sticky vinyl that I put on illustration board. I make the plastic bits out of more board and put it all together. I think the design of this is brilliant, imaginative, and really my aesthetic with lots of fun built in extra play incorporated into the illustrations. I love that they made the extra character images look like the toys. Glad you were able to put one together for your own. Enjoy!
The reflective stickers might be an easy fix by not trying to remove them at all. If you can get a trace of the shape they should be in as a whole, you could cut a piece of 'mirror' scrapbook paper or score an actual thin plastic mirror (like from a cheap kids' beauty playset) down to size and just lay it adhesive-free over the misaligned stickers, in the bottom of the tower. On display, it'll look fine, save for the stray original corners poking out from underneath, but it'll recreate the illusion. Absolutely love how this playset looks, all put together, even with its imperfections. The detail that was worked into it, the scale, and the construction are all things you can just sit and marvel at, like a sculpture.
Great work as always, Dave. I had almost forgotten what an impressive toy it was. A few figures, a bit of imagination, and that on a table - it's the sort of thing you could lose yourself in, possibly for days.
Incredible work Dave, a true labour of love, but this set certainly deserves it! I'm blown away with the work you've put into this, fantastic effort 🙂 The figures bring it to life as well.
I really appreciate that you are striking a balance. Allowing each items history and weathering to balance against repair and replacement is important in my books.
This brings back so many happy memories of playing with my younger brothers and my youngest brothers Death Star. I think he may still have it somewhere. If so, I suspect it will be as bashed about as yours was originally. Thank you for all your fantastic content. Tim
You were extremely patient waiting for all the glue to set! Clearly it has paid off with another great restoration! Perhaps on the reflecting material instead of removing it, maybe a new reflective service... cut to fill in the gap....or just to blanket the whole area? Just a thought :). Thanks again for another great rescue from the bin! TOY ON!
You should scan all those cardboard parts for a 3d print. That would be a cool playset and more sturdy in plastic. Then you could scan the graphics to print as stickers to place on the new plastic play set
As far as he laser turret canopy, you can probably use air drying clay to make a dome to vac form over. Clay can be carved, sanded, etc., once fully dry. You might be able to buy a sheet of clear styrene, heat it in the oven (maybe make a wood frame around it) until it sags a little, and then physically pull the softened plastic over the clay form, I have done it with white styrene and it does work, but never with clear. It might be an inexpensive thing to try. Then just cut out the part you want to keep.
I really enjoyed this video, Dave, because I have never seen the Palitoy Death Star in person. Only in photos or catalogues. I have an original 1978-9 Death Star Station that's in great condition with all the pieces unbroken, though I need to use your fix on the laser cannon to keep the barrel upright and proper. Even though the Palitoy Death Star is mainly cardboard, it certainly seems to display pretty well. As an illustrator, I can really appreciate the artistic nature of the panels and floor. I have to say that I dig the look of all that! Nice line art and a bit of airbrushing to simulate metal here and there. The one complaint that I have with the American plastic Death Star Station is that it could use more detail, while the cardboard version is jammed packed with artistic details. Obviously the Palitoy version being cardboard, it is likely to wear out, but it's easy to see that a lot of thought went into this playset. When assembled, it looks pretty sturdy!
I thought the same on the Kenner deathstar, which is why I made my own floor panel and sticker for it to give it more depth. It made a big difference to how it looked.
With adhesive a bit of heat might help but considering what it's attached to I would try a blow dryer maybe a dry empty iron and I mean just quick touches with it, not sure what the material is that it's made of or what time has done to it. But if you want to take a chance you might be able to loosen the reflective items adhesive enough where you might be able to turn it or take it off, seeing how it's close to the edge you might be able to slowly pull it off that way once it's loosened enough.
Considering the price you’re paying for 3D printed clips I’d have thought that you’d invest in your own printer. Love watching you breath new life into toys from my childhood. Keep em coming 👍🏻
How great would it be if one of the more computer savvy individuals that are into this stuff could recreate this set in a 3D printed plastic version? :-). I believe it would be very sellable, customizable and a great display piece. Food for thought
There's a few things on Shapeways that I've been looking into but haven't pulled the trigger on yet (right now, they have a bit of a delay on shipping due to coronavirus). Glad it worked out for you. They're kinda like Teepublic, in the sense that the quality of the product depends on the artist and the available finishing options they've supplied for the 3d print, so I think it's a YMMV situation with them.
just wondering, the chrome silver bits, maybe you could paint in the correct position.with some chrome paint? also would it be a good idea to laminate the cardboard so its protected with a thin layer of plastic? 🤔
For a guy from the states this is such a rare find I love action force and wish I could get the old palitoy star wars and action force stuff and not have to cost an arm and a leg for the most common stuff
Thank you for this video. It's really helped me fix my sears palitoy death star. I'm also looking for the canopy and am not prepared to pay £150. Those clips look shocking and £20? You can get an original for that. I also need the seat. I'll wait a bit to put my video up 😉
Hi Dave. Great video as always. Just as a passing thought, I wonder if you could find a large clear Christmas bauble which could be fashioned to act as a temporary dome for for the top? I know this past Christmas, certain brands created extra large ones..just a thought..
Hi Karl, That could work, and I have some that I used on for the landspeeder cockpit glass. The original cover is not a round shape, it's more oblong and only sits over the seat area. I'll find something. Cheers
one your best restrations .did you think of spraying the plastic repo clips to look like old ones not sure you use but it cool to see work you put into it
Hi Dave. Have you found a way of successfully removing sticky tape residue from cardboard? I've found lighter fluid is good for getting the tape off but the stain left behind is hard to budge, without damaging the print. I recently acquired a Palitoy DS (already had the Toltoys AU/NZ version) and it has pretty much identical issues to this one. Cheers.
I never seen this play set in those days but if I got one for X-mas it would have been destroyed quicker than my Castle Greyskull and a magnifying glass I used together with the sun.
For the part that goes over the gunner chair on the top couldn’t you use one of those Christmas tree ornaments that are clear and pops together maybe a pantyhose egg something like that until you can find a real one or a reproduction
The Kenner one is plastic, a bit smaller, though full of features, and basically a tower. The Palitoy one is card, hemispherical, and resembles the scenery used to resemble the Death Star interior in the movie. It's a very large toy.
It would be totally awesome if you worked you magic and created this play set using your Photoshop talents! Something for us fans to purchase as we can’t afford the original???
postage to the uk from the us is twice what it is the other way. I live in canada and buy from the UK rather than the US because its so much cheaper to ship.
PAlitoy and Kenner were both owned by General Mills, which is why Palitoy were given the Star Wars license for the UK. We got MOST of the stuff that was released in the US, but there were some playsets and items that never made it here - the mini playsets that were released via Sears, for example. Or the A-Wing fighter. Additionally, while most of the vehicles that featured light and sound retained the feature, the Palitoy X-Wing lacks either, so there is no 3rd button. The detailed cowling on the back of the fighter's fuselage was replaced with a black and white sticker. It was also only available in white (and I think, only with battle damage stickers), but lacked the black engine intakes found on the Kenner version. This wasn't an unusual strategy - Hasbro did exactly the same thing with some of the Transformers, and we missed out some figures. Swoop was never released here, so One of Our Dinobots Was Missing, to paraphrase the old Disney movie. It's because the UK is a much smaller market than the US, and therefore can't support quite as many toys from a line at different price points.
This play set is quite impressive to just be made out of cardboard and you’ve done an excellent job restoring it.
Watching this and looking at the images takes me right back decades past to my childhood, giving that wave of nostalgia. THIS was starwars for me.
My next door neighbour had this when i was child he was from the uk and had migrated to Australia so 8 feel blessed to have played with it i think its the best star wars playset ever made with Dagobah a close second.
Great video Dave, remember about 3 years went to a toy fair and purchased a large number of items. On going back to the table the guy had got more items out and there was the Death Star canopy and chair and asked how much the guy said £5. Quickly snapped that up.
You were very lucky!
@@toypolloi Very and shocked needed a pint after.
Lucky guy well done
I also stuck the reflective surfaces down incorrectly. There was no way they were moving! What an amazing playset, features, dimensions, the pure size of it. Just right to accommodate the sort of imaginative play of the era. Great to see it brought back to life.
Considering the original state, the work you've done has transformed that old playset. Brings back so many memories of playing with one at my friend Gary's house in the late 70's.
Thanks Alan. It's never going to be a prefect set, but for me that's not the point. Just nice to have it displayable again. Should last a good many years more now.
@@toypolloi Who wants perfect anyway, I'd much prefer a toy that has been loved, enjoyed and given someone many hours of play.
Remember getting this set for Christmas, wish I still had it , great video 👍🏻
I love how you like the fact that the toys have had a life and they come with a few battle scars, I prefer my vintage toys to be like that also.
Actually watching the boba fet video whilst doing an old beater boba up as my teenage son is collecting old vintage loose figures, it's awesome to see my boy collecting the figures I have, he's really become a kenner star wars fan, I'm so glad that he has gone for the original stuff, we have the new retro stuff and it's great to open up as well.
From a point of view of a collector I see this more like a great display option for the action figures more than a play set, as a play set it looks very delicate
Looks great! You could scan these pieces, print them, and mount them on heavier cardboard to make a new and improved set.
Hmm, you could potentially kitbash this and the Kenner Death Star playset together for even more technological terror :D
Even better print on thick plasticard instead of cardboard.
Nitrous Diecast how about a larger improved one printed on vinyl and applied to heavy styrene sheet. And add some 3D printed bits
To bad these patterns aren't on the net where we could find them because both stronger cardboard and plastic card sound like great ideas
LOOKS SPOT ON!
That looks like it would be a lot of fun to play with. I can imagine being eight years old and really loving it!
Thank you! really really thank you for giving the measurements in centimeters! I never could find them anywhere on the Internet until now! You're a lifesaver, man! 🙏
Glad I could help!
I so adore this playset. I'm from the US and had never seen it until a few years ago. I found the scans online and had them printed out on large format sticky vinyl that I put on illustration board. I make the plastic bits out of more board and put it all together. I think the design of this is brilliant, imaginative, and really my aesthetic with lots of fun built in extra play incorporated into the illustrations. I love that they made the extra character images look like the toys. Glad you were able to put one together for your own. Enjoy!
Where you found the scans ?
The reflective stickers might be an easy fix by not trying to remove them at all. If you can get a trace of the shape they should be in as a whole, you could cut a piece of 'mirror' scrapbook paper or score an actual thin plastic mirror (like from a cheap kids' beauty playset) down to size and just lay it adhesive-free over the misaligned stickers, in the bottom of the tower. On display, it'll look fine, save for the stray original corners poking out from underneath, but it'll recreate the illusion.
Absolutely love how this playset looks, all put together, even with its imperfections. The detail that was worked into it, the scale, and the construction are all things you can just sit and marvel at, like a sculpture.
Great work as always, Dave. I had almost forgotten what an impressive toy it was. A few figures, a bit of imagination, and that on a table - it's the sort of thing you could lose yourself in, possibly for days.
I’ve always thought this was pants as a play set but you’ve just made it exciting! Don’t know what’s changed in 40 years but thanks! Stay safe. 😁👍👊
It is a cool set. Not sure it's worth the money people spend on getting one. But certainly fun.
Incredible work Dave, a true labour of love, but this set certainly deserves it! I'm blown away with the work you've put into this, fantastic effort 🙂 The figures bring it to life as well.
I really appreciate that you are striking a balance. Allowing each items history and weathering to balance against repair and replacement is important in my books.
Great job! Looks amazing 😲
Another great post! A great example of conservation and restoration of a really lovely playset.
This is very cool!! Never saw one before
You really brought this technological terror back to Imperial standards. Awesome!
Thanks for the donation @Jules Burt. Love more videos from Dave
wow its amazing that the playset looks so good and is cardboard
Looking good Dave & its also reminded me i'm meant to be binge watching Jules Burts channel which i highly recommend to any vintage toy fan.
Dave you could cut some mirror card to fill the whole bottom of the center shaft. It would disguise the piece which was glued on wrongly
Great watching this - need to get some Star Wars toys!
This brings back so many happy memories of playing with my younger brothers and my youngest brothers Death Star. I think he may still have it somewhere. If so, I suspect it will be as bashed about as yours was originally. Thank you for all your fantastic content. Tim
this toy is amazing
You could try using part a clear food container to make a temporary dome for the top gunner section.
nice work, very proud of you!
Thank you!
Hey Dave
In my opinion the playset looks great.
Take care and stay safe.
You were extremely patient waiting for all the glue to set! Clearly it has paid off with another great restoration! Perhaps on the reflecting material instead of removing it, maybe a new reflective service... cut to fill in the gap....or just to blanket the whole area? Just a thought :). Thanks again for another great rescue from the bin! TOY ON!
You should scan all those cardboard parts for a 3d print. That would be a cool playset and more sturdy in plastic. Then you could scan the graphics to print as stickers to place on the new plastic play set
Stellar work as always, looks fantastic
And so the Empire strikes back.Our beloved Lord Vader couldn't be any happier.
For the plastic clips maybe do a silicon mold of them and use Resin with fiber glass cloth to streghten.
Another great restoration, man. Lovely.
As far as he laser turret canopy, you can probably use air drying clay to make a dome to vac form over. Clay can be carved, sanded, etc., once fully dry. You might be able to buy a sheet of clear styrene, heat it in the oven (maybe make a wood frame around it) until it sags a little, and then physically pull the softened plastic over the clay form, I have done it with white styrene and it does work, but never with clear. It might be an inexpensive thing to try. Then just cut out the part you want to keep.
A heat gun may loosen that adhesive glue on the reflective floor tile.
Or a hairdryer
Was thinking the same thing.
I was just about to write the same, asking if it was possible to iron it away ☺
Hey Dave .. ive bin watching for ages,. never new we had the same name . LOL.!
Cool project as usual, stay safe
I really enjoyed this video, Dave, because I have never seen the Palitoy Death Star in person. Only in photos or catalogues. I have an original 1978-9 Death Star Station that's in great condition with all the pieces unbroken, though I need to use your fix on the laser cannon to keep the barrel upright and proper. Even though the Palitoy Death Star is mainly cardboard, it certainly seems to display pretty well. As an illustrator, I can really appreciate the artistic nature of the panels and floor. I have to say that I dig the look of all that! Nice line art and a bit of airbrushing to simulate metal here and there. The one complaint that I have with the American plastic Death Star Station is that it could use more detail, while the cardboard version is jammed packed with artistic details. Obviously the Palitoy version being cardboard, it is likely to wear out, but it's easy to see that a lot of thought went into this playset. When assembled, it looks pretty sturdy!
I thought the same on the Kenner deathstar, which is why I made my own floor panel and sticker for it to give it more depth. It made a big difference to how it looked.
With adhesive a bit of heat might help but considering what it's attached to I would try a blow dryer maybe a dry empty iron and I mean just quick touches with it, not sure what the material is that it's made of or what time has done to it. But if you want to take a chance you might be able to loosen the reflective items adhesive enough where you might be able to turn it or take it off, seeing how it's close to the edge you might be able to slowly pull it off that way once it's loosened enough.
Considering the price you’re paying for 3D printed clips I’d have thought that you’d invest in your own printer. Love watching you breath new life into toys from my childhood. Keep em coming 👍🏻
Could you modify the glass part of the Snowspeeder canopy as a stand-in ?
It's almost like a big pop up book
I wonder if a clear dome larger ice cream lid would work for the dome. One larger than a mcflurry lid lol
How great would it be if one of the more computer savvy individuals that are into this stuff could recreate this set in a 3D printed plastic version? :-). I believe it would be very sellable, customizable and a great display piece. Food for thought
Any chance your mate could do a 3D print of the canopy as temp measure?
Perhaps you could drop a hexagonal shaped mirror down the elevator tower, so it could cover the two wrongly placed pieces?
There's a few things on Shapeways that I've been looking into but haven't pulled the trigger on yet (right now, they have a bit of a delay on shipping due to coronavirus). Glad it worked out for you. They're kinda like Teepublic, in the sense that the quality of the product depends on the artist and the available finishing options they've supplied for the 3d print, so I think it's a YMMV situation with them.
just wondering, the chrome silver bits, maybe you could paint in the correct position.with some chrome paint?
also would it be a good idea to laminate the cardboard so its protected with a thin layer of plastic? 🤔
how about making a caption tape frame to fit around the misplassed silver bit and use a hair dryer on medium to try and losen it a bit?
For a guy from the states this is such a rare find I love action force and wish I could get the old palitoy star wars and action force stuff and not have to cost an arm and a leg for the most common stuff
You may have tried it but have you tried heating up the glue with a hair dryer on those mirrored stickers?
i was thinking that too, or some way to protect the cardboard from steam, that might lift the glue but youd need a lot of it
Thank you for this video. It's really helped me fix my sears palitoy death star. I'm also looking for the canopy and am not prepared to pay £150. Those clips look shocking and £20? You can get an original for that. I also need the seat.
I'll wait a bit to put my video up 😉
Hi Dave. Great video as always. Just as a passing thought, I wonder if you could find a large clear Christmas bauble which could be fashioned to act as a temporary dome for for the top? I know this past Christmas, certain brands created extra large ones..just a thought..
Hi Karl,
That could work, and I have some that I used on for the landspeeder cockpit glass. The original cover is not a round shape, it's more oblong and only sits over the seat area. I'll find something. Cheers
I thought precisely the same thing👍🏻. Excellent.
Those Shapeway clips are made of Nylon; you do have some flex to it, but be careful!
one your best restrations .did you think of spraying the plastic repo clips to look like old ones not sure you use but it cool to see work you put into it
Thanks. I hope to find another original at some point. So for now will just leave it as it is. It does the job for now.
Hey, TP - I wonder what would it be like if they still made these pop-up playsets today.
They sort of do. Check out my review of the Jazz wares death star set.
Hi Dave. Have you found a way of successfully removing sticky tape residue from cardboard? I've found lighter fluid is good for getting the tape off but the stain left behind is hard to budge, without damaging the print. I recently acquired a Palitoy DS (already had the Toltoys AU/NZ version) and it has pretty much identical issues to this one. Cheers.
If it has soaked into the cardboard, then no. If it's on the surface it will come off with the lighter fluid and gentle rubbing. Cheers
I never seen this play set in those days but if I got one for X-mas it would have been destroyed quicker than my Castle Greyskull and a magnifying glass I used together with the sun.
4:25 You should send it to Baumgartner Restoration and have him restore it to cross promote your UA-cam channel with his.
The fine art bloke, he is fantastic but it may cost more than what the item is worth
For the part that goes over the gunner chair on the top couldn’t you use one of those Christmas tree ornaments that are clear and pops together maybe a pantyhose egg something like that until you can find a real one or a reproduction
Hit those clips with a gloss coat or some satin black spray paint.
Try use plastic clear Xmas globe
Naptha/lighter fluid might take that reflective sticker off the floor section. Might be worth a try!
Tried that in part one. Didn't work at all. It is really well stuck down.
@@toypolloi What about some label remover (think fellowes does some) ive used it loads to remove stickers off retro video game boxes.
How does the palitoy version differ from the Kenner one?
The Kenner one is plastic, a bit smaller, though full of features, and basically a tower. The Palitoy one is card, hemispherical, and resembles the scenery used to resemble the Death Star interior in the movie. It's a very large toy.
Have you managed to find a canopy yet Dave?
Not yet. I know a few people are working on them.
Where's the link for part one I missed it.
Very similar to the action force headquarters
😊👍🏼
Centimetres? Should be Imperial measurements, surely!
Only if you want to miss your target! :D
How much did this retail for back in the 70/ 80's?
£6.99
They really should have printed those parts out of ABS. Looks like one of the newer materials like PETG. Hope its not plain PLA.
It was what ever was the cheapest option on their site.
They were printed Nylon. Actually very strong.
It would be totally awesome if you worked you magic and created this play set using your Photoshop talents! Something for us fans to purchase as we can’t afford the original???
There are already people who do just that. Check out replicator boxes and inserts. Cheers
postage to the uk from the us is twice what it is the other way. I live in canada and buy from the UK rather than the US because its so much cheaper to ship.
A resin print would be much smoother. Although resin prints are more brittle. I’m not sure they would make acceptable clips.
And here I thought Kenner had exclusive rights to starwars looks.like a lot less plastic and more cardboard
PAlitoy and Kenner were both owned by General Mills, which is why Palitoy were given the Star Wars license for the UK. We got MOST of the stuff that was released in the US, but there were some playsets and items that never made it here - the mini playsets that were released via Sears, for example. Or the A-Wing fighter. Additionally, while most of the vehicles that featured light and sound retained the feature, the Palitoy X-Wing lacks either, so there is no 3rd button. The detailed cowling on the back of the fighter's fuselage was replaced with a black and white sticker. It was also only available in white (and I think, only with battle damage stickers), but lacked the black engine intakes found on the Kenner version.
This wasn't an unusual strategy - Hasbro did exactly the same thing with some of the Transformers, and we missed out some figures. Swoop was never released here, so One of Our Dinobots Was Missing, to paraphrase the old Disney movie. It's because the UK is a much smaller market than the US, and therefore can't support quite as many toys from a line at different price points.
try looking at plastic vacuum form youtube videos for making your clear plastic gunnery chair dome may be of help for u
14.55 did you say "Playstation"??! :D
I think you definitely need a 3D printer for some of these parts.
Star Wars playset not environment-friendly