'Star Wars' Collectibles and Toys Review: Hasbro's 'Star Wars Saga' Death Star Trash Compactor 1 & 2 Screen Scene

"The walls are moving!" Photo Credit: www.toyark.com  (C) 2002 Hasbro Inc. and Lucasfilm Ltd. (LFL)

Luke, Han, and Chewie infiltrate the Death Star to free Princess Leia. While making their escape, they dive down a garbage chute and become trapped in a trash compactor with a hungry dianoga. Then the walls begin to close in on them, and our heroes are caught in a tight squeeze! - Manufacturer's blurb, Death Star Trash Compactor 1 & 2

In December of 2002, Hasbro Inc. released Death Star Trash Compactor 1 & 2, two separate multi-figure sets that, when put together, form a single diorama that recreates the iconic sequence in Star Wars - Episode IV: A New Hope that pits Han Solo, Chewbacca the Wookiee, Luke Skywalker, and the recently rescued Princess Leia Organa against the double threat of a hungry dianoga and the converging walls of the Death Star's trash compactor. 

Originally introduced as a Walmart exclusive in Hasbro's December 2002/January 2003 Star Wars Saga collection, Death Star Trash Compactor 1 &2 featured four major characters and one creature from George Lucas's original 1977 space-fantasy film set "a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away." They are:

• Luke Skywalker in Stormtrooper Uniform
• Han Solo in Stormtrooper Uniform
• Chewbacca 
• Princess Leia Organa

Each of the two sets came with two 3.75-inch scale action figures and half of the large creature that lurked in the murky trash-filled water of the Death Star's garbage masher. 

Death Star Trash Compactor #1 includes Luke Skywalker in Stormtrooper Uniform, Han Solo in Stormtrooper Uniform, and the back half of the huge monster, including  the octopus-like tentacle that is wrapped around a sputtering, struggling Luke. Both Han and Luke hold Imperial issue E-11 blasters, and their armor is speckled with "muck" from the icky waters in the garbage compactor. 

The front of a Death Star Trash Compactor #1 in its original packaging. The price label on the plastic cover has a "Euro" mark, which means this Screen Scene may have been sold in Europe.  Photo Credit: toys4ever.forumperso.com (C) 2002 Hasbro Inc. and Lucasfilm Ltd. (LFL)

The back of the Death Star Trash Compactor Screen Scene package features a professional promo photo of the complete diorama. Photo Credit: rebelscum.com (C) 2002 Hasbro Inc. and Lucasfilm Ltd. (LFL)

Death Star Trash Compactor 2 comes with the Princess Leia Organa and Chewbacca action figures, as well as the front half of the dianoga, with its long periscope-like eyestalk and gaping, toothy maw. Princess Leia holds a long metal support pole aloft in a vain effort to jam the trash compactor's converging walls; Chewbacca has apparently set his bowcaster aside - his paws are empty and he is howling with frustration and fear.

Photo Credit: rebelscum.com

If you're a Star Wars fan of a certain age like I am, you'll probably remember that this wasn't the first time that the infamous trash compactor and its monstrous resident were depicted in toy form. 

In 1978 and 1979, Kenner Toys of Cincinnati, OH released its Death Star Space Station playset, a multi-level "cross-section" of the Empire's ultimate weapon. As described in the official Star Wars website's Vintage Vault blog by Tim Veekhoven:

Kenner’s Death Star Space Station was the first Star Wars playset ever to be released, and it must have been a kid’s dream come true. Personally, I didn’t know about this playset for a long time since it was never offered in Belgium. It wasn’t even until the ’90s that I even learned about its existence! It measures nearly 22.5 inches tall, which remains one of the biggest toys ever created for any Star Wars 3.75” line. This is nearly impossible to believe nowadays, but the playset originally sold for about $ 18.00 — a price that comes closer to a single action figure today.

*****

The first floor has the most room for placing figures. Just like on the second floor, a thin cardboard functions as a wall. This time one panel looks a lot like the forward station that our heroes took over near Docking Bay 327. Another panel shows an X-wing and a TIE fighter. This level also has two consoles that don’t really look like the ones seen in the movie, but it’s obvious what they represent. The coolest feature on the first floor is a trapdoor that leads to the trash compactor. No, the floor doesn’t look like AA-23 and the hole in the floor doesn’t look like the one Leia blasted in the cell block, but it works perfectly and your figures can make a hasty escape.

Finally, we have the bottom level of the playset. Beside the elevator, the only thing found on the bottom level may be the coolest thing of the entire playset: the trash compactor. The trash compactor is a separate piece that can be used anywhere else if you want to. It’s an orange box with plastic transparent “windows” and a blue door that looks like the one in the movie. The door opens up and forms some kind of “bridge” to the elevator. Inside the trash compactor are many pieces of foam (yellow, black, and blue) that represent the garbage seen in the film. It may sound silly, but it’s actually not a bad solution. You also have the first full representation of the dianoga, the monster that lurks in the filthy water. The dianoga is small (it couldn’t even have eaten Luke) and has four fin-like appendages to go with its mouth and characteristic periscope eye. Though this creature looks pretty weird, it was never sold separately or included in another set.

The trash compactor actually works! There is a lever on the back of the compactor that can be turned. The backside of the compactor will then move toward the door to simulate the scene from the movie, but at the very end the door will open and your figures can escape just in time!

A photo of Kenner's 1978-1979 era Death Star Space Station playset from an eBay listing. Note the absence of the cardboard panels and the plastic "rope' that used to be on the second floor. Also note the relatively tiny dianoga, depicted here in a 1970s Day-Glo shade of green. Photo Credit: eBay. (Seller: timetobuy2010, who is asking $269.99 plus $19.79 for shipping.)

Of course, advances in the toy industry between 1978 and 2003 resulted in much improved sculpts, paint jobs, and painstaking attention to detail, so even though Death Star Trash Compactor 1 & 2  only replicate one component of the planet-killing battle station, the figures, the setting, and the monster are much more accurately depicted. 

My Take

Hasbro's Death Star Trash Compactor 1 & 2 comprise one of my favorite Star Wars collectibles. I was fortunate enough to acquire them both at their original retail price ($16.87 each) at a Tampa area Walmart on the same night that I bought my TIE Bomber with Imperial Pilot back in 2003. Today, just one of these sets would set me back $79.99 or more on eBay or other Internet market places. 

Like all of my Kenner/Hasbro Cinema Scenes/Screen Scenes multi-figure sets, my Death Star Trash Compactors remain unopened and in near-mint condition. I am so fond of them that they are among the few dioramas that I keep in my office, along with the three Silver Anniversary two-figure sets that, coincidentally, depict scenes from A New Hope that also take place on the Death Star. (The rest of my collection, alas, is in storage, waiting for the day that I can afford to get display shelves at Ikea.)

These extremely scene-specific action figures are nicely sculpted and painted. Where the Kenner vintage figures from the 1970s and early 1980s tend to have generic, neutral detailing, the early 21st Century action figures can convey at least some emotion. In this case, Chewie looks extremely unhappy about the dire straits that he and his human companions are in. Han looks both worried and exasperated, while Luke looks as though he's sputtering while he struggles with the yucky-looking dianoga. 

Princess Leia doesn't look a lot like the young Carrie Fisher; Hasbro has always had a hard time getting her facial details just right. Still, the sculpt and paint job aren't as bad as the infamous "Monkey Face" Leia that Hasbro issued in its mid-1990s Power of the Force wave. Her face is a bit generic, but the proportions are right. Hasbro even makes Leia's once pristine white outfit look subtly stained with water from the trash compactor. 

All in all, if you are like me and love Screen Scene/Cinema Scene sets but don't have Death Star Trash Compactor 1 & 2, you may be inclined to seek them out in specialty stores or online. Be advised, though, that because they were Walmart exclusives, they may be hard to find. And even if you are lucky enough to find the two sets, be prepared to shell out a lot of greenbacks for them.

As always, parents should be careful when shopping for these Screen Scenes, which are still available online, albeit at prices of $79.99 and up.  Like all Star Wars action figure-related collectibles, Death Star Trash Compactor 1 & 2 come with small parts that can be lost, broken, and/or pose choking hazards to children under the age of three.

Source: http://www.starwars.com/news/the-vintage-vault-thats-no-moon-its-a-playset