A “Star Wars” figure featuring Vlix, a character even the most die-hard fans have likely never heard of, sold for an eye-popping $44,261.80 Wednesday night at Hake's.
Collectors have long coveted figures from the Kenner “Star Wars” series, which began with a release of 12 characters to coincide with the film’s release in 1977.
That first series, known as “12-backs” due to the 12 figures shown on each cardback, includes the characters one would expect to fetch big bucks. Luke Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Darth Vader and the other stars of the storyline.
And while those figures are often extremely valuable, particularly the rarer variants in sealed condition, they don’t hold a candle to Vlix. The short-lived character from the Droids cartoon was supposed to be released in the second wave of Kenner’s Droids action figure set.
But the show was canceled after a single season in the spring of 1986. So, Kenner held off on releasing the Vlix figure — at least in the United States. In Brazil, however, a company called Glasslite, which had obtained the rights to distribute Kenner’s figures in the country, didn’t seem to get the memo.
Instead, a small number of Vlix figures were released as the planned molds made their way to Brazil. This was unknown to U.S. collectors until a few years later, as most assumed the Kenner-licensed brand had halted the release as well.
As with all figures, they are rarer to find still “carded,” as most consumers would remove the toy for display or for children to enjoy.
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The result is the Vlix figure has become widely known as the rarest and most coveted commercially released figure in all of Kenner “Star Wars” history. The emphasis on “commercially released” is key, as prototype examples, such as the “holy grail” rocket-firing Boba Fett, can fetch more than $1 million.
But for those Vlix figures still carded, sealed and graded, examples can sell for astounding prices — often far outpacing those of more traditional characters.
Only 12 examples have been graded by AFA and sealed copies rarely come up for sale. Its rarity even inspired an inside joke among collectors, who refer to the character as Vlix Oncard, a nod to the difficulty of finding examples “on card.”
An AFA 60 sold for $45,430 at Hake’s in 2018, the highest price paid for the figure to date. A “loose” example sold at Propstore for $14,463 in 2019.
Will Stern is a reporter and editor for cllct.