In an attempt to deal with the massive amounts of overstock figures that were left over at the end of the Star Wars Craze, Trilogos were sold to an American retailer called “Kay Bee” who then sold them at clearance prices.
Many Trilogo figures on the market today are from this bargain bin period and proudly wear the Kay Bee “$0.79” or “2 for $1.00” price sticker on their card fronts.
Whilst many collectors dislike stickers on their cards, when it comes to Trilogos they become quite important. Kay Bee store stickers (however ugly they are) actually give us an insight into where exactly the overstock came from by looking at the cards that received them.
The majority of these bargain bin Trilogos are common Palitoy produced cards but they were not the only cards sent over.
German Parker cards and even cards with Clipper import stickers on them also made their way to America and onto the shelves at Kay Bee, which to me at least is pretty interesting!
This could mean that European Star Wars products were sent on to a central point before being bought by Kay-Bee or that they had been acquired by a wholesaler from various sources before being sold to Kay-Bee.
Either way it’s great to know that some of the harder to find European variants can be found in the States and it is fun spotting which cards ended up in America.
Here are some examples below of Trilogo figures with the Kay Bee price sticker all with very different origins.
Gamorrean Guard / Clipper Import Sticker
R5-D4 German Cardback / Alternative Bubble
Luke Skywalker Jedi Knight Outfit / Italian Import Sticker
Darth Vader German Cardback / Rounded Bubble
And finally, to end all the speculation and rumours, Yak Face WAS actually available in America..on an imported bargain bin European card!
Here he is on a Palitoy produced Trilogo card complete with original UK price sticker and that great Kay Bee sticker, it doesn’t get better than that!
If you happen to have any Kay Bee stickered Trilogos that might be of interest please get in contact!