The first of the new action figures created by Hasbro were released on red and black cards. These figures are larger and more detailed than their Kenner counterparts. The first two waves of figures that came out focused on the major characters from the Original Trilogy. Of these, Ben, Lando, and Leia were extremely hard to find in the begining and some collectors were getting 30+ dollars for figures that were still in mass distribution.
The Shadows of the Empire line of figures are based on a book of the same name. The book chronicles the events that take place between A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back. The line never caught on, and only nine different figures were created. Of those nine, only Princess Leia is worth any money. The Princess Leia figure is also the only figure from this series to appear in different packaging.
After the failure of the Shadows line, Hasbro decided to go back to releasing new versions of old figures. They also re-released all of the red carded figures (except Han Hoth) on the new green and black cards. Up until this point, figures were hard to come by; you would see 10 or so carded figures on store shelves at any given time. But then Hasbro decided to flood the market with figures. During this time you could go into a store and see hundreds of figures on the shelves.
By the end of 1997, Hasbro was releasing new figures monthly as collectors and children alike were buying them like they were going out of style. To open 1998, Hasbro began including slides known as "Freeze Frames" with their figures. These slides depicted a scene from the trilogy featuring the character. There are many great figures in this line including Darth Vader (removable helmet), Luke Bespin, C3-PO, and a new likeness of Princess Leia.
During the run of the Freeze Frame figures, Hasbro also released a line of "Expanded Universe" action figures. These figures were based on characters from books (Grand Admiral Thrawn), video games (Darktrooper), and even comic books (Clone Emperor). Most of these figures were not popular with the general public which led to them becoming worth much more than other Hasbro figures.
The purpose of the Flashback line of figures was to promote Episode I which was set to release the following year. Each of the figures has a "Flashback Photo" which features a picture of the character from the original trilogy and a picture of the character as they would appear in the prequel trilogy. Only eleven of these figures were released, and they were all easy to find with the exception of Anakin and Beru.
The final series of figures to bear the logo "Power of the Force" came with ComTech chips which were also included with Episode I figures. These figures are more articulated than previous figures and can be bent at the knees and elbows. Only nine different figures were released as popularity for the series was waning and Hasbro wanted to concentrate on a line of toys for the upcoming Episode I movie.
By the end of the Episode I run, the magic had once again left the action figure line. Figures were becoming much easier to come by because of the increasing cost of the toys and lack of interest. Hasbro abandoned the Episode I toy line and created a new line entitled Power of the Jedi. This line featured re-releases of figures that had not been seen on shelves for a few years and many new figures based on all four movies.
