Source material behind '95 resurgence wave

[TheFrankEinstein]

I always theorized that the material that inspired the look of the resurgence wave of Star Wars figures was the art of Ron Lim, but haven't mentioned it to anyone until today (never knew anyone who cared for toys before, never participated in a toy/Star Wars forum until now). Ron Lim's a comic book artist who's done work on Silver Surfer, the Fantastic Four, and others, and I've always felt that there was a strong resemblance between the '95 figures and the covers he did for some Star Wars comics around that time (he may have done the interior pencils too, I don't know).

So what do you guys think? Ever heard about this before? Is it common knowledge and should I turn red and shrivel up right about now?

[Turbowars]

It just might be, but I have no clue. Don't turn red, because you maybe right.

[icatch9]

jThe reasons I got from the Hasbro exects at CII and other Comic Cons is simple. In 1995 WWF and WCW toys rulled the action figure world. Kids loved thier hugh muscles and playability. Hasbro (Kenner back then) thought the only way to compete with Wrestlers was to "pump" up Luke and Han and the rest. That is pretty much a fact becasue the guy who designed them told me so. Still, I don't know where he got the desines. Chances are he was inspired by something, but I don't know if one artist would steal the work of another. Oh, wait...this is America, so that's probally exactly what happened .

[TheFrankEinstein]

That sounds good. Maybe it was a combination of the two, because if I remember correctly, the headsculpts compared very similar to Mr. Lim's art. So let's unofficially say the bodies are Hulk Hogan, and the heads are Ron Lim

[Capitan_Moroni]

I always thought that the 95 figures were inspired by that one poster where Luke has his lightsaber above his head, Leiah is hanging on his leg, and it has the others in the backround........Or maybe not.

[icatch9]

I know what your talking about. Luke does look really rip in that poster. Would make good sense too, since that was the first look we ever got of the characters. Not to dispute your idea, but the guy who designes them said thier muscles where to compete with the Wrestlers. Hulk Hogen or Luke Skywalker? Andre the Giant or Darth Vader? These choices are not tough for us to decide, but back in 95' they thought this would be a tough decision for kids.

[bigbarada]

Wrestling and superhero toys ruled the roost in the early 90s, thus icatch9 is right.

Ron Lim's comic style is so generic that I can see how someone would believe he designed those toys.