The 2013 Empire Strikes Out DVD Promotional Card
Darth Vader Gets a Medal — And a Toy Fair Exclusive
125 made. One minifig. Two very different ways to get it — and most collectors don’t know the difference.
The second item in the 2013 New York Toy Fair Collector Party gift bag was smaller and simpler than the diorama — a blister card containing a single minifigure. But the story behind it is more complicated than it appears, because the same minifigure was available to anyone who bought a DVD at retail. Understanding what makes the Toy Fair version different — and rarer — is the whole point of this article.
The Special
LEGO Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Out originally aired on Cartoon Network on September 26, 2012. The special follows Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader in a comedic adventure set just after the destruction of the Death Star — Luke is mobbed by adoring fangirls while Vader engages in a rivalry with Darth Maul to prove himself the superior Sith Lord to Emperor Palpatine. The special was released on DVD on March 26, 2013, and included a Darth Vader with Medal minifigure — a joke reference to a scene in which Vader receives recognition, described as his “Employee of the Month” medal.
The DVD release was a standard retail product available to anyone. The Toy Fair blister card was something else entirely.
The Toy Fair Card
The blister card measures 5 inches by 7 inches. The front carries the LEGO and Star Wars logos at the top, with “THE EMPIRE STRIKES OUT” below. In the center, the Darth Vader minifigure is sealed in a blister formed tightly around the figure. Above the blister the card reads “EXCLUSIVE MINI FIGURE / DARTH VADER WITH MEDAL” — notably spelling “mini figure” as two words rather than LEGO’s standard single-word “minifigure,” a minor but genuine inconsistency on an official piece.
The front artwork features Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader locked in a lightsaber duel as the central image, with smaller character portraits of Han Solo, Princess Leia, Emperor Palpatine, and Darth Maul arranged below.
The back of the card carries both logos and the Empire Strikes Out title at the top, followed by the Toy Fair announcement:
Welcome to Toy Fair 2013
HOLD ON TO YOUR BRICKS….FOR AN
ALL-NEW ANIMATED ADVENTURE!
Available on DVD March 26, 2013
INCLUDES EXCLUSIVE MINI FIGURE!
An image of the DVD packaging follows, along with the starwars.lego.com URL. At the bottom, the standard trademark and copyright text appears with the Lucasfilm Ltd. and 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment logos on either side of the copyright text in the lower corners.
The “Welcome to Toy Fair 2013” text is the critical distinguishing detail. It confirms this blister card was produced specifically for the Toy Fair gift bag and not for retail. The retail DVD came in a completely different format — a DVD box with the minifigure inset in the front — making the blister card format unique to this exclusive.
The Minifigure
The minifigure is sw0464 — Darth Vader (Celebration), featuring Vader’s standard black armor and helmet with an Imperial Medal printed on the torso. The medal is a comedic reference to the events of The Empire Strikes Out, where Vader receives recognition from the Emperor. It is the same minifigure that was included with the retail DVD release, which makes the blister card the only thing distinguishing the Toy Fair version from a far more common retail copy.
This is an important point for collectors: the minifigure itself is not exclusive to the Toy Fair card. Sw0464 can be found loose or with the retail DVD (5002198-1) for a fraction of the price of the Toy Fair blister. What you are paying for when you acquire the Toy Fair version is the blister card itself — the packaging, the Toy Fair announcement text, and the provenance of having come from the 2013 Collector Party gift bag.
Quantity and Value
The Toy Fair blister card is believed to have been limited to 125 units — fewer than the 150 dioramas produced for the same gift bag. Like the diorama, the actual number distributed may be lower still due to reduced attendance caused by the winter storm that weekend. Unlike the diorama, the blister card is not individually numbered, so the true distribution count cannot be verified from the item itself.
Current value is approximately $366.70 according to the Minifig Price Guide, where it is listed as sw0464tf to distinguish it from the retail version. Given that the minifigure alone can be acquired cheaply, this valuation reflects the card’s status as a Toy Fair exclusive rather than any intrinsic value of the figure inside.
Context Within the Campaign
The Empire Strikes Out blister card and the NY Yoda Diorama were distributed together in the same gift bag at the same event. They are companion pieces from the same moment in LEGO Star Wars promotional history — February 9-10, 2013, the weekend LEGO first revealed the Yoda Chronicles campaign to the toy industry. Collecting one without the other is collecting half the story.
The DVD was released on March 26, 2013 — six weeks after the Toy Fair. The blister card was therefore distributed before the DVD was publicly available, making it a genuine preview item rather than a tie-in to something already in stores.
What We Don’t Know
- The exact quantity distributed — 125 is the commonly cited figure but its source is unclear and the item is not numbered. Does anyone have a primary source for this number?
- The storm impact — as with the diorama, reduced Toy Fair attendance due to the winter storm may mean fewer than 125 were actually distributed. Were any remaining examples distributed after the event through other channels?
- The “mini figure” spelling — LEGO’s standard spelling is “minifigure” as one word. Was the two-word spelling on this card an error, a deliberate stylistic choice, or consistent with how LEGO was spelling it in 2013? If you have other 2013 LEGO packaging that sheds light on this, please leave a comment.
The Empire Strikes Out DVD Promotional Card (New York Toy Fair 2013 Exclusive)
Produced: 2013
Distribution: NY Toy Fair Collector Party gift bag, February 9–10, 2013
Quantity: 125 (unconfirmed, not individually numbered)
BrickLink: darthvader-1
