The Star Wars Toy Stash That Had Fans Talking About E.T. Instead of the Millennium Falcon

The biggest laugh in a rediscovered Star Wars toy collection did not come from the Millennium Falcon, a TIE-Fighter, or even an Ewok Village. It came from E.T., spotted among the figures in a pose that sent commenters looking past the obvious treasures and straight to one tiny intergalactic crossover.

What makes the photo memorable is how quickly the eye is pulled away from the heavy-hitters. A Star Wars fan shared a group of vintage toys they had found at the very back of a closet, and there was plenty for collectors to admire right away. Several pieces were still sitting neatly in their original boxes, including Kenner's Star Wars TIE-Fighter, Imperial Troop Transporter, Imperial Attack Base, Ewok Village, Millennium Falcon, and a number of action figures.

Then viewers noticed the outsider.

Mixed in with the Star Wars pieces was E.T., unmistakable even in a crowded spread of old toys. The figure stood out on its own because it came from a completely different movie world, but that was only part of the joke. What really grabbed attention was the way it appeared to be getting a little too close to Snaggletooth, turning an already nostalgic collection photo into something a lot funnier and a lot stranger.

That accidental pairing became the image inside the image. Instead of staying fixed on the boxed ships and playsets, people started talking about the little scene the two figures seemed to be acting out. It was the kind of detail that can only happen when old collections resurface exactly as they were left, with all the odd choices, mixed lines, and long-forgotten arrangements still intact.

A closet full of familiar ships, bases, and a few surprises

The rest of the collection gave that moment even more texture. This was not a tidy, single-brand display assembled for maximum value on a shelf. It looked more like a time capsule of what had been kept, moved aside, and eventually rediscovered.

Beyond the items that immediately jumped out, the stash also included some non Star Wars toys. One of the clearest examples was a transport truck from the Indiana Jones line. There were also a few other vintage figures that were harder to identify at a glance, which only added to the sense that this was a real toy collection rather than a carefully curated museum lineup.

And the Star Wars side of it went deeper than the first glance suggested. Along with the boxed TIE-Fighter, Imperial Troop Transporter, Imperial Attack Base, Ewok Village, and Millennium Falcon, the fan also had Kenner's large Rebel Transport, an old Jawa figure, and Vader's Star Destroyer. At the bottom sat another relic from a different franchise entirely, a vintage Castle Grayskull.

That mix is part of what gives the photo its charm. The big boxed vehicles and bases speak to the scale of the collection, while the Indiana Jones truck, E.T., and Castle Grayskull hint at the kind of crossover play that used to happen naturally once the toys were out of their packaging. The closet had preserved all of it together.

For collectors, finds like this always come with a second question alongside the nostalgia. What would something like this be worth now? Vintage toys do still produce headline-making discoveries, especially when sealed examples surface after years in storage. There have been cases where sealed vintage items reached values in the millions. Most childhood toys, of course, are not preserved in that kind of condition. Even so, a group this strong, with so many recognizable pieces and original boxes, is the sort of find that makes people imagine the collector's market immediately. The collection shown here would be worth thousands if it were sealed.

Why Snaggletooth matters in this joke

The E.T. moment landed especially well for Star Wars collectors because of the figure he was paired with. Snaggletooth has a long-standing appeal among fans of vintage Star Wars toys, and one version in particular has a special reputation. The rare blue Snaggletooth is a favorite among collectors.

That is not the one in this photo.

The figure beside E.T. appears to be the shorter, more common Snaggletooth rather than the rarer blue version. That distinction matters to people who know the line. The blue version is taller and comes with fancy shoes, details that helped turn it into one of the best-known oddities in old Star Wars figure collecting. In other words, if E.T. had wanted to choose the flashier option, it was not this one.

That tiny bit of collector lore gives the whole scene another layer. The picture is amusing on the surface because a non Star Wars alien wound up in a very Star Wars collection and then seemed to latch onto a fan-favorite character. But it also becomes a wink at the habits of collectors, who can identify at a glance exactly which Snaggletooth is present and which one is not.

It is the sort of niche detail that makes vintage toy photos so rewatchable. One person sees a funny accident. Another sees a specific version of a specific figure and instantly starts thinking about rarity.

Not as far apart as they look

There is one more reason the E.T. cameo works so well in a Star Wars setting. As separate movie properties, E.T. and Star Wars look like an obvious mismatch. Yet George Lucas has suggested that E.T.'s species exists in the Star Wars universe. More than that, members of the species are part of the Republic Senate. Two delegates from that species can be spotted in the background in The Phantom Menace.

So the funniest thing about the photo is not simply that one alien wandered in from another franchise. In a strange way, the crossover is not entirely a crossover at all.

That leaves the rediscovered closet haul doing what the best toy finds do. It sparks collector talk about boxed Kenner vehicles, obscure figure variants, and market value, while also reviving the unruly energy of childhood collections, where Star Wars could sit beside Indiana Jones, He-Man, and E.T. without anyone needing to explain it. The boxed TIE-Fighter and the Millennium Falcon may be the prestige pieces. The Ewok Village and Imperial Attack Base may be the eye-catching landmarks. But the figure people remembered was the one that looked least likely to belong there.

In a collection full of classic Star Wars hardware, the smallest laugh came from the guest star.