Mark Boudreaux

Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi. You're my only hope.

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"It certainly has been a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be involved with the "Star Wars" line for the last 30 years, not to mention working with all the folks over the years — Swearingen, Farrah, Tom Osborne and Tim Effler being the first. Not a bad group for a 21-year-old to start out with. I couldn't imagine doing anything else."

―Mark Boudreaux^[2]

Mark Boudreaux (February 22, 1955 – May 14, 2023)^[1] has been a designer of Star Wars toys since 1978; working in the Preliminary Design Department at Kenner Products in Cincinnati, Ohio; eventually moving with Hasbro to Pawtucket, Rhode Island in 2001, after Hasbro bought Kenner in the 1990's.

Biography

Boudreaux is a graduate of the University of Cincinnati and became one of the lead designers of Kenner's original Millennium Falcon toy in 1978, along with toy designers Jim Swearingen and Jack Farrah. Boudreaux also helped develop the Kenner Star Wars Micro World line and the mini-rig ships during the 1980's.^[3]

When Hasbro, Inc. purchased Kenner in the 1990's, Boudreaux and several of the original designers went on to continue designing Star Wars toys at Hasbro. His work has led to countless action figures and ships throughout the Star Wars, Batman, Marvel, Transformers, and Jurassic Park lines.

Boudreaux has said that Lucasfilm allowed the likenesses of toy designers to make their way onto "background characters", which led to his face appearing on an Endor-soldier figure, a Rebel Blockade Runner Trooper figure, and an exclusive AT-ST pilot figure. Boudreaux has also designed several of the Jedi Starfighter toy ships along with both the vintage and modern incarnations of the Millennium Falcon. His most recent work includes the "Big Millennium Falcon" and the "Galactic Heroes" line of child-oriented figures.

Boudreaux will be designing toys for Lucasfilm's upcoming Episode VII, stand alone films, and animated series, Rebels.

Boudreaux was striken with complications of COVID-19, being on a ventilator for over a year which destroyed his lungs and required him to receive a lung transplant.^[4] He passed away on Sunday, May 14, 2023.^[1]