Joe Stumpo
Online Editor
When the teaser trailer for “Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens” debuted last November, a friend of mine, Michael Frazer, commented on his Facebook page how it brought back memories of when we all played with Star Wars action figures and toy sets while in grade school between 1977 and 1983, when the original trilogy came out.
“Reminds me of spending our $20 vacation allowance on action figures,” Mike wrote. “Of course my Darth could fly. He had a cape.”
On Sept. 4 at 12:01 a.m., in what was being promoted by retailers as “Force Friday,” fans both young and old descended upon Toys R’Us, Target and any stores open that early to get dibs on the newest Star Wars action figures and Lego sets as the countdown draws near to the Dec. 18 opening of “Episode VII.”
The quote from the “Force Awakens” trailer, “There’s been an awakening. Have you felt it?” was an understatement as I browsed through the Target aisle at one store 10 hours after the unveiling to find my hopes of getting my hands on a 6-inch figure of villain Kylo Ren, female bounty hunter Captain Phasma or First Order Stormtrooper dashed. There wasn’t even a BB-8 figure around (aka the soccer ball droid) to snag.
“I’m surrounded by grown men in the Star Wars aisle,” said Angela Bardis, a friend of mine who commented on Facebook when she was at Target later that day. “Is this the new Tinder or Match? Jedi mind trick … these are not the single men you are looking for.”
If there were any winners in this mad grab for the coolest Star Wars toys, it was Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump who was seen holding his action figure of Kylo Ren.
“I had to body slam a 9-year-old to get it, but no one was going to stand between Trump and his Kylo Ren figure on ‘Force Friday,’ Trump said. OK, I am lying. That was the spoof Mad magazine did but given how “The Donald” has been getting away with offending everyone and still his poll numbers continue to rise, the idea that he body slammed a kid to get his action figure doesn’t seem that far from the truth.
“It will all end Dec. 19,” said another friend of mine, Patrick Keith, whose comment about Force Friday’s financial success didn’t evoke excitement. It was his way of saying that if the movie fails to bring back memories of the original trilogy, the toys won’t matter.
Keith may have a point. The father of “the force,” George Lucas, created both a good and bad thing with the release of “Star Wars” in 1977. Director Steven Spielberg is as much to blame, given how “Jurassic Park,” “E.T.” and the Indiana Jones films have themselves become products of toy marketing. The “Star Wars” trilogy tapped into a gold mine that proved studios aren’t the only ones who can profit from a blockbuster, but also toy companies such as Hasbro, Lego, Sideshow Collectibles, Hot Toys and fast-food franchises.
Macquarie Securities analyst Tim Nollen was quoted in an article on money.cnn.com saying “The Force Awakens” merchandise could generate $5 billion in sales in 2016 while Disney, which now has the “Star Wars” franchise, could bring in about $500 million in licensing and retail revenue.
I have gotten to the point of questioning whether the studios and filmmakers truly care about giving audiences a great story today. Or is their focus more on selling toys, especially when it comes to the bad taste Lucas left “Star Wars” fans with the prequel trilogy (1999-2005) giving us Jar Jar Binks, laughable dialogue, a lot of blue screen computer-generated special effects and well-choreographed lightsaber duels?
“The first film and ‘Empire’ were about story and character, but I could see that George’s priorities were changing. I could see where things were headed,” said Gary Kurtz, producer and second-unit director of “Star Wars” (1977) and “The Empire Strikes Back”
(1980), who said in a 2010 interview in the Los Angeles Times how things changed with “Return of the Jedi” (1983).
“The toy business began to drive the Lucas film empire. It’s a shame. They make three times as much on toys as they do on films. It’s natural to make decisions that protect the toy business, but that’s not the best thing for making quality films,” he said.
Obviously such negative commentary isn’t going to keep devoted fans from recalling their childhood memories. But instead of investing their week’s allowance like Mike Frazer and I did as kids three decades ago, today we’re throwing away our monthly paychecks on Star Wars toys, regardless of the bills. Seeing images of upcoming 12-inch figures from Hot Toys, which run between $200 and $500, 6-inch figures from Hasbro (despite horrible paint jobs) and Lego sets, the past several months have gotten me uttering the words of Al Pacino’s Michael Corleone from “The Godfather: Part III” (1990), “Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in!”
Whether I truly get back into Star Wars collecting as a result of the new movies is something not even Yoda can answer. To quote the green, pointy-eared Jedi master, “Always in motion the future is.”
Nevertheless, it will be hard the next few years to resist what might as well be called “The dark side of movie merchandising.”
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