Page 39 - Star Wars Insider #175

BACK TO 1977

“When the market-leading Mego Corporation

turned down the chance to produce Star Wars

figures, the licence was snapped up by Kenner...”

what Star Wars was, even if you hadn’t seen it. in Friday night primetime on a Bith) not only promoted Star
And whenever blanket Star Wars mania seemed major network, the show justifi ed Wars beyond its existing fanbase,
in danger of becoming background noise, a its existence with genuine insights but also showed its willingness to
tentpole event would come along to revitalize about the Star Wars phenomenon, laugh at itself, in keeping with the
interest all over again. but also served as an extra-long refreshingly optimistic spirit of the
The first of these was The Making of Star advertisement for the movie. actual movie.

Wars, a one-hour documentary shown on ABC Later on in September, Lucasfi lm
on September 16, 1977. In an age of DVD extras, licensed the use of Star Wars Ready for action
this kind of glimpse characters and costumes to Donny Yet for all this exposure, there
04 Marvel Comics’ behind the scenes has & Marie (a wholesome variety show was one thing missing from the
adaptation proved
to be a big seller, become commonplace, fronted by pop stars Donny and Star Wars cultural coup. Kids up
even before the but in 1977 it was a Marie Osmond), and toward the and down the United States had
movie was released!
rare accolade for a end of the year, extended the same snapped up the comics, the Topps

05 Just a few of the film to be granted a deal to the far edgier Richard Pryor trading cards, the Halloween
magazines that whole documentary, Show. TV appearances such as these costumes, and more—with demand
caught Star Wars
fever in 1977, helping and a rare privilege for (which featured disco-dancing often far outstripping supply. But as
to create a legend. fascinated fans. Shown stormtroopers and a boozehound Christmas 1977 approached, there
was one thing not even the fastest,
most well-connected kid could buy:
Star Wars action fi gures.
05
When the market-leading Mego
Corporation turned down the
chance to produce Star Wars fi gures
in 1976, the license was snapped up
by its smaller competitor Kenner,
which was not prepared for the
massive demand. With no chance
of supplying stores with enough
stock for the Christmas rush,
Kenner instead chose not to rush
release any figures at all, but instead

to sell an “Early Bird Certifi cate”
to parents, which children could
unwrap on Christmas Day.
Possibly the strangest item of
Star Wars merchandise from 1977,
the Early Bird Certifi cate Package
was, in effect, an empty box. On
the one hand, it proves a cynical
viewpoint that, at the height of
Star Wars mania, you could sell
anything with the movie’s name
on it, but on the other hand, it’s an
example of the ingenious ways in

which Lucasfilm and its partners
responded to the unprecedented
demand for tie-in goods.
Instead of total disappointment
for thousands of children come
Christmas Day, the Early Bird

Certificate gave kids a slice of
Star Wars they could actually hold,

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