Listened to Witness History on the BBC World Service yesterday, a 10-minute interview with the person from Kenner who got the company to sign up for Star Wars after other, larger toy companies had turned the film down.
The combination of a relatively late deal, the figures being much smaller than the usual doll size (so that the related spaceship toys wouldn’t be too big for kids to play with) and the whole toy industry supply chain being geared towards delivery for Christmas meant there was no way to have the products in shops in time for Star Wars release date of May 1977, nor even in fact Christmas 1977.
Thus Kenner came up with the Early Bird Certificate, a way to pre-order Star Wars figures & get them when they were ready in early 1978.
So kids couldn’t wake up to Luke Skywalker or “Artoo-Detoo” under the tree Christmas morning 1977, but at least they’d have a certificate saying they’d get them eventually.
Thanks!
I had the boardgame and got those figures! Also played the soundtrack so many times that I wore out the record…
Yes, I am old.
nah, this Star Wars thing will never take off
“That’s no flop. It’s a blockbuster!”
Nice find!
after other, larger toy companies had turned the film down
I have to wonder what the marketing executives who made that call thought about it a year later. I suppose it was a reasonable guess that SW might end up on the same B movie heap as a bunch of other 50’s and 60’s sci-fi schlock that came and went.
I think even the cast were kidding around on set about what a bomb it was going to be.
Early Bird Package == pre-order bonus
