Plastic Galaxy: The Story of Star Wars Toys Page #9

There was gonna be a break.

There was a conclusion to it.

Kenner really had

a project ahead of it,

because lucasfilm had indicated

they were not making any more

for the foreseeable future,

and how do you market and sell

a line of "star wars" stuff

without "star wars"

being in theaters?

Um, the movie line moved

from "return of the jedi"

to a line called

power of the force.

Power of the force

was their plan for 1985

to, uh, look beyond

"return of the jedi,"

knowing there were gonna be

no new "star wars" films.

They had wonderful characters

they had chosen,

like han carbonite

or Luke in stormtrooper,

the Tatooine skiff.

They bundled these things

with coins.

There's so many things

in power of the force line

that many collectors view

as kind of the pinnacle

of "star wars" collecting.

Ironically, it was also

the period

of least interest

in "star wars" toys.

Like it literally was

the biggest failure ever

in "star wars"

action figure toys.

The whole generation that

was brought up on those toys

is starting to move into

junior high and high school,

and getting out of toys.

So I just don't

think there was...

there was any...

anything to bring

the next generation

of kids into it.

By about 13, it was

a little ridiculous

for, you know, me

to go into a toy store

and buy figures.

Of course, 20 years later,

(laughing) It didn't matter

what people thought anyway.

By 1985, kenner had killed

the power of the force line.

They still had the "droids

and ewoks" cartoon series.

Those were TV shows

that were running

in a couple of countries,

the United States and Canada.

Eventually, it did

get all over the world.

I think by around early '86,

they even killed off

the "droids and ewoks" lines.

Yeah, I was aware,

after power of the force

sort of fizzled out,

I was aware that there was

no "star wars" product

being made.

I mean, walk into a toy store

in 1986,

and there's no "star wars"

stuff on the shelf.

You know, I don't think you can

sell the public anything

that it doesn't want to buy.

In 1991, hasbro

would buy kenner

and move operations

to elsinore place,

in this building behind me.

It was administrative offices,

it was boys' toys,

as well as some manufacturing

and things in the back.

They would close their

operations here

in the year 2000.

Kenner by the '90s

is the preeminent

action figure company

doing a lot of stuff

for movies,

so I think that's where

hasbro saw the value

in acquiring kenner,

because they would

bolster their gi Joe line

and kind of take over their

action figure operation.

Hasbro looked at it,

and I think...

Honestly saw an amazing

amount of talent

here in Cincinnati.

And if you wanted to get

to that next level,

come to Cincinnati

and get some people.

You know, it really

wasn't until... 1994

when the first really...

Major line of "star wars"

toys came back.

And they were those

execrable bend-ems.

(Gaule) The bend-ems

were a runaway success,

and those were terrible

action figures.

So you could imagine

people thinking like,

"man, if we made actually

good action figures,

this thing

could do really well."

By then, uh, vintage

"star wars" collecting

had come in full force.

People were digging up the old

action figures at toy shows.

Kenner was obviously

aware of this,

that there's this

huge opportunity.

"People are paying a lot

for the old ones.

Why don't we make new ones?"

Hasbro decided to release

new versions

of the classic

"star wars" characters.

The figures were based

off production figures

back in the day.

I remember in my hometown,

the toys-r-us has them

and sold out of them

within like three days.

With the success of... kind of

that "put your toe in the pool,"

uh, they decided to go

full force into the deep end

with "star wars."

These three shelves

are my power of the force ii

shelves.

And power of the force ii

was the first line

that kenner,

owned by hasbro at the time,

reintroduced in '95,

to bring the figures back.

(Announcer) The power of

the force, from kenner!

The biggest, most realistic

force in the universe!

Only the power of the force

brings you the biggest

heroes and villains

straight from the movies.

Hasbro went on

to make that into

one of the big

action figure lines ever.

You know, "star wars" part two.

Well, once people got over

the excitement

that new "star wars" figures

were out,

they soon began to really, um,

have kind of

a disdain for them.

Because they were so

overly muscular

and did not really resemble

the characters from the film.

A lot of people at the time

called this han solo

"han soloflex,"

because he was...

So overly muscular.

They wanted to do

something different,

and particularly the sculptors,

some of them wanted to be...

artistically create

these different likenesses

that weren't necessarily

the screen likenesses.

They were trying to create

this kind of other look.

Well, I know

a lot of collectors

can't stand them.

I have a special, um,

appreciation for them.

Uh... I just think they're fun.

And I continue

to think they're fun.

And I will always display them.

(Announcer)

Now, for its 20th anniversary,

the adventure of a lifetime

returns to the big screen.

The special editions

came out in '97,

which kind of amped it up

to an extra notch.

And that's when I think

it really hit the mainstream,

that "star wars" was...

Um, still a cultural force

or pop cultural force.

As much as the older generation

didn't really care for

the prequels much,

those movies brought in

a whole new generation

of collectors

coming up behind me.

As the head of one of

the smaller toy companies

once said to me,

the "star wars" generation

passed on the gene...

the "star wars" gene...

to the next generation.

And now we're seeing

three generations

of "star wars" fans,

and they all love

the "star wars" toys and stuff.

That's amazing to see.

I think it's gonna last

a long, long time.

(Berges) The compelling

thing about these toys is

the fact that

it can take you back

to that time.

I think that's

the coolest thing about it.

When you had

a "star wars" toy...

There were no limits.

And when you look at them now,

even through older

and different eyes,

it can still trigger

some of those...

those feelings

and that adrenaline.

And... that...

that kind of wonder.

(Lopez) "Star wars" was

not just another toy

you had as a kid.

It changed everything...

it changed film,

it changed toy.

It hit people on a level

that's unparalleled.

(Sharp) I still care

about these toys,

20 years after I started

collecting them,

for the same reasons

that I enjoyed them

in the first place.

I like "star wars."

The sense of nostalgia

that I get from owning these

hasn't diminished at all.

And I still get a thrill

out of them.

(Troy) You know, I knew

it was something popular

and everything else.

But I think when it

came to a point

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