Toy links tagged "Star Wars"
George Lucas interviewed.
“I like Japan. I was going to shoot THX there and I spent some time over there. My wife says I am a reincarnated shogun, or at least a warlord. I’ll be fascinated to see what happens over there; Star Wars is slightly designed for Japan.” (See also.)
Kurosawa and Lucas.
“… Kurosawa himself was heavily influenced by the sweeping Westerns of John Ford. … The genius of Star Wars, by accident and/or by design, was to somehow fuse these disparate elements together – ancient mythology, samurai warriors and futuristic spacecraft …”
Cowboys and spacemen.
“By the time the first ‘Star Wars’ film was released, viewers were comfortable with the idea of robots and space explorers thrown into a desolate desert landscape or a lawless saloon like the Cantina.”
Toyetic stories.
“Star Wars producer Gary Kurtz claimed that Star Wars made three times as much on toys as it did on films … Toy Story 3 made nearly $10bn from its action figures and other merch – 10 times what it took at the global box office.”
Kenner and Star Wars.
“Kenner sold 22 million Star Wars toys annually during the run of the first three films. Supplies sold out in hours. The average kid owned 11 Star Wars toys …”
Action Man and Star Wars.
“Retailers were offered discounts on the firm’s hugely popular soldier figures if they would take Star Wars toys.”
Bob Brechin on Palitoy history.
“… Star Wars revolutionised toys in many ways: marketing, the way kids play with toys …” and so the 12-inch Action Man became the 3¾-inch Action Force. (YouTube, 1:12:34)
Star Wars and Action Force.
“… Palitoy used the tooling for the Millennium Falcon radar dish and applied it to the underbelly of the Satellite Defence mini-vehicle for Space Force.”
Loomis looks for more licenses.
“One day in 1976 he noticed a brief item in the Hollywood Reporter about a movie that was being made. Loomis had never heard of the director, but he liked the title …”
The secret history of G.I. Joe.
“In those days, everyone in the toy business knew that toy soldiers were three-inch-high, immobile, plastic or lead figures, and the initial response to Joe ranged from doubt to scorn to laughter …”