The Humble Origins of Kenner Star Wars

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I've been digging around in vintage Toy Trade publications this past month and let me tell you, 1977 was not prepared for what hit it.

Above is a piece from the summer of 1977 showing George Lucas and Gary Kurtz visiting Kenner, it's pretty bland and certainly doesn't give the impression that the whole game is going to change.

However, the original announcement is even more low key:




Expected to surpass revenue earned by Jaws? I should also mention that the magazine makes a much bigger deal out of the "Gong Show Game" coming out.......

For more Fashion Mockery and 70's toy love visit us at Plaid Stallions.com


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[darkmonkeygod]

Hey Brian, I pointed this out to Charles Lippincott on his fb page https://www.facebook.com/charles.lip...53580972201635 and he's wondering if you can tell him what months these articles are dated. He's been working on his own detailings of his time spent marketing and selling Star Wars in the year plus run up to its release and beyond.

[palitoy]

That's really cool, I replied to the dates of publication on the thread. Although I imagine both the picture and announcement were given weeks in advance of the magazine's date.

[Bruce Banner]

That's an awesome find. Love vintage articles such as those.

[Werewolf]

What a super cool find.

[Actorman]

I love stuff like this. I have an early issue of Starlog magazine that has a tiny blurb about an "upcoming science fiction film from director George Lucas" and the hopes that it would good. It didn't even have a name yet! LOL!!!

[Hedji]

Awesome find. Look at the dollar signs in George's eyes.

Ironically, Gary Kurtz would later cite the merchandising as a major reason for his exit from the series.

[acrovader]

Awesome find. Look at the dollar signs in George's eyes.

Ironically, Gary Kurtz would later cite the merchandising as a major reason for his exit from the series.

People can't stop blaming Lucas for anything and everything. *sigh*

[Hedji]

Actually, I'm not blaming Lucas at all. With all respect and kindness, I think you may have misinterpreted my tone...

I happen to think he's a creative genius and amazing businessman. I loved the Prequels, and Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

I do think it was a mistake for Kurtz to part ways with Lucasfilm. I think his contributions could be felt in the first two films. But I still think of Lucas as a one of a kind.

[cjefferys]

I was flipping through those 1977 issues and thought the same thing "Man, they have no idea how things are going to change very shortly!" You can just see that no one saw it coming, and those low key articles were fun to read.

[ovenmitt]

George Lucas pioneered movie merchandise especially toys! He was a smart businessman to hold onto the Star Wars merchandise rights and that made Lucas his BILLIONS!

Thanks for the articles! I was 7 in 1977 and I remember my Mom reading about upcoming new Star Wars figures which I thought would be made by MEGO!

*Did Hasbro pay Lucas 500 MILLION for the master toy license to the 1st Star Wars prequel or ALL 3 prequels? Either way there was a glut and Hasbro lost a TON of money!

And Mego could have gotten Star Wars for $25,000 from same FOX rep who sold Mego Planet of Apes for $40,000!

*sigh* still no Star Wars Megos

[Wee67]

To have the foresight to maintain ownership of so much surrounding Star Wars when that usually went solely to studios was truly brilliant business sense. Lucas was definitely a pioneer for artists maintaining rights to creative properties. As far as specifically seeing the potential of merchandising stuff from movies, I think George recognized that wave building in the 70's after successes from movies like POTA and Jaws (and its many shark-inspired merch). In a time when artists didn't get a piece of the merchandising of their projects, Lucas did pave the way.

[Earth 2 Chris]

^I'd say Star Trek played a bit into that. Despite what people say, Trek did get quite a bit of merch in the 60s, because it wasn't the initial flop history has written it out to be. AMT sold more Enterprise kits than any other model they had, including their record breaker form the year before, the Munster's Coach.

So if I were a betting man, I'd say Lucas thought at least the vehicles had potentials as models, if nothing else. In Volume 2 of These Are The Voyages, then-Trek producer John Merydeth Lucas tells the story of how a young film student wanted to meet with him while visiting the set one day. They had the same last name, but the the busy producer couldn't make time for the kid. Guess who that kid turned out to be?

But he was very smart to keep everything to himself...and the studios were actually pretty stupid, and slow to realize what had gone before.

Chris

[boss]

Kurtz is giving off a modern day Abe Lincoln vibe. I dig it.

[Actorman]

In a time when artists didn't get a piece of the merchandising of their projects, Lucas did pave the way.

If by artists, you mean the producers. The Star Wars actors got nothing for the millions of toys and products that used their likenesses. (And the only cast member who got any profit sharing from the movie itself was Alec Guiness.)