Star Wars phantom menace memories (toy related)

[Iron_fox85]

Okay there are some who hated it, i dont. i LIKE jar jar binks. there, i said it. the movie was good for what it is-- a begining. not great but it still has its moments. here's a thread speak about your episode one memories. from the movie, to merchandise to toys!

i was 13 years old. maybe 12 starwars was the talk in school. from the pepsi collector coke cans, from pizza hutt's pizza phantom menace art boxes. to taco belly pizza hutt and KFC sponcering the movie with theyre wacky but enjoyable commericals. episode one was by far the most hype. i remember...i had my first crush on a girl. as fate would have it (along with so many women to come) she just flat out told me she didnt like me. with those haunting words 'your short, fat, and ugly' that was a major blow. from which i never understood why she was so crule after i admire her so. then came friday my usual night to shop with mom--we went to kmart (back when it didnt suck) and there i found starwars episode 1 toys. i can tell you it brought a smile to my face. what luck. pegs upon pegs of new movie toys from hasbro. bravo! lifted up my spirit and i said to myself 'awh who needs girls when you have toys?' and so i bought my first starwars ep 1 toys. now, darth maul was the hardest to find. i found him eventually. i forgot what store, all i remember was...a kid looking for it. apprently he saw it. but never picked it up. see, he came bck to pick it up. when he whine where was it...i f*&*king ran like hell laughing like the lil #$#$# i was holding onto my prize. ---finders keepers. ^^

while i have a new version from the legacy collection...it sucks compared to the first darth maul i have now. infact i gave my old maul his cloak and twin sabers. making him so much cooler. i'll always have a fondness for this figure that first came out in summer of 98... mainly cause of the mystery of this guy. sure, sure, he didn't DO much in the film...but in those moments when he came out you got this feeling of....fear....and fear was his greatest allie, speaking of which i still remember that commerical when he says ''fear...fear attracts the strong, the weak, the innocent, the currupt. fear... (dun duuuunnn) ... is my greatest allie."

now that will be infused into my brain for all time. i had so much excitment! it was that time to feel good to be a starwars fan, it just made life easyer for me. with my first heart break starwars was my outlet to just have fun! pod racing vehecle with seculba was awesome. and i LOOOOOOOVVVVVEEEE WAAATTTTTOOO! seriously! love that jewish toydarian! he was bad ***. from what fans may think it doesn't suck. at the time it was awesome. still is. with great chracters like qui gon jin, OMG! i loved that jedi... (my cousin stole my qui gon action figure >< when i was a kid)

and the fact it was a starwars movie after all those years...it was grand, it was powerful feeling and i cant tell ya how much this movie had a huge impact on me back then...

all i knew is...Star Wars was great. to me, nothing else mattered but the fun that i had with all the talk and hype back then. the feeling of mystery of vader about to be revealed...and if you think about it...


those 3 movies the prequels....just made starwars better...from 1 to 6 everything was nitted together linked together in such a devine story for all kids and grown ups to enjoy. kids today got theyre clonewars, this is theyre starwars with more vast charcters more stories, more excitment. do these new movies ruin starwars? no, not really, they just exspand the adventure any kid today might feel.

so with clonewars being the top thing right now, and news for a live action show..it'll just get better.

so, thats what i have to say those 10 years ago. fondness and warmth that just made my childhood great.


(on a side note and off topic -startrek xi...frigggin awesome maaaan. i watched the old tv series, but this one just makes it more exciting!)

[toys2cool]

Everyone knows I loved and still love the movie I was a Junior in High school when the toys started to appear and a senior when the film came out,or something like that

I instantly fell in love with the figures,bought every single one (which i still own) it's what actually got me back into collecting toys.

I started to collect all the Pizza hut and Taco bell toppers and pretty much everything I could find

Good times

[BlackKnight]

I remember the Launch of the Toys...
I remember going to Toyrus at Midnight to snag a few...
I remember so did about 150 other people.
I remember the outta control frenzy that transpired there...
I remember 3 fights too. One ,.. someone actually threw a Punch.
I remember all the Hasbro related stuff being in everyones Hands,.. & couldn't find a Single carded figure.
I remember Not getting anything,.. & Kinda P-O'ed for even going...
I remember the next Morning,.. going to Fred Myers,..
I remember buying like all 29 figures & even the 4 Battle Droid Variants with the Naboo Ship, & the 3 12 inch figures,.. yes I even bought 2 Jar Jars. with no lines, no people & No frenzy.
I remember the total was like 324.00 or close to it. lol.

I remember THAT WAS the Last time I will and ever go anywhere at Midnight to find any toys.

[Iron_fox85]

I remember the Launch of the Toys...
I remember going to Toyrus at Midnight to snag a few...
I remember so did about 150 other people.
I remember the outta control frenzy that transpired there...
I remember 3 fights too. One ,.. someone actually threw a Punch.
I remember all the Hasbro related stuff being in everyones Hands,.. & couldn't find a Single carded figure.
I remember Not getting anything,.. & Kinda P-O'ed for even going...
I remember the next Morning,.. going to Fred Myers,..
I remember buying like all 29 figures & even the 4 Battle Droid Variants with the Naboo Ship, & the 3 12 inch figures,.. yes I even bought 2 Jar Jars. with no lines, no people & No frenzy.
I remember the total was like 324.00 or close to it. lol.

I remember THAT WAS the Last time I will and ever go anywhere at Midnight to find any toys.

pfft even when ROTS came out in walmart at midnight there was enough to get. --- though i heard some stories of a walmart employee getting run over.

[darklord1967]

Ah good times. Simpler times. More innocent times.

Yes the spring of 1999, does hold special memories for me because of the impending release of STAR WARS Episode I: THE PHANTOM MENACE.

I recall Rosie O'Donnel doing a week-long promo on her show ramping up to the release of the film. She featured actors from of the film, daily STAR WARS trivia contests, and even had George Lucas himself on the program.

Sadly, that spring also signaled the start of some VERY UGLY things to come in our culture. Just weeks prior to the release of Episode I, the massacre at Columbine High School occurred where students Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold went on a shooting and bombing spree through their school that injured dozens and killed 13.

And of course the horrible events of 9/11 were still two years away...




I never collected Episode I toys, or any toys from the prequel films (I had to draw the line somewhere so as not to end up in the poor house ).

But the truth is, I admired those toys greatly. I attended Midnight Madness at New York's FAO Schwartz for the launch of Episode I toys... just to BE there as a STAR WARS fan. I gotta say, it was absolutely INSANE!!!! The buying frenzy was nuts. There were folks only being let into the store a few dozen at a time... and with a shopping time-limit of about 20 minutes!!!!

The line to get into the store looked just like the line to see the film a few weeks later... thousands of people wanting to buy TOYS!!!

Man... it warmed my heart.

The launch of the Episode I toys signaled the beginning of the style of the modern day STAR WARS action figure sculpt which we enjoy today (relatively accurate anatomy / nice detail). Prior to that, Hasbro was still making STAR WARS figures that had the (much-maligned) "He-Man proportions" that characterized the re-launch of the line in '95.

I will always love the STAR WARS saga, and the memories that it has provided. Like the Original Trilogy before it, the prequel trilogy came along at a PERFECT time for me.

I was about to turn 32 in May of 1999. And the return of STAR WARS really helped me re-connect to the fun of just being a wide-eyed kid again when it would have been so easy to allow myself to be come a cynical adult.

Long live STAR WARS!

[chunky B]

I remember seeing the first few action figures, Jar Jar included at the Celebration in Colorado, I was working the Star Wars Kids Magazine booth and by time I actually had time to shop, no figures (though I did manage to get a Jar Jar for a neighbor who sent money with us to the show, hee hee), after the Celebration, and returning home I checked out a Wa Mart, Midnight madness was the night before and they had tons of toys... and yes I have a few Jar Jars to this day, he was comedy gold when I was doing those illustrations.