Star Wars, Episode III: Revenge of the Sith: 
My Thoughts

There are key questions that identify the generation to which you belong.  Examples include: (1) where were you when you heard JFK was shot and (2) where were you when you heard about the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

Where were you when you first saw Star Wars, Episode IV: A New Hope?  If your answer is in a movie theater during its initial showing, you are definitely over thirty-five and most likely over forty.  Star Wars, Episode IV: A New Hope premiered in 1977.  If you were ten at the time, you are now thirty-eight.  I have difficulty accepting that twenty-eight years have passed since the power of the Force first appeared on movie screens.  It seems like yesterday.  I am not alone.

Likewise, I find it hard to believe that there are individuals who have never seen Star Wars, Episode IV: A New Hope.  I know they exist.  Most have to be over sixty.  If you are under forty, there is little chance you escaped exposure thanks to numerous airings on television, VHS, DVD, and the re-edited re-release.

History will record that Star Wars characters, music, language, and collectibles are one of the major contributors to the world culture of the last quarter of the twentieth century and first quarter of the twenty-first century.  Even though George Lucas has indicated that he has no intention of ever filming Episodes VII, VIII, and IX, the Star Wars legacy will prevail at least until 2015 and should continue dominant through 2025.

I saw Star Wars, Episode IV: A New Hope during its initial run at the Boyd Theater in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.  It changed the way I looked at movies.  As each new episode came out, I saw it.  While not crazy enough to stand in line for days or hours so I could attend a midnight premier, I did see all of the episodes during the first week they played.  I saw Star Wars, Episode III: Revenge of the Sith at a late afternoon showing on Saturday, May 21.

I am not a movie critic.  Having stated this, Star Wars, Episode III: A New Hope remains my favorite.  It is all about first love.  Unlike some, I enjoyed all the Star Wars movies.  I am in love with the story.

I was surprised to learn that George Lucas never sat down and watched the six episodes in order.  This is something I definitely want to do.  Not being a devoted Star Wars fan, I am certain there are many subtleties I missed along the way.

If I need anything interpreted, I will ask Harry, Junior, my son.  He knows most of the Star Wars movie dialogue by heart.  If only he had achieved the same learning skill level with his high school and college studies.  We differ significantly on what is and is not relevant in life.

In the early and mid-1990s Harry Jr. assembled a collection of Star Wars collectibles.  He acquired most of his items from flea markets, garage sales, and trading and buying with friends. The core of his collection was a full run of Star Wars comic books.  Eventually, he tired of the collectibles and sold them to me.  He kept the comics.

During the late 1980s and throughout most of the 1990s, I was a Star Trek collectibles fan.  Because of its weekly television exposure, I felt Star Trek had far more long-term staying power than Star Wars.  It was not until the re-release of Episodes IV, V, and VI that I saw the light and understood that the Force was with Star Wars.

When Star Wars, Episode I: The Phantom Menace was released in 1999, I was bitten big time by the Star Wars collectibles bug.  I acquired all the fast food premiums issued by Burger King, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell.  I gained ten pounds.  I also selectively bought some of the licensed toys.

It took less than a year to realize that the sale of Star Wars, Episode I: The Phantom Menace toys and other collectibles did not meet the expectations of many of the licensees.  Discounted product appeared on toy store shelves within six months of the movie’s release.  Sales for licensed toys and collectibles from Star Wars, Episode II: Attack of the Clones also proved sluggish.  I still include Star Wars toys in my annual Christmas toy shopping spree, albeit only when I can buy the toys at deep discount.

The toy industry and how toys are used has changed significantly in the twenty-eight years since the first episode of Star Wars was released.  In 1977 licensed toys still were primarily aimed at children ages six through twelve.  By the mid-1990s, many licensed toys were produced and priced for the adult collector market.  It was assumed that adult customers would buy and hoard multiple units.  Licensed toys were touted as investments.  Alas, as happens with most speculative investments, the licensed toy bubble burst.  There are many reasons for the secondary market collapse, e.g., inability to sustain long-term collecting interest, over manufacture and pricing of licensed product by manufacturers, and the flooding of the secondary resale market, especially on eBay.

The media hype for Star Wars, Episode III: Revenge of the Sith was intense.  Lucas and those associated with him understand and are seasoned veterans when it comes to market manipulation.  Everywhere one turned one encountered another story about some aspect of Star Wars.

I was in Florence, Italy, the week before the movie was released, to help Jane Sarasohn-Kahn, a close friend, celebrate her fiftieth birthday.  Jane was accompanied by Robert, her husband, and Anna, their eight-year-old daughter.  What did Anna have along as reading material?  The answer was two pictorial and text books of Star Wars, Episode III: Revenge of the Sith.  I knew if I read the books I would ruin my movie experience.  I could not help myself.  I read them.  Knowing the movie plot in advance removed the spontaneity that made seeing Star Wars, Episode IV: A New Hope so memorable.  What is done is done.  Anna also had DVDs of Episodes V and VI, which she watched on her mother’s computer.

I cite this because Geoff Boucher’s “Gone to the dark side” article about Star Wars licensed toys in the May 17, 2005, Morning Call (Allentown, PA), stated: “But there is a dark side to the retail force.  Despite the flood of playthings that have clogged toy aisles for the last month, ‘Star Wars: Episode II – Revenge of the Sith’ is not a film for the youngest fans.”

This is the common perception.  I want Boucher to know that he is wrong.  His false insight is why I see Star Wars collectibles remaining a major force well into the third decade of the twenty-first century.

I think Anna’s interest in Star Wars is the rule and not the exception.  While in Italy, Anna bought me two Star Wars, Episode III: Revenge of the Sith kits consisting of a miniature action figure and several booklets.  One was for my collection.  The second was a gift for Izaak Weaver Herrera, the stepson of Jason Goldberg, my wife’s son.  When Linda and I gave the gift to Izaak, who is nine, he was thrilled.  It became clear the moment he opened the gift that he was thoroughly familiar with the cast of characters in Star Wars, Episode III: Revenge of the Sith and that the movie was a continuing source of conversation at his school and among his friends.

If a children do not play with Star Wars toys, it is not because they do not want them.  It is because their parents chose not to buy any for them.  Buying back one’s childhood toys is one of the first things adult collectors do.  As the collecting process progresses, what they really buy back is the childhood they wish they had and not the one they did.  The result is that their collection is as much about the toys their parents denied them as it is about the toys their parents provided.

I do have to end on a dark note.  When putting together the appraisal team for Pop Nation, the new television show for the Discovery Channel, I talked with an individual about serving as an appraiser in a category with strong licensed toy crossover.  He noted: “I hope they do not expect any toys of great value to walk in the door.  Most post-1960s were massed produced and hoarded in such quantity that their secondary market value is low and likely to remain so.”  The individual is correct.

If you are buying licensed Star Wars, Episode III: Revenge of the Sith toys as investments, you are making a big mistake, especially if you buy in the current speculative market.  I checked eBay.  There were 16,412 listings.  One-third or more appeared to be receiving no bids.  Other pieces were selling at premiums ranging from 50% to 250% above store cost.  This will not last.  In fact, this speculative bubble will burst within six months if not sooner.  If you were lucky enough to find the objects in the store at list, now is the time to sell.

I expect to find plenty of Star Wars, Episode III: Revenge of the Sith toys deeply discounted by fall.  When (not if) I do, I plan to buy a few for my closet.  Heck, I might even be able to do this on eBay.

Rinker Enterprises and Harry L. Rinker are on the Internet.  Check out www.harryrinker.com.

Harry currently is working on POP NATION, a new television show that focuses on objects made after 1960 and premiers on the Discovery Channel on Saturday, October 1, 2005.  To learn more about the show, see www.discovery.com/popnation.
 

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