2,500 Ways to Be a Massive “Star Wars” Dork
As a new book makes clear, the franchise’s merchandise has gotten way out of hand.
As a new book makes clear, the franchise’s merchandise has gotten way out of hand.
There’s a reason that George Lucas is worth an estimated $4 billion, and it isn’t just because he made a handful of classic movies (and another handful of crap ones). Rather, by teaming up with the Hasbro toy company 35 years ago, Lucas set in motion a merchandising empire that’s unlike anything we’d seen before, the centerpiece of which has always been a series of 3.5″ plastic figurines. Almost 2,500 of them. That is…2,500 different figurines. And you can see all of them in the new book, Star Wars: The Ultimate Action Figure Collection, out this week.
If you’re like me, you grew up with the first generation of toys; I have a distinct memory of getting an AT-AT Driver from the Empire Strikes Back series in a goodie bag for a pre-school classmate’s birthday. It. Was. Awesome. But I had no idea how vast this action figure empire had grown until I flipped through the new book. Did you know you could buy 290 different clone figurines? (No, you did not.) They didn’t even have clones when I was collecting these fuckers!
So in honor of the book’s release, and because I had too much time on my hands last night, as I flipped between X-Men: First Class and Game of Thrones on demand, I decided to compile a Star Wars power rankings list, based on which characters have had their likeness reproduced the most. When Sam Jackson was cast in Episode 1, do you think he had any idea he’d be able to collect 19 different versions of himself? Even George Lucas has two action figures, one as General Jorg Socul and another in the guise of a Storm Trooper. It’s not much of a shock that Luke comes out on top, although if you combined Anakin with Darth Vader, the dark lord would top out at 111. And now with Disney taking over the franchise, we can all look forward to the next 2,500. Lord help us.
Luke Skywalker: 90
Obi Wan Kenobi: 71
Anakin Skywalker: 63
Han Solo: 60
Darth Vader: 58
Princess Leia: 45
Storm Troopers: 42
R2-D2: 41
The Emperor Palpatine: 31
Chewbacca: 29
Yoda: 29
Sandpeople: 29
Darth Maul: 28
C3P0: 27
Boba Fett: 26
Padme Amidala: 25
Mace Windu: 19
Lando: 16
Jawas: 15
Jar Jar Binks: 10
Jabba the Hutt: 7
Wicket Warrick: 6
Greedo: 6
Grand Moff Tarkin: 4
George Lucas: 2
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