It was easy to get excited about the Star Wars prequels when they were released because by then I had already spent at least half of my life excited about Star Wars. I was born in 1973. 1977-1985 were the prime collecting years when it came to the original trilogy. True, there were some lean times in the late 80s and early 90s, but by the time Power of the Force action figures appeared in stores in 1995, it was like the excitement had never left.
Something psychological was going on at that time. I had spent so many years playing with, buying, and searching for Star Wars toys that when the brand reappeared in stores (with a vengeance) in the mid-1990s, I bought it all. Not just the stuff I wanted, but everything I could find and afford, because on some weird primal level, that’s what it felt like we were supposed to do. I (and a lot of other people) bought the action figures, and then we bought the playsets and spaceships, and the video games, and the masks and the costumes, and the Pez dispensers… literally anything they put the Star Wars logo on, I bought it.
Even food.
These Pop-Tarts are one of a few different boxes of food I purchased in the late-90s/early-00s. (I never thought about it before, but the concept of “lava berry explosion” flavored food sponsored by Darth Vader is kind of like Lizzie Borden’s parents endorsing a particular brand of ax, but I digress.) As much as I enjoy Pop-Tarts, I never thought to collect them before. All you had to do was slap the words “limited edition” on the box, and I was all in.
Here’s another box of food, obviously from Episode I — Galactic Berry candy. I don’t know what the shelf life of any of these items are, nor would I be interested in finding out at this point. I once ate some gum from inside a 30-year-old pack of Ghostbusters II collector cards and wished I hadn’t for a couple of days.
I have no excuse for purchasing these things, nor do I have an excuse for not getting rid of them. They just sit on a shelf, taking up space.
Way up on the top shelf is this box of Star Wars Episode II cereal. Again, why someone buys a box of cereal and then refuses to open and/or eat the contents is beyond me, and I’m the guy that did it. As long as it said “Collector’s Edition” like this box does, I bought it.
When the latest Star Wars film hit theaters, I walked into Target and saw two large shelves filled with Star Wars-themed food. From soup to cereal to candy and chips, if you could put a label on it, someone (Disney) had stuck the Star Wars logo on it. I’m over the phase now. I might eat a box of Star Wars cereal or drink a bottle of water with Yoda on the label, but my days of buying perishable items with the Star Wars logo on the packaging are over.