Get over it.
Snag your checkbook, grab your car keys, and head for your neighborhood Wal-Mart, Kmart, or other mass retailer and pack your cart full with what will most certainly be the last great must-have collectibles of the 20th Century - enough Phantom Menace merchandise to choke a Wookie.
Preceding the release of the first episode of the space saga, eager manufactures, hoping to ride the wave of the most anticipated motion picture of all time, began lining up with checks in hand for licenseing rights for everything from underwear to bubble gum.
Back in 1977, following the success of "American Graffiti," George Lucas was in position to request, and get, an additional $50,000 Director's fee from Fox for the first installment of his then lightly regarded space opus. He didn't.
Instead, Lucas chose for control, wanting "Star Wars" to be produced by his own company, not Fox. He wanted the publishing rights to the novelization of the movie as well as music rights to the soundtrack album and any and all merchandising rights.
When the business executives at Fox learned of Lucas' decision, they couldn't believe their ears. This young, up-and-coming director was willing to pass on an extra half-million dollars in exchange for what the studio regarded as the "garbage" provisions of the contract. Fox was pleased, the money made from toy sales was sure to be small potatos, and with the close of the deal they had saved a total of $600,000. A mistake they would soon regret.
Since that time, the franchise has resulted in more than $4 billion in sales of plastic lightsabers, stuffed Ewocks, board games, and untold countless other products. Topps and Kenner, two names associated with the property from the begining, continue their roll-out of Star Wars toys with the introduction of the newest chapter of the saga, although the Kenner brand name has been dropped by parent company, Hasbro.
A complete set of Topps trading cards, series 1-5, from 1977 now fetches $300 among collectors and this year the company is producing a set of "Phantom Menace" Wide-Vision format cards on UV-coated stock and will comprise 80 cards with story highlights and character profiles. Also to be found in every other pack will be a set of 40 foil-stamped bonus cards and eight chromium inserts to be sold in hobby outlets while 16 sticker cards and 10 mirror-board inserts will be inserted in selected packs sold in retail stores.
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