But IMO there is a difference between cashing in on an available property (Star Wars merchandising and tie-ins pre-1997), and cashing in on the fading collective memory of a property that nobody can actually have anymore (Star Wars merchandising and tie-ins 1997 and onward).
I don’t see what the difference is between cashing in on OOT merch and cashing on on SE/PT/ST merch. It’s all merch.
Pre-1997, you could buy the merch AND see the thing you loved that motivated the purchase. Post-1997, you can just buy the merch based on a memory of loving something a few decades back. To me, that’s a notable distinction.
But as I said, that distinction only applies when people can’t acquire the originally loved thing. But I can. People can. It’s been mentioned in more than a few articles. Whether they want to bother or not is up to them.
Meanwhile, if I mention loving the original Original Trilogy, I get called a “purist” by my friends and acquaintances, so there we are. If people don’t care, they won’t bother, and that’s on them.
There are also people who care and don’t know. The idea that it might be available from another channel other than Lucasfilm may seem too preposterous to consider, let alone actively seek out. I don’t think that’s on them. That mindset works perfectly well for every other film.