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Discussion: What is the oldest Star Wars merchandise in your collection?

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A paperback of Splinter Of The Mind’s Eye. I think I bought it around the fall of '83 from a second hand bookstore.

It is still in decent condition considering I must have read it 10 times, and also lent it to friends and colleagues too. Worthless to most, but for me is a helpful reminder of George’s attempts at rewriting Star Wars history.
 

Great idea for a thread 😃

I had you down for having the OT on video or lasderdiscs, Courtly?

50 Cent is just an imposter

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I have the original Star Wars program book. Beautiful, but with a weird pink fading. Only seems to affect the text.

I’m just here because I’m driving tonight.

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Dang, beat me to it. I also have the original theater program book for Star Wars from 1977. They must’ve printed a ton of them. I got it, still “brand new” around 2008 at the museum gift shop for the Star Wars “where science meets imagination” exhibit in Saint Paul, MN. They had a stack of maybe 10 of them. And I checked; it’s original, not a reprint.

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The 1976 Novelization with Ralph McQuarrie cover in paperback, signed by Alan Dean Foster.

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I have a (loose) Darth Vader Kenner figure from the Return of the Jedi era, but all my favorite stuff is from the 90s.

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 (Edited)

As of today, this original 1978 copy of Splinter of the Mind’s Eye, which I got off Abebooks for only a few pounds. When I find even an old 90s book in a second hand shop, I feel like I’ve struck gold so this is really special for me.

Another fine addition to my collection…

“Remember, the Force will be with you. Always.”

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Outwith my original toys, its an Empire Strikes Back plastic table mat for putting your dinner plate on.

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I think the only thing I have is the ESB paperback.

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My oldest item is now the Magnetic Video Laserdisc of Making of Star Wars/SPFX Empire, from 1981.

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My oldest item is probably my Kenner R2-D2 action figure. Circa 1980.

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I have the original Star Wars 1977 soundtrack record. It also came with an unused movie poster.

Still in great condition too!

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I still have my 1977 Star Wars figures. So wish I had an unopened copy of all of them. Oh well. They were so much fun to play with. Now I can give them to my kids.

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Tack said:

I have the original Star Wars program book. Beautiful, but with a weird pink fading. Only seems to affect the text.

I bought mine new in a theater in 1977 and it was printed pink.
I’ve bought another which is not pink, I think it was probably a printer error and someone shrugged and said, eh, who’s gonna care? Ship 'em and sell 'em.

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I also have the theater program for Star Wars and i also have the Mcquarrie portfolio.

The first printing of the paperback of Han Solo at Star’s End.

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Probably the “Star Wars Storybook” from '78, although my dad has a bunch of the trading cards.

You’ll laugh! You’ll cry! You’ll kiss three bucks goodbye!

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The oldest SW item I own is an August 1977 (15th printing) edition of the original Star Wars novelization. Although this version was printed about a year or so after the first edition, it is for all intents and purposes the exact same book as the first paperback, minus the little “review” of the film added to the cover.

Other than that my oldest merchandise has to be comics. I did get three Kenner figures a few years back, but I have no idea when exactly they were made and considering how ridiculously cheap I got them for they might even be fakes for all I know.

However, I do know that the first Norwegian Star Wars annual (see photo below) which was printed in early 1978 and it’s also the first piece of SW merchandise ever made available in Norway in general. Norway didn’t get much in terms of SW comics until a regular series started in 1983, but I do have all the annuals released before that.

I also own a copy Marvel’s Star Wars #11 which was released February 7, 1978, plus several other issues from the same series (only a few of them are included in the photo below). I have a nearly complete collection of the Marvel comics published between ANH and ESB.

Other than this, at least as far as pre-90’s SW is concerned, I own a UK print of Splinter of the Mind’s Eye that might be from 1978, copies of the remaining two novelizations, a 1983 book-and-record (minus the record) based on Marvel comics’ Droid World and the aforementioned cheap Kenner figures. Most of my collection is from the 90’s and my own childhood in the early 2000’s.

Star Wars is Surrealism, not Science Fiction (essay)
Original Trilogy Documentaries/Making-Ofs (YouTube, Vimeo, etc. finds)
Beyond the OT Documentaries/Making-Ofs (YouTube, Vimeo, etc. finds)
Amazon link to my novel; Dawn of the Karabu.

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I’ve got a bunch of very used vintage figures, but I suppose lots of people have those. I’ve still got my Millennium Falcon and a speeder bike. I had the old vinyl soundtrack, but a “friend” has it now. I’ve thought about looking for a new one on ebay, but it just wouldn’t feel the same.

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I think the earliest merchandise in my collection are the first four issues of the Star Wars Marvel comic. The first one came out April of 1977.

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I have the first seven or so issues as well i think. The first non film story being Eight Against Aduba-3 and the introduction of Jaxxon in issue 7.

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For me unfortunately I have none but wish I did cause I had just about every kenner figurines that came out back then plus original star wars baseball cards man I tell you I would be a rich man these days I my crazy mother hadn’t given or thrown them away. 😦

I Am The Way, The Light, and The Force.

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The oldest in my permanent collection is the JSC Laserdisc of Star Wars, issued on Christmas Day 1986.

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The oldest item in my collection is the Return of the Jedi comic books from 1983/1984. I only have three issues, though. =(

“No one is born ugly, we just live in a judgmental society.”- Kim Namjoon