Don’t underestimate how many people loathed the direction that TLJ was going in
I’m sure it’s in the thousands, sure. Thousands can seem like a lot of people if you’re packed into a convention hall, or watching a minor league sporting event. But when you’re dealing with tens of MILLIONS of tickets sold, blu-rays bought, and streams counted, thousands aren’t a whole hell of a lot.
I have the impression the haters are something like a third of people. Just speaking anecdotally from conversations IRL, that seems about right.
I think 40% of Star Wars fans like all 9 episodes, 30% like the OT & PT (or, they may not like the prequels, but they much prefer the prequels to the sequels), and 30% like the OT and ST (or, they may not like the sequels, but they much prefer them to the prequels, although this group also tends not to like TRoS).
The toys have nothing to do with any of this. ALL toys have been seeing a decline in interest recently, not just Star Wars sequel-themed toys. The sequel haters who use toy sales to say “Kathleen is ruining Star Wars, get woke go broke” are clearly just grabbing at straws, especially when the movies themselves made so much money.
No you see, something something Walmart something something Legos screw you go woke go broke
There aren’t even toy sections in stores I go to anymore. Mobile gaming has totally replaced toys for kids these days, for better or for worse.