This year, what I offer is a retrospective on what I enjoyed about Star Wars rather than look at the commercialization of the date. I have no interest in picking up new merchandise because I have everything I want. With four lightsabers in my man cave, I think that should be enough.
Every time this annual event comes up, I’ll look and to be honest, the discounts are not very good. Also, the products produced are more focussed on recent releases rather than old. I want more recognition for Episodes IV to VI.
The best spinoffs and expanded content from the Star Wars universe will always be with the original releases. Whether that’s with the early Marvel Comics series or Dark Horse, the comic book medium embraced giving fans what they enjoyed faster than any other platform. No one wants to admit a certain holiday special remains partially canon. While Life Day is more prominent in the Disney-ification of the Lucasfilm content, none of the original considered this holiday as essential material.
For me, my enjoyment started with:
Marvel Comics Star Wars (1977-1986)
There’s no denying the hoojibs stole the show mid-way during this series run. This publisher had free rein to imagine the adventures that went on between films. As each new movie would get released, the writers had a tricky time to make sure none of what they wrote would clash with the movies. The rodents made a lasting impression, and I still want these psychic fur balls to appear in the Disney universe!
On Television
Although Lucasfilm only made two cartoons, Droids and Ewoks, the former does not stand the test of time at all, while the latter can still be enjoyed decades later. Even though this cartoon is essentially Care Bears, I still watched it! As for the Star Wars Holiday Special, it’s only acknowledged because a segment introduced Boba Fett into the canon.
Graphic Novels and Print
On the written front, few folks cite the early publications. I recall The Han Solo Adventures–to which I only read the first book–and Lando Calrissian. They were good, and I wish I still had my first edition copy of the former. Out of those early books, Splinter of the Mind’s Eye was simply the best, and I’d have to rank the Dark Empire series as second on the list, and the Heir to the Empire (introducing General Thrawn) third. The amount of content was huge, and I didn’t bother to look at everything. I only looked at the material, which offered great art to go along with the tale.
Video Games
Ask any long-time fan about what their favourite arcade game was, and they will most likely say the original Star Wars cabinet was the best. It allowed players to destroy Tie Fighters and make the trench run to blow up the Death Star many times over! The joy comes in the raised difficulty to recreate the tension. The enemy moves much faster in each wave.
However, creating a proper simulator that truly gave that sensation of realism required better graphics and skilled computer programmers. That eventually arrived in later years, but in the arcade front, the Star Wars Trilogy is the best of them all. It offered a more realistic experience to storm the trench of the Death Star, fight AT-ATs in the Battle of Hoth and enter the heart of the beast (the second Death Star)! To find an operation that still has this sit-down cabinet is tough, and the last time I saw it was at a movie theatre over five years ago while on the mainland.
In the home release front, attempts to clone that cabinet experience varies. Back in the early days of console gaming, the 2D attempt to imagine the Hoth sequence with Empire Strikes Back was decent, but I’m sure many kids yearned to get that authentic experience.
This was the better of the three releases offered in the 80s. Death Star and Jedi Arena didn’t have the same appeal as the others until X-Wing and Tie Fighter got released. They were only available for the PC, and this was before consoles like PlayStation and X-Box changed the home video game entertainment scene for the better.
Final Thoughts
When Star Wars: Phantom Menace arrived at theatres, everything changed! To consider all the various releases would require exploring how merchandising became much more important than the film. Although some of the toy, book, and gaming content was good, I still believe they rushed much of it to make a quick profit.
Although reference to Star Wars Day began in the late 70s, I believe the proliferation and commercialization did not begin until the start of the 21st century. I’ll enjoy the day in a simpler way, and that’s watching what I love the most: the films before the special effects got updated.
Original Star Wars Trailer
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