Jerry writes:
Although Bernie Loomis was promoted to Vice-President of the General Mills Toy Group in 1978, his successor, Joe Mendelsohn, took the reigns as president at Kenner and maintained the successful Star Wars marketing strategies established under Loomis’ leadership, including continued emphasis on mail-order. This included an expansion of their proof-of-purchase mail-away promotions, which were advertised on action figure packaging, as well as through television advertisements, and were strategically timed to either promote an upcoming movie release or to maintain the momentum of the line between films.
These promotions also provided Kenner with an effective way
to flush out older discounted stock as customers searched for more
proof-of-purchase seals to send in for the newest mail-away offer. Following
the success of the Star Wars Collector’s Action Stand campaign, Kenner developed perhaps the
most infamous mail-away promotion in the history of the toy industry.
In late 1978, rumors of the forthcoming Star Wars sequel had
reached a fever pitch and Kenner was prepared to stoke this anticipation with
its newest mail-away promotion to receive the very first action figure from the
rumored film, the “Rocket-Firing” Boba Fett. Building off the momentum of the
character’s appearance in an animated segment of the Star Wars Holiday
Special, now fans had confirmation that the colorful, yet mysterious bounty
hunter would also be featured in the highly anticipated sequel.
The figure was supposed to feature a unique “Rocket-Firing Back Pack,” which was heavily highlighted in promotional advertising
and depicted the manipulation and movement of the play feature. Thousands
feverishly clipped proof-of-purchase seals in hopes of being the first kid on
the block to get one of these incredible toys. Children waited by their mailbox
for what must have seemed like an eternity, but unfortunately when the figure
finally arrived in 1979, it was not quite what they had expected.
During the earliest stages of development for the Boba Fett
action figure, designers at Kenner had serious concerns about the safety of its rocket-firing
feature, which resulted in numerous tweaks to designer Jim Swearingen’s
original “kit-bashed” prototype. First there were matters regarding the pointed
missile design, which was easily remedied by giving it a more rounded tip.
The next issue was with the firing mechanism itself,
referred to as the “L-slot” design, which caused considerable worry that the
rocket could be unintentionally fired if the mechanism was accidentally bumped
during play. This led to an updated “J-slot” design, which incorporated a small
tab to secure the firing mechanism and prevent an accidental misfire.
Unfortunately, this updated design presented additional concerns, because the
added tab could be easily broken off, creating a “splinter” of plastic, which
might also present additional eye or choking hazards.
In late 1978, after months of testing and revisions on the Rocket-Firing Boba Fett figure, news reports began to surface regarding
multiple children who choked on missiles fired from Mattel’s Battlestar
Galactica vehicles that incorporated a similarly designed
rocket-firing feature.
Following the tragic death of one of these children that
December, Kenner ultimately decided to pull the rocket-firing feature entirely,
just weeks before unveiling the updated Boba Fett figure design at the 1979 New
York Toy Fair. Kenner tried to break the news gently to the public with a television commercial for the Boba Fett promotion without any mention of the now
jettisoned idea, but when the first mail-away figures began arriving in
mailboxes later that year, to say that children were disappointed was an
understatement.
These young fans felt downright betrayed to find that after months of imagining the adventures they would have with the mysterious bounty hunter, the rocket-firing feature depicted in the detailed advertisement was not included in the final design. The apology note from Kenner which was packaged with the figure in a plain white mailer box did little to soothe children’s ungratified frustration.
When examining this phenomenon through the lens of the
psychological marketing theory of “endowment effect,” it is understandable why
so many children were so disillusioned by the experience. Per Peck & Shu’s
research, “For nonowners, or buyers, perceived ownership can be increased with
either mere touch or with imagery encouraging touch.”
Kids likely spent countless hours gazing longingly at the enhanced imagery on their action figure packaging and mini-catalogs, which depicted a finger actively engaging the rocket-firing mechanism, as well as the resulting movement of the rocket launching from the figure’s backpack. The intimate relationship that children formed with this imagery not only increased the sensation of ownership, but it might also explain why there have been so many unsubstantiated reports of adults who proclaim that they did in fact receive the infamous rocket-firing version of the toy as children, although none were ever actually shipped.
“Prepare to jump to Hyperspace”
Even with the initial disappointment of the Boba Fett figure promotion, in early 1980 children scrambled to clip even more proof-of-purchase seals from packages of Star Wars toys to take advantage of Kenner’s newest mail-away promotion and to “Be among the FIRST to have this SECRET ACTION FIGURE from STAR WARS: THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK,” which was “Not available in any store at this time.”
Just prior to the release of the film, Kenner launched an
even larger product line of Star Wars toys, which included ten all-new action
figure designs, including the now revealed “secret” Bossk Bounty Hunter figure
from the mail-away promotion.
An additional figure that was truly kept secret from fans
until after the movie was released was Yoda the Jedi Master, which was
introduced later in the summer of 1980 and was heavily promoted via a
massive television ad campaign.
To maintain this momentum from the new blockbuster sequel, Kenner planned their newest two-page Star Wars spectacular for the fall 1980 Sears Wish Book, which included the caption, “Fantasize a journey to a Galaxy Far Away . . . THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK.” This spread featured yet another cardboard playset designed primarily to promote newly unveiled “Sears Christmas Season Exclusive” figures that would not be available in stores until the following spring. Economically priced at $9.69, the “Cloud City Playset” incorporated a unique two-tier design which featured a sinister Carbon Freezing Chamber motif from the film and included the all-new figures Ugnaught, Dengar, Han Solo in Bespin outfit and “Lando’s Aide,” who was later named Lobot on the packaging for the playset. In addition to the Cloud City Playset, Sears also offered five different exclusive figure multipacks in the 1980 Wish Book, along with several other new The Empire Strikes Back releases.
Just as the second wave of nine new The Empire
Strikes Back figures were hitting retail in the spring of 1981, Kenner
unveiled their newest mail-away offer for the Star Wars Action Figure Survival Kit. The kit of twelve action figure accessories included blaster rifles
and pistols, backpacks, gas masks and a grappling hook, which children would
receive by mail when they sent in five proof-of purchase seals from their Star
Wars toys. Many of the accessories were featured in scenes from the hit movie
and could also be used in conjunction with new vehicles such as the epic AT-AT
(All Terrain Armored Transport). The promotion was a hit with children, because
now they had an opportunity to rearm the figures in their collections, since
most of the tiny accessories that were packaged with them were easily lost.
As the holiday season rolled around the following fall, the Kenner team had yet another major Star War campaign planned for the 1981 Wish Book, but they knew that without a new film on the horizon, they had to bring their A-game to keep momentum high for the toy line. They also knew that another cardboard playset just wouldn’t do it. By this point, Kenner had a reputation for repurposing or rebranding their toy designs whenever the opportunity arose, and this would be their solution for the new Wish Book promotion. They would present Sears with not one, but two Star Wars “Sears Christmas Season Exclusives” based on previously released toy designs.
When the Sears Wish Book began arriving in mailboxes in the
fall of 1981, children were greeted with another glorious two-page spread of
Star Wars toys fittingly presented in a snowy winter motif along with the
caption, “Star Wars Action Toys let you relive those amazing adventures in
faraway galaxies.” The highlight of this holiday extravaganza featured the new
Sears exclusive “Rebel Command Center,” which was bargain priced at $11.99.
Like Kenner’s “Hoth Ice Planet Adventure Set” released at retail the previous year, this playset included the plastic base from their previously released “Land of the Jawas” playset, now molded in white with a newly designed cardboard backdrop featuring an illustrated image of the entrance to Echo Base. Following Kenner’s now familiar Wish Book formula, this set provided an economical way to highlight three new action figure exclusives that would not be widely available at retail until the following spring in 1982: the AT-AT Commander, Luke Skywalker in Hoth Battle Gear and R2-D2 with Sensorscope.
The 1981 Sears Wish Book also featured an exclusive Star Wars vehicle, the “Imperial Cruiser,” which was a retread of Kenner’s 1979 hit, the “Imperial Troop Transporter.” This new design was cast in lighter gray plastic and featured updated sticker graphics. But to keep costs down, Kenner removed the electronic talking device from this second release, which was modestly priced at $11.99. Although this was an unfortunate loss, it did provide an expanded storage area inside the vehicle so that children could pack an entire squadron of troops inside. The Imperial Cruiser would continue to be featured in future editions of the Wish Book through 1984 as a true “Sears exclusive,” since it was never sold outside of the company’s catalogs or retail stores.
Sears Canada found
its own clever way to market and sell the seven newest Sears exclusive The
Empire Strikes Back action figures for the 1980 and 1981 Canadian Wish
Books. Apparently, Sears Canada received their shipments of exclusive figures
packaged in baggies direct from the factories in Asia, which were then
repackaged on crudely printed generic card backs, using a unique “vacuform,”
shrink-wrap process to attach the figures to the cards. The 1980 Canadian Wish
Book featured the Sears exclusive “Han Solo (Cloud City Outfit),” “Lobot
(Lando’s Aid),” Ugnaught and Dengar packaged on these vacuform cards, which were
then sold as part of five different exclusively packaged 7-figure bundles.
This unique packaging was repeated for exclusive 4-packs sold in the 1981 Canadian Wish Book, which included either the new “General Veers” (known in the domestic Kenner line as AT-AT Commander), “Luke Skywalker (Hoth Outfit),” “R2-D2 (with Periscope)” or the previously released “Han Solo (Cloud City Outfit)” as part of the bundle. That same year, Sears Canada also offered their own unique version of the exclusive Cloud City Playset which, unlike the U.S. release, featured bilingual packaging and included the original Han Solo, along with the more appropriate Lando Calrissian, Ugnaught and Boba Fett action figures.
With a new Star Wars film still over a year away, Kenner
knew that it would require a significant effort to maintain sales momentum for
the line throughout that period. The company rose to this challenge by
releasing a total of nine new figures which were distributed in two separate
waves over the course of 1982. In addition, there were three separate mail-away
offers planned to run in conjunction with these releases, which Kenner hoped
would not only keep sales brisk, but would also help clear out old stock in
anticipation of updated packaging for the 1983 film launch.
The first of these promotions was for the “Star Wars Display
Arena,” which was a more elaborate and customizable action figure display based
on Kenner’s original Collector's Action Stand. This new design included four
L-shaped interlocking display stands, along with four cardboard backdrops
featuring various film scenes, which could be configured in a variety of ways.
Customers could order this impressive set by sending in ten proof-of-purchase
seals from Kenner Star Wars toys, along with $2.00 for shipping & handling.
To help electrify sales, Kenner kicked off a second
promotion shortly after the Display Arena offer for the new 4-LOM action
figure. This figure was based on the last of the six bounty hunters seen on the
bridge of the Imperial Executor in The Empire Strikes Back, and it
would also be the very last figure of the sequel’s line in 1982. Apparently,
the character had yet to receive an official name from Lucasfilm when the
figure was rushed into production, so the task fell to Kenner’s Product
Manager, Tom Clark, who says the name “4-LOM” is an acronym for the phrase,
“For Love Or Money.” The 4-LOM promotion was also featured in a television ad campaign to boost participation in the offer.
As the 1982 Holiday Season quickly approached, Kenner had
several plans in place to capitalize on it and to prepare for the next year’s
anticipated film release. The team kicked off the last of their 1982 mail-away
promotions with a sneak preview figure based on “Admiral Ackbar” from the upcoming film, Revenge of the Jedi. In addition,
Kenner also continued their now annual tradition of a two-page spectacular for
the 1982 Sears Wish Book, which was being advertised as the “50th Edition”
of the famous Holiday favorite. However, this time they had not prepared a
“Christmas Season Exclusive” playset like in years past but instead promoted a
Sears Exclusive “Offer.”
The 1982 Wish Book’s Star Wars exhibition saw a return to
the previous year’s Hoth snow theme and highlighted the Imperial Attack Base,
a playset that had been released more than two years earlier. It seems that
Sears attempted to aggressively move an overstock of the item, which was
labeled “A Sears Exclusive 50th Edition Value.” And although it
was advertised at $11.99, customers could purchase the item for the low budget
price of $5.99, “when you buy a second item.”
In addition, Sears advertised Kenner’s “mystery” figure mail-away promotion within the catalog, which is assumed to have been the Admiral Ackbar offer. Within the description provided for the seven catalog exclusive Star Wars action figure multipacks it states, “Don’t miss this free gift figure offer from Kenner. For every six figures you buy (two 3-packs or one 8-pack), Kenner will send you a free ‘mystery’ action figure from the 3rd Star Wars movie, Revenge of the Jedi. See p. 544 for mailing address.” Sears also supplemented the usual two-page spread of Star Wars toys with an additional half-page promotion for Kenner’s short-lived “Star Wars Micro Collection” line, which included the Sears Christmas exclusive Millennium Falcon vehicle as well.
“Star Wars Is Forever”
In late 1982, George Lucas decided to rename the final
installment of his Star Wars trilogy Return of the Jedi as
Lucasfilm cranked up its enormous marketing machine to promote what was sure to
be another blockbuster film. Kenner had prepared to take full advantage of the
occasion but was completely caught off guard with the last-minute title change and
forced to scramble to produce updated packaging for the toys in time for the
film’s release on May 25, 1983.
Prior to the movie launch, Kenner hastily managed to
incorporate an additional mail-away promotion for the new Nien Nunb action figure, “a Rebel Ally featured in the next chapter of the Star
Wars saga,” free with five proof-of-purchase seals from Star Wars Action
Figures. Due to the belated title change, promotional flyers which were
packaged with the mail-away figure can be found with both the original Revenge as well as the updated Return of the Jedi title. That spring
Kenner released the largest assortment of Star Wars toys in the line’s history with a whopping seventeen new action figures along with a fleet of new
vehicles and playsets, accompanied by a massive television ad campaign and sweepstakes giveaway to promote it.
Following the release of Return of the Jedi,
Star Wars fandom was at an all-time high and although Kenner had already
shattered previous sales records for the line, the 1983 holiday season was
still to come. As with previous years, Kenner offered an early preview of their
next wave of figures via yet another mail-away offer for the newest episode’s
principal villain, “The Emperor,” but what they had planned for the 1983 Sears Wish Book could
be considered the pinnacle of their working relationship with the mail-order
giant. No longer relegated to the toy section at the back of the catalog,
Kenner’s Jedi line, along with their other
multi-million-dollar franchises, Strawberry Shortcake and Care Bears, would
have a starring role with their own separate multi-page extravaganzas near the
front of Sears’ epic publication.
The 1983 Sears Wish Book featured an enormous six-page
celebration of all things Return of the Jedi including bedroom
sets, furniture, toiletries, pajamas, model kits, games and stuffed Ewoks, but
of course the main attraction was Kenner’s expansive line of new toys. In
addition to the new vehicles and action figure multipacks, the most
eye-catching element was certainly the new Jabba the Hutt playset as well as
the Sears Exclusive Jabba the Hutt Dungeon, which featured three Sears holiday
exclusive figures from the upcoming Spring 1984 wave, “Klaatu #2, Nikto, and
8D8.”
This exclusive playset was simply a reengineered version of Kenner’s previously released Droid Factory, with both the base and crane cast in a new gray color scheme and including updated stickers. Although not pictured in the catalog image, the set also included a unique branding iron accessory that fits onto the end of the crane boom, which was used to “torture” droids.
1983 was a banner year for the Star Wars brand and although the trilogy of films was complete, Kenner had high hopes to keep that vitality for 1984 by introducing an extensive second wave of 12 additional Return of the Jedi action figures, as well as new and exciting creatures, vehicles and playsets.
However, changes in laws within the Federal Communications
Commission now allowed other toy companies to capitalize on Bernie Loomis’
initial vision of using animated television shows to market competing toy
lines, which were already gaining significant momentum in the marketplace.
Mattel’s Masters of the Universe and
Hasbro’s G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero created exciting and
dynamic toy designs backed by what were in essence massive, animated
advertisements to keep their lines fresh and relevant, all while steadily
taking an increasingly larger slice of the 1980s toy market. In response to
this growing competition, Kenner began making plans for not one, but three
all-new action figure lines, which they hoped to introduce and support with two
proposed Star Wars animated series that Lucasfilm had slated for release in
1985.
Unfortunately, Kenner’s market research showed that Star
Wars toy sales were already in decline, so the company doubled down on specific
strategies that had served them so well over the previous seven years.
In early 1984, Kenner introduced “The Young Jedi Knight” direct mail program, which was designed to target a new generation of “4- to 6-year old boys” that Lucasfilm hoped would provide critical support for the forthcoming animated television shows and toy lines. The white mailer box that was sent out for the promotion included one free action figure (Logray or Chewbacca), a poster, and a letter from Luke Skywalker which featured four different action figure stickers (R2-D2, C-3PO, Darth Vader & Luke Skywalker) that the child could choose from to stick onto an enclosed redemption certificate and send in to receive an additional free action figure by mail. Kenner planned to mail out 1,500,000 of these promotional packages, and although the exact number received is unknown, it is believed that very few of the action figure redemptions were returned prior to the end of the promotion.
Later that year it was announced that Lucasfilm had filmed another two-hour television special entitled The Ewok Adventure, which ABC was scheduled to broadcast as part of its holiday programming on November 25, 1984. In anticipation of this release, Kenner introduced two additional Return of the Jedi action figures that fall, Ewoks Paploo and Lumat, along with a unique mail-away promotional offer which implemented a point-of-purchase “shelf talker” to advertise a free “Star Wars Is Forever” poster. This two-sided poster featured a dynamic collage of character photos from Return of the Jedi on one side, and on the other was a beautiful “Three Worlds” montage by Kenner photographer Kim D.M. Simmons, featuring all 79 Star Wars action figures presented in three unique environments. Customers could receive the poster by tearing off an order form from the shelf talker and sending it in along with two proof-of-purchase seals from Star Wars toys.
In conjunction with these promotions, Kenner prepared yet
another mail-away offer for the new Anakin Skywalker action figure, which was
based on the character in spirit form from the final scenes of the original
theatrical release. In addition, Kenner also primed their signature Star Wars
holiday spectacle for the 1984 Sears Wish Book, which featured the all-new
Rancor Monster, Sy Snootles and the Rebo Band as well as the massive new
Imperial Shuttle vehicle. Sears also included both of Kenner’s current mail-away
offers within the description of their six exclusive Return of the Jedi action
figure multipacks, which stated, “KENNER BONUS OFFER! Buy 2 figures and get a
free poster. Buy 5 figures and get one figure free. See p.
498.”
Of course, this edition also included the now customary Sears Christmas Exclusive Star Wars playset designed to preview three more brand new figures from the upcoming, yet-untitled Power of the Force line. The playset was a simple retread of 1983’s Jabba the Hutt Dungeon, which was remolded in updated tan and brown plastic and included “9D9, Barbado, and Amanaman” (EV-9D9, Barada, and Amanaman) action figures. Interestingly, although these figures were planned as part of the upcoming newly branded 1985 line, the playset was produced in Return of the Jedi branded packaging.
Turning the page
Kenner went into 1985 with incredible optimism and big plans for their all-new Power of the Force line, which was supposed to be an extension of the original movie lines with figure and vehicle designs from all three films. In addition, Kenner hoped to find the same success that their competitors were having with the addition of toy lines based on the upcoming Droids and Ewoks animated shows. To add value to all three of the new figure lines, Kenner packaged character specific aluminum coins with the figures and incorporated a mail-away offer in which customers could redeem proof-of-purchase seals for additional coins to complete a massive 62-coin set.
Unfortunately for Kenner neither of the Star Wars animated
shows generated an audience and none of the new toy lines performed as
expected, as sales waned rapidly over the course of the year. The 1985 holiday
season was equally glum as Kenner prepared a new mail-away offer for the “Power
of the Force Coin Collector’s Album,” which was to include an exclusive
gold-colored 63rd “Jedi Knight” coin, but unfortunately was
never released due to poor sales. Even more telling, the once monumental
two-page+ Star Wars holiday extravaganza which was normally found in the iconic
Sears Wish Book had been wistfully reduced to a mere half-page of heavily
discounted closeout items. In hopes of breathing new life into the line, Kenner
even made a pitch to Lucasfilm with plans for a 1986 extension of the Power of
the Force line entitled, “The Epic Continues,” which included original action figure and vehicle designs by toy industry icons Tim Effler and Mark Boudreaux. Sadly, Lucasfilm realized the era of Star
Wars was ending and ultimately decided to “rest the brand,” cancelling any
plans for future toy releases.
To say that Kenner’s Star Wars toy line was successful is a
tremendous understatement. In many ways, the monumental line was almost as
important as the films themselves, because Kenner used the momentum of the toy
line to keep Star Wars in the forefront of the public’s consciousness at a time
before VCRs became common household staples, allowing viewers to return to the
Star Wars galaxy whenever they chose to press play.
Instead, the key components of maintaining momentum during
that era were Kenner’s clever use of mail-order promotions, as well as
effective catalog and television advertising. This not only encouraged children
to use their imaginations to create limitless adventures that built on their
love of Star Wars, but the steady release of the toys, both at retail and via
mail-order promotions, helped to keep that magic alive during the three-year
wait between each film.
Bernie Loomis died in 2006, but he left an indelible mark on the toy industry that is still revered today. His innovative predecessor, Richard Sears, would have certainly admired Loomis’ ingenious use of advertising and mail-order schemes during his storied career in American business, as well as the iconic status he acquired in the process. These strategies along with the symbiotic relationship that Loomis established with the flagship mail-order giant during the earliest days of the Star Wars toy line generated enormous success and revenue for both Kenner and Sears.
Loomis had a keen understanding of the magic of mail-order based on his own personal experiences. He used that understanding to not only make Star Wars one of the most successful toy lines in history, but to make children feel like they were a part of that “galaxy far, far away,” even though they might not have always had the means to “collect them all.” In fact, the excitement and anticipation of receiving toys in the mail still fuels many adult collectors today who were fortunate enough to have lived and played during one of the most thrilling periods in toy history.
*****
For more information on Kenner's relationship with Sears, click the link below:
*****
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