The Top Ten Star Wars toys and playsets

“That old folding lawn chair makes the perfect X-wing fighter.”
Blue County – That’s Cool

It is real easy to question George Lucas’ writing ability, and his directorial skills (to the point of being wrongfully unfair). But no one can question his business acumen. Call it luck, call it foresight, call it whatever you wish. The fact is that Lucas’ deal with 20th Century Fox that gave him exclusive ownership to all of the merchandising, and the rights to all sequels to Star Wars, made him one of the wealthiest people of not just Hollywood, but in the world.

Of course Lucas wouldn’t be worth billions if Kenner dropped the ball, and made crappy Star Wars toys. When you consider the competition of the toy market between 1977-1983, Kenner’s Star Wars figures, toys and playsets were some the best crafted, most intricate, most safe, and most economically viable for parents out there. Lucas’ visionary merchandising deal revolutionized the toy industry as much as it changed Hollywood. Without Star Wars, there is no G.I. Joe actions figures. Without G.I. Joe, Transformers becomes another Voltron or even GoBots. Can you imagine an alternate world where Michael Bay directs four live-action GoBots movies? Actually, that might not be so bad after all. Can we live on that Earth instead? Oh no, that would mean we wouldn’t have this blog post.

With all that in mind, here are our lists: