Via Starwars.com:
For the past twenty years, there hasn’t once been a drought of new Star Wars toys. Before that, though? Things were rough!

Kenner’s original action figure line (the toys us older folks grew up with) ended in 1985. For the next several years, there wasn’t much at all. Collectors grabbed at whatever small dishes were available, like those little metal figures that were sold as part of the Star Wars roleplaying game. Some of us even took to the classified sections in sci-fi rags, searching for dealers to sell us increasingly ancient toys.

For fans, these were desperate times! The retail world had largely forgotten Star Wars, but we sure didn’t. To us, those movies and that universe were as relevant as ever, and there was nothing we wanted on our shelves more than Star Wars junk.

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