In May 1999, Star Wars hadn’t been in movie theaters for nearly 20 years—well, new Star Wars, at least; the Special Editions had returned a few years prior. But the galaxy far, far away was about to explode with the arrival of The Phantom Menace. And actually, a few weeks earlier, the explosion had already begun, in pretty much every store and toy aisle across America and beyond.
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Technically, the fervor had kicked off the year before with a mail-away campaign for the first Episode I figure, a mysterious Jedi Master—and later, an even more mysterious, skeletal battle droid and their STAP speeder hit shelves as part of a sneak preview program. But things reached a fever pitch on May 6, 1999: at midnight across the U.S., stores opened to hordes of fans eager to get their hands on the merchandise for a brand new Star Wars movie, for the first time in 16 years.
Product images sourced from the Rebel Scum photo archive, unless otherwise stated.
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