By TARA D. MCKINNEY
Jar Jar Binks, Darth Maul and Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn toys are popping up everywhere Star Wars merchandise can be found. People of all ages are buying “Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace” toys faster than store employees can take them out of shipment boxes.
“A quarter after midnight it was a frenzy and everyone was … reaching into new boxes of toys. I couldn’t believe they were all 20-something going crazy over toys,” said Cooper Burgess, 21, a junior from Oak Hill, Va., majoring in art education.
Toys’R’Us sold out of all the Phantom Menace action figures and most of the 12 inch figures within four days of their arrival. A new shipment of Phantom Menace toys are expected to hit Toy’R’Us shelves on May 22 or 23.
Although 12-inch and action figures are scarce, Toy’R’Us had an abundance of low demand Phantom Menace toys. There were plenty of Dueling Action Darth Maul and Qui-Gon Jinn Spin Pop Candies, Kaadu, Jar Jar Binks and Sebula Koosh balls, and Darth Maul 3-D ceramic figure painters to choose from.
“Darth Maul and Ben Kanobi are probably our most wanted action figures,” said Andy Manchester, 20, a sophomore from Charlottesville, Va., majoring in zoology.
Many people spent hundreds of dollars on Star Wars toys only to leave them wrapped in their packages. They hope to be able to sell the toys in mint condition sometime in the distant future. But people should be aware that the collectors toys sold for thousands will be the original trilogy figures, not the Phantom Menace stuff.
“It’s not going to be these [new toys] … we did it just for fun and to say we were at Toy’R’Us at midnight. We’re not huge collectors,” said Burgess.
“Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace” merchandise has also made its debut in the BYU Bookstore as part of the Spring Fantasy Display Contest between bookstore departments. Nicole Cox, a gift department merchandiser from Provo, created the Phantom Menace action figure display at the northeast entrance of the Bookstore.
The display is made out of liquid packing foam, sand, fabric, Christmas lights, a wooden pallet and Phantom Menace action figures. Cox and six students spent five hours on the display which will be judged this week by bookstore customers.
“People are really into it. I think it’s kind of fun to see what people will do to get it … and see how it will influence the movie,” said Cox.
Some people play with them, some are collectors, others just like the way they look.
“I don’t play with them. I bought them because they looked cool … [I] use them as decorations on top of my television,” said Travis Hall, 23, a senior from Bellevue, Wash., majoring in information systems.
“Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace” toys can be purchased in the BYU Bookstore, Toys’R’Us, Walmart and other toy and novelty stores.
