Mark Hamill Reveals His Favorite Star Wars Toy

One of the elements that made Star Wars a lasting brand that has connected with generations of [...]

By Patrick Cavanaugh

One of the elements that made Star Wars a lasting brand that has connected with generations of fans is its legacy of toys, allowing fans to take the power of the saga into their own hands to recreate their favorite scenes. When star Mark Hamill was talking about some of the weird merchandise created in the saga's honor, a fan asked him his favorite toy, with the answer being a set of figures that was inspired by The Empire Strikes Back.

The toy in question was that of a Tauntaun that had a trap door for its stomach, allowing children to open it up and stick their Luke action figure inside.

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When the original film premiered, the studio clearly had no idea how big of a success it would be, which resulted in a huge vacuum of Star Wars related merchandise that manufacturers attempted to fill.

During the 1977 holiday season, action figures based on the film were in such a demand that, in hopes of keeping their fans excited, empty boxes were sold that included a mail-in certificate you could reimburse for four figures once they were eventually released. The box also included a diorama stand, stickers, and membership to the Star Wars fan club.

Not wanting to make the same mistake when The Empire Strikes Back was released, all manner of merchandise made its way to shelves to satiate the most die-hard collectors. In this time, one of the weirdest pieces of Star Wars merchandise was created with the C-3PO tape dispenser.

C3PO Tape dispenser star wars
(Photo: Hypable)

The dispenser in question reigned supreme as one of the most bizarre collectibles released in conjunction with the franchise, that is, until the release of The Phantom Menace almost 20 years later.

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The consumer products team at Lucasfilm clearly thought their new CGI character Jar Jar Binks would be one of the most popular new characters, so they crafted candy in his honor.

jar jar candy tongue phantom menace
(Photo: HouseOfGeekery.com)

The candy confection paid tribute to the Gungan's long tongue, which was on display in a scene where he used it to grab pieces of fruit off a table, only for Qui-Gon to use his Jedi reflexes to grab it between two fingers.

Considering neither of these collectibles have anything to do with Luke, Hamill's response of the Tauntaun is a more than sufficient answer.

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