This entertaining look back at the world adapting to Star Wars through the eyes of toy makers is a fun trip through childhood memories and the scramble of a small group of creatives to try to solve problems and anticipate what kids want to play with.
As with the rest of the world, Kenner had no idea what they had on their hands when Star Wars hit silver screens in 1977. Faced with instant demand, a group of wide-eyed toy designers at a Cincinnati-based company named Kenner did everything they could to figure out how to sell the "toyetic" gold represented by the characters and machines of Lucas' galaxy far far away. From that starting point, this documentary follows how Star Wars licensed (and un-licensed) toys are designed, consumed, and what the future holds for those who play in the Star Wars universe.
Heavy on nostalgia, the story is most engaging when told through the viewpoints of the collectors and Kenners' early designers. Once that story is told, this episode didn't have much more to offer, which occurred roughly two-thirds of the way through the episode. For me, it didn't answer the question that bothered me most as a 10 year old, "Why did no one make a to-scale, die cast Millennium Falcon until after the original trilogy was done?"