Egregoros

@thefinn There was one talented marketing guy and Lucasfilm fired him after he made Star Wars and Empire smash hits.

thefinn

@thefinn@poa.st remote

@judgedread sigh

Judge Dread

@thefinn He was the guy who realized you could prime the pump by doing a presentation at San Diego Comicon. He toured other scifi and comic shows as well, so when Star Wars was released in THIRTY TWO THEATERS the lines of scifi fanatics were around the block, which got massive press... and the rest is history.

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@judgedread @thefinn I was pretty young but it seems like the toys came out about the same time as the movie. Kids were bringing them to school.

Replying to @DC5FAN@poa.st

Judge Dread

@DC5FAN Not for Star Wars. The toys were notoriously late to the point where Kenner had the infamous 'empty box Christmas' - a package with a certificate saying you'd be mailed the action figures real soon now. I believe they shipped in March. An eternity for a kid.

Replies

Replying to @judgedread@poa.st

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@judgedread I bet they made huge money. Every kid had them.

Replying to @DC5FAN@poa.st

Judge Dread

@DC5FAN Star Wars merchandising brought in a huge multiple of the boxoffice.

Replying to @judgedread@poa.st

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@judgedread That was before home video too.

Replying to @DC5FAN@poa.st

Judge Dread

@DC5FAN It was simultaneous with the advent of home video, VHS was introduced in Japan in 1976, in the US in 1977.

Replying to @judgedread@poa.st

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@judgedread I meant more in terms of widespread adoption. It was probably 84-85 when probably half the homes had a VCR. So no immediate market for video at the time of its release.

Replying to @DC5FAN@poa.st

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@judgedread I remember renting a VCR once at a video store.

Replying to @DC5FAN@poa.st

anime graf stancil 🛰️🪐

@DC5FAN @judgedread Earliest memory I have is SNES. My parents bought us one for Christmas later that year

Replying to @graf@poa.st

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@graf @judgedread SNES - not familiar?

Replying to @DC5FAN@poa.st

anime graf stancil 🛰️🪐

@DC5FAN @judgedread Super Nintendo? 1991

Replying to @graf@poa.st

Judge Dread

@graf @DC5FAN For vidya... Pong... of course.

Replying to @judgedread@poa.st

anime graf stancil 🛰️🪐

@grizzlywhisker@nicecrew.digital remote

@judgedread @DC5FAN I meant rental. Here you used to be able to rent consoles with like a 100? dollar deposit

Replying to @graf@poa.st

grizzlywhisker

When I was a kid it seemed like everyone I knew had an NES and VCR hooked up in their living room. I always assumed the Japs designed the NES to resemble a VCR because of how common they were at the time.

Replying to @grizzlywhisker@nicecrew.digital

anime graf stancil 🛰️🪐