'Star Wars' merchandise flops

March 25, 2008 4:30 PM PDT – Posted by Tito Estrada

What do Princess Leia headphones, a Darth Vader gumball machine, and a Jabba the Hutt beanbag chair have in common? They're all Star Wars promotional merchandise rejects you won't be finding on eBay anytime soon.

NPR's The Bryant Park Project caught up with Jason Geyer and Steve Ross, two product designers tapped to create merchandise for the Star Wars "prequels" back in the late 1990s.

Some of their products worked, and some, like the Han Solo refrigerator, bombed. Read the story and check out the audio slideshow at NPR: "Rejected: 'Star Wars' merchandise you'll never own"

Add a Comment (Log in or register) 2 comments (Page 1 of 1)
by dburr13 March 25, 2008 5:54 PM PDT
I want that Death Star grill!
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by as901 March 27, 2008 6:16 AM PDT
The trouble is that Star Wars started out as a great story and ended as an ad for the special effects department. They need to go back to good story telling and leave the commercials to television!

Mark Heinemann
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