Collected in this gallery are numerous print advertisements for British Star Wars products. The majority were issued by British toy licensee Palitoy while the others pertain to a variety of products related in some way to Star Wars.
There is a tendency among collectors to dismiss such items as print ads; they are typically viewed as disposable, or as banal sidebars to the true hobby superstars-- the products themselves. But I see them in a different light. To me, they are some of the most colorful and nostalgic items to come out of pop culture's long and influencial relationship with Star Wars. And the reality that they were usually thrown away, forgotten, or both, makes them all the more interesting today, to the 21st century collector. Moreover, to non-British collectors, these ads provide an interesting look into how Star Wars was perceived and merchandized in a foreign country.
The majority of these ads were collected and submitted to us by British collector Chris Harper, who runs an excellent vintage Star Wars site called Palitoy.com.
Collectors Henrik Berndt and John Wooten also helped out by contributing some ad images. All the descriptions were written by Ron Salvatore. If you enjoy these images, be sure to also check out our similar gallery of French Meccano ads, compiled by Stephane Faucourt.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Back
to Special Feature Main Menu