| School Supply Vending Machine Display - Toppers & Reinforcements #3 | |
| This rather odd-looking piece is one of a wide variety of displays used in gumball machine type vending units to sell a limited range of items from the Butterfly Originals ROTJ school supply line. The pencil toppers are pretty nice, but I would have felt ripped off if I only got a foil reinforcement. Oh, wait--that IS what happened to me!
At first glance, one might assume the foil reinforcement stickers were just cut from the sheets sold in stores, but the vending machine versions have the copyright information below each character, whereas the full sticker sheets only have the copyright information one time at the top. Unique from other examples I have seen, this one displays the reinforcements without their background, but includes a full sticker sheet like the standard store version. This raises a question for me about whether some early examples of the stickers were just cut from the standard sheets. The variations I have seen in these displays implies that local vending machine companies were probably given some latitude in what was offered. Most versions use the standard blue gradient starfield background and Return of the Jedi logo that was standard to the Butterfly Originals line, but I have one version that uses a photocopy of crudely traced ROTJ logo in combination with what appears to be some licensed print material from Butterfly originals. The most common assortment offered was four pencil toppers and the foil reinforcements. Less common are the erasers, and I also have a version where the vendor put the foil stickers on small plastic mugs! Anyway, my guess is vendors were shipped blank displays and then could adorn them with samples of the products they intended to offer. |
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| Description by: | Todd Chamberlain |
| Photo: | Todd Chamberlain |
| From the collection of: | Todd Chamberlain |
| Country: | United States |
| Film: | Return of the Jedi |
| Licensee: | Butterfly Originals |
| Year: | 1983 |
| Size: | 9.5x8 in |
| Category: | Store Displays / Miscellaneous |