Monday, May 16, 2005 | 8:16 a.m.
Philip Wise was 23 when he first saw "Star Wars" in 1977.
At the time, a poster from the movie was all he needed or wanted to collect from the movie.
Nearly two decades later in 1995, after his 16-year-old daughter expressed interest in a new line of "Star Wars" toys, Wise was drawn to the merchandise himself.
"That Christmas I went to Toys "R" Us and saw all the toys. I thought, 'Oh man, this is great,'" Wise said in a telephone interview from his home in Dallas. "I bought it all for her, but it ended up pretty much for me."
Wise was actually a latecomer to the "Star Wars" merchandising phenomenon. But, as with many collectors before him, he was quickly hooked.
"The more I got into (collecting), the more I wanted to know about what was going on," he said.
To help himself and others, Wise took a line from "Return of the Jedi" and created a Web site devoted to collecting and trading "Star Wars" products, www.Rebelscum.com.
From the site's beginning, he was deluged with e-mails from collectors wanting to know how, or where, to find rare and limited-edition items, and when toymaker Hasbro was going to release a new batch of products.
Rebelscum's popularity increased with the release of 1999's "Episode I The Phantom Menace," the first prequel in the "Star Wars" series and the first film in the saga since 1983.
Not surprisingly, companies lined up to be a part of the merchandising blitz, featuring a wide assortment of "Star Wars" products, including action figures and ships; models; masks and costumes; clothes; posters, books, games, inflatable chairs; video and computer games; lightsabers; toy banks; candy; and fast-food promotional items from KFC, Taco Bell, Burger King and Pepsi.
"They made a world-record amount of stuff from that movie," Wise said. "There was too much and everybody knows it."
With the glut of products on the shelves, stores couldn't sell enough of the merchandise and often yanked toys off shelves to make room for more "Star Wars" goods.
The excessive licensing of the "Phantom Menace" cost manufacturers millions, which prompted a more cautious and smaller product push for 2002's "Episode II Attack of the Clones."
"Everyone learned a lot from the first movie," Kathleen Waugh, spokeswoman for Toys "R" Us, said from her office in New York. "They refined the assortment and understood what sold.
"There hasn't been any more overlicensing, which was really the problem."
For the upcoming "Episode III Revenge of the Sith," the final film in the "Star Wars" saga, manufacturers are again sensing an increasing consumer demand.
"In 2005 'Star Wars' has again exceeded movie culture and become pop culture," said Eric Nyman, director of marketing for the "Star Wars" line of toys and products for Hasbro, from his office in Pawtucket, R.I.
" 'Star Wars' continues to be an important part of our business."
The toys continue to be top sellers as well.
Action figures -- in particular "Star Wars" figures -- are the most popular toys at Toys "R" Us. During Christmas, the Darth Vader Voice Changer mask was also one of the company's best sellers.
"Fans of 'Star Wars' -- and there are millions of them out there -- always find something that they must have," Waugh said. "And we continue to get new products, too, which we know the collectors are excited about."
So who are the products for: kids or collectors?
It depends on the product.
Nyman said Hasbro has a line of products for preschool-aged children, Galactic Heroes and Mr. Potato Head Darth Tater, and role-playing toys such as the Darth Vader breathing mask and lightsabers for ages 6-10. For older children there are the traditional action-figure line as well as Force Battlers, while teens and adult collectors can buy the "Star Wars Unleashed" statues.
"We try to make creative product lines that work for fans of all ages, including older fans who grew up with 'Star Wars' as kids and have an emotional connection to the movies and to the products we make," Nyman said. "We also have a huge kids' base."
When asked what's likely among the new toys to be a collector's bonanza years from now, Nyman offered three items, all store exclusives when the "Sith" toyline was launched April 2: a replica of the "Early Bird" gimmick from 1997, where consumers purchased an empty box and a certificate, which was mailed to toymaker Kenner in exchange for an action figure; the Lava Reflective Darth Vader and the holographic Yoda.
Also keep a lookout for the upcoming commemorative Darth Vader figure, which marks the 500th action figure in the Kenner/Hasbro line.
As Nyman said, "It will be the year of Darth Vader."
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