Star Wars has had a huge impact on the silver screen, both in concepts for future movies, and references in movies past. Everywhere you look, characters now quote the original trilogy of Star Wars, profess to love the series, and echo the morals of the story behind it. There’s no doubt that Star Wars has heavily impacted many people and their imaginations, but it has also impacted the merchandising world too.
Before Star Wars, no other film franchise had the same level of toys, games, costumes and collectables made to accompany it, and Star Wars collections continue to grow as more and more movies are released. There are notable stand-out merchandise developments, such as a levitating star wars speaker, or a full-body stormtrooper costume, which is why we intend to list some of the best Star Wars merchandise developments right here.
Durable Lightsabers
For a long time, there was two classes of lightsabers available to the eager star wars fan – A cheap, plastic lightsaber with slide-out components and no lighting, and a highly expensive, very fragile, realistic one. A great leap in the right direction for Star Wars merchandise was when those two became one, and moderately priced, good looking and durable lightsabers were produced. These are still available today, in all styles and with differing levels of complexity, but all allow for mock-battles to take place without risking damage to the lightsaber itself.
Levitating Death Star Speakers
The first levitating speaker to get Disney’s seal of approval, the levitating death star speaker from Plox, has 360 degree amplification, an accurate-to-movie design, and a magnetically levitating body (suspended over a base) to add to the overall effect. It connects via bluetooth, so all of your devices can make use of its significant audio power, and the base is optional, so you can take it with you on the go as a high-quality portable bluetooth speaker.
App-Controlled BB8 Droids
Combining the dual pleasures of playing on your phone and playing with remote controlled vehicles comes a remote-controlled BB8 droid. Rolling just as BB8 does on-screen in “The Force Awakens”, you can control his movements via a companion app on your android or apple smartphone. This is something that has to be played with to be appreciated to the appropriate amount, as simply describing it doesn’t encapsulate the enjoyment gained from rolling BB8 merrily here and there.
Star Wars Lego
Finally, we come to the main event. Lego has long been a staple in almost every child’s toy box, and with the creative control afforded by lego, it’s easy to understand why. Effortless construction, colour matching, risk-free destruction, the possibilities are endless for a young mind. Then, along came Star Wars, and like combining salt and caramel, a perfect union was formed. Star Wars Lego has long been one of the highest-selling lego product lines, and maintains its strong lead in that regard with it’s newest string of “The Force Awakens” sets. Everything from the small, 20 minute projects that can be bought for young children to the massive, month-long undertakings more meant for the young at heart (such as the Millennium Falcon) make Lego Star Wars a cornerstone of any toy store or Kmart in almost any town.
Star Wars’ impact on the toy industry, cinema industry, or collectables industry could be called nothing less than enormous, and these above examples represent the best of the best in terms of sheer achievements in those industries.
