I don't know if it's because times have changed, or everyone I know now just has more money than my parents did when I was a kid, but every kid I know now has a whole room full of toys. For me, getting a new toy was a BIG deal. The beauty of Star Wars action figures was that you could get just one every other month or so without breaking my parents bank. I treasured them.
Toys are a lot more disposable these days, which I think contributes to it. But also culture itself was more monolithic. My kid is 5 and she's gone through a few phases. At one point she was super into Peppa Pig. Then she got really into Bluey. But a lot of stuff just doesn't hold her attention and she really doesn't enjoy just sitting and watching a 22 minute TV show about a single thing. She prefers shorter shows (anywhere from 7 to 12 min mini-episodes, usually two strung together to form an overall episode), and she wants to be able to control stuff like she does with the tablet. She doesn't understand using a remote.
It's not better or worse, it's just different from my experience. But what it also means is that stuff seems to come and go more quickly. You don't have these few durable mega-franchises (G.I. Joe, Transformers, Barbie, etc.). I mean, there was a ton of toy crap from the '80s that never quite took off, or was around for a few years and then vanished, but there were also these larger franchises. But they were also spread across way fewer channels. Growing up, we didn't have cable, so I got the 6 channels (3 VHF, 3 UHF). I only saw the USA Cartoon Express and Nickelodeon at my grandparents' place out in the 'burbs.
But now, with streaming and cable services and all kinds of different channels, nothing lands hard enough or lasts long enough to really stick around for very long. Some things do well. Peppa is still going strong, I guess. Bluey is another big success. But it's just...different now.
Best character with the worst action figure: Obi wan. The plastic cape died within minutes of playing with it and he looked dumb without the cape. Also...old dude. Fine for playing Star Wars, but he did very poorly when I used the figures for bath time, wrestling, or to play football. (I never found out if other kids did that or not, but I lined them all up and played out games with them).
Worst character with best action figure: AT AT driver. I originally thought of Boba Fett, but then I remembered this guy. Did literally nothing in any movie, but the action figure SHINED. By play rules, the helmet meant he could breathe underwater which made him a very powerful bathtub figure. He was also dressed for football, and at wrestling the armor protected him and he had substantial shoulders.
included photos, but the guns and lightsabers never seemed to stay around long. Too easily lost.
Ironically, my AT-AT driver's gun lasted FOREVER and I wound up giving it to my G.I. Joe guys to use. Star Wars had some of the coolest guns (IG-88's was another standout), but the lack of articulation made me prefer G.I. Joe.
Which is a shame because, apart from all the horribly-scripted "flirting" that's where we got the one good glimpse into Anakin's motivations. Where they're talking about how frustrated he is at the political deadlock, things someone should sit all the senators down until they agree on something, and then do it. She says that's what they try to do in the senate, but there are so many contradicting philosophies and moralities it's hard to reach consensus -- or even majority. And he says well then someone should make them agree. She asks if he means him. He laughs that off and says no, but someone -- someone wise. She says that sounds like a dictatorship. He's looking at the grass and says, "Whatever works..." Then realizes what he said and looks at her and tries to brush it off as a joke. But right there we get a glimpse of what he's willing to do to be allowed to act.
Yeah, see, to me,
this is the Anakin I wanted to see. Anakin who is basically well-meaning at the start, but who becomes increasingly militant and inflexible and willing to give into rage by the end. All the while, telling himself he's doing it for the greater good. That, to me, would've made his motivations way more interesting than just "I have deep-seated attachment issues and I really just need therapy." But an Anakin who is pissed at the inefficiency of the system, horrified by the death and loss around him, attached to his clone troopers in ways that other Jedi aren't, lacks the ability to be detached in the war (which makes him a daring hero willing to put his life on the line to save others, but also ultimately a ruthless villain willing to do horrible things if it will mean "never again"), etc. That Anakin I could see falling to the Dark Side. That's the Anakin I hear in Vader's appeal to Luke to join him, to bring "order out of this destructive conflict." Order at any cost. To do evil in service to the greater good. That's an interesting character.
Lucas' Anakin is kind of interesting, but seems really out of place in the midst of a conflict about a democracy degenerating into a totalitarian dictatorship.
*90s LucasArts, just so we're clear. Latter-day LucasArts went downhill fast.
I feel like the PT spent way too much time at the center of power, and the ST none at all.
Yeah, they never seemed to quite get the balance right. With the OT it kinda doesnt' matter because you don't know anything about this universe anyway. But the PT sets itself up to be
all about the fall of a government, and then George is like "But that doesn't really matter. This is the story of the boy who missed his mom..." (Which, side note, was never even full sold because Anakin never seems conflicted at leaving Shmi, just sort of "Yay! This'll be fun! Oh, also, big hug for mom and I'll miss her." We never hear him reminisce about her, we never see his reluctance or ambivalence at leaving, it's just...not handled, so his heel turn ends up never quite landing.)
With the ST, there's HUGE STUFF going on buuuuut you can only find out about it in the novels. Meanwhile, here's Rey! And the Resistance! Which isn't the Republic! Or the Rebellion! And there's the First Order which exists because....uh....reasons! Never mind! Watch out for rathtars! Oh no! Now we're on the run again! Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!
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