While getting some items ready for eBay tonight, I found a great piece of Star Wars history in one of my many boxes of toys- a 1982 Kenner Star Wars catalog. Along with instructions and decals, these adverts used to come with boxed toys to unveil upcoming treasures in the year. I think these types of catalogs ended around the late 1990s. What caught my eye tonight was information about the 1982 Star Wars Fan Club. I'll delve more deeply into the other products in the catalog in future posts.
For five dollars in 1982 (six dollars for Canadians and seven for the rest of the world), a Star Wars Club member would get an Empire Strikes Back membership kit which included a wall poster, 6 movie photos, a Darth Vader decal, a membership card, a patch and a pencil. In addition, members received four issues of the Bantha Tracks official club newsletter. Curious about the fan club cost in 2017 dollars, I used the
U.S. Inflation Calendar Site to determine how much five 1982 dollars would be today. It would be:
...12.68 That was a pretty good value!!! I'm thinking that modern day pricing would have a membership like this costing around 20 bucks. To join, you had to fill out the application form on the back of the catalog and no cash payment. You had to hold onto your Abe Lincolns... only checks or money orders were accepted.
With SATISFACTION GUARANTEED writing near the bottom of the application, a member could feel confident that the Force would flow through a membership. Can you imagine the pain it would be to cancel a membership back in pre-internet days and expensive long distance calling days? No toll-free number on the form! The time involved to get your 12.68 back would probably not be worth it. Were any of you part of this club? If so, were you satisfied?
In any event, we'll talk more about this later:
It relates directly to my
May the Fourth Be With You post about Star Wars Micro Collection. Thanks for the read and have a good night.
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