Ever since George Lucas helped to transform the movie-making business into a blockbuster industry and accepted a reduced director’s salary in exchange for merchandising rights, licensed action figures and other movie merchandise have been a hot commodity. George’s decision is responsible for his current billionaire status. In fact, Lucas now has a greater net worth than Spielberg, Oprah and all other entertainers, largely thanks to the success of Star Wars merchandise.
That said, toys are designed for kids, right? You could even say that they are supposed to be removed from their boxes and used in active play, to stimulate the imaginations of our youngsters. So often, however, adult fans of Star Wars and other iconic pop culture universes hoard collectibles and keep them for investment or display purposes.
The following Saturday Night Live skit takes aim at this trend with a tongue-in-cheek look at these two conflicting purposes.
What do you think – play, or “leave them in the box!”? 😉