STAR TOYS
LAST, JONATHAN V.
STAR TOYS by Jonathan V. Last Rockville, Maryland It is 11:00 p.m. on a Sunday night, and David Dyche is standing at the head of the line in front of Toys "R" Us. He seems to be the most normal...
...people rush into the blocky stripcenter store, barreling past a table set up with Oreos and Chips Ahoy...
...pulls at his scraggly red goatee pensively and explains, "Star Wars is a paradigm that spoke of life and not just fantasy...
...He arrived on line at 9:00 p.m...
...Shoppers fill their arms with toys and then scurry off into secluded parts of the store to take stock of their potential purchases...
...Doug AT 683 TOYS "R" US LOCATIONS ACROSS AMERICA, THE FREAKS CAME OUT EN MASSE AND BOUGHT OVER A MILLION STAR WARS TOYS IN 72 HOURS...
...Everyone has a theory about the Star Wars phenomenon...
...It is almost 3:00 a.m...
...We need something to believe in, we need role models," says one goateed twentysomething...
...one of the pretty local-news talking-head reporters is interviewing random people in the line, chatting cordially with them and asking them why they love Star Wars...
...Doug doesn't go in for any of that...
...He rings up an even $475 and she spends $616.40, not a little of which is for Star Wars Lego sets...
...They go straight to the toys...
...Two years ago when Star Wars was reissued, he went to a multiplex and saw the movie eight times in one day...
...Most of the crowd is between 25 and 40...
...Jonathan V. Last is a reporter at THE WEEKLY STANDARD...
...And when asked which action figures and vehicles he plans to buy, he deadpans, "Well, at least two of everything...
...I'm on a bit of a budget," he says...
...Doug and Danny are in full biker regalia, with black leather jackets, gloves, and chaps...
...All around, collectors are huddling in small groups to plan their shopping strategies...
...So I have to sift through and find which figures I think will be the rarest...
...In anticipation of the May 19 release of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, Toys "R" Us is staging "Midnight Madness" for the launch of the first wave of toys from the movie...
...During a break, she and her cameraman head over to the news van and she mutters, "What a bunch of freaks...
...The TV reporter primps her hair, draws a deep breath, shakes her head, and hisses, "Don't these people have lives...
...The man to her right taps her on the elbow and hands her an action figure of the dreaded villain from his own personal stash...
...He seems to be the most normal Star Wars nut in America: Wearing khakis and a navy blue shirt, the blond-haired, 33-year-old Boeing computer analyst just happens to like George Lucas's Star Wars trilogy...
...Then I take them home and pack them away somewhere safe so that the packages won't get damaged...
...Except Legos...
...At 683 Toys "R" Us locations across America, the freaks are out en masse...
...Hell no," he spits...
...They shift restlessly in place, constantly checking their watches and making two-minute calls on their cell phones...
...Over the next 72 hours the company will sell over a million Star Wars action figures to legions of fans and collectors...
...Then little details begin to slip out...
...A confused elderly woman reading from a list asks aloud, "What's a Darth Maul...
...Here," he says...
...Danny whispers, "Yeah man...
...Two men who arrived on Harleys, Doug, 33, and his pal Danny, 29, are standing two-thirds of the way back in the line...
...and coffee, past someone dressed up in a Wookiee suit who stands ignored, waving forlornly...
...Amidst the frenzy small acts of kindness abound...
...They're for me to play with...
...Have mine...
...At 12:00 a.m., John Everitt, the store manager, opens the doors...
...By 11:30, three television news crews are setting up, newspaper photographers are busily snapping away, and some 100 people are lined up behind David and Jane...
...He stops to ponder what he just said and then nods approvingly, the four gold hoop earrings in his left ear jingling gently in the night air...
...David isn't alone...
...His neighbor in line, Jane McDermitt, is equally enthusiastic...
...Jane shrieks: They have Star Wars Legos...
...Joel Estrada, a 21-year-old junior at American University, isn't planning on playing with his toys...
...The plucky newswoman keeps waving her microphone around, snatching snippets of interviews and giving people her cheery, plastic smile...
...Two large bins are filled with action figures, and the shelves surrounding them are stocked with all things Star Wars, from Qui-Gon Jinn Spin Pops to Darth Vader parasail kites...
...Legos and Star Wars are the best toys...
...Are the toys for her...
...He doesn't have any children of his own, but his "girlfriend has a daughter from a previous marriage...
...She doesn't know the half of it...
...when David Dyche and Jane McDermitt hit the check-out aisle...
...They exchange email addresses and wave good-bye to each other as they hustle out of the store...
...There's nothing like Star Wars, because it really lets kids use their imagination when they play," she explains...
...Joel estimates his collection is already worth about $6,000...
...His Star Wars toy collection is worth over $10,000...
...The photographers continue snapping away, holding their cameras above the crowd of people...
...For two hours people stream into the store while the employees struggle to keep the bins fully stocked with fresh loads of the $6.99 figures...
Vol. 4 • May 1999 • No. 33
