Rare 1980 TESB Hotline Recordings

This is an excellent blast from the past. In the era when long distance phone calls could run you a dollar per minute (better call at night or on a weekend!) the sequel to Star Wars had a unique hotline where callers could here a tease from The Empire Strikes Back. By calling 1-800-521-1980* you'd hear exclusive messages from Anthony Daniels, Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, and James Earl Jones.

*I'll save you the trouble. The number goes to athe voicemail of an unrelated person now.

ESB@30: 30 Collectibles, day 3

Of the many new characters introduced in The Empire Strikes Back, Yoda has arguably had the most impact. There are many collectibles of our little green friend. Most fall in to two categories- the pensive elf from Dagobah or the warrior seen in the Prequels.

The two that I've chosen show the gentler side of Yoda. First is a Tomy diorama from Japan. These were blind-boxed and sold in 2002 along with a packet of about ten sugary pellet candies. This is a common way of selling toys in the candy aisle, which I suppose isn't the worst idea for the candy aisle. It's very expressive considering the figure is about an inch tall. He sits on a detailed log with a fully painted swamp base. For this photo I've put a Knobby White Spider from the Wizards of the Coast Star Wars Miniatures line (2007) in the background.

The second was an unadvertised promo from Taco Bell that came out during the massive releases of the Star Wars Trilogy Special Editions in early 1997. There were seven regular toys offered and this Yoda if you asked for the ages three and under toy.