Palitoy’s Star Wars Ads Better Than Kenner’s? Let's See!
Вставка
- Опубліковано 22 сер 2024
- Lets explore Star Wars advertising in the UK with the Palitoy toy company and how they were able to make the toy ads SO much better than what kids got in the USA.
Join this channel to get access to perks:
/ @thepadawancollectorof...
Support me on Patreon! Get Awesome Perks!
/ thepadawancollector
Subscribe to my new channel - Star Wars Rewind!
/ @starwarsrewind
Visit the Official Website of The Padawan Collector
thepadawancoll...
Get Collecting Supplies at the Collector Depot!
thepadawancoll...
Get a copy of my Collecting Checklists for your own use!
thepadawancoll...
Get Your Padawan Collector Gear!
the-padawan-co...
The following links are affiliate links that help the channel. I use these products on my show. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Gear and Services I use to make this show
Road Camera - Canon m50 with kit lens - amzn.to/478dxwd
Studio Camera - Blackmagic 4k - amzn.to/47bCRBt
Studio Lights - Goddox Lights - amzn.to/3rRxnfa
Studio Lights - Cube light - amzn.to/3YavRkh
Model Lights - Neweer Lights - amzn.to/3qcrt7R
Mic - Blue Yeti Mic - amzn.to/47bD5IP
Rode Mic - Rode Wireless Go - amzn.to/47c60g4
Streamyard - Get $10 off using my link
streamyard.com...
Epidemic Sound -
For music that includes a global license for your content.
Legally and Financially cleared for your use.
www.epidemicso...
TubeBuddy:
www.tubebuddy....
Social Media
Twitter: / padawancollects
Facebook: / 599747187737553
Instagram: @thepadawancollector: www.instagram....
TikTok: / thepadawancollector
For sponsorship or collaboration opportunities, please email
thepadawancollector@gmail.com
Please send fan mail to:
PO BOX 27690
San Diego, CA 92198-1690
#actionfigures
#starwars
#ThePadawanCollector
Correction regarding British TV in the 1970s.
There were three channels: BBC1, BBC2 and ITV (Channel 4 didn't start until 1982). In the UK, the BBC has always been publicly funded and paid for by a TV licence. A TV licence was required if you had any equipment capable of receiving a TV signal (regardless of whether you actually watched any BBC channels or not). There are no advertisements shown on the BBC. This continues to this day.
ITV (channel 3) was the only commercial channel paid for by TV advertising. Actually, the nation was split up into different ITV (Independent Television) franchises, and each one served a different area of the country. For example, Tyne Tees Television served Northern England, Yorkshire Television served the Yorkshire area, and Granada Television served the Northwest. London was served by two separate franchises - Thames Television and London Weekend Television. LWT (as the name suggested) provided programming at the weekend, whilst Thames provided TV for the rest of the week. This was unique to the London area.
Each of the ITV franchises were separate companies and showed different advertisements (often related to their local area) - however, there were of course national Ad campaigns shown across all ITV regions. Each ITV company had separate continuity, local news & whether and other local content. However, for most of the peak-time viewing hours, they would show the same shows and programmes (but not always!). 'Space 1999' was not shown in all ITV regions due to cost - and this impacted its popularity. Additionally, each ITV region had its own studios and TV production units and would sell programmes to be broadcast across the whole ITV network. Euston Films, would shoot and make gritty dramas (such as 'The Sweeney') on 16 mm film. Generally, 35 mm film was considered too expensive for British TV production, and was only used for shows they hoped could be sold to the American market such as 'Thunderbirds' and 'Space 1999'.
I love your videos about Kenner and Palitoy. I had the iconic Death Star Playset and vividly remember the Star Wars TV advertisements. I remember a promotion being run where you had to write to Palitoy in Coalville Leicestershire and they sent you Boba Fett in a small white cardboard box. Happy memories. A friend went on holiday to the US, and he came back with the Dewback Lizard - a toy that was never available in the UK! I also remember going to see 'Darth Vader' at a large local toy shop in the early 1980s - there were crowds of people - but I was disappointed that it wasn't Dave Prowse.
Thank you for the update! I have placed a note in the comments and I will do a video update soon :)
UPDATE: ITV was the station that played commercials in the UK. In the video i made a mistake and said BBC1, it has been edited out - my apologies. I will do an update video talking about this in a Q&A video.
For anyone British, the emphasis on BBC1 being the only TV channel to air commercials is hilarious.
It was actually ITV my apologies
@@thepadawancollectorofficial No, it's just funny because of the ridiculous pride there was around the BBC being commercial free. and still now they massively try to scare people into paying for them. It was interesting video for a Brit, especially reminiscing about the shop visits by a silent Darth Vader and being so happy to get his "autograph".
@@thepadawancollectorofficial No need to apologise, most of us Brits didn’t even know it was Thanksgiving today. 😂
@@thepadawancollectorofficial Yup
3 in seventies 4 in 80's 1982 to be exact
We didn’t only have 1 channel at the time in the uk we had three…bbc1, bbc2 and itv..only itv showed commercials
Yes I mentioned that. Thanks for watching Brew and for taking the time to comment!
No you didn’t, you said that BBC 1 was the only channel that showed ads on television but BBC don’t show any ads on television.
Great video though
@@_Mike_Hunt_Advertising! On the BBC!
What does this guy think Auntie is? Some cheap, street harlot? Or a common whore?
Advertising! Well I never
The BBC has never aired commercials. Only ITV and later Channel 4 and 5 had and still have commercials. The BBC had to go as far as covering brand names with tape in their shows because of advertising restrictions.
@@thepadawancollectorofficial2:32 You clearly read BBC1 here. You'll need to re edit the line to say ITV which stands for Independent Television. A cluster of different smaller studios that all joined together across the UK to show their content away from the BBC. It was home to Thames TV in London, Anglia in the East of Englanda and these were Mon - Fri broadcasting with LWT (London weekend Television) on Saturday and Sunday plus many more stations across the UK all showing adds on the same channel position, 3. Depending where you live would determine what studio you saw. But to say BBC is weird to anyone from England, as they've never needed to have adds thanks to houses paying the TV licence.
The BBC does not carry adverts. This is why we have a TV licence which instead pays for it. Only ITV runs adverts ( at that time ).
It’s important to do your research
But what the hell it’s the internet
I was just about to deliver the very same "factcheck"! He is showing the BBC logo as well, even though he would never find that logo before or after an ad break; it would be one of the numerous regional variants of ITV1.
As someone who was Star Wars mad in the UK from seeing it aged 4 in 1978 for the first time, I have no memory of any memory of TV ads for Palitoy. The only toy ads I remember were for Action Man or Hornby model railways.
The first time I saw the figures were in the stores… how exciting was that!
The first one I remember seeing in a shop and my mum buying me was Han Solo Hoth outfit from ESB and it think it came out well ahead of the film.
No internet, only 3 TV channels… the excitement could not be matched 🤯
I wish I would have had action man as a kid
I was 9 in 1978 so I remember the adverts well. My favourite toy though then had to be Action man. I had a range of them from eagle eyes to the sailor with a beard. Had loads of vehicles and accessories as well including my favourite the one man sub. I sold my entire action man collection in 1983 for £38 so I could buy pac man on the Atari 2600. What a mistake that turned out to be.😂
My word, I actually remember the “Command Satellite”! I did not recall its name but the display has stuck with me my entire life! John Menzies in Edinburgh, Scotland had it. Inside were dioramas of Hoth and Endor amongst others. It blew me away. Amazing to get a glimpse after all these years!!
Nice one mate 👍
Thanks Solo! I’m glad you enjoyed that video. I wish I would have had seen the command satellite when I was a kid
The Death Star advert , especially the trash compactor scene, was the reason I got it for Christmas that year. I pestered my mum and dad for it. It was my one big present and I loved it. Shame it eventually fell apart since it was made of cardboard but I enjoyed it whilst it lasted.
a version of the adverts also were screened at UK cinemas (I would guess around the holidays), exciting times!
Nice! Thanks for the info!
We didn't get the Millennium Falcon until the Empire Strikes Back was in cinemas, the first time I saw the Falcon was in the advert you featured with Boba Fett and that was first shown in cinemas before it reached TV.
When I went to see Empire on first day of release, there was a diorama display of some of the new figures in the cinema foyer before they'd been made available in shops!
Mouthwatering, even to a 16 year old (in 1981) who was already becoming more of a collector than somebody who actually played with them. The collecting bug had bitten deep..! 😂👍
Hey Acro!!! Thanks for the comment 🙌🏼
About those comic book adverts. The ones with Luke in pilot's uniform, the half-page one of Darth's TIE and the one with Artoo drawing were all drawn by Brian Bolland (Judge Dredd, The Killing Joke) for 2000AD. I didn't know this at the time, but they're in his book The Art of Brian Bolland. He writes that they gave him all the toys to draw from.
That’s an awesome factoid! Thanks Robert!
Incredible artwork in those ads. Both the comic book panels and the renderings of the action figures that were coming.
I agree the artwork is incredible. I would like to get a copy of one of these comic books someday
I'm glad that we have the Palitoy commercials on UA-cam now. The ones in the UK were pretty cool. The UK ones sound more like previews for Star Wars movies than toy commercials. Maybe there's a lesson here. If companies made fewer commercials and made each one better, we'd like commercials more. These comics and comic book ads are cool to see. The comic book ads were more like stories than adverts. That Bounty Hunter version of the mail in offers was a good idea. I bet those Command Satellites are worth a fortune if you could ever find one.
Great video!
Thanks John! I’m really glad you enjoyed the video 🙌🏼
One tv channel??? We had three. BBC1, 2 and ITV.
ITV was a commercial station and therefore relied heavily on advertising. ITV was the only channel able to have commercial breaks. BBC1&2 were not (and still not) allowed to advertise.
That’s correct 🙌🏼
I totally agree.
The Palitoy commercials were way more theatric and dramatic and there were elements of danger and suspence.
The photography was far superior and still look sharp and clean to this day.
On top of that, you had the legendary pipes of Mr. Tony Jay to class it up even further.
"Only YOU can decide with Star Wars toys!"
Hearing Tony Jay's voice used in those commercials gets me pumped, quite honestly, and commands respect.
THAT should've been a Saturday morning cartoon, a 22 min. Palitoy SW figure commercial of one or a few kids playing with the figures in a commercial style set up/ atmosphere.
Thanks T! Haha yea here in the US we had those same voice actors that added hype to any cartoon or toyline ad :) Thanks for watching 🙌
I was right - the late actor Tony Jay's voice in some of those commercials, his voice in those ads were epic. 👍👍👍
@@davidprice5563
It most definitely WAS epic. :)
I liked the guy that announced the first Palitoy commercials, but the voice work by Mr. Tony Jay was several steps up.
Very classy.
Wow, This takes me back a bit. I remember walking in and around that Command Satellite in Redgates toy store, Sheffield in the mid 80`s. Great video and thanks for this nostalgic hit.
Hey Jonathan! That’s rad you got to see the command satellite when you were younger! I wish they had that in the US.
As always, it's a great video full of Star Wars history. The people who made the advertisements for the SW line in the UK better understood how to portray a product and look more fun to the young audience. A big thank you to KENNER and PALIYOY for creating so many beautiful items from a galaxy far far away!!
Thanks for watching bounty Hunter!
The Uk ads were ace I forgot how good they were. Only thing, it was ITV who put out the ads bbc never show ads.
I remember all the Star Wars toy commercials 👍 I love how we can see them all easily again on line. When the Dewback was new, there was a very young Ricky Schroeder playing with a Dewback in the commercial 👌😉
I'm happy my presentations for the Star Wars Collecting Track have been the base of a few of your videos, BUT it would be nice to see the material credited back to the Collecting Track channel :)
Hey cool! I use a company called Epidemic sound. Which track are you referring to??
@@thepadawancollectorofficial I was meaning where a lot of your info, images and ads came from :) ua-cam.com/video/ZcI-pegUjhs/v-deo.html
Hey I just saw your other comment, but dont know where it went??? I actually didn't use the video you mentioned as basis for my research and I actually never use one source. Your video does have GREAT info though and it is a really great resource for knowledge around this topic! I should have watched it before I did this episode. I would love to talk to you about some of the Palitoy toys. Have you written any books???
Nice to see these adverts again and the ads in the comics. They also had ads for the special offer figures like The Emperor and Rancor Keeper on some street advertising boards.
Thanks for the added info Trevor and thanks for taking the time to watch and leave a comment 🙌🏼
I remember carefully cutting out the required number of name plates, visiting the village post office to purchase a postal order (for P&P) & filling in my capture log to receive my "Free" Dengar figure.
That magical Palitoy P.O. Box address also provided me with Admiral Ackbar, Nien Numb & The Rancor Keeper as well as the Survival Kit.. not to mention the Action-man Mountie & M.P.'s uniforms.
That’s cool you used the bounty Hunter giveaways. I think I only did one for Kenner with the Ackbar
I met darth vader at my local toy shop in 1982. Still got his autograph
That is honestly amazing! I would have been on cloud nine as a kid if that happened to me
To throw another spanner into the works, I think the Toltoys commercials in Australia were even better. When the action figures came onto the shelves here in early to mid 1978 we could only find half of them. But there were also breakfast cereal commercials offering mini-posters and cut-out masks. One thing I'll never forget from the first action figure commercial was two Stormtroopers standing side by side and the voice-over saying 'Luke and Han as Stormtroopers.'
On a side note, the easiest find in toy shops here in 1978 was R2D2, the hardest to find was Chewbacca. He was my last figure to get and the only one of the first 12 bought for me when I wasn't there. So I'll never know if there were loads of them that day or just the one. Actually, the next time I seen a Chewbacca he was on a 20 back card and the Toltoys logo replaced by Kenner...
Hey gecko! I’ll have to check out the tolltoys commercials!
@@thepadawancollectorofficial Thanks for the reply. I hope they are out there somewhere...
Boba Fett:
"WELL? We're WAITING." :) haha
I didn't know it was a little harder to advertise over there in the UK
and didn't know about the Command Satellite, either.
Those comic adverts! I love that art.
Another the thing I liked about the Palitoy commercials is they actually had the permission to use the Star Wars music.
They really should've used David Prowse.
I hate that he always got screwed.
And did Leia have lipstick? :)
Thanks for the video
Thanks for watching T! I wish they would have used David and I wish they had that here in the US!
Greetings from the UK. BBC has never run adverts in their history. The UK had 3 channels back then. BBC1, BBC2, and ITV. It was only ITV that ran advertising between programmes. All Star Wars advertising, along with the rest, was shown on ITV. All the best 👌
Yes my apologies, I have made a correction in the comments and description and will be doing a follow up
ITV was the only channel that ran commercials in the UK at that time. The BBC doesn’t have commercials at all, it’s funded by a License Fee.
Thanks for the update Womble! I have place the note in my comments and description and will update the video soon.
Recently while I was going through my mums photo collection I found a news paper article in which I was featured from 1980 when I was about 6/7 and that was promoting empire strikes back toys with a guy dressed up as Darth Vader, this was in Basildon
It would have been cool to see that as a kid
Great video. I'm a lifelong SW fan, but I didn't know anything about the Palitoy advertisements.
Glad you enjoyed it!
the tv commercials remind me a lot of the ones that were on tv in america in the 2000s
Thats a good comparison, I guess the Palitoy agencies were ahead of their time!
Amazing research Joey. Darth Varder, absolutely just like us Brits to completely get his name wrong and somehow it still made the edit 😂
Haha indeed! Great ads I think. That’s for watching Kev 🙌🏼
Me Mum took me to Ipswich in 78 to see Star Wars and have been in love ever since. Also had an X-Wing, probably an X-mas present later that year.
Those are some great memories :).
@ 7:43, that photo was taken in August 1983 at UK Debenhams store in Folkestone, Kent, to promote the toys featuring in ROTJ. You can google it. I was there and remember all too well. I did not know it was a Palitoy employee at the time dressed up as Vader. How disappointing. I thought it was actor David Prowse as the man impersonating Vader was gigantic, so strong, towering over everyone else, especially for a 9 year old. I still have the autograph signed Darth Vader! SW toys were huge in the early 1980s, today's teenagers have no idea.....
That’s awesome you were there, I’ll have to Google it now! Thanks for watching!!
“A multitude of channels” in the U.S. in the late ‘70s? In the St. Louis market we had about six: the three networks, PBS, and two local (unaffiliated) stations.
Thanks for watching Lord and taking the time to leave a comment!
Damn! Those UK commercials are intense.
Haha right??
I always loved those Palitoy mail away ad's in the comics !! Classic
Classic indeed!
I visited the "satellite" in France, in Paris, at "la samaritaine". Can't say for sure if it was in 1983 or 1984 but I sure did visited it multiple time, collecting catalogs, dreaming to grab the toys exhibited in the transparent cases around it. Don't have any photos of that sadly.
That’s amazing you were able to see it in person 🙌🏼
@@thepadawancollectorofficial More surprisingly I was one of a few people really interested about it, the shape like the cabin of Darth vader, the toys exhibit... It was near some stairs, people go around it, children run but didn't stop.
Never saw it elsewhere. Don't know what happened to it, the showcase must be expensive but it lasted mayve a few months and disappeared.
I was about to correct you on bbc advertising but I’ve read so many comments telling you I want correct you my friend - still a great video 🎉
Thanks :). I made a note in the comments as well
This is an amazing video about Star Wars toy history! It never occurred to me here in the USA that Kenner Star Wars toy commercials were not also supporting sales in Britain and around the world. I wonder if anyone has pulled together all the Palitoy ads into a single publication? I have seen a lot of them, but I would love to see a definitive collection. You wonder in the reply to another comment why the Star Wars movie music was not used to in the Kenner toy commercials and you suggested you may make a future video on the subject. I would love to see that video. My guess is you will find the legalities of music publishing copyright so convoluted that they are actually prohibitive to business due not only to monetary cost, but also in labor costs especially around the tracking and reporting the number of times a work is presented to the public or the time frame or a combination of both. Almost immediately after sound recording was invented, an enormous sum of money and energy went into creating and enforcing copyright laws. All other media industries have copied vast portions of the music recording business copyright ideas, but no other media industry has as many restrictions as music publishing, almost all of which are birthed from the many ways in which music publishing splits the payment of royalties paired with demands of the music and recording industry unions.
Thanks for watching and commenting Manly! I think you are right about the prohibitions of copyright law oversees. It will be interesting to find out.
Oooh that command satellite....wow. Great video, until I joined your community I knew little to nothing of palitoy and its history, that's super cool. Thanks as always TPC!!!
Thank you Jacob! I could not do these without you :)
Iwent to a local store in 84 and saw Darth Vader in person. Absolutely terrifying to a 15 yr old. Missed Boba fett the following week, dammit.
Hey Terry! Omg that would have been rad! I would have been timid to go up to Darth but I would have loved just seeing him 🙌🏼
Star wars on a 2000ad cover never knew that happened
🙌🏼
I remember Darth Vader doing appearances at Tesco and the Co-op.
That’s cool you got to see him 🙌🏼
A surprise follow up video to your Palitoy History & Palitoy Death Star playset videos - it complements them so well.
Can you imagine Disney or Lucasfilm allowing marketing companies & toy shops this much free reign today? No way!
The Palitoy commercials were so much more creative - it's a night & day difference. And I love all the adverts & promotions that were run in print. I've been slowly picking these up to complement my vintage collection - it's truly amazing how many variations there are to collect.
As with the videos before, I appreciate all the effort & thought that went into this too. Another great addition to the video collection.
Thanks Mopar! I’m really honored that you like these and thanks for sharing your thoughts on these, I really appreciate the context you offer :)
It was ITV that did the adverts. Both BBC channels didn’t do them…
Yes BBC1 and BBC2 to this day never show adverts. ITV was the new 3rd channel that showed adverts back then. I remember all of those star wars ads and always found them so exciting and dramatic. The one where princess Leia is captured I used to always only see part of I used to wonder what happens next. Its weird to see it properly 40 something years later. Thanks
Haha I just saw this ad with Leia and I still want to see what happens next. I think Boba will side with Darth Vaaader.
@thepadawancollectorofficial Darth Vaada is a weird pronunciation. I've only heard that twice now in England. It was by no means wide spread. I don't understand how you can choose to just pronounce something totally differently. However Han to most English people is Han and not Harn as Americans say it. Although Harn probably is the correct version
Wow. Seeing the Command Center was dope, its one of my earliest childhood memories.I'm sure the audio was played through little tubes you could put to your ear. or your mouth if you were a 3 year old who needed to talk smack back to darth vader....
I wish I would have seen that command center!
I'm so glad you found a photo of it. I cant even find anythnig about it. I recently returned to England to the mall I stumbled across it. yeah i just remember yelling into the tube how i was gonna come affter Darth vader and stop him. haha. @@thepadawancollectorofficial
BBC never showed commercials and channel four wasn’t around yet so it must’ve been ITV
You are correct!
I!m guessing that Darth Varder must be sort of related to Darth Vader.
Haha right? Long lost British cousin
Very Interessant Video on palitoy Joey !
Glad you enjoyed it!
Great video Joey !!!
Thanks James! I’m glad u enjoyed it :)
Why didn’t the US commercials have the Star Wars music in the background?
That’s a really good question.
I am really wishing now that I didn't customize my Star Wars figures >Luke Skywalker's head on another Star Wars figure >some of them worked out - and some, didn't.
It’s all good if you did, it just meant you were a curious and engendering minded kid
@@thepadawancollectorofficial Exactly, you don't have Doc Brown's number by any chance???
Star Wars was only ever a Marketing Scheme. 🤑
Thanks for watching trey and for taking the time to comment 🙌🏼
The comic ads are extremely cool 💪😎
I completely agree! I need to get my hands on one of these comics
Ps, sorry Joey, my mistake! Empire was 1980 and I was 15, just to set the record straight! The rest is factually accurate, I checked! 😑😂
Dengar was a peg warmer? Not on my Kmart
🙌🏼
Thanks for the video. I support you 🧧
Thanks Gar!
Why is it, everytime I purchase "the mother of all collectibles", it changes?
A carded POTF85 Yak Face used to be it, that is, until I bought one, then it became a Pepsi R2D2 Cooler - check, and now it's a Command Satellite?
You're killing my wallet.
Haha! Hey Steve! If you ever the the command satellite, let me know!!!! I would love to film it and do a video about it
ITV did ads Not BBC! BBC have never run ads even now. Though they should would save me having to buy a TV Licence.
Thanks for the info! I have updated the edit which will show in a few hours
Opps he inadvertently made it look like the BBC took advertising.
It was ITV that was the only game in town. I will say though it wasn't that long until Satellite TV started and Also Cinema adverts were cheap back then so that was an option too.
Interestingly due to Independent Television being broken up into regional licenses they "richer" places where more likely to get adverts over the poorer regions. and sometimes adverts would only air on london region they might even say "Buy this at hamley or Harrods" sometimes.
Oh and they also would put Toy adverts in News Papers especially closer to Christmas.
Some products were pretty much entirely propped up by the comics such as Palitoy Action Force.
-------
Oh that poor abused AT AT !!
I was thinking how utterly thrilling it was to see those adverts back in the day - partly because they showed up so infrequently but I think you've just clued me in to why that was. I guess we were in a poor area! Those comic ads were ace though - it was years before I realised he wasn't "Green Greedo"
Yes my apologies, I made a note in the comments and description and will be doing a follow up video with the change
It was itv though you bean told that a million times now my point is its still a fantastic video itv was the first to show new hope before the usa though we only got one showing till the next year no repeat viewings
Thanks for the info Paul!
I remember seeing the command satellite and meeting Darth Vader at the Jolly Giant in Glasgow. I asked if he was David Prowse and he nodded his head. Lying b@stard 🤣
Haha that’s awesome you got to see it though 🙌🏼
shakespeare or a football announcer? Can't tell either way lol. Anyway, yes, a much cooler ad
Thanks for watching my friend
The Star Wars toy commercials that aired in the United States were terrible. I found them to be quite generic. The kids in the commercials could not always get the character's name right or play with them in a way that reflected the character accurately, and no music from the movies was used. Also, that kid @7:40 is unimpressed. 😄
I wonder why they didn’t use the music from the movies in the US commercials? Maybe I will research that and if the answer is compelling I’ll make a video out of it?
@@thepadawancollectorofficial That would be interesting.
Yeah but we got the Wampa Kid. "Wampa!" 😂
Wow... when you realize that you grew up in the wrong country...
Haha it’s all good, we had zero regulation in the 80s and got the best toys and cartoons in the US
🪐✨👍
🙌🏼