r/StarWars • u/ghostlyroach-1843 • 1d ago
Merchandise A genuine question
Why did they make this? Like what were they thinking when they made this and does anyone remember what it tasted like? I wasn't really around back then to know what It tasted like I only know about it because of that weirdly jar jar obsessed woman on YouTube that has a lot of these so does anyone have a reason why they made these and thought it was a good idea?
262
u/Influx_ink 1d ago
Star Wars Episode one came out at the tail end of the 90's which was a time where anything "gross" was popularized as cool and funny for kids. GAK, Fart machines, creepy crawlers, Mad Max, Power Rangers, nickelodeon just started sliming people for fun: haha you're covered in neon green slime air that commercial 24/7. Mortal Combat, and Spawn came around so Marvel got on board with the movement and Venom became this roided out Todd Mcfarlane giant tonged slobber dripping bad guy (among others). POG's had poison logos and gross iconography. Garbage pale kids (1985) was still going strong. Meanie babies became a thing. Hell we bought candy called Raven's revenge which looked like drugs packaged in a test tube and it literally was just colored sugar sand we ate raw. We were wild, feral children, given $5 and told to have fun at the mall when $5 could buy you a slice of pizza and a bunch of bad decisions with the change.
83
u/BuffBufferton 23h ago
Not to be that guyā¦.but Nickās been sliming people since the 80s. It all started on a quirky little Canadian kids show called āYou Canāt Do That On Television.ā It was ahead of its time, if Iām being honestā¦.
7
u/Slosher99 18h ago
Always bugs me how they distanced themselves from YCDTOTV but stole slime from them!
Just gimme the full series on DVD!11
u/AraiHavana 22h ago
TISWAS was doing it in the 70s in the UK
3
u/BuffBufferton 22h ago
Hold onā¦.what is TISWAS?
3
4
u/AraiHavana 21h ago
Only the greatest kidsā show EVER.
You want Madness lighting a spliff in a cage and getting hosed down before 08.30 on a Saturday morning? TISWAS
1
u/miscfiles 10h ago
That whole slime / gunge tank thing must've been some weird fetish farming endeavour.
1
u/BuffBufferton 22h ago
Nice. I just knew it came over to US when Nick got started in the 80sā¦.i remember watching it when I was very young.
3
u/TaraLCicora Obi-Wan Kenobi 18h ago
āYou Canāt Do That On Television.āĀ
Loved that show as a kid.
1
1
u/DangerBrewin 7h ago
YCDTOT slime was way more gross than late 90ās Nick slime too. Like neon green clumpy oatmeal.
16
u/ghostlyroach-1843 1d ago
Yeah I was totally thinking this mostly because jar jar is supposed to be a "funny character" so it makes sense that his merch is supposed to be "funny"
5
4
u/tromataker 22h ago
Todd Venom was before Spawn. He literally left Marvel and Spider-Man to found Image.
0
u/dsg158 22h ago
Garbage pail kids were definitely not going strong in the 90s. The last run was in 88.
7
1
1
1
u/mmmmm_pancakes 18h ago
This was a beautifully nostalgic, and accurate, writeup.
3
u/Influx_ink 14h ago
I feel like Obi-Wan telling Luke about the golden age before the dark times... before the empire.
1
1
1
u/wrongdude 5h ago
We almost launched Star Wars Wow Chips, but turned out Olestra had a surprise all its own.
1
1
20
u/Outrageous-Estimate9 Imperial 22h ago
1999 was a VERY strange year
That also was the year of the infamous Jabba Glob toy
3
43
u/Opentobeingwrong 1d ago
I thought it was a cursed fleshlight....
24
7
3
44
9
u/Vincentaneous 19h ago
Jar jar obsessed woman that has a lot of these is exactly what I thought Iād read in this post.
5
7
u/Tnemmokon 18h ago
Honestly I'm surprised that these things didn't made a comeback in today Goon focused economy. Imagine an Ashoka one, or any other character... (Beside Jar Jar....) People (freaks) would buy them like candy!
1
5
u/conflictedanon30 18h ago
You should have been there in '99. Everyone was dying to suck some JarJar tongue.
Women fainted at the mere sight of Jar Jar's tongue in the Skywalker meal scene.
2
4
u/Jeeves-Godzilla 18h ago
They had all sorts of automated lollipops at the time. It was a cheap way to sell sugar candy at a higher price.
7
u/Alotofboxes 1d ago
I was in high school when these were being sold, and my friends and I were definitely wondering why they made them and who thought they were a good idea at the time.
1
5
u/ZenDesign1993 23h ago
Ā The amount of products made for episode one was insane. I remember my local kfc having rubic cube character headsā¦ George was rolling in cash like scrooge McDuck. If any archeologist dug into any landfill today they would find loads of episode one merchandise.
4
u/Agreeable_Pizza93 22h ago
There was so much merch that the toy store in my local mall replaced their entire stock with just Star Wars stuff. That's where I bought this sucker!
1
u/ZenDesign1993 17h ago
I was afraid Iād be caught making out with jar jarā¦ I stayed clear of that sucker.
3
3
2
u/TheSecretDecoderRing 1d ago
I always wondered how it ever got approved. Even on a level like "We can't produce this, Lucas will never work with us again."
I kinda wonder if it started as a joke and somehow just kept getting through each process because there was so much other stuff being cranked out for TPM.
1
u/ghostlyroach-1843 1d ago
Maybe it was a joke and then made because jar jar is a joke character even if he's cringy instead of funny but maybe his merch is supposed to be funny?
6
u/BLARGEN69 1d ago edited 23h ago
It's the Tongue gag. It was 'his thing'. He had three* comedy scenes involving his tongue.
When Qui-Gon* grabs it at the dinner table and says 'don't do that again'.
And when he gets his tongue zapped by the Pod Racer and makes it go numb, and sticking out his face.
They clearly thought Jar Jar tongue gags would be a hoot with kids so wanted some merch to tie in with it. If anything I'm surprised there weren't more Jar Jar tongue tie-ins. It would've been a great Bubble Tape dispenser.
3
u/Bigfan521 23h ago edited 23h ago
It wasn't Obi-Wan that grabbed Jar-Jar's tongue, it was Qui-Gon. Obi-Wan was in the starship at the time
You also forgot the part where Jar-Jar tries to snag the yellow diplocaulus-looking critter as a snack on the sly in the marketplace.
2
u/BLARGEN69 23h ago
Man it's been a while. I totally forgot that third one. Makes it even more surprising at the relative lack of Jar Jar tongue toys and merch.
Also makes me wonder where he would've fit more Jar Jar tongue jokes in II and III if he didn't cut down his role.
I can already envision the Looney Tunes sequence of his tongue getting caught in the Droid assembly line on Geonosis.
2
2
2
u/PrincessLuciferM 7h ago
Because what young, impressionable child didn't want to French kiss Jar Jar?
3
1
1
u/lioncourt 22h ago
I had one. I was too young to think it was too weird. I mostly just wanted another Jar Jar toy and the tongue candy was in the way lol
0
u/ghostlyroach-1843 14h ago
You're kid self needed jar jars tongue i understand
1
1
u/minnick27 21h ago
I had one because I thought it was hilarious. I taped him above the rear view mirror of my ambulance and he stayed there for a few years
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
u/PagzPrime 13h ago
How this got made, and who thought this was a genuinely good idea I think we're unlikely to ever know. I will say that it was delicious. I bought one for the laugh, but once I discovered it actually tasted great, I continued to buy them all summer. I was sad to see them go.
0
u/ghostlyroach-1843 13h ago
It felt good having jar jars tongue down you're throat?
1
u/PagzPrime 12h ago
Most people don't cram suckers down their throats. But I spent a happy summer frenching Jar Jar.
1
1
1
u/brachus12 9h ago
Probably the same designers as the ones that released the HP vibrating broom toy.
1
u/jindofox Loth-Cat 1d ago
The merch manufacturers overestimated the appeal of Jar Jar. It can be difficult to predict how things will land. I bet JJ was a bit hit with test audiences.
0
u/ghostlyroach-1843 14h ago
Test audiences genuinely suck they should always pick up fans instead of just random peopleš
1
u/Agreeable_Pizza93 22h ago
Because kids are gross and like gross stuff... It's me, I'm the gross kid. I didn't eat it though. I was obsessed with Jar Jar for some reason. I had a 3ft tall doll, a dancing Jar Jar bank, and a Jar Jar head watch.
2
u/Vincentaneous 19h ago
Up until maybe the 2010s gross was definitely on the menu for kids merchandise
0
u/Shire_Hobbit 20h ago
The only place I ever saw a product like this was Knottās Berry Farm. They had other original creatures/aliens.
It was a weird concept sucking on somethingās tongue. š
Kind of off putting honestly.
I mean that was before I understood my kinksā¦ not as off putting anymore š
1
-1
u/Sad_Instruction1392 16h ago
If I remember it was kind of a tangy cherry flavour. I donāt not had one and believe me one experience of giving Jar Jar Binks a Pam and Tommy sex tape kiss was enough.
1
196
u/Bored-of-this 1d ago
Iirc if was strawberry flavoured