Star Wars Episode I Midnight Madness Flashback

Every Star Wars fan was highly anticipating the release of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace in May of 1999.  The first movie in 16 years, every piece of info from casting to filming locations to potential plot points were being picked apart, with some even going so far as to go frame by frame through the trailers.  This new film was bringing back a galaxy far, far away, reacquainting us with old friends such as Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda, while introducing new.

For collectors, the thought of brand new toys and collectibles was also a driving force behind the buildup to the film’s release.  To pull in all those fans and collectors, the first Midnight Madness event was held at 12:01am on Monday, May 3, 1999.  Stores such as Toys-R-US were open around the country with lines beginning early in the evening.  The big draw for us, and many others, were Hasbro’s line of action figures and vehicles but that was just the tip of the merchandising iceberg that was to come.  The Phantom Menace collectibles reached beyond the toy aisle and into housewares, clothing, bedding, furniture, groceries, basically every department in a store had something featuring the new characters or movie logo.

I was living in York, PA during the rush of Episode I and was at Toys-R-Us for Midnight Madness.  There was a large Star Wars section at the front of the store with banners and advertising ringing the pegs full of hundreds of action figures, shelves overflowing with Pod Racers and 12″ action figures, puzzles, games and other items.

The author is circled in green

People took turns cycling to the front of the section to rifle through the figures, pulling those they wanted and answering requests from those behind them to hand them certain characters.  And when Darth Maul and a few other characters became harder to find, store employees started opening cases of figures in the aisles to make sure everyone got what they were after.  Some collectors had checklists they’d printed and some used the card backs to make sure they picked up everything they were after.  It was not an inexpensive shopping trip for many.  But even with the rush, the fans at my store that night had smiles on their faces and everyone was cooperating to make sure nobody was left out.

A local collector, Chip, who I had met on a few previous occasions, was one of the first in line for Midnight Madness.  Together we went over our counts of action figures to make sure we’d gotten all of the new releases that night.  But it didn’t end with Toys-R-Us, a 24 hour Walmart was just around the corner and after we checked out, we headed over to see how their display was arranged.  Part of it was because Chip was after a late Power of the Force release (Aunt Beru) and part because, at least for me, we weren’t ready to go home yet.  Walmart was not a bust, Beru was purchased, and we got to see yet another large display of Star Wars toy goodness.

While it can be argued, and maybe backed up by sales data, that by the end of 1999 there was Episode I fatigue in the toy aisles, it never dampened the memory of Midnight Madness.  Even though Star Wars action figures had arrived back in stores in 1995, that event was the real launch of what’s been an unprecedented 15 year run for Star Wars toy collectors.   Midnight Madness returned for Episode II and III as well as The Clone Wars, but I don’t think they were as much of a shared experience as that first time.