We collector's are fickle. We go to great lengths to get a piece in our collection only to get bored with it and sell it off. Such was the life of the Burger King Star Wars glasses back from 1977, 1980 and 1983 around 2012 when I got all three sets and then parted with them about a year later when I never displayed them.
However, something happened about a year ago. The glasses hit my radar again, and the itch began to...Well, get itchy (perhaps from all the supposed lead in them). I wanted these glasses again, and this time I swore I would display them properly.
More time passed, and while they remained on my radar I never took the plunge. Truth was, I had little interest in paying $60.00 per set on ebay.
As I started going to flea markets and toy shows, I kept them on my list of wants, making sure to look for them out in the wild. Sadly, I never came across them.
It just so happened to coincide with my birthday that my brother found a complete set of twelve at a flea market in Delaware. Following my directions, he was able to talk the person down from their asking price if all twelve were bought and the sale was made. He also went in on them with me to make them a joint venture birthday gift.
Now that I had the glasses again, I had a promise to keep to myself. I needed a place to display them. I knew I didn't want to just get a thin shelf to install in the wall - Mainly because I didn't want to have to make repairs to the wall later. Instead, I set my sights on a new cabinet. After many hours of searching I finally came across the perfect one.
It's as if the shelf was made for them! Perfect height, width and overall design with three shelves.
I also used it as an opportunity to get my Firehouse off of the floor since the dog's behind kept knocking into it and either making the figures fall or worse, knocking the sign down (which I feared would eventually run out of luck and break the pegs).
Though I foolishly got rid of these glasses before, I won't be making that mistake again. This time they're here to stay.
Let me take you in for a closer look!
I love the orange in this C-3PO and R2-D2 one. It works perfectly to capture the feel of a sunset on Tatooine. While the two droids stand out in the forefront, you still can't miss all of that wonderful detail in the background of all the planets, the twin suns and even a little Luke Skywalker hanging out.
Believe it or not, this isn't designated as a Han Solo glass. Instead, the blurb on the back is for Chewbacca. As you rotate the glass from left to right you also get a little Luke Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi in there as well as an X-Wing soaring across the sky.
Luke Skywalker shares a glass with his soon to be discovered twin sister, Princess Leia Organa. There's also a couple Stormtroopers hanging out along with a small image of Obi-Wan Kenobi. Though the background isn't as busy as the other glasses from this particular set, I do like how the Death Star got slipped in along with an X-Wing and TIE Fighter.
Darth Vader's glass, while fun, is probably my least favorite out of the four. For starters, it's a pretty bad drawing of him. Second, there's too much purple. Don't get me wrong, I like the color purple as much as the next guy. However, with the gray and black it's too much.
New movie, new set of glasses. Capitalizing on the success of their promotion for glasses based on Star Wars, Burger King opted to continue the trend when The Empire Strikes Back was released in 1980.
The glass take on a slightly altered style from the prior ones, having more rounded bottoms. They may also be a fraction taller.
R2-D2 and C-3PO once again got a glass. This time depicting them on Hoth. Either Luke or Han is hanging out on a Tauntaun on the left side, while a Probot creeps around on the right.
Darth Vader gets a much better glass in The Empire Strikes Back set. Not only is the artwork more in line with what he actually looks like, but the colors work great. While Boba Fett is also pretty front and center, I much prefer the two Imperial Hoth Stromtroopers and IG-88 creeping around on the left side in front of and behind Vader.
New movie, new character, new character glass. Lando Calrissian gets his own glass in spite of Han and Leia hanging out on it to his right. The glass attempts to go for a Cloud City look, but kind of fails. The only give away is one lone Twin Cloud Car and an even lonelier tiny cloud. Then there's also the random Stormtrooper on the other side aiming at Lando's neck.
Luke Skywalker on Dagobah with Yoda? Yes, please. Granted, Dagobah was by no means this colorful, but it works well to depict the marshland of the planet.
Burger King rounded the set out in 1983 with four more glasses based on Return of the Jedi. The overall shape and design appears to be a blending of both styles from Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back. You get the rounded bottoms (The Empire Strikes Back), but still that little extra distinguishing at the bottom of the glass (Star Wars).
The Emperor, his Royal Guard and Dignitary watch on as Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker lock lightsabers for the ultimate final battle! One of the things that stand out in not only this glass, but the entire series, is that there is so much going on in each "scene". It's almost a little too much.
Shh. Don't tell anyone about the Ewoks. They were such a massive secret during production of the film that Kenner had to black them out in earlier catalogs and cardbacks. Burger King on the other hand said, "Here they are," from one side to the other of this fantastic glass depicting the Ewok village.
Jabba's Palace gave the world of Star Wars fans quite a bit. Tons of fantastic creatures and characters. The vile gangster himself, and of course, Princess Leia all but nude (rest her soul).
Last up is a glass which gives us all the heroes...Well, most of them...as they battle it out in the Sarlac Pit - Litterally. Luke is standing right next to it. Not only that, but Han Solo is technically displayed from his Endor scene. The bunker is literally behind him.
So what do you think? Do you like the Burger King promotional glasses from back in the day? Are you as surprised as I am that the company didn't continue this trend with glasses based on the Prequel and Sequel Trilogies?
Perfect birthday! Ghostbusters toys, Star Wars glasses and a new cabinet! Believe it or not, there's still more to come because I haven't even opened what my girlfriend got for me. One final post coming soon!
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