A History of Star Wars Toys Actually Seen In Star Wars

Children all around the world love Star Wars, but actually being a kid in that galaxy far, far actually would be terrible. With few exceptions, the kids we see in the movies are either child slaves (like Anakin Skywalker), refugee child soldiers (like Jyn Erso), or the younglings that Darth Vader murders in Revenge of the Sith. Doesn’t seem like a great place to grow up, but somehow these kids manage to eke out a childhood.

There really aren’t a lot of toys in the Star Wars universe, as despite being a technologically advanced setting, there’s surprisingly little fun to be had. Even as adults, it seems that inhabitants of the Star Wars galaxy are limited to going to seedy cantinas or smoking death sticks. Kids have an even harder time, but there are examples of kiddie toys in the films, though, interestingly, almost all the toys appear to be homemade.

In A New Hope, Luke is shown playing with a model of a T-16 Skyhopper. It’s a pretty nice, seemingly official model, and we’re lead to presume this is how Luke entertains himself when he’s not inside the cockpit of a real Skyhopper shooting womp rats. Wait, killing animals for fun? Jeez, he needed more toys.

W. Wald’s ball

In The Phantom Menace, lil Anakin’s friends (and fellow child slaves) drop by for a visit while he’s working on his podracer to ask if he wants to play ball. The Rodian, W. Wald, is holding a pretty nondescript orange ball and what looks like a frying pan. It’s unclear what sport, if any, they play on Tatooine. The other thing Anakin does for fun is participate in deadly street races, so maybe tossing a ball around for a change isn’t a bad idea.

Rey’s handmade rebel pilot doll

Sitting on a shelf in Rey’s AT-AT house in The Force Awakens, eagle-eyed fans can spot a crudely made orange doll of a rebel pilot. The visual dictionary for the film explains that Rey, who had been on Jakku since she was a young kid, made it herself out of found debris. The orange fabric, for instance, came from a New Republic cargo container.

Jyn Erso’s handmade stormtrooper doll

Before the Empire found her family despite their best attempts to stay off the grid, little Jyn had a couple toys to keep herself entertained, most famously a handmade stormtrooper doll. Jyn had to leave it behind when she fled, but the doll proved so popular in the real world that fans created their own, DIY stormtroopers, making the toy a crossover hit in both our galaxy and the Star Wars one.

Lumpy’s toys

As George Lucas would be all too eager to remind you, the Star Wars Holiday Special is technically not part of official Star Wars canon, but we’d be remiss not to include it because Chewbacca’s son had a fully decked-out play place. Lumpawaroo, aka “Lumpy,” has an entire nook full of interesting toys, some of which come courtesy of Saun Dann, a Santa-like trader on the planet. Curiously, the young Wookie, who lives on Kashyyyk, has a really nice looking stuffed Bantha toy. According to Wookiepedia, Bantha’s were bread around the galaxy, but it’s still slightly curious to see a toy of a Tatooine-native creature on the Wookie homeworld.

Based on the scarcity of toys in the rest of the Star Wars universe, Lumpy’s treasure trove should really be all the proof you need that the Star Wars Holiday Special isn’t in continuity. If it were, Lumpy would be an impoverished slave with one toy made out of garbage — if he was lucky.