Star Wars, it is safe to say, is more than just an epic action adventure series with dazzling special effects; not only are these films huge icons of science fiction cinema but have become cultural milestones in adolescent, passed down though the generations birthing new fans in the process. The original movies have seeped into every aspect of modern culture with the fictional Jedi religion becoming an actual recognised faith choice!
Many things to many people is the Star wars series so no small feat was it to bring about an entirely new set of "prequel" instalments to the masses and meet all expectations with success. Enter Episode 1: The phantom menace which introduces us to Anakin Skywalker (who audiences are well aware will one day become the master Sith Lord Darth Vader) in his boyhood he is a slave who shows signs of being incredibly strong with the Force so is taken on by Jedi Masters Quai Gon Jinn and Obi Wan Kenobi to be trained in the art of Jedi.
Episode 1 was generally met with disappointment and was considered inferior compared to the original trilogy. However the Movie has grown in popularity over the years and has come to be (for the most part) excepted by fans and beloved by younger audiences.
Star wars has been innovative in many, many aspects but none more so than in the marketing of its movies, especially in the merchandising department Episode 1 was no exception and saw a merchandising blitz the likes of which was unparalleled! though Series creator and Director George Lucas may not have put out the best product on the screen he certainly filled shelves with ton's of brilliant collectables and toys galore with marketing deals made with companies like Pepsi and U.S restaurant chains KFC/Taco Bell and Pizza Hut, which divided up around 30 different toys and 12 collectable cup toppers and cups amongst the chains. In the UK we received around a third of the amount of collectables some variants of those figures available abroad plus a couple that were exclusive to Europe which were sold with children's meals from KFC and Pizza Hut restaurants. Bellow are some of those figures and collectables that were available during the run of Phantom menace distributed by PepsiCo restaurants:
Darth Maul's Sith speeder: Darth Maul was used a great deal in the marketing of phantom menace despite only appearing sparingly during the actual movie, however he has become of the most popular recent additions to the Star Wars universe. Here Darth in seated in his "Sith Speeder" which has a rip chord mechanism send his vehical driving along. This figure was also available in the U.S but had a slightly more detail paint job on the speeder itself.
As these figures were made by Applause (who produced collectables for many high profile movies) they tend to be more detailed than the average Fast food giveaway toy, and this figure features lots of great intricate detailing and a very good character likeness.
Queen Amidala's royal Starship: used to transport her majesty queen Amidala across solar systems the Royal Starship features throughout Episode 1 and transports a crew that includes Obi Wan Kenobi and Jar Jar Binks to Tatooine where they encounter young Anakin Skywalker! 
It is a pretty basic figure with a very low Tec action feature, it essentially launches by having air pumped into it and has only basic detailing on the ship itself this figure was also released in the U.S but featured a chrome paint job
The Pit Droid features pretty on both the figure and base good detailing and even comes with a spanner type accessory!
The style of this toy is similar to one available in U.S only that version levitates via magnets instead of leaping up via springs. The figure itself is almost identical to the U.S version but features far fewer paint applications but this still looks great!
Leaflet that was provided with each toy showing the six figures available from U.K KFC's
Mace Windu cup topper: along with a selection of action toys these collectable cup toppers were available to purchase with a selection of around 12 characters available to collect! this topper depicts Samuel L Jackson as Jedi master Mace Windu in his first appearance in the prequel Trilogy, Mace Windu is part of the all wise Jedi council .
The Toppers when not placed on the soft drink cups make for very nice character "busts" and are very nicely detailed, particularly mace Windu here who has a very accurate Likeness of Jackson.
Nute Gunray cup topper: Trade federation leader and follower of the mysterious Darth Sidious whose attempted invasion of Naboo is thwarted by the Jedi and the Naboo forces!
A close up look at Nute Gunray reveals some very nice detailing!
Jar Jar Binks cup topper: When Jar Jar is inadvertently rescued by Qui-Gon he ends up joining the Jedi in their battle with the Trade federation and the recruitment of young Jedi Anakin Skywalker!
Whatever your feelings on the Gungan buffoon (and no doubt you WILL have one) the merchandise for Episode one focused heavily on him and if you collect Star Wars memorabilia you will probably have a few Jar Jar items in your hoard! with that said this set is amongst probably some of the best merchandise put out by Lucas for the first instalment and Jar Jar is one of the best of the bunch perfectly capturing his wayward expression and his lanky appearance with the elongated arms, missa lovein dis!
Rounding off the prequel trilogy and bringing the Star Wars saga full circle, Revenge of the Sith, see's Anakin finally take up the mantle of an evil Sith Lord being renamed; Darth Vader! Revenge received the best reviews of the prequel series and is viewed as a much worthier addition to the Star Wars family than either of its two predecessors. Like Episode 1: the phantom menace and (though to a much lesser extent) episode 2: Attack of the clones, episode 3 featured a bevy of merchandise though it was only the second time a Star Wars movie got a Fast food happy meal promotion to tie-in with its release, this time however it was back to Burger King (who had previously supplied promotional drinking glasses for the original trilogy and watches for the phantom menace) to supply the toys, which they did in abundance producing almost 30 different toys for the U.S market! taking inspiration from all six movies there were few major characters who weren't represented in the collection, Burger King even supplied a checklist so that Kids (Big and small) could keep track of which ones they needed. The U.K (as usual) and other European countries received a grand total of six figures! only one of which was from the U.S collection. Australia faired slightly better with four different figural "busts" and a four part buildable Darth Vader head courtesy of Hungry Jack's (Burger King in all but name). So here we will take a look at those Australian, U.S and U.K sets in detail:
Han Solo wind up: Galactic smuggler and Captain of the fastest hunk of junk in the Galaxy The Millennium Falcon Han Solo is a fast talking sharp shooting rogue who begrudgingly agrees to help Luke Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi in their rescue of Princess Leia from the clutches of the galactic empire! after helping to take down the Death Star he becomes a fully affiliated member of the rebel alliance before being captured by Darth Vader and encased in Carbonite! The figures in this set came as either "Wind up's" "Squirters" or "viewers" Han here has a wind up feature that makes him "vibrate" making the Carbonite encasing come apart to reveal Solo!
The Carbonite case that accompanies this figure is very impressive not only because you can put the Han solo figure inside but because its actually a really accurate representation (except the exaggerated proportions of Han's head and body)
Princess Leia viewer: Sister of Luke Skywalker and Daughter of Anakin Skywalker Princess Leia is not your typical damsel in distress, in fact she has been an integral addition to the rebel alliance helping to bring down the empire! This figure features a very nice likeness of Carrie fisher with her iconic "Hair bun's" as seen in the original 1977 movie!
The figure, as mentioned earlier, is one of the six "viewers" that were available, with each figure featuring a series of stills from one of the six movies, Leia has a selection of Star Wars: A new hope slides which can be viewed at the base of the toy and changed by turning a wheel on the figures back.
Boba Fett Squirter: Galactic bounty hunter Boba Fett is the best there is at hunting down some of the galaxy's most wanted alien scum, for a price of course! Fan favourite Boba had become so popular after his original yet very brief appearances that his lineage features prominently in Episode 2: attack of the clones, with his father (bounty Hunter Jango fett) being subject to cloning to create an army of troopers for the republic (predecessors to the storm troopers) This Boba Fett figure has a water squirting feature which shoots from his gauntlet when a button is pressed on his backpack.
Jabba the Hutt Squirter: One of the most feared crime bosses in the galactic empire Jabba has in his employ a cache of Bounty Hunters, Pirates and assassins to do his bidding! Double crossing Jabba however will bring about certain doom with resident "pet" Rancor awaiting its next meal!
Jabba as represented here in all his hideous glory is a water squirting figure as is apparent by the hole in his mouth were water will shoot out from!
C3-PO viewer: Long suffering Droid C3PO has been a constant participant in all of the Star Wars adventures along with his counterpart R2-D2, though the shinny human/cyborgs relations robot is often seen cowering or running scared at the first sign of trouble he is irrevocably loyal to master's Luke Skywalker and Anakin Skywalker respectively!
As part of the "viewers" set of figures Threepio contains slides from the sixth episode Return of the Jedi which can be viewed by looking through a spyhole under figures foot.
R2-D2 Squirter: Artoo's assistance in the various Galactic Battles waged against the Jedi has been invaluable! The childlike droid has aided the Jedi in all kinds of ways and has frequently helped save the lives of the good guys when they have found themselves in peril! This R2-D2 figure simply squirts water when filled up and a button is pushed on his back!
Another in the collection of viewer's this figure has various slides taken from Episode 1: The phantom menace which Darth Maul featured in!
Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader: The entire Prequel trilogy is built around the inevitable transition of Jedi Anakin Skywalker into Sith Lord Darth Vader!From gifted slave boy to masterful Jedi to powerful Sith the journey of Anakin as played out across three movies is a powerful morality tale made all the more potent when the events of the original trilogy are taken into account with the "birth" of the iconic Vader a truly powerful thing to behold.
This particular toy was touted as a special edition limited figure which was available in "limited quantities" as the bellow poster will attest to. The figure is essentially two-in-one with the Anakin figure able to be concealed inside the Darth Vader figure!
Here is the aforementioned poster that serves as a checklist to keep track of your collection!
as I mentioned earlier this figure is the only one that was available in the U.K that was taken directly from the brilliant U.S set. Yoda is proportioned with a large head and small body just like the other toys in that series, A style that suits Yoda better than the others given that Yoda is the smallest in stature.
This figure is possibly the most impressive of the bunch and is distinctly taller than the others, he is also very detailed but lacking in paint applications, in fact the yellows of his eyes and the black pupils are the only other colours applied aside from the gold paintjob.
Light Up millennium falcon: Even though it didn't play any part in the final part of the prequel trilogy (or any of the prequel films at all for that matter) It's the Millennium Falcon! Possibly the coolest starship ever! and this toy (which lights up at the rear when pushed along) has some really good detailing on it very nice indeed!
Though its not a spectacular figure and has a pretty standard action feature it is at least pretty nicely detailed though the "glowing" effect around the lightsaber detracts from it slightly!
Sample of the supplied instruction leaflet
As is often the case Australian fans were treated to an entirely different set of figures with their kid's meals, at Hungry Jack's (Australia's answer to Burger King) Four different solid plastic Character busts were available each with a hollow piece of Darth Vader's head accompanying each figure, simply collect the figures to complete Darth Vader! 
Yoda: Brandishing a green Lightsaber this Yoda "bust" (or finger puppet if you wanted to place him on top of your index finger) is ready to duel with the Evil Emperor!
These figures are very simple but have great detailing, Yoda particularly looks fantastic just like his on screen counterpart!
Obi-Wan: Master Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi prepares to battle former Pad-Wan Anakin Skywalker who has become seduced by the Dark side!
Featuring another great likeness, this time of Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan, this figure is yet again fantastic looking despite some sloppy paintwork here and there (To be expected from a fast food toy I suppose) he is also posed so that he matches up with Anakin's battle stance as best recreate their awesome climatic battle!
Anakin: Former Jedi Knight and father of Luke Skywalker Anakin is eventually seduced by the Dark Side of the force desperate to save the life of his wife after foreseeing her death. Anakin will be forced to face his friend and former master in a fight for the Galaxy!
Once again another good likeness and nice detailing on this figure with his pose making for a nice scene depicting the epic battle of master and former student!
The Emperor: AKA Darth Sidious, the most evil of the Sith lords and supreme ruler of the galactic empire! He manages to seduce Young Anakin over to the Dark Side and renames him Darth Vader!
This figure like the others is equipped with a Lightsaber and boasts a good likeness and nice detailing!
Darth Vader Head: When Anakin is all but killed in his battle with former Master Obi-Wan Kenobi he is transformed into the iconic villain Darth Vader!
This large hollow "mask" comes in four seperate parts that combine to make the full sculpture of Darth's face
The Mask is cast in all black with some Paint detailing on the eye are and around the "mouth" section very nicely detailed and is a spot on likeness of the Darth Vader mask! Impressive! Most impressive!
One of the earliest Fast Food tie-in promotions was at Burger King a deal that was made to promote a little known low budget sci-fi called Star Wars. At the time it was quite an unusual proposition but such was the ingenuity of filmmaker George Lucas that any opportunity to produce merchandise and publicly promote his master work was taken and in so doing the bar was set for promoting new highly anticipated blockbusters through Fast food tie-ins, be it promotional Glasses/cup's special edition menus or a bevy of toys and collectables that continues to this day! May the force be with you!
