Star Wars Greeting Cards (1994)

 1994 was an odd time in Star Wars history. Just a few years prior, Timothy Zahn's Heir to the Empire was released ending what a lot of fans call the "dark times" when it seemed like we'd gotten all the Star Wars we ever would. 

After Return of the Jedi, the final Kenner toys, the Ewok TV movies, the Droids/Ewoks cartoons, and the original Marvel comic series ending in 1987 as far as we knew...that was it. (The West End RPG was just taking off but that's definitely not as mainstream as it is today.) I credit Zahn's books with kickstarting the Star Wars renaissance of the 90s. For better or worse, the next year we'd start getting new (beefier) action figures.

While going through more boxes for #BasementPurge2021 I found a Hallmark bag with some Star Wars greeting cards. These aren't something I generally collect so I'm going on the idea that these were the first new cards to be produced in awhile.

 

I thought they'd make a fun blog post and I can just make a Star Wars month out of May. Why keep it to just one day? 

Let's have a look!

 

 That's R2-D2's way of saying Happy Valentine's Day to the neatest nephew in the galaxy.

Am I alone in thinking Valentine's cards for nieces/nephews are a bit weird? I get people want to celebrate but it just doesn't seem like a holiday for extended family. Also, I think they're a couple decades late on "neatest."

 Just standing here with my letter opener waiting to hear from you.

That one aged well, didn't it? Victim of the times.

Darth Vader offers fashion advice for humans your age. Happy Birthday!

Okay, we know Vader was human. Why the odd wording? 

Is it because he's "from space"?

If anybody says we're not in love, just say "R2".

Alright, this one isn't so bad. It's a little cutesy but so is Artoo...

When I think of you my helmet fogs.

And on the other hand we have this cheesy one. From the many images they could use for a greeting card, why choose this one that is not the best quality?

 

 

On one planet, lighting the birthday candles is a pretty big deal. Happy Birthday!

This one is sort of funny but I also really like AT-ATs so that's an extra bonus.

 

What's up with Chew?

Pretty close to "dad joke" level pun but I like it. This one would be fun to get in the mail.

Cheer up, even heroes have their bad times.

This is definitely my favorite of the bunch. It doesn't even need to have a message inside, the joke is right there and it's actually chuckle worthy.

So there's some 1994 greeting cards. I never claimed any of these were amazing but I hope you enjoyed a little trip through greeting card history.