It seems like a natural combination: Star Wars and a potato chip brand named UFO's. At least that is what the Dutch company that made them decided when they became a promotional partner during the release of The Empire Strikes Back in 1980.
Preeservenbedrijj B.V. created four three-inch round stickers of Star Wars characters as a premium for their UFO's potato chips. With only four stickers to collect, Dutch fans could complete their set relatively easily without damaging their pocketbooks or their waistlines. More recent potato chip promotions from other countries have had up to 100 premiums to collect -- now that's a lot of spuds!
One of the first things noticeable about this particular sticker set is the interesting choice of characters used. Yoda, Chewbacca, C-3PO, and Princess Leia get the honor of being immortalized on these stickers. Where are Han, Luke, R2-D2, Darth Vader, or even Lando or Boba Fett? It turns out the makers of this promotion attempted to solve this issue by creating a poster to go along with the sticker set. The poster features the Rebel Medical Frigate and images of Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker. At the bottom of the poster are empty spots to place the stickers and, to get you started, they printed round photos of Darth Vader and Luke. Kind of like "free spaces" in Bingo. That way it looks like you have six stickers when the poster is completed and no fan would have to face the shame of having a poster that only had one C-3PO sticker. Very thoughtful.
For a long time, I had always wondered about the lack of an actual UFO's potato chip bag from this promotion. Even though it is true that the packaging is less often saved than the premiums, I still thought some bags should turn up in someone's collection. That was until I happened to see an advertisement for this chip promotion in an old Dutch comic or magazine that showed the stickers were actually attached to the bag itself and not hidden in the bottom of the bag soaking up grease and salt. This made collecting the stickers that much easier. Lady Luck did not have to smile upon you; nor did you need to devour countless bags of chips searching in vain for that last sticker. You could just grab the four bags with the different stickers in the set and be done. Today, the sticker set can still be found at reasonable prices and recently I have even seen empty bags with the stickers still attached. The poster, however, tends to be a bit more elusive. So collectors today might have to live with a sticker set that does not feature Luke or Vader.
Make sure to check out Gus and Duncan's Comprehensive Guide to Star Wars Collectibles, available exclusively online and now shipping!
