Kenner was a subsidary company to General Mills and were lucky enough to obtain the rights to produce toys based on the Star Wars movie (that was soon to be released). The rights to these toys had been offered to Mego and other toy companies, but they decided not to go ahead with them! When Star Wars was released there was a huge demand for the toys from children everywhere! Kenner was unprepared for the demand and had nor produced any toys for the 1977 Christmas period!

To solve this problem, Kenner created an Early Bird Certificate Package. This was an envelope that contained a cardboard display stand, some stickers, a fan club membership card and a certificate. The child receiving this certificate could then mail the certificate to Kenner. Kenner would then mail back four action figures based on Star Wars chracters as soon as they could.

In February 1978 kenner shipped out mailer boxes containing Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia Organa, Chewbacca, R2-D2 and 12 foot pegs for the display. In February 1978 Kenner produced the first 12 figures from the tar Wars movie.