If you carried this Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back lunch box in 1980, you were a super hip kid.
When Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back arrived in 1980, along came plenty of merchandise. There were two types of lunch boxes at the time–metal or plastic. For this film there were four different boxes released. I’ve got the 1980 metal The Empire Strikes Back lunch box, purchased years ago from a small town flea market. The graphics are mostly straight from the film, and feature Yoda, Darth Vader, Luke, R2-D2, snowtroopers, and even Cloud City! Here is Luke and Yoda on the front:
I love the vivid blue order and yellow logo. It is a very 1980s look, perfect for the lunch box. Unfortunately I do not have the thermos that would have come with the box. There were a couple of colors, either red or blue thermos with white or yellow caps and featured Yoda. Hopefully I can find one in the future (or, I guess there is eBay). Here is the back of The Empire Strikes Back lunch box, with a great shot of snowtroopers on Hoth getting ready to fire on the Millenium Falcon:
The left and right sides of The Empire Strikes Back lunch box feature a publicity photo of Darth Vader and stormtroopers on a red background, and a black and white photo of Yoda. Not as great as the front and back, but still pretty cool. You can see the vivid colors more on the sides, I love the red background. I do wish Yoda was in color though.
The best feature of The Empire Strikes Back lunch box is the very bottom. There it displays concept artwork from Ralph McQuarrie, showing Cloud City and a Twin-Pod Cloud Car! I love this art, and wish it was more prominently featured on the box.
This The Empire Strikes Back lunch box goes from about $40-$80 online, without the thermos. Overall it’s a great piece of my collections, a real vintage, used piece. But mine’s not for sale, it’s for keeps!
Courtney Martin is a graduate of Indiana University and works in publishing. She’s an avid Star Wars fan and wrote the recipe blog Courtney Cooks Star Wars on suvudu.com. When not enveloped a science fiction or fantasy novel, she is watching television with her husband and son, doing crossword puzzles, or playing with her Shih Tzu, Burt.