Legend has it that the impetus for Kenner's cancellation of their rocket-firing Boba Fett figure was a recall that Mattel made of one of their missile-firing Battlestar Galactica toys. Basically, a child swallowed one of the Galactica missiles, died and chaos ensued. Consequently, Kenner got cold feet and pulled the firing feature from their upcoming Boba Fett figure. A sad turn of events, no doubt, but also the genesis of a significant moment in Star Wars collecting history.
Collected below are several articles about the Galactica recall that ran in newspapers of the time. This information was graciously provided by Kobol, a web site devoted to all things Battlestar Galactica. They're allowing us to reprint the information for the benefit of Star Wars collectors who want to delve into the history of the RocketFett cancellation.
[ Newspaper articles relating to the Battlestar Galactica toy recall ]
A 4-year old boy from Lilburn, Ga., died Dec. 31 after swallowing one of the projectiles, designed for firing from the space toys.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission and the Mattel Corporation of California issued the "missile mail-in" recall order and said it would run until March 1. Mattel is offering another toy as an inducement to have the missiles returned.
The 11/4 inch red plastic missiles were made to fit several of the space toys in the Galactica group, but a mission spokesman said in Washington that the death and injuries appeared associated with only the Colonial Viper toy. The spokesman said the barrel shape of the toy seemed to invite children to put it in their mouths.
A toy blamed for the death of one American child and the injury of several others is being recalled, although it was so popular during the Christmas season it has virtually disappeared from Calgary stores.
Lindsey Williams, Canadian president of Mattel Inc., said the decision was made Thursday to recall four of the company's Battlestar Galactica spaceship series that fire small red missiles.
Mattel will replace the toys -- 120,000 of which have been sold in Canada -- on retail shelves with modified models that don't fire missiles, Williams said.
He said consumers who send the company sets of the three-centimetre long plastic missiles will receive a Mattel "Hot Wheels" matchbox-type toy vehicle "to make up for the loss of play value in the original toys" when the missiles are removed.
The plastic space vehicles affected by the recall, which sell in retail stores for about $8 and $11 [Canadian], are Colonial Viper, Colonial Scarab, Colonial Stellar Probe, and Cylon Raider.
The three-year-old Atlanta, Georgia child who died had fired a missile into his mouth and swallowed it.
Williams emphasized the missile "in itself complies with all the safety regulations" of both the US and Canadian governments.
Ed Reczek, southern Alberta product safety inspector for the federal consumer affairs department said this is not so much a case of an unsafe toy as it is of a toy being used unsafely.
"I don't think the toy was made for small children. It's a case of little brother getting hold of it," Reczek said.
The toys "comply with our (hazardous products) act. So we're not involved" in the recall. It is abuse that makes the missiles dangerous, he said.
The 16 to 24-centimetre long spaceships are "not recommended for children under three" and fire their missiles at a relatively low velocity over a short distance.
In early December, Mattel began putting caution stickers on the toys warning "do not put or fire red missiles into mouth or towards face."
The company reviewed the toy again when the Atlanta child died Dec. 31.
Williams said it is unfortunate the company has had to modify the toy because "one of the fun, play features was that it did fire these little missiles."
by Ernest Holsendolph, Special to The New York Times
WASHINGTON, Feb. 27, 1979 -- Action for Children's Television, which has long been associated with opposition to abuses in advertising aimed at children, asked the Government today to regulate toys that fire missiles, including the popular space toys of last Christmas.
Peggy Charren, president of the group, told reporters at a news conference here that more than 1,000 youngsters were injured by projectile-firing toys last year, and one child in Atlanta was reported to have died after swallowing a missile fired into his throat.
One of the most popular brands of such toys is Mattel's Battlestar Galactica line, which the company asked to be taken off retail shelves in January. However, Mrs. Charren said today that those toys could be purchased in retail stores in Boston as recently as last Friday.
A spokesman for the Consumer Product Safety Commission, which has been coopering in the recall of the Galactica toys, said the agency was exploring ways of getting additional messages to retailers to halt their sale.
In its petition to the product safety agency, Action for Children's Television asked for new regulations to govern the safety in design of missiles fired by toys and the force of the spring action that propels them. It also called for labelling of projectile toys as being suitable only for children eight years of age or older, and written instructions that explain the presence of missiles in toys and ways to use them safely.
In another move, the television group, which was organized a decade ago by parents in a Boston suburb, showed a film purporting to show the damaging effects of television commercialism on the young.
Called "Kids for Sale," the film was released six days before the Federal Trade Commission opens a monthlong series of hearings on proposals to limit, if not ban altogether, television advertising aimed at children.
In Los Angeles, Spencer Boise, vice president for corporate affairs at Mattel Inc., defended the actions of the company's toy-making subsidiary in the handling of the space toys
Will Exchange Toys
"We have been in touch with the distributors by phone, Mailgram and by letters," he said by telephone, "to let them know that we propose to exchange the toys still on hand for a new, safer version, and meanwhile they may substitute a Hot Wheels toy for the Galactica toys."
Individual customers may not make such exchanges, he said, but they may exchange the missiles for other toys.
The new version of the space toys will fire missiles that remain attached to the launchers, Mr. Boise said. Now coming off production lines, they are just beginning to appear on retail shelves, he said.
In addition to the Galactica series, according to Mrs. Charren, her organization also feels that Mattel's Shogun Warrior and Mego Toys Micronauts, which are still on sale, pose comparable dangers. She said that nails could be fired from the toys "without making any changes in the way the toys ordinarily work."
She said that existing safety rules enforced by the Consumer Product Safety Commission prohibited projectile toys for children under the age of three, but she asserted that such toys were still dangerous for older children.
More Information Regarding the Battlestar Galactica Accident, Courtesy of David Rheingold
