'Star Wars' merchandise flops

What do Princess Leia headphones, a Darth Vader gumball machine, and a Jabba the Hutt beanbag chair have in common? They're merchandise rejects you won't find on eBay anytime soon.

Tito Estrada Staff writer, CNET News

Tito Estrada is a news producer at CNET News. He occasionally blogs on the quirky nature of the Net. E-mail Tito.

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Tito Estrada

March 25, 2008 4:55 p.m. PT

What do Princess Leia headphones, a Darth Vader gumball machine, and a Jabba the Hutt beanbag chair have in common? They're all Star Wars promotional merchandise rejects you won't be finding on eBay anytime soon.

NPR's The Bryant Park Project caught up with Jason Geyer and Steve Ross, two product designers tapped to create merchandise for the Star Wars "prequels" back in the late 1990s.

Some of their products worked, and some, like the Han Solo refrigerator, bombed. Read the story and check out the audio slideshow at NPR: "Rejected: 'Star Wars' merchandise you'll never own"