Midnight on 3rd May 1999 was a day long-awaited as hoardes of fans and collectors hit stores across the States to participate in what used to be a common sight – Midnight Madness. As the countdown continued towards the release of The Phantom Menace – a fever pitch todays fans may have difficulty grasping in this modern era of multiple films, TV, animation, parks and much more – TV show Geek Unique took their cameras to Toys ‘R’ Us in Brandon, Florida to film the events.

To mark the release of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, a whole new collection of 3 and 3/4 figures were released under the title of Episode I. At the time, this line was unique from other lines in that it covered only the characters and droids from the new movie. As a prelude to the film, and to increase interest, two preview items were made available in 1998. The first was a mail-away promotion for Jedi Master Mace Windu. The other item was a large scale Battle Droid on a STAP, which was available at retail and labeled “Episode I coming in 1999”.

The full initial waves of figures, vehicles, and beasts were released at midnight, May 3rd, 1999. The line introduced a new level of paint and sculpture detail, as well as increased points of articulation on select figures. A new pack-in feature was also included called COMMTech chips, these chips also doubled as stands for the figures and, with the addition of a separately sold chip reader, enabled figures to electronically play phrases from the film.