This scholarly edition is about the toy of the popular alien called E.T.. The cute but ugly action figure from 1982 is inspired by the alien lead actor of the successful film E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (1982), directed by Steven Spielberg.
The 1980s was when the link between films and the toy industry was very strong (Rochman, 2022). The main purpose of selling animation films at this time was to sell merchandise in the form of toys (Rochman, 2022). Children are considered the direct customers of the animation and toy industry (Rochman, 2022). What is interesting about this toy of E.T. is that he is a collector’s item. He was bought at a market in London in 2018 for less than he is worth now. He also had no packaging. The purchase of the E.T. toy can be seen as a product of nostalgia. Nostalgia plays a crucial role in the consumption of icons of the past, with consumers drawn to objects that remind them of their childhood or a particular time that they find meaningful (MacIntyre, Bolter, & Gandy, 2004; Raisbeck, 2023).