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RFR Q&A #133: STAR WARS Memories & 1-800 Phone Messages (Patreon)

Published:
2022-09-20 19:11:13
Imported:
2026-06
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Content

In the months leading up to the release THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK, a 1-800 phone line was available for fans to call and hear pre-recorded messages from STAR WARS characters voiced by the original actors. This interesting moment in the history of Star Wars promotions is covered in former Lucasfilm P.R. executive Craig Miller's book "Star Wars Memories". RFR V.I.P. Ben Stein is back to discuss highlights from the book and we listen back to those classic phone messages. 

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Comments

GB7

What an episode guys! A tad late to the party on this one, but glad I didn’t skip over it. Great contribution Ben! 👌🏼

Eric from Phoenix

Can’t wait to listen. I called the number but got a busy signal for several tries. I don’t remember if I tried for several days or just one day. I eventually heard a message but I can’t remember which one :(

Dylan McGee

Fantastic episode! I vaguely remember my mom calling in and giving me the receiver when the recording came on. I am pretty sure there was an ad in our local newspaper, the NY Daily News, with an image of Darth Vader and the number. In fact, I think we were trying to get through to Darth Vader, but don't remember if we ever got through to him. Had this not come up on RFR, I think I would have totally forgotten about this! Really needed to trawl through my brain cells to remember this. Thanks, as always, for helping me piece together my history as a fan!

Peter Beisser
>>92011246

Excited to listen to this one too! Never heard about the phone number. The ramp up to Empire was a little before my time. But I dig Ben Stein--so all aboard.

Kirk Leppert

Great listen with Ben Stein. I thought there had been more than one previous Ben Stein Q&A, but I guess I’m thinking of his call ins from Mando/BoB. Anyway, really enjoyed it!

Ben P. Stein
>>92014270

Thank you so much, Kirk! I'm so glad you enjoyed it. I think I called in at least once, for the Star Wars Visions aftershow on one occasion.

Ben P. Stein
>>92013688

Glad you liked it, Dylan! I was also a voracious reader of the NY Daily News, my hometown paper! According to the book, AT&T asked Lucasfilm not to advertise the number, but the hotline got so much media publicity and it's possible the Daily News wrote an article about it with the number and a picture of Darth Vader.

Ben P. Stein
>>92011246

Hi Eric and Peter! I hope you enjoy the episode. I had a lot of fun talking to Jimmy. The hotline was so cool. Jimmy points out some interesting things about the recordings on the episode.

Joe Dallas

Great show Ben! Some very interesting things you brought up like code numbers on each actor’s script…. very cool. Thanks for a great hour and a half of Star Wars talk!

Dylan McGee
>>92013688

Interesting! I may have misremembered the details, then. I was still three years old at the time. Have to say, I enjoyed that anecdote about your father, too. I thought you were going to say he reamed out the Boss about the Ken Phelps/Jay Buhner trade (like Jerry Stiller's character in Seinfeld)! But it was a good joke and a witty comeback all the same. And as one Yankees fan to another, let's hope Boone can get everyone on this team not named Judge to find their strokes come playoff time. They've been a clown show since the ASB and Cashman's ludicrous trades (especially Monty to STL).

Valentin

I can't find de Q&A #132 guys, can you help me plz ?

Adam Taylor

Really interesting and fun episode, thanks Ben and Jimmy

Scott Osterkamp

Ordered the book! Thanks for the insight Ben! Will be a wonderful read during my travels.

Jim from Sweden

I found all the messages downloadable on Internet Archive. There are other amazing Star Wars things there too, like all OT 16 mm films 77 - 83! The original Star Wars without "Episode 1 A New Hope" in the crawl!

Ben P. Stein
>>92103692

Thanks, Scott! I hope you enjoy the book. I read some of it during travel myself!

Jared Cantor

This was a fantastic QnA. Never knew about the 1800 number. I instantly knew something was off about 3PO but I didn't know what until Jimmy explained it.

Tyler Page

Cris Macht just had Craig Miller on his show in September so it’s weird timing but really enjoyed this one. Unlike Cris, Ben actually read the book so that was some great insight!

Ben P. Stein
>>92877731

Tyler, that is a coincidence! I’ll have to check out Cris’s show! Thanks!!!

Jeff Holland

Great ep! You know something? I have absolutely no memory of the phone number to call to hear these Star Wars memories/messages. You think you’ve seen and heard everything from those days (late 70’s/early 80s) then something like this gets brought to your attention. Thanks!

Ben P. Stein
>>93329882

Jeff, I think I heard about the phone hotline when reading Starlog magazine--otherwise I likely would have missed it completely. You might enjoy the Craig Miller book as much as I did--I learned a lot of new stuff from late 70s/early 80s that I never knew before, and it's an amazing feeling to know that there are a lot of interesting little details about Star Wars out there still to learn. I enjoy your Qs and As and your fun comments in Youtube chat during the aftershows. MTFBWY!

Jonathan Medd

This was great! Thanks for playing the messages, had no idea this existed

Eric from Phoenix

I feel like I won Ben Stein’s money listening to this discussion. So much fun. I loved the comic book tie in with your name. Crazy! Harrison Ford saying grace, hard to believe. I never thought about Star Wars coming back until my mom read about it in the newspaper. I just never thought it was coming back. I was just like Ben in thinking about ILM. I had never heard the stories of kids being Rebel Troopers on Hoth. Jim is doing a Star Wars Holiday Special book???Yes!!