Collecting Diary 2005-02-27

1999 Star Wars Episode I The Phantom Menace Taco Bell (Disposable) Cups!

The big promotion for EPI at Taco Bell was to get a large drink and a plastic cup with a character cup topper. Not a lot of collectors though ahead to get a set of the disposable cups too.


Even though they're pictured the same size here, the Queen Amidala and Jar Jar Binks cups are mediums, and the Darth Maul and Obi-Wan Kenobi cups are larges. The game in 1999 was Defeat the Dark Side, where small pog-like game pieces could be found on lids. If you were able to colelct mini-sets of the pogs you could win food, prizes, or cash.

Most of these cups were used and disposed of properly. Not many collectors took the time to rinse their cups and store them, or brave asking a manager for extra unused cups. (Most Taco Bells are self-serve beverages, so by asking for extra unused cups, a patron could actually swipe quite a bit of free drink if their nitesntions weren't honorable.)