Buffy the Vampire Slayer Twentieth Anniversary Retrospective ~ Part 5

By the year 2000, Buffy merchandise entered a bold new era with the release of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer video game for the Game Boy Color handheld game console. It was the first video game based on the franchise to be released, and the only Buffy game to be rated 'E' by the ESRB. Although the game itself is generally poorly reviewed on game websites, it is still a historic piece of Buffy memorabilia. 

Buffy related confectioneries also entered a bold new era in 2000 when True Confections debuted their chocolate bars based on characters from the series. Their thematic recipes included dark chocolate and raspberry crème (Buffy) and chocolate & crispies (Spike), among others.

As season four continued, with Buffy now enrolled in college at UC Sunnydale, in the year 2000 we see the first collectibles appear with images of Riley Finn, soldier of the Initiative and erstwhile Buffy love interest. This year we also see a growing iconography associated with Buffy, the animated-style image emblazoned on this t-shirt far removed from an image more easily associated with the TV show, like those being produced only a few years previous.

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Coming up next: 100th episode, UPN, and more!!

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Twentieth Anniversary Retrospective ~ Part 3

The third season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer averaged 5.3 million viewers, the show’s highest rated season, undoubtedly helped by the fact that both Gellar and Alyson Hannigan had hit movies out (Cruel Intentions and American Pie respectively). By this time Sarah Michelle Gellar was appearing on numerous mainstream magazine covers. On July 13, 1999, the season finale was broadcast in which the ‘Scooby Gang’ graduates from Sunnydale High School. A great souvenir of this season finale is the commemorative “Class of 1999” t-shirt.

Also in 1999 came the initial release of the action figure line produced Moore Action Collectibles. Series One consisted of Angel, the Master, Willow Rosenberg & Buffy Summers. In addition to the ‘standard’ figures, Moore also offered a constant supply of ‘limited edition’ figures. One of the first of these was the ‘Willow Variant Figure in Tight Red Pants’ made available through the online retailer Another Universe. These ‘exclusive variants’ functioned to keep collectors interested and allowed retailers to capitalise on the public's burgeoning interest in Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Chupa-chups, a popular Spanish brand of confectionery, had some sweet tie-ins, with both tins and boxes of various types of lollipops available. The ‘Fantasy Ball’ variety, in particular, appealed to collectors as the inside of each individual wrapper contained a small sticker.

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Coming up next: Root beer, tattoos, and more!!