I was old enough. As a matter of fact I might have been exactly the correct age for their target demographic. When this Spielberg gem hit the scenes, it almost immediately was everywhere.
I thought to write about this because Henry Thomas (Elliot in E.T.) is now in a popular Netflix show that I have not yet watched called "The Haunting of Hill House." I'll have to check that out at some point. He was in a movie with Brad Pitt years ago called "Legends of the Fall" but to be honest I don't feel as though his career really took off after E.T. Perhaps he didn't want it to? I bet the royalties from E.T. are more than enough for most people to have a very nice living.
Back to the topic at hand. The merchandising on this film was incredible. It would be considered annoying today. For example, prior to this movie I don't think anyone ate reese's pieces but after everyone in the world watched it, it was the most popular candy in the world for a while. Pizza Hut had product placement and a commercial deal, I am quite certain they experienced increases in sales as well.
if you ordered a pizza and paid something liek 50 cents extra, you got a commemorative cup
One of the most famous pieces of merch that came out of this film being released in the E.T. video game by Atari, which is largely considered to be so bad that it nearly ended home video game systems - yet EVERYONE bought a copy.
My favorite piece of ET memorabilia was a 2 record (it may have been 3 records) complete with a picture guide and the entire story of E.T. was read to you by a then black Michael Jackson.
i wish i had that poster still
Another winner, and these were everywhere, was the wind up walking toys. These were likely free or near free but it holds a special place in my family history.
You see, E.T. was just the right size for the nativity scene that Grandma put up every year in her living room and we would always sneak him in there. It started off as funny and then just became a tradition and Grandma accepted it as long as we didn't put E.T. in the manger, it would be ok.
Lunchboxes, trading cards, posters, toys (even though aside from E.T. and Elliot, there wasn't much to sell,) shirts, bikes, you name it - E.T. was everywhere and since none of it was very expensive it didn't have a chance to be annoying. I don't know if any of this stuff is worth anything now but the small E.T. wind up toy would be worth a few quid to me. I think I'll have a look on Ebay right now.