‘Star Wars’ toy designer Mark Boudreaux dies

Jeff Suess, Cincinnati Enquirer
Updated ·2 min read
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Mark Boudreaux poses with some of the many Star Wars and other toys he created for Hasbro.
Mark Boudreaux poses with some of the many Star Wars and other toys he created for Hasbro.

Award-winning toy designer Mark Boudreaux, revered by “Star Wars” fans for designing the Millennium Falcon playset for Kenner Products, died May 14 at the age of 68 following a lengthy illness related to COVID-19.

Boudreaux spent 43 years designing toys, first for Kenner in Cincinnati, then for Hasbro in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, after Hasbro acquired Kenner and closed the Cincinnati offices in 2000.

He was honored as Toy Innovator of the Year in 2015 and inducted into the Toy Collector Hall of Fame. Boudreaux retired as Hasbro’s senior principal designer in 2020 and settled in Sharonville.

He was born in 1955 and grew up in Reading. After graduating from Moeller High School, he studied industrial design at the University of Cincinnati and secured a paid internship at Kenner in January 1977. A month later, Kenner made a deal with George Lucas to design toys based on his upcoming film, “Star Wars.”

Mark Boudreaux designed the Star Wars Millennium Falcon vehicle playset for Kenner Products.
Mark Boudreaux designed the Star Wars Millennium Falcon vehicle playset for Kenner Products.

In a 2015 interview with Bloomberg News, Boudreaux recalled being in the conference room when an executive brought in a videotape. “He put in the tape, and it was the trailer for ‘Star Wars,’” Boudreaux said. “We just went bonkers. We had never seen anything like that.”

The Kenner designers pioneered the 3¾-inch figure size so the action figures could be put inside the vehicles. Boudreaux, who was hired full-time, was assigned to design the original Millennium Falcon playset.

Back then, toy designs were based on photo references, then rendered in wood and foam core before being made in plastic. The process from design to toy took about a year, Boudreaux told Bloomberg.

Boudreaux designed every toy version of the Millennium Falcon up through the version released for “The Force Awakens” in 2015, as well as other Star Wars toys. His face was even used for a few Star Wars figures, including a Rebel soldier from “Return of the Jedi.” He also designed toys for Batman, the Real Ghostbusters and Jurassic Park.

The Millennium Falcon, a toy from the Star Wars line by Kenner, on display at the Kenner warehouse in Cincinnati in June 1979.
The Millennium Falcon, a toy from the Star Wars line by Kenner, on display at the Kenner warehouse in Cincinnati in June 1979.

“I love toys,” Boudreaux told Bloomberg. “It’s more than just a job. … Toys embody all of the fantasy that kids love to engage in. … The toys then allow the kids to bring that fantasy to life every day.”

Hasbro released a statement saying, “His work had an immeasurable impact on the Star Wars universe, the Hasbro community and the toy industry overall. He touched so many with his design skills, mentorship, friendship and his enduring passion and dedication to the Hasbro Star Wars community.”

Boudreaux is survived by his wife, Judy Boudreaux; his daughter, Renee Boudreaux; son Mark L. Boudreaux; and three grandchildren.

Visitation will be at 9:30 a.m., Friday, May 19, at Mihovk-Rosenacker Funeral Home, 10211 Plainfield Road, Evendale, with a service at 11 a.m. Interment will be at Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Montgomery.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: ‘Star Wars,’ Millennium Falcon toy designer Mark Boudreaux dies