I recall the “King Kong” slurpee/icee cups (might still have one around here somewhere). Seemed to be the first tie-in of that nature that I recall, although in reality it doesn’t seem too far removed from things like “Six Million Dollar Man” gum cards, or earlier, 1960s-vintage Dell ‘movie comics’ or tv-show board games or big little books. There were also some “Planet of the Apes” gum-cards, which preceded the “Star Wars” sets by a fair number of years, although it was definately the latter which seemed to start a trend in movie-themed card sets (with “Close Encounters” cards hot on its heels). I seem to recall the “Happy Days” glasses coming after the “Star Wars” merchandising phenomenon, albeit very shortly afterward. The “Happy Days” comic book didn’t even start until 1979, which even then struck me as being too late in the game, as the series was well on the wane. Whatever the case, “Star Wars” was definately a demarcation point in the nature of merchandising and tie-ins.
I got a ton of those for Halloween that year. I wish I had them now- bet they'd be worth something! Back then, it was probably a nickel...