I agree with you but the character in the article in the article isn't a big name player for the Mario franchise. Sure he was the "bad guy" for a 1985 video game with Mario in it but if I'm ing correctly he wasn't known as Mario yet then so fans now a days are not going to get the reference or even really care. Honestly the voice actor sounds like he was a little entitled to think a minor bit character in a movie was going to be an A list plush seller. Only to be brought back to reality when he realized it's not the Spike Bros but Mario Bros

You gotta think about the era of the movie. Sure now we know all the stuff we do for Vader thanks to the other films and novels and the fact that film is probably older than 67% of the franchise fan base in 2024. But in 1980 only way you find this out is watching the movie got the first time. No Internet, no smart phones, no legacy built yet