As someone who is exactly the demo being debated (87 baby), Star Wars didn't lose complete relevance. Mostly it was beloved and shared by parents during those intervening years. I had a few friends who were obsessed with it.
That said, I partially agree that Star Wars did not define my generational age group in the same sense that it did those who were kids and teens in the late 70's/early 80's. Or those born in the latter 90's to ride the prequel wave. There was an obvious lull in the films and that allowed a few other properties to capture the imagination.
We very much were the Disney Renaissance in our childhood, followed by Potter in our pre-teen years (87 is the extreme end of Potter, I find those who were in high school when the books first hit stride missed the the boat). I know it's anecdotal, but I cannot for the life of me find any friends born in 84/85 who like Potter. Potter book fans have their heaviest hitting demo between ~87-97. Of course the movies started hitting before the books let up meaning the Potter fanbase extends well beyond that, but we were the generation who first and foremost discovered it via the books.
Likewise, Nintendo dominated the generation dipping bit more into the early 80's for Mario. Pokemon's line in the sand falls later, the first craze swept when I was still in grade 6. Those 84/85 babies again would have been in high school.
There is a reason these properties are all collectively coming out of the woodwork, early millennials now have some buying power.
