Every Star Wars fan has a few collectables that they love, hold dearly or just have a great story behind it. I decided to get a little personal and share some of my Star Wars collectables and the stories behind them….
• Boba Fett Balancer:
This little gem from Taco Bell has seen a lot. I purchased it in 1996 or 1997, around the time that Lucas released the Special Editions in theaters. My friends and I were on our way home from a Boston Metallica concert (that’s in New England, my non-American friends). Around 2 or 3 in the morning, we stopped by a Taco Bell for some delicious taco goodness and we all got one of these beauties. It made its way back home to New Hampshire, then to Washington, DC for a year, and finally settling into its permanent home in Connecticut (still New England). Recently, I even tried to enter the 2018 Star Wars Fan Awards with this amusing little anecdote and outdoor picture but was denied…
• Unleashed Statue:
Several jobs ago, I taught customer service classes for a cable distributor. For one of my classes, my graduates decided to get me a little something for helping them through the weeks. Knowing I was a Star Wars fan, they pooled their money together and purchased an awesome item for me! The Star Wars Unleashed statue of Yoda and Palpatine fighting from Revenge of the Sith!
I couldn’t believe it and was extremely thankful and grateful. It shows the new Emperor Palpatine wielding a red lightsaber and Sith Lightning with Yoda moving so fast he has a plastic “woosh” effect to place him in the air opposite of Palpy. It has a place of honor on top of my computer desk to this day, despite the fact that the removable lightsaber blades periodically pop out when you move the statue.
• C-3PO Standee:
I used to work for a major bookseller retailer back in the day. It was an advertisement for the Visual Dictionaries that DK released for the original trilogy. The small version of this was on a counter and the bigger version was on the main floor. Once the promotion was over in a few months, I asked for the standees and my boss said yes. I grabbed the small one and put it in my front seat.
Alas, the giant standee literally couldn’t fit in the trunk or back seat of my tiny 1994 Toyota Corolla. Begrudgingly, I left the giant standee behind and kept the small one. Couldn’t have made a better decision, it’s been a cornerstone in my collection ever since.
• Episode I poster:
Yes, an original Star Wars Episode I teaser poster, theater-sized. It has a Lucasfilm logo and a simple Episode One logo on the bottom. Also present: a pint-sized Anakin Skywalker, still a slave on Tatooine. Behind him, however, is the point of the whole Prequel trilogy. The shadow of Darth Vader, the man he is destined to become. The year was 1999 and my parents bought the poster for me and had it framed (for that Christmas if I recall correctly). It’s been hanging on my wall ever since. Say what you will about The Phantom Menace, the poster is awesome!
Do I have a lot more Star Wars Collectables? Of course I do, but the super-cheap Boba Fett Bobble-head and the take-apart mini-Darth Vader bust will have to wait until another time!