Vintage Star Wars 1977 figures

These maybe are the droids you are looking for. A funny take on the the movie saying with Stormtrooper figures looking through E-bay for the R2-D2 and C-3PO toy figures.

Some R2-D2 facts.

Alvien was the name of the Stormtrooper squadron that was assigned to set up blockades in Mos Eisley to stop R2-D2 and C-3PO from fleeing Tatooine.

In the first draft of Star Wars Artoo Deetoo was designated A-2 not R2-D2 .

According to the original Revell model kit, R2-D2's serial number was Y477Q90 and the instruction sheet says that R2-D2 was manufactured by Imperial Cybernetics Corporation.

Chewie and Han, Calvin and Hobbes

Not sure who drew this but it’s a pretty good Star Wars drawing. Chewie and Han Solo drawn in the style of the great Calvin and Hobbes comic strip.

Chewbacca was born on Kashyyk around 183 pre-Empire. People named him Chewie, for short. He grew up without much human involvement. He excelled in the number of hand-to-hand combat skills a Wookiee is taught, and also gained a great deal of mechanical skill. At the age of 80, he left Kashyyk to travel around the stars. For 60 years, he answered to no one but himself, until the Empire declared all Wookies were slaves.

Chewie was apprehended as a rogue Wookiee and imprisoned, where he learnt about the Imperial directive, and he spent the next 30 years doing hard labour in the Empire's slave camps. Chewbacca was destined to have a short life as a slave when he was rescued by an Imperial Navy apprentice by the name of Han Solo.

Chewie claimed a life debt to Han, and the two of them escaped Imperial control and began living underground as smugglers. Chewie's physical strength and mechanical abilities made him a arduous partner, and he and Han had countless adventures for around 15 years before taking on Obi-Wan Kenobi and Luke Skywalker for passage to Alderaan.

Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill give each other a cuddle

Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill give each other a cuddle off set during the making of the first Star wars  movie.

Luuke Skywalker (note the spelling of Luuke, not Luke) was a clone created by Joruus C'baoth. It was cloned from the hand Luke lost in the course of his battle against his father,Darth Vader, on Cloud City. The clone, as had been all the
clones that have been developed too speedily in their Force resilient vats, was mentally unstable and dangerous. Luuke, the clone, was defeated by Mara Jade (Mara was then Luke Skywalkers wife)

Mark Hamill played Luke Skywalker in the three Star Wars films, and also the voice in the Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back Radio Dramas that played on National Public Radio.

Cool solid gold C3P0, black chrome Darth Vader

Collecting star wars action figures and Star Wars Lego minifigures is more than just buying them and displaying them like you would any other collectable. Instead it's more about preserving either your child hood (or your new childhood). I think it is really cool that these old toys and new toys can be saved for future generations.

The first thing to note whether collecting vintage or new star wars collectables is that the value only increases with the availability of the item. Sadly many new Star Wars toys from like Target and K-mart will be the same price ten years from now or the price will maybe even drop, there are just so many of them.

The trick that occurred after the 70's and 80's Star Wars toys hit the market was people didn't know they would soon one day become very valuable, kids played with them as they should, and then later on were just thrown out. Did you know that the first company's to create star wars toys and action figures were Kenner and Palitoy and Toltoys and with so many variations of products these items are some of the most sought after Star Wars merchandise. Kenner didn't launch their line until after the first Christmas the Star Wars movie hit the big screen so avid buyers had to wait. But they did give a cardboard box called the "early bird package" that was sold in stores in which figures were sent to you later along with some other premium items. They tried to sell the idea the kids would love an empty box with a certificate in it for Christmas and then get their actual toys in February – I would have hated that when I was a kid!

So what is the most valuable star wars item you ask? Well many people including me say that the double telescoping lightsaber Ben Kenobi in original 12 back package is the rarest raising prices as much of 30,000 dollars for highly graded AFA(action figure graded) packaged ones. I am thinking it is cheaper and more fun to collect the rare Lego Star Wars sets. May the force be with you.

Star Wars, ET, Jaws, Titanic all related

I can’t remember if I have posted this one before. It is a card that George Lucas sent James Cameron when Cameron released the Titanic movie and it became the biggest movie ever at the time. A pretty good pic with just about all the Star Wars characters to be found.

Actually, I have just tracked down what it is from – it was from this full-page advert congratulating Cameron. Apparently it is a tradition to do this and I have found a few more – one when Star Wars beat Jaws movie and another when the re-released Star Wars beat ET.

Star Wars Promo Photo 1977 Princess Leia

This Star Wars photo looks to a movie promo photo from the original 1977 movie. Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia sitting down posing for the camera.

I have just read about Gary Kurtz. He was the producer/second unit director of movies Star Wars and Empire Strikes Back and was the one who came up with the Empire Strikes Back title. He split with George Lucas over a dispute while planning Return of the Jedi.

Kurtz said - We had an outline and George changed everything in it. Instead of bittersweet and poignant he wanted a euphoric ending with everybody happy. The original idea was that they would rescue Han Solo in the early part of the story but that he would then die in the middle part of the film in a raid on an Imperial base. George then decided he didn’t want any of the principals killed becuase by that time there were really big toy sales and did not want to stop that.

The ending of the film that Kurtz favoured was going to have the rebel forces in tatters, Leia grappling with her new duties as queen and Luke walking off alone like Clint Eastwood in the spaghetti westerns. Much more interesting than and an ending that would have been a more emotionally nuanced finale to an epic adventure than the silly forest celebration of the Ewoks that essentially ended the trilogy with a teddy bear luau.

He also did not like Lucas idea of a second Death Star, which he felt would be too derivative of the 1977 film. So we agreed that I should probably leave.

Star Wars movies IV, V, VI online and in Lego

Well this isn’t a cool Star Wars photo but is a cool Star Wars video. This online video show the best three Star Wars movies – the original trilogy episodes IV - A New Hope, V - The Empire Strikes Back, and VI - Return of the Jedi. All in with Star Wars Lego and all three movies in around three minutes.