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.

Darth Vader and Irvin Kershner

Here is a behind the scenes Star Wars photo of Irvin Kershner the director of Star Wars V -Empire Strikes Back probably my favourite Star Wars movie (toss up between this and the first Episode IV) in a candid moment with Darth Vader.

As I mentioned above, Irvin Kershner was the director of the great Star Wars movie Episode V The Empire Strikes Back (after almost turning it down). But what other great movies has he directed – Well none that I know of.

He has directed a few crappy ones though. Never Say Never – the poor James Bond 007 movie where Sean Connery returned after George Lazenby got dumped (I thought George was a great James Bond in On Her Majesty's Secret Service in 1969). Never Say Never was terrible – bad acting and bad story. Another movie Kershner directed was Robocop2 – Robocop was a great movie, full on and had an R rating because of the violence, the sequel was terrible and was like school kids tried to copy the first one.