The Star Wars Scrapbook!

Here's a priceless little gem that I picked up the other day for $10 and it was worth every penny. Trolling the sci-fi aisles of may favorite used book store the other day, just looking for something to flip through while I ate lunch (do any of you ever do that?), I came across this book from 1998, that I never even seen before, called The Star Wars Scrapbook, which is essentially a brilliant little of collection of reproductions, photos and facsimiles of some of the more offbeat Star Wars paper ephemera and other saved items that were never meant to be saved from 1977 through 1997. Luckily, this book was released before the horrid prequels, so we're spared pics of Jar Jar Binks water bottles or Watto wrist watches.

Some of the best slices of Star Wars' past come in the form of such items as this newspaper clipping below written by the only reporter to take the time to visit the set in London in 1976. Their confusion as to what they were seeing was evident, as they describe the picture as "two robots escorting an ape-man".

Remember those cardboard masks on the back of Frosted Flakes? This Threepio one came from ice cream treats, but seeing it transported me back instantly.

Another treat was this exact facsimile of the very first Star Wars Fan Club newsletter. It shed some interesting light on how Lucas looked to 1950s sci-fi comic books for inspiration.

Make your own mini X-Wing! Seriously, this cardboard die-cut and scored insert is calling to me to pop it out and put it together, but I don't want to ruin the book.

The book even comes with a couple of pages of actual vinyl stickers. Once again, I must resist the urge to peel these up and stick them to my Trapper Keeper.

Buy a small box of candy in japan in 1978 and you'd get a tiny Star Wars ship inside. Seriously, I'd kill for one of those little Darth Vader figures.

Speaking of stickers, here's a sheet metallic stickers originally produced in Japan.

A real prize out of so many prizes in this book is this reproduction of a Boba Fett "Revenge of the Jedi" action figure backing card.. Kenner was ordered to destroy tens of thousands of these backing cards when Lucas changed the title to "Return of the Jedi" in late 1982.

Now I can brag about having my very own invitation to the staff screening of Return of the Jedi in Hollywood. This may not be valid any longer, though...

Want to be a Jedi Knight? Bam! Just fill out this certificate originally included with Star Wars Underoos. I wonder if Luke knew it was this easy?

The book has several pages on embroidered patches from various sources such as film crew patches to fan clubs exclusives.

And a great section of the book includes disposable ephemera such as these Popsicle wrappers, which, like the old Star Wars Dixie Cups and cereal boxes were just the kind of thing that my Mom told me to throw away, but I kept in a box under my bed for years. It's nice to know that I wasn't the only person crazy enough to do this.

If you're a Star Wars nut, like me, and you happen across this book, I strongly suggest picking it up. It'll catapult you down memory lane in less than 12 parsecs.