Hokey Religions and Ancient Weapons...

... are no match for a good blaster at your side, kid.

One of my more epic finds during my weekend at Wonder Con happened during set-up day, before the con even opened.

There I was, setting up the Mixo booth, when I noticed the guy in the booth across the aisle and over one stall was setting up his booth that appeared to be focused entirely on vintage Star Wars toys and other collectibles. I made a note to scope out his wares when I got a chance. On my way back from getting some coffee, I walked past his booth, looked down at the piles of stuff he had strewn about the floor ready to be displayed, scanned the items quickly, and spotted amidst the scads of Episode I crap and Power of the Force castoffs this cold black beauty right here...

Some of my fondest memories from my childhood involve the myriad adventures I would embark upon with this trusty sidearm hanging from my belt. You just never knew when you'd run across a squadron of Stormtroopers while on your way to the drug store to pick up your latest batch of comic books and trading cards.

I got my Han Solo blaster for Christmas back in 1978. By this time, I had just turned 6 and was officially deep in the throes of my Star Wars fandom. And at that age, this weapon seemed to me like the ultimate exact replica of the one wielded by Harrison Ford in the movie.

I had often thought about finding another to add to my collection, but usually only found the hideous orange remake from '95 or one with either an Empire or Jedi sticker on it (which would not do) or it was shockingly too expensive.

So this baby was just right.

I quickly asked the guy how much he wanted, and then gladly forked over the $20.

This piece does have its flaws, such as this odd melted area that looks like someone set it down on a hot grill, perhaps during a break from cold-bloodedly shooting Greedo through a cantina table, to sit down and eat a hotdog at a family cookout. I'm choosing to look at it as evidence of a harrowing near-miss from Stormtrooper blaster fire.

Also, one of the knobs that holds the battery cover in place is missing, but the cover stays on, so I can live with this.

I did drop a couple of C batteries into this bad boy to see if it still fires up, but to no avail. Those wires are 35 years old, so I'm not surprised.

Still, it's an awesome piece of classic sci-fi weaponry and will surely take its rightful place on the Epic Shelf of Nostalgia.

I just may take to keeping this with me at all times, just in case I'm ever invited to dinner by some so-called friend, only to find Darth Vader waiting on the other side of the door, and you can be jolly-well sure I'll get a few solid shots off. Because I, like Han Solo himself, always... shoot... first.

Star Wars Scenes from Legoland!

As I mentioned before, on our way up to Anaheim for Wondercon, we decided that it would be a blast to kill a couple of hours at Legoland. Now, I won't go into every little detail about my adventures there, let's just say that it's a brilliant little theme park that's perfect for the whole family and we had a blast.

But none of their displays and rides could hold a candle (at least in this geek's eyes) as their stunning Star Wars display, that showcased several key moments in the original Star Wars trilogy. Apparently, they have displays to the prequels as well, but that area was under construction and since I loathe those movies, that was fine by me.

But I practically lost my mind over these recreated classic scenes from the Battle of Hoth, the Rebel Attack on Endor and the Mos Eisley Spaceport.

Enjoy...

Random Toy Pic #45

Random Toy Pic(s) #43! Having Fun with Hipstamatic and Vintage Star Wars!

Random Toy Pic #42! Ewoks in the Forest...

(Special thanks to Colin. May the Force be with You.)

Artoo & Threepio in "Shiny as a Droid"

I found this book in a used book store a while back and even though it's a little after my time (it was released in 1986, probably in conjunction with the Droids Saturday morning cartoon, by which time I was a little too old for Star Wars kids' books, much less one intended for two-year-olds), I just had to pick it up, give it a scan and post it here to forever record the myriad forms in which Star Wars fandom found its way into kids' hearts and minds.

This is basically one of those baby books, with thick cardboard pages, that has some sort of sensory interactive piece glued into each page that little tots can touch or look at or even smell.

I find the additional monsters odd, which were clearly designed at the whim of the illustrator and make absolutely no attempt to appear as thought they are from the already established, vastly rich and massively populated Star Wars universe, whatsoever. i mean, instead of that big, red Muppet knock-off, just use a Taun Taun! They're fuzzy, too. Or a Dewback for the scaly creature. Maybe there are a couple of Jawas in the rocks, instead of those random chompy plant things.

Whatever. Perhaps I'm looking too deeply into a 30 year old baby book. You be the judge.

Read Along Star Wars!

So, I imagine a lot of you readers of this blog have probably seen Star Wars a few times and don't really need to read the massively condensed version found in this vintage read-along book from 1979, but I thought it would be cool to scan in this little gem of a find, if for nothing else than the sheer, unadulterated nostalgia.

Note the killer cover and brilliant line-art illustration in the inside front cover of Artoo and Treepio.