From: 4224_5201@uwovax.uwo.ca (John LaRocque)
Subject: Toy Memories/Movie Memories (was Memories/FTP Thanks)
Organization: University of Western Ont, London
Date: Sun, 13 Dec 1992 16:44:34 GMT

In article <1gen9oINNlhe@cat.cis.Brown.EDU>, ST201714@brownvm.brown.edu (L. Eduardo Romo III) writes:
> 
> As for fun with the toys,I can't remember doinganything to damage my figures,
> but I had a knack for always losing darth VAder.  I think I lost four or five
> of them.To this day, I can't rememebr where they could have gone.  But it may
> pay off.To prevent me from crying to my Mom whenever I couldn't find him, she
> went out and bought a couple of "extras" in case if it happened again,and she
> be ready.  Anyways, I still have one or two unopened.So my collection of mint
> figures was on the way before I even realized it.
> 
>                                 Hasta Luego,
> 
>                                           L. Eduardo Romo III
>                                           st201714@brownvm.brown.edu

     I spent all my allowance in those days collecting all the Star Wars
firgures, including the mail-away Boba Fett (damn you Kenner for releasing
the toy weeks after I get it in the mail). Anyways, I went out and got the
first two series of the toys. In my experience the following things happen to
Star Wars action figures.

1. You bust open the boxes and play with the dolls, and the first thing you
   lose is the guns. They fall in the grass or in the rug or in some god-
   awful crack from which you will never see them again. This was true
   especially for the pee-wee gun carried by Leia, Greedo or Han. 
2. The second thing to go were the cheap plastic capes. The plastic cape
   around Ben or Darth would start cracking open around the shoulder, and
   eventually would completely rip, thus insuring that the cape would be
   thrown away as it could no longer be worn.
3. C3P0 is a class all by himself. Made of material a little different from the
   other figurines, his limbs eventually became SO loose (try spinning around
   the arms the first day you get him and five years later)) that he
   eventually fell apart (not nearly so fast as the
   inferior Cylon Centurion doll from the other show. He fell apart after a
   week).
4. Don't ever take the R2 dolls in the water. That kills the sticker on those  
   guys real fast. I know, because I did it.
5. Call me nuts, but I always liked the monsters the best: Greedo, Walrus-Face,
   Hammerhead, Snaggletooth. Go ahead, complain about there being no Biggs
   doll (oh no, the Biggs thread!), at least almost ALL the monsters got their
   own dolls. Oh, yeah, the robot dolls were second best in my books (all the
   R2 models, that cute walking box and the imperial droid.. way cool). 
6. And last but not least, my favourite dolls had the best capes... the
   cloth-cape jawa and the awesome yoda doll, with the cape, belt and snake.
   Unlike all of the other dolls, twisting yoda's head backwards was a real
   treat, because the neck on that guy wasn't horizontal like the inferior
   human dolls (yes, I mean Luke and Han....). Way cool! Oh, Jawa's head
   was immovable. Now that I think about it, the store at the time (Woolco's)
   actually had TWO different Jawas (the plastic cape). This was when they
   first came out. I wisely chose the cloth-cape (damned plastic capes!).

Several years ago I thought I grew up and outgrew "the greatest movie
of all time". I no longer have these figures, or my trusty landspeeder
(garage sales). But I still have memories. And with a high-paying job
in the future, I can buy them all back, in their original boxes. 
I had series I, series II and some of the Empire stuff:

Series I :  Luke, Han, Leia, Darth, R2D2, C3P0, Ben, Chewie, Stormtrooper,
            Star Destroyer Commaner and Tusken Raider (with the stick!), Jawa
Series II:  Death Star Droid, Greedo, Hammerhead, Snaggletooth, Walrusface,
            X-wing Luke, Power Droid (the walking box), R5D4, and finally
            the mailaway Boba Fett
Series III: I had Yoda and Bespin Luke

In addition to the cards and dolls,I had all the 500 piece and 140 piece
puzzles (they are all gone now), and several of the posters. I never got to
see the movie several hundred times (like several readers here, it seems),
but I always had the merchandise. Oh yeah, I had the drapes and bedsheet
as well, and the board game. ALL pre-ESB merchandise (hey, I was 8). Ever
notice how you would always be a couple of pieces short of completing the
big 500 piece puzzles. One of my favourite is the puzzle of Luke on Tatooine
with his binoculars. That one scene captures what I liked the most about
Luke... the loneliness and anxiety in his face, and his desire to leave the
planet to join some far off adventure. Luke was always my favourite
character.

Enough about the toy memories. I got the latest Wizard which refers to a 
new Lucas toy deal with Mattel (yes, Mattel, makers of the Buck Rogers 
and Hook figurines). This is probably not new to many readers, but I brought
it up anyways. Since Kenner/Parker originally signed a deal with Lucas for
exclusive rights to Star Wars stuff, does that mean that if there is a new
movie, Kenner will STILL be making these figures (my source on this is
Skywalking: the films of George Lucas...). 

I always thought that Mattel made their dolls a little better, because
you could move their elbows and knees as well. More lifelike.
  
Enough rambling... may the force be with you.


-- 

John P. LaRocque
vader@uwo.ca
University of Western Ontario
London, Ontario


"Urk..urk..."
"Apology accepted, Captain Needa", Darth Vader
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.starwars