Star Wars, 1977-1999

[J_Dee]

AKA the Golden Age. Share your memories and show off your junk.

Here's a '79 Boba Fett next to its 2020 Retro Collection reissue. The Retro Collection figure has some really tiny sculpt variations and the plastic's a little different (it's softer, the colors are a little off, and the gun's black instead of blue), but all-in-all it's pretty awesome.

 

[jameslee32]

My brother gifted me SW 3 books by Timothy Zahn that picked up after Return of the Jedi.

 

[Glenn's take]

Saw the original 12 times in the theater. 4 times on my 9th birthday at the old Alpha Cinema on Westport Road across from Rolling Hills. There is a car parts store now.

 

[TheFrontRunner]

Saw the original 12 times in the theater

And you say it as a point of pride

 

[Glenn's take]

And you say it as a point of pride

One thing you wouldn't understand if you are a little bit younger than me. It was a few years before cable and VCRs. There were only 3 channels and if it didn't come on the movie of the week, you never saw it again.

 

[wildcatsboston1984]

Rogue One is the best of the movies.

 

[rick64]

The special effects back in the 70s when the first one came out was simply amazing.

 

[J_Dee]

My brother gifted me SW 3 books by Timothy Zahn that picked up after Return of the Jedi.

If I could change one thing in Star Wars history, I might swap Disney's Star Wars sequels for the Heir to the Empire trilogy. It would've pleased fans and casual moviegoers alike (and probably would've scored Disney more profit and a lot less vitriol).

Saw the original 12 times in the theater. 4 times on my 9th birthday at the old Alpha Cinema on Westport Road across from Rolling Hills. There is a car parts store now.

That's fantastic -- you're a primary source for the biggest cultural phenomenons ever. I've been lucky enough to have experienced a few really awesome major theatrical events (1989's Batman, The Phantom Menace, The Fellowship of the Ring), but none of those hold a candle to Star Wars.

 

[hmt5000]

When Empire came out I stood in line for around 4 hours to watch it. The whole cinema was showing Empire. It was so insane. That was the best movie in the series. Best directing and story. I thought I was a jedi for the next few years after that. I tried like hell to pick up rocks with my mind. LOL.

 

[jameslee32]

If I could change one thing in Star Wars history, I might swap Disney's Star Wars sequels for the Heir to the Empire trilogy. It would've pleased fans and casual moviegoers alike (and probably would've scored Disney more profit and a lot less vitriol).

I never cared for the first 2 prequels but I think Disney has done a good job of keeping the fairytale aspect of the originals and of course made a ton of money along the way. Signing many of the same actors has helped.

 

[UKWildcats1987]

Rogue One is the best of the movies.

That movie was good but not sure if trumps any of the 3 original movies. The books on rogue 1 are great. Hate that disney made them not canon.

I liked the kyle katarn video games back in the day as well.

 

[JoeSwag]

I’ve got that Boba Fett, JDee. I have a bunch of the originals from the OT from a kid. They’re in C3PO and Darth Vader toy cases where at one time they were organized. I have since let my kids play with them and no longer the case.

Also still have the Ewok village, the Jaba the Hut scene where you open up the thing that Jaba lays on and it’s Han Solo in carbonate. I’ve also got that monster from ROTJ that Luke kills.

I have a ton of the Episode 1 Phantom Menace toys in their package. Looked it up last night. Absolutely worthless. 😂 23 years in a box and not worth shit.

I had the original millennium falcon but think my ex wife gave it away in some yard sale.

My kids showed me a YouTube video of the Guinness Book of World Records Star Wars collector. I’ll link it. It’s insane. I also cannot find that he’s ever been married. 😂

 

[WildcatFan1982]

I was never into collectibles, but there is an artist in Lexington named Andrew Heath that does really good pop culture art and stuff. He is always set up at Comic Con. And I have one of his limited prints of a diagram of Luke Skywalkers lightsaber. I just can't find a picture of it right now. But here is his website.

Andrew-Heath

www.andrew-heath.com

 

[JoeSwag]

Return of the Jedi has always been my favorite. Followed by Revenge of the Sith and Empire.

The Jaba Palace scene is among my favorite of the franchise. Love the Ewoks. I find them hilarious.

I’ve always wanted Luke’s green lightsaber as a collection for my office.

To me, I just try to ignore the sequels because I think they’re pretty terrible. I like Kylo Ren for the most part but hated that he spent so much of the series with his mask off. Did not like Rey at all especially as a fan of Luke Skywalker where part of the charm was that he wasn’t amazing from the get go.

 

[WildcatFan1982]

oh and I have a print of Calvin and Hobbes dressed as Han Solo and Chewbacca. I'll have to take some pictures when I get home

 

[J_Dee]

When Empire came out I stood in line for around 4 hours to watch it.

Were you shocked at "No...I am your father" or was it spoiled for you beforehand? XD

I liked the kyle katarn video games back in the day as well.

Heck yeah. In the weeks before Shadows of the Empire came out I pestered the electronics department manager where I worked about it to the point that she'd greet me with "It's not here yet". To this day the Battle of Hoth's one of my favorite levels in a Star Wars game ever.

Spoiler

Not to knock the 2600 version -- it was fun in its time -- but Shadows is a slight upgrade.

I’ve got that Boba Fett, JDee. I have a bunch of the originals from the OT from a kid. They’re in C3PO and Darth Vader toy cases where at one time they were organized. I have since let my kids play with them and no longer the case.

Also still have the Ewok village, the Jaba the Hut scene where you open up the thing that Jaba lays on and it’s Han Solo in carbonate. I’ve also got that monster from ROTJ that Luke kills.

I had the original millennium falcon but think my ex wife gave it away in some yard sale.

I'm very grateful that my mom never gave away my old toys (or comics). I did, however, spray paint my Falcon blue circa 1997 for a reason that I can't recall, which sucks.

My kids showed me a YouTube video of the Guinness Book of World Records Star Wars collector. I’ll link it. It’s insane. I also cannot find that he’s ever been married. 😂

View embedded media

Steve Sansweet might not be married, but a few years back he most definitely got screwed:

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/jun/05/star-wars-biggest-collector-steve-sansweet-theft

Last I read, he hadn't recovered much of it.

 

[WildcatFan1982]

 

[J_Dee]

View embedded media

That's awesome. Luke's lightsabers are my favorite (even his yellow ones), followed by Vader and Obi-Wan and then Dooku, Qui-Gon, Darth Maul, and Mace.

My belated spring cleaning marches on:

Marvel Super Special 16 (May, 1980), the first appearance of Boba Fett in comics, reprinted in Marvel's Star Wars 39-44.
Marvel Super Special 27 (May, 1983), reprinted in Marvel's 1983 Return of the Jedi mini-series.
And the 2018 30th Anniversary West End Games Star Wars RPG Core Rulebook (my original's resting in pieces in storage).

 

[SosaUK87]

I used to have A TON of Star Wars stuff. As well as X-Men and TMNT. The 90’s was my golden age.

 

[hmt5000]

Were you shocked at "No...I am your father" or was it spoiled for you beforehand? XD

View embedded media

Heck yeah. In the weeks before Shadows of the Empire came out I pestered the electronics department manager where I worked about it to the point that she'd greet me with "It's not here yet". To this day the Battle of Hoth's one of my favorite levels in a Star Wars game ever.

View embedded media

Spoiler

Not to knock the 2600 version -- it was fun in its time -- but Shadows is a slight upgrade.

I'm very grateful that my mom never gave away my old toys (or comics). I did, however, spray paint my Falcon blue circa 1997 for a reason that I can't recall, which sucks.



Steve Sansweet might not be married, but a few years back he most definitely got screwed:

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/jun/05/star-wars-biggest-collector-steve-sansweet-theft

Last I read, he hadn't recovered much of it.

Shocked. We went opening night. It was insane how long the lines were but the exit was on the other side so we didn't hear anything from the crowd.

 

[WildcatFan1982]

I was born in 1982. I really don't remember life before I saw Star Wars. My mom says I had a little Obi Wan Kenobi toy that I played with in the tub. I have zero memory of learning that Darth Vader is Lukes father. The earliest Star Wars thing I remember was turning on my TV when I was a kid and all 3 movies were being played in a row and getting excited because I didn't have them on tape.

 

[ganner918]

My brother gifted me SW 3 books by Timothy Zahn that picked up after Return of the Jedi.

I still have a box in my basement with pretty much the entire Bantam era book run, and the whole NJO series.

 

[christophero]

Saw the OT in theaters and it rocked my world. I was mortified and disappointed by ROTJ but I was entering high school so the Ewoks were cringy. I like ROTJ now but still hate Ewoks. I remember working at a friend's farm. He hurt his back and my family were helping out. A morning of weeding and I could buy an action figure. I was thrilled when i got Vader. Had SW sheets, PJs, and got a cast metal TIE fighter in 1978 for Christmas.

 

[GeraldV]

Literally my first memory is cheering when Luke blew up in deathstar along with everyone else in the whole theater. I was born in 73 so I was four or five when I saw that.

Ive accumulated a few of the comics over the years including a 9.8 of issue #1. I don’t have any of my toys though. I’m sure the parents sold them at yard sales for pennies.

 

[Ron Mehico]

One thing you wouldn't understand if you are a little bit younger than me. It was a few years before cable and VCRs. There were only 3 channels and if it didn't come on the movie of the week, you never saw it again.

That really is quite insane when you think about it.

 

[christophero]

I still play classic videogames, so I play Shadows of the Empire and the N64 pod racer and Dark Forces. Jedi Outcast and Knights of the Old Republic on XBox was probably the best of them.

 

[J_Dee]

https://www.hakes.com/Auction/Categ...gv-sortCol=CurrentWinningBid&dgv-sortDir=desc

^ An auction for an AFA 85 Rocket Firing Boba Fett's up to $115,500 with five days left. A carded vinyl cape Jawa's over $17,000. Crazy.

 

[JoeSwag]

Damn. How much can I get for that Jawa and Luke Skywaker out of the package? I’ve got those but I played with them as a kid so obviously not in a box. 😂

I wish to God I could have had some vision and not opened anything.

 

[J_Dee]

Damn. How much can I get for that Jawa and Luke Skywaker out of the package? I’ve got those but I played with them as a kid so obviously not in a box. 😂

I wish to God I could have had some vision and not opened anything.

If your Jawa has a vinyl cape instead of a cloth cape and your Luke has a double-telescoping lightsaber instead of a normal one, then you can get at least a few hundred bucks.

Here's a loose double-telescoping worn Luke that just sold on eBay for $860:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/175345628931?hash=item28d369f703:g:6QAAAOSwJ5ViyLMu

 

[JoeSwag]

If your Jawa has a vinyl cape instead of a cloth cape and your Luke has a double-telescoping lightsaber instead of a normal one, then you can get at least a few hundred bucks.

Here's a loose double-telescoping worn Luke that just sold on eBay for $860:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/175345628931?hash=item28d369f703:g:6QAAAOSwJ5ViyLMu

Jawa has the cloth cape. The only figures I’ve got with the vinyl cape were Obi-Wan Kenobi and probably Vader.

Might look up If my Ewok village is worth anything. Probably not.

 

[m080470]

Saw the original 12 times in the theater. 4 times on my 9th birthday at the old Alpha Cinema on Westport Road across from Rolling Hills. There is a car parts store now.

As a kid from 1977-80, my parents and I lived across from the Alpha at Rolling Hills Apartments. I saw it the first time at Showcase and in E'town with other family but I probably saw it at least 10 times at the Alpha. It seemed like it ran for months but probably didn't but movies were distributed differently then. No VCRs and when a big movie was released Showcase Cinemas had first dibs and no one else could show it in a 50-mile radius until they were done with it. When it finally made it to the Alpha it was.probably toward the end of 1977 and they probably rode that movie out for at least 3 months if not longer.

 

[Glenn's take]

As a kid from 1977-80, my parents and I lived across from the Alpha at Rolling Hills Apartments. I saw it the first time at Showcase and in E'town with other family but I probably saw it at least 10 times at the Alpha. It seemed like it ran for months but probably didn't but movies were distributed differently then. No VCRs and when a big movie was released Showcase Cinemas had first dibs and no one else could show it in a 50-mile radius until they were done with it. When it finally made it to the Alpha it was.probably toward the end of 1977 and they probably rode that movie out for at least 3 months if not longer.

I lived in Murray Hill in that time frame. It was nice when Kennersley Place went all the way through so I could finally get to Rolling Hills on my bike without going up the sissy bike path on Goose Creek.

 

[J_Dee]

I recently played a couple of videos on how to clean vintage Star Wars figures so I gave it a shot on these guys. They're all worn and discolored and in one case maimed, but at least now they're completely spotless (and smell great). XD

I've still got about two dozen figures to go. I have no idea how to clean the ones with stickers without destroying the stickers. :/

 

[J_Dee]

VICE's Icons Unearthed: Star Wars is pretty good. Works great as a double feature with Light & Magic on Disney+.

 

[167Hike]

Saw the original 12 times in the theater. 4 times on my 9th birthday at the old Alpha Cinema on Westport Road across from Rolling Hills. There is a car parts store now.

And let’s not forget, this was at a time that a movie only showed on one movie screen at the theater complex. If I remember correctly that Alpha Cinema complex only had 6 screens and 5 other movies were running at this time.

I saw it 10 times in the theater (once at that Alpha). The majority were at the Showcase Cinemas on Bardstown Rd. Back then it only had the two buildings and only 5 screens. I think it was Empire when they expanded to 9 screens with the third building (all connected by outside breezeways).

 

[WineCountryCat]

The guy from the "biggest Star Wars Collection youtube video" above is in the town I live in now out here in CA. He's shut down any tours or visits since Covid.

On the other hand, I don't have any of the original stuff, though I remember going to those movies quite often in the 70s. Now, I just have some of the wine....

I'm a member of Skywalker Vineyards in Marin, and we have to sign an NDA before each visit!! Went there last month, and aside from security, who we never saw, an our hostess, we were the only ones there. Our hostess took us down to the "shop" to purchase all kinds of star wars merchandise, wines, mandalorian, Grogu, etc. Then she took us around the corner of a hallway and we were standing outside one of his "art galleries" that Lucas asked many artists to paint/sketch their favorite SW characters in the artist image. We weren't able to go inside but you could see, the art work was amazing. So much so, Lucas purchased every one of the images from each artist. Pretty cool stuff.

She then asked us to turn around, where we realized we were standing in front of one of the original AT-AT walkers from Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. Pretty cool, but then, she showed us Luke and Darth's light sabers, all of which were under glass of course!!

 

[J_Dee]

I might check out the local Hobby Lobby this week.

 

[Nightwish84]

I saw Spaceballs before any of the Star Wars movies and I feel pretty good about that.

 

[J_Dee]

Got the Kenner Return of the Jedi Admiral Ackbar figure loose and mint for less than a 2022 3-3/4" Star Wars figure costs at retail. He's one of the most common vintage figures, though -- he was the first RotJ toy, available as a mail-away in 1982, well before the movie hit theaters.

 

[christophero]

It's a trap.