Star Wars

The Star Wars items (mostly toys) that I've collected since 1977 are all in one room of my house (to be exact, it's the loft above my living room). These are pictures of that room, mostly from several years ago - the last time the room looked this organized. I’ve now run out of room to display stuff, and the boxes are starting to pile up as the collection continues to grow...

This is the first thing a visitor sees after entering the room. The railing on the left overlooks my living room. The display stands along the back wall contain toys from the "modern" incarnation of the Star Wars line (1995 to the present). Carded action figures are hanging from pegs along the wall. As you can see, some toys I open up to put on display, but others I choose to leave in the packaging (particularly if there is a "window" in the box so you can see what's inside). Behind the center display stand and action figures are Star Wars curtains covering up a window (UV light is pretty harsh on plastic toys over time). Movie posters are hanging on the sloped ceiling, and the artwork at the top of the back wall is from a friend of mine (more on that in a bit). There are three shelving units visible in this photo, and the next few photos will show what's on each:

Left-side Shelving Unit - On the left side are toys from 1995-1997 (the "Power of the Force" line of toys). On the right side are toys from 1997-2000 (the "Power of the Jedi" line of toys)

Center Shelving Unit - Both sides contain toys from 2000-2003 (the "Star Wars Saga" and early "Clone Wars" lines of toys). A cardboard battle droid stands in front of this display.

Right-side Shelving Unit - Both sides contain miscellaneous Star Wars merchandise (puzzles, games, carrying cases, etc.) from 1977 through the present. In front is a cardboard Yoda standee. In the corner to the right are more figures and toys from 2003 through around 2010. The top row of figures are all vintage (from 1977-1985).

This is the painting hanging at the top of the back wall, from my friend Allen Sanders. It depicts Han Solo's encounter with bounty hunters on Ord Mandell as mentioned by that character at the beginning of The Empire Strikes Back. The guy in blue is wearing Allen's imagined version of a Mandalorian Dress Uniform, implying that it is Boba Fett without his armor. Just for fun, he put my face on Boba Fett (this was before Episode II, when we finally saw what the Fetts looked like). Another bounty hunter (with Allen's likeness) is standing in the background under the archway, keeping an eye on things. Part of a snowspeeder, as well as R2-D2 and C-3PO, are also visible under the arch.

Continuing to pivot to the right brings us to this view. This is the wall opposite the blue one with the shelving units. We're now at the head of the stairs, where my suit of Stormtrooper armor stands guard. You can go to my "Costuming" page (or just click here) to see pictures of me wearing the armor. My wife's Yoda collection is on the shelf on the left. Where these two pictures connect is a movie poster, which I'll discuss in a moment, but first some comments about the things visible in the picture on the right: The low silver-and-black book shelf is a Star Wars display from a bookstore. The blue display case contains the vintage toys (1977-1985) from when I was a kid. To the right of that is an Episode I store display stand where I store all of the toys released in conjunction with that movie (1999-2001). The blue sofa on the far right has a pull-out bed, complete with Star Wars sheets and bedspread (circa 1980), of course. Visible in the top left of the picture is more Star Wars artwork by my friend Allen, and above the blue case is a photo my Mom took of 10-year-old me shaking hands with Darth Vader during a promotional tour for the original release of Empire Strikes Back.

On the left here is a better view of my vintage items, a cherished part of my childhood. On the right is the movie poster I mentioned earlier. Most of my Star Wars movie posters are hanging on the sloped ceiling, so I could only get a good photo of this one. It’s autographed by all of the Original Trilogy people I meet at conventions and such- over forty different signatures, so far!