Archives: Star Wars

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Trouble Bound.

Trouble Bound. (Vintage R2-D2, Vintage EV-9D9, Vintage C-3PO)

Trouble Bound. (Vintage R2-D2, Vintage EV-9D9, Vintage C-3PO)

Hard to imagine, but this photo represents the first proper portrait I’ve taken of the vintage R2-D2 and C-3PO action figures together. With chrome paint these two can be particularly hard to light. Worth the effort though as the results are spectacular when the stars finally do align.

Attention sports fans! If you want to dig deeper into the story of ‘Star Wars Action Figures Doing What They Do Best’, an interview has been published at the excellent Galactic Awesome blog. That blog has a terrific companion as well.

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Two Years!

Rather Childish / Two Years Retrospective Poster

Rather Childish / Two Years Retrospective Poster

What better way to celebrate my first two years of obsessively lighting and photographing vintage Star Wars action figures than a greatest hits poster!

Need a print? Snap it up here.

Profound thanks to everyone that’s helped smooth the road: my wife, my daughter, my friends on tumblr (notably darthambiguous, samuraifrog, retrostarwars, geeklitist, and dbsw), my friends at Rebel Scum, and my friends at The Imperial Gunnery.

Thanks to Mike D as well for encouraging me to get printed works out there.

Enjoy! And here’s to the next two years…

-Pete

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This Way Out Redux.

This Way Out Redux. (Vintage Luke Skywalker Stormtrooper Disguise, Vintage Han Solo, Vintage Chewbacca, Vintage Millennium Falcon)

This Way Out Redux.
(Vintage Luke Skywalker Stormtrooper Disguise, Vintage Han Solo, Vintage Chewbacca,
Vintage Millennium Falcon)

This is a much-stewed-over rethink of a recent underachiever. Happy to finally have it off my chest and onto yours. Enjoy!

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Unleashing Hell on Hoth.

Unleashing Hell on Hoth. (Vintage AT-AT Commander, Vintage AT-AT Driver, Vintage AT-AT, Vintage AT-ST)

Unleashing Hell on Hoth.
(Vintage AT-AT Commander, Vintage AT-AT Driver, Vintage AT-AT, Vintage AT-ST)

About 4 weeks ago I bought a vintage AT-AT walker off of a local seller who was indeed the original owner of the item. It was a little beat up and in desperate need of a cleaning, but the price was right and the seller actually met me at a location equidistant from our respective houses.

Now it’s one thing to buy vintage toys off of eBay. 99 times out of 100 you’re not dealing with 1st generation ownership. But it’s always an odd thing to relieve an original owner of their childhood toys.

In this situation I’ll occasionally interact with the seller and try to find out why they’re parting with such a wonderful part of their childhood — especially considering that they’ve been holding on to it for 30 years. Other times I don’t want to ask questions for fear that they’ll change their mind about the sale. When I do bother to ask, the responses are typically either the ‘need to raise money’ variety or the ‘just no longer interested’ variety. Either way is sad to me. I just have the feeling they’ll regret the decision down the road.

Anyway, that’s my story. That giant AT-AT now has a loving new home and makes his debut on these pages today. See above.

Have a story about buying or selling childhood toys that have only had one owner for decades? Share it in the comments.

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This is Weequay.

This is Weequay. (Vintage Gamorrean Guards, Vintage Weequay, Vintage Jabba the Hutt)

This is Weequay. (Vintage Gamorrean Guards, Vintage Weequay, Vintage Jabba the Hutt)

It’s Weequay’s world. We only live in it. You got that?

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Via Beast.

Via Beast. (Vintage Stormtroopers, Vintage Dewbacks)

Via Beast. (Vintage Stormtroopers, Vintage Dewbacks)

Buying Notes on the Vintage Stormtrooper

Check out the current vintage Stormtrooper listings here.

The vintage Stormtrooper is among the most iconic of the vintage Kenner figures. The good news is they’re plentiful and you can pull a gorgeous, like-new one off the auction table for not much dough. Certainly no more than $15 delivered. But you’ve got to be a bit careful as you go.

First it’s common to see reproduction accessories. The vintage Stormie came with a beautiful little imperial blaster that helped him shoot up jawas and rebels alike. But small and fun often equals small and lost. Enter the repro accessory makers and with them a lot of confusion on how to keep things straight. How to tell? Thanks to the good guys over at Imperial Gunnery, this is a nut easily cracked. Check out their awesome guide first before you buy something your unsure of.

Second, take a good look at the photos to spot yellowing. The vintage figures molded in white plastic are the ones most prone to a change in color due to plastic degradation. Some are yellowing and some aren’t, just keep a keen eye on what the seller is showing you and ask for more or better photos if its unclear.

And lastly be sure to inquire on whether or not the figure has loose joints or not. Stormtroopers saw a lot of play in their day and the limbs became loose quickly. If this is important to you (it’s important to me) drop the seller a line through the eBay message system before bidding.

Feel free to add any thoughts in the comments and drop me a line if you run into any trouble!

Check out the current vintage Stormtrooper listings here.

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This Way Out.

This Way Out. (Vintage Luke Skywalker Stormtrooper Disguise, Vintage Chewbacca, Vintage Han Solo, Vintage Millenium Falcon)

This Way Out. (Vintage Luke Skywalker Stormtrooper Disguise,
Vintage Chewbacca, Vintage Han Solo, Vintage Millennium Falcon)

I’ve been itching to see a Millennium Falcon on these pages for quite a while. Now I’ll be the first to admit this shot doesn’t do the old scrap heap justice, but it’s definitely a start. Or if not a start, at least a hint as to where this might go from here.

So we chalk it up to research, and next time I vow to present something that shows a bit more… shall we say… commitment.

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