Mothers Day Gift Advice

Still need to get something for your mother, but not sure what?

I wonder how many people took advantage of this sale, and what the expressions looked like on the mom's who received these gifts.

I took this in Culver City about 9 years ago.

Star Wars 30th Anniversary Special - part 13

The best of the vintage "Star Wars" toys, and one that rivals anything being put out today, is the Death Star Space Station. Nearly two feet tall and with four floors of play area, this was one well-thought out playset. It crams numerous scenes from the movie into a pretty compact space (that doesn't feel small at all) with contruction design that maximixes sturdiness and play area, with a minimal amount of materials. The entire thing is composed of triangular floors (only two of which are full floors, which are stacked atop each other using plastic girders at one end, and the long elevator shaft at the other.







The top level has a roof over a platform with a rotating laser turret mounted onto it. The lever in front of the laser turret causes the turret to "explode" off of its base when pulled, an action which usually throws the gunner from its seat as well.



Also on the top level, built onto the back of the top of the elevator shaft (with working elevator) is the tractor beam controls. Smartly placed up at the highest point of the structure, it recreates the sense of vertigo and danger that were present in the movie, while taking up very little space on the playset and creating visual interest.



The third floor contains a corridor of the Death Star, with graphics on the cardboard backdrop creating computers and so forth, if you wanted them. You could also slide this panel out of its setting without interfering with the stability of the playset. This open space could give the heroes a view of the "Millenium Flacon" (sold seperately) docked below.



This t-shaped corridor, also housed a retractable bridge, which seperated the main corridor from the elevator. A hanging plastic grapple line (missing here--though not lost!) which hooked into the sealing could be used to recreate the chasm swing made by Luke and Leia in the movie.



The second floor was a full floor which contained two computer stations which looked at a bank of monitors on the carboard back wall. It could serve as a control room, the detention block, or that room that the heroes holed up in when R2-D2 determined that Princess Leia was imprisoned on the Death Star.



Additionally, this command center housed a trap door in the floor which led directly to...



...the trash compactor on the first floor. Filled with shredded sponge "trash' and a rubber dianoga monster, there was also a screw mechanism which allowed the trash compactor wall to close in on the trapped heroes. Alas, it did not close all the way, so C-3PO and R2-D2 could never fail to save them.

All it was missing was a prison cell to stow away the Princess.

I had countless hours of fun with this thing, and am boggled why Hasbro doesn't make this available again for the new generation of "Star Wars" fans, 'cause they ain't getting mine.

Star Wars 30th Anniversary Special - part 12

Todd Franklin of Neato Coolville, says it was through the "Star Wars" trading cards produced by Topps that first keyed him into the deleted scenes from the movie. For me it was "The Star Wars Storybook" -- the children's book adaptation of the movie. I was too old for this book when it came out, but picked it up anyway for the pictures, particularly pictures of some scenes that weren't in the "Star Wars" movie I saw.

The pictures, shown here, include one of Luke, and what I would later learn was a treadwell droid standing by a moisture vaporator, with many more vaporators in the distance behind them; Luke, wearing a hat, looking skyward through a pair of macrobinoculars; and two images of Luke with his best friend, Biggs Darklighter.






The deleted scenes with Biggs would end up being iconic in their own right, perhaps because the scenes were included in the novelization, the comic book adaptation, and the radio play, but most likely because of the photos above. It was as if the fans were given a glimpse into some magical extension of the movie that was being denied them.

My feeling about the scenes between Luke and Biggs is that it adds a lot more depth to the included scenes at the end of the movie when Luke and Biggs are reunited as X-Wing pilots, and Biggs is killed by Darth Vader, compltely cutting Luke loose from his past.

Here are some further images from the cut Biggs Darklighter scenes.




The first depicts the town of Anchorhead as seen from the distance as Luke approaches in his landspeeder. This vantage point would later be recycled as the first shot of Mos Eisley, as Luke, Obi-Wan Kenobi, C-3PO and R2-D2 enter aboard the same landspeeder.



The second image shows the inside of Tosche station, the place Luke whines about wanting to visit in order to pick up some power converters. In the foreground is Koo Stark as Camie. Luke (Mark Hamill) and Biggs (Garrick Hagon) reunite in the right middleground. Luke's friends Deak and Windie can be seen playing a high-tech air hockey like game in the middle background.



Luke shows Biggs the space battle he witnessed above Tatooine through his macrobinoculars. The battle is dismissed as wishful thinking on Luke's part.



In image #4, Fixer (Tony Forrest) has a look for himself, and berates "Wormie" as Luke's friends have nicknamed him, as Camie and Biggs look on.



Biggs and Luke, drinks in hand, wander the streets of Anchorhead, catching up with each other. Biggs will soon tell Luke he's joining the Rebel Alliance.

The full scenes can be found on YouTube by typing in "Biggs Darklighter."


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The final images show Biggs as he appeared during the final assault on the Death Star and how he will appear in 3 3/4 inches of plastic wearing his Academy uniform due to hit stores any time now.

Star Wars 30th Anniversary Special - part 11

Mistakes often get made, and after looking at the card on the top, it would appear that Topps made quite a boner. It turns out that isn't the case. Often attributed to the airbrushing skills of a disgruntled or pranksterish artist, Lucasfilm has officially killed these rumors saying that they examined the untouched archive photo, and it appears exactly the same as it does on the card. Their theory is that a piece fell off the C-3PO costume as the photo was being taken and just happened to line up in such a way as make the image seem more exciting.

As to what part that might be, I'm uncertain. My first guess was that it was one of the rods that appear on Threepio's elbows, but they are visible in the photo, and not much large (unless of course the piece is actually much farther in front of Threepio than it appears).

In any case, retouching eventually did come into play, as Topps later replaced the card with a version less likely to raise any eyebrows, as can be seen in the bottom image.

Star Wars 30th Anniversary Special - part 10

The first version of the "Star Wars" novel (really, novelization) appeared on November 12, 1976, and featured a cover by "Star Wars" concept artist, Ralph McQuarrie.

It wasn't until the next printing that I came across it, with the John Berkey cover art, in a department store in March 1977. The advantage that the second printing had over the first, was that it included a center insert of photos from the upcoming movie, with character descriptions, and studio hyperboly. Looking at the photos now, with the exception of the sandtrooper astride the dewback lizard, they seem like pretty bland choices that didn't really suggest "exotic worlds uniquely different from our own." Most of these pictures could be of anything. It didn't matter though. I was hooked.

Oddly, I have no recollection of first reading the novel. I find it difficult to believe that I waited until after I saw the movie before reading it, but I don't recollect having any discrepencies between how I imagined things and how they appeared in the movie. Except for a few other magazines like People and Famous Monsters, I don't remember seeing any other pictures at all before I saw the movie, and those publications would have been closer to the May release, most likely coming out after the movie, since its success was a complete surprise.

One thing I do notice about the photos included in the novel, in reference to my previous post, is that all of the initial 12 "Star Wars" action figures also appear in these pictures. Only Grand Moff Tarkin was passed over, which is pretty perplexing.

At any rate, despite my lack of memory in regards to my initial reading of this novel, I know I read it numerous times in the years since then.

As everyone knows by now, the book was actually ghost-written by Alan Dean Foster, who has got to be one of the most prolific science fiction writers of all time, and also happened to be one of my favorites from the late 70s-mid 1980s, when I was reading a lot of science fiction.

Star Wars 30th Anniversary Special - part 9

Here is the envelope which began it all in terms of the action figures that would become a "Star Wars" staple even 30-years later.

The phenomenal success of "Star Wars" took everyone by surprise including Kenner, who held the the toy license. Since it takes an average of a year to create an action figure from conception through release, there was no product until Spring 1978. How to get around that? Kenner sold these "Early Bird" kits just in time for the holiday season.

The Early Bird kit was essentially a long envelope containing a cardboard stage with really great painted graphics, which would hold the "Star Wars" figures you couldn't buy yet, a photo of a stormtrooper in the detention block of the Death Star, a photo of Han and Chewbacca, some stickers, a fan club type membership card, and a little explanation about the new "looks-alike" style action figures which would allow you to pretent for real, as opposed to that other kind of pretending you'd been doing previously. There was also a mail in certificate that you could redeem for the first four "Star Wars" action figures produced which would arrive sometime in the Spring.






Eventually a white cardboard box would show up in the mail (mine came really quickly--late January early February) which contained these four action figures plus some white plastic stands which plugged into the carbdoard display stand.



I still have my original figures, plus all of the stuff, as well as the envelope it came in, from the Early Bird kit. Alas, in the photo here, this is not my original Luke Skywalker. My original Luke lost his head when I accidentally dropped him on a boulder by the side of our driveway (I still have him packed away somewhere). This one I bought at Toys R Us as a replacement. The original had lighter pants and boots as well as a telescoping lightsaber blade. Leia also has a gun, which is packed away seperately from the figure. It's not lost. Note the wear and tear that her vinyl cape took. the discoloration marks are from where I had scotch taped it back together.


As a bonus, here is the first booklet that Kenner issued showing retailers and customers what was in store for them in forthcoming "Star Wars" merchandise. As you can see, nothing was really in the works at the time this was put together. You can see what the original twelve action figures were going to be though. The photo of the Jawa caught my interest right away, because you can make out a somewhat skull like face within its cloak. The appearance of what they looked like beneath their cloaks casused quite a bit of speculation on the parts of myself and my friends.

Star Wars 30th Anniversary Special - part 8

Another option for reliving a movie experience back in the pre-VCR days was the story record. Many movies, tv series and comic books had audio stories that were recorded onto lps (long playing records for you young'ns). "Star Wars" was no exception. There were also read along records, where an illustrated booklet was included so the listener could read along and see some visuals.

While I was unable to track down "The Story of Star Wars" itself (if anyone has a copy on CD or as an mp3, I'd love to have it), the fine folks at Check the Cool Wax
have a number of the shorter "Star Wars" story records for download.

Star Wars 30th Anniversary Special - part 7

When "Star Wars" hit theaters in 1977, there were no multiplexes, and no VCRs. Movies also did not see the wide releasing that they receive now where they appear in pretty much every single movie house across the country on opening day. In 1977, they would hit the major cities first, then start migrating out the the rest of the country, often taking months to hit the smaller towns. "Star Wars" did not reach where I lived until July, if I remember correctly.

Conversely, if a movie was a hit it would often play in the same theater for months on end, occassionally disappearing for a few weeks while a previously booked movie came along, only to reappear again periodically after that. I'm pretty certain that "Star Wars" played in some theaters for a year straight, perhaps longer, though it was often rereleased those initial years, so I can't say for sure. This made seeing it repeatedly pretty easy.

But was there an alternative? What if you wanted to watch it at home? This Kmart from the November26, 1977 TV Guide provides the only real possibility. $22.88 was a pretty hefty amount of money back in 1977, and "Star Wars" was condensed from a 2-hour movie to an 8 minute movie. I wouldn't have cared, but I never owned the 8mm version. I still wonder if it was a condensed version of the whole movie, or just one or two entire scenes, like other 8mm versions of Hollywood movies were.