January 29, 2006
Story and Photos by Chris Spice (Darth Spice)
HAS IT ALREADY
BEEN 30 YEARS? With
the 30th Anniversary celebration of Star Wars: A New Hope
beginning to really start cooking, we felt compelled to gather our
thoughts and describe what this year will mean to us as individuals.
For me it started very early at the age of four. Even though I was
too young to recall any of the media hype, I do remember standing in
what seemed to be an endless line. That is truly one of the greatest
things about this film, no matter how many times you do see it, you
can always remember the emotions you felt the first time you saw it.
It was clear from early on Star Wars would change my life. I
remember that first Easter Sunday when I was introduced to the
action figures. We received Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader, R2-D2 and
C-3PO. I remember a short time later my older brother ended up
giving me his two figures because I don’t think he was ever “in” to
it as much as I was.
From
that time forward, I can’t remember a birthday or Christmas that
didn’t have something Star Wars as a gift. It seemed like every
Halloween I had a new Star Wars costume. Looking back I remember
having a Jawa in the 1st grade, Luke Skywalker Bespin in the 3rd,
and even an Ewok in the sixth grade when Star Wars was beginning to
lose it’s force with young collectors due to new product lines like
G.I. Joe and Transformers. Without and films to support it, Kenner
toys ceasing production on the line, it appeared that Star Wars was
all but done. I can only thank George Lucas and the people at Kenner
for creating such an amazing film that absorbs you right in. While I
was going through some of the hardest times of my life with the
divorce of my parents, I always had Star Wars to take me away. It
was the ultimate escape for a young middle-class child to forget the
pains of having a home torn apart.
There
was a period of my life where I had very little to do with
collecting. Things like school, girls and simply getting older and
not having the desire to play with “toys” anymore took over for many
years. The love I had for Star Wars wouldn’t be rekindled until many
years later. When the people at Lucasfilm took advantage of the
gifts of modern technology and added several minutes of new footage,
I was one of the fans who couldn’t have been more thrilled. While I
can’t say I was thinking of collecting toys again, I can remember
being very excited about just seeing Star Wars in a theatre again.
There is nothing like that in the world. It was then a fateful day
at a Toys R Us in Gurnee, IL when I was shopping for my son Tyler’s
3rd birthday. There were several red-carded action figures on
clearance at the price of $2.99. I remember the way it felt to look
through the pegs again, to stare at the card backs and try to find
every figure that was there. If my wife has any regret in our near
10-year marriage it might have been “You can buy one or two a week,
I don’t see anything wrong with you collecting something like that.”
The rest was history.
After years of being a loner and doing hunting alone, one fateful
day I discovered Sandtroopers.com. After a few months of viewing the
site, I can’t quite describe the feeling other than it just felt
like home. I began working with the staff and I really questioned if
I could do a good job with limited technical knowledge. It has been
five years since I accepted the challenge of making Sandtroopers.com
one of the greatest Star Wars collector sites on the Internet. I
can’t describe what it has been like the past five years, what an
honor it’s been to serve our unique readership.
It’s
truly incredible to be able to have such an active part in your own
interests and to have the hobby be something you can easily share
and hopefully pass the love on to your own children. If I could say
thanks again to George Lucas for making the prequel films. I
understand why Trilogy Purists hate them, and there are things that
I do not like. However I can’t say enough how great it’s been to
have 3 more films to share with my kids. To be able to relive my own
childhood, to see what my Mother saw when I opened up an AT-AT!
It’s
been amazing but the ultimate was sharing the experience of
Celebration III and the countless numbers of shows and events
I’ve brought them to over the years. For me it’s not just the
celebration of one film, it’s so much bigger than that. For me the
celebration of Star Wars is looking back at some of the greatest
moments of my life. To be able to pass the torch to another
generation, share the joy and love. It has really been an amazing
year for me in the respect to my collection. It seems after years of
not recalling where it was; my son Tyler discovered a couple of
boxes while helping his Grandmother clean. While my Darth Vader case
wasn’t there, along with many other things, I did recover things
like my AT-AT, AT-ST, Dagobah and Ewok Playsets, Darth Vader TIE
Fighter and Slave I. While most were incomplete, I can’t say how
much it means to have salvaged at least some of what was a very big
part of my collecting past.
In closing, for me as a Star Wars fan, Star Wars turning 30 is very
huge. While I still enjoy my family, sports and many other
activities, the love for Star Wars and collecting is something that
will continue to grow. The responsibility I’ve taken on at
Sandtroopers.com has grown along with it and I’ve challenged our
staff to also try to put to words what this means to them as well.
We will try to add these features during the upcoming months. As
always if any of you have something you would like to contribute
we’re waiting to hear from you as well. For me Star Wars isn’t just
six movies, it’s turned into a family. While the dynamic past and
change these movies have impacted to filmmaking goes unnoticed by
the Academy, we as fans will continue to appreciate the lifetime
affect they have had on us.
PHOTO GALLERY To see the photo gallery
containing 33 photos click
here.
With
the 30th Anniversary celebration of Star Wars: A New Hope
beginning to really start cooking, we felt compelled to gather our
thoughts and describe what this year will mean to us as individuals.
For me it started very early at the age of four. Even though I was
too young to recall any of the media hype, I do remember standing in
what seemed to be an endless line. That is truly one of the greatest
things about this film, no matter how many times you do see it, you
can always remember the emotions you felt the first time you saw it.
It was clear from early on Star Wars would change my life. I
remember that first Easter Sunday when I was introduced to the
action figures. We received Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader, R2-D2 and
C-3PO. I remember a short time later my older brother ended up
giving me his two figures because I don’t think he was ever “in” to
it as much as I was.
From
that time forward, I can’t remember a birthday or Christmas that
didn’t have something Star Wars as a gift. It seemed like every
Halloween I had a new Star Wars costume. Looking back I remember
having a Jawa in the 1st grade, Luke Skywalker Bespin in the 3rd,
and even an Ewok in the sixth grade when Star Wars was beginning to
lose it’s force with young collectors due to new product lines like
G.I. Joe and Transformers. Without and films to support it, Kenner
toys ceasing production on the line, it appeared that Star Wars was
all but done. I can only thank George Lucas and the people at Kenner
for creating such an amazing film that absorbs you right in. While I
was going through some of the hardest times of my life with the
divorce of my parents, I always had Star Wars to take me away. It
was the ultimate escape for a young middle-class child to forget the
pains of having a home torn apart.
There
was a period of my life where I had very little to do with
collecting. Things like school, girls and simply getting older and
not having the desire to play with “toys” anymore took over for many
years. The love I had for Star Wars wouldn’t be rekindled until many
years later. When the people at Lucasfilm took advantage of the
gifts of modern technology and added several minutes of new footage,
I was one of the fans who couldn’t have been more thrilled. While I
can’t say I was thinking of collecting toys again, I can remember
being very excited about just seeing Star Wars in a theatre again.
There is nothing like that in the world. It was then a fateful day
at a Toys R Us in Gurnee, IL when I was shopping for my son Tyler’s
3rd birthday. There were several red-carded action figures on
clearance at the price of $2.99. I remember the way it felt to look
through the pegs again, to stare at the card backs and try to find
every figure that was there. If my wife has any regret in our near
10-year marriage it might have been “You can buy one or two a week,
I don’t see anything wrong with you collecting something like that.”
The rest was history.
It’s
truly incredible to be able to have such an active part in your own
interests and to have the hobby be something you can easily share
and hopefully pass the love on to your own children. If I could say
thanks again to George Lucas for making the prequel films. I
understand why Trilogy Purists hate them, and there are things that
I do not like. However I can’t say enough how great it’s been to
have 3 more films to share with my kids. To be able to relive my own
childhood, to see what my Mother saw when I opened up an AT-AT! 
It’s
been amazing but the ultimate was sharing the experience of
