This Millennium Falcon bottle opener, made by Zeon, is quite a recent piece,
Now, if you search for Zeon, you'll find that they are a manufacturer and distributor of clocks and watches, however, in the recent past they have also held licenses for some Star Wars products. Naturally, they made Star Wars watches and clocks, but also kitchen utensils such as this bottle opener, and ceramics too (it turns out I have a Zeon Star Wars mug in my cupboard).
For years Star Wars has been a go-to gift for me from my family. They stopped a few years ago when I said I was thinking about getting rid of my collection. This is how I ended up with two Millennium Falcon bottle openers - gifts from two different family members. One has been on active duty for the past 12-13 years and is attached handily by magnet on my fridge for whenever a beer bottle needs opening.
The unopened packet has been in a cupboard, so apart from a little dust it's in good nick.
Back in the early 1990s there was so little new Star Wars stuff coming out, so when Timothy Zahn's first book of a trilogy hit the bookshelves it was huge deal for fans. We would've taken any new "stuff", but this was the trilogy sequel we had all wanted and it didn't disappoint.
But new Star Wars material was few and far between, so I even turned to buying role play game pieces (I posted about these a few years ago). Whilst shopping in my local role play shop I spotted a Star Wars sourcebook, and right next to it was one for "Heir to the Empire", so I bought these books just to know more about the Star Wars universe. I added the "Dark Force Rising" sourcebook when it came out the following year, but for some reason never got the one for "The Last Command."
These go for decent money if they are in very good condition. I think the Heir to the Empire is the most sought after, fetching (at the time of writing) approx. £40+, and the other two books £20-40. As I say, this is for books in VGC, and sometimes motivated or naïve sellers sell for less. If you're selling, have a look at the price and condition of other listings.
Rather than write a separate post about each of these I've decided to clump them together.
I've had a quite a few Star Wars t-shirts over the years and I've got plenty of wear out of them too. Some are long gone, a few I still wear*, and this selection here have been retired but kept.
*I still get new ones given to me- It's an easy gift idea for birthdays!
I should really add my other Star Wars t-shirts on for completion. The next one about to retire features Minnie Mouse as Princess Leia asking Mickey Mouse dressed as Stormtrooper Luke "Aren't you a little short for a stormtrooper?" The other more recent t-shirts feature an X-Wing fighter, and another one with the "Dadalorian" (i.e. a father's day shirt with Mando with Grogu, however, that last one doesn't fit with the O.T. aspect of this post.)
C-3PO's purpose may be human-cyborg relations but he also makes a snazzy cover model for this 1977 Letraset Star Wars exercise book, especially set against the starry blue background.
This 24-page faint ruled exercise book has survived from my childhood. I say survived, but, well... there's not much of this book left. The pages are gone - it's just the cover remaining. But it's here, so this Threepio collectable gets documented on this blog.
I love the fact that on the back there are some "inter-galactic" translations of a handful of English words in to strange alien languages such as French, German and Italian!
On the inside of the cover there are some stickers - E.T. and Weetabix - I've even included a photo of these for your amusement (or your disgust, if you're a purist who can't stand the thought of a kid in the 70s spoiling this future collectors item). At least I had the foresight to keep this.
Is Uncle Owen interested in buying this collectors item?
Perhaps, if the back of the book had some bocce translations! Complete and good condition examples may fetch £25+. Not sure about the cover only. Sure, there's a value, but I wouldn't be sure on guessing. Funnily enough, the stickers inside may add to the value.
Poster advertising the release of Caravan of Courage in video stores.
I'd say this is a really nice collectors piece. I think it dates back to 1990, when the film came was released on video.
For the record, I enjoyed both Ewok movies; Caravan of Courage, and the follow-up, Battle for Endor. Okay, not top-end Star Wars movies, but enjoyable nonetheless.
What is the poster worth?
You're more likely to stumble across reproductions of the original movie theatre poster, or more recent posters that look very different. With this being a poster from when the film came on video, it's possible that these are pretty rare but they do come occasionally. I think £40-50 would be reasonable, though it could to £100 if someone really wants it.
Back in the day when I had a disposable income I bought two of this comic. One to read (and wear the badge!) and another to keep nice with the badge still attached.
The comic was published in the UK by Dark Horse, and the issue was April 1993.
Whilst flicking through an old scrap book I found these bad boys that I had stuck in the book.
Lyons Maid released Star Wars branded iced lollies in both Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back packaging.
So, what do we have here? Well, as you can see, there's an X-Wing under attack from a Tie-Fighter on the wrapper of this chocolate iced lolly! Can't wait to unwrap and see what is inside!
Next! We'll I've got C-3PO and Lando Calrissian stickers, and in between them is the sticky "surround" from See-Threepio's sticker. Heck knows why I kept that, but I did use it to partially attach the stickers and the wrapper to the scrapbook. so it came in handy.
Finally, I've also got the C3-PO wrapper too. It's a bit hard to read what it says below so here's the words for you. "See-Threepio is a tall robot with a gleaming metallic surface. His human-like appearance is often matched by his human-like behaviour."
I've always preferred vintage Star Wars stuff to collect. I guess it's because Episodes 4,5,6 were such a feature of my childhood, and, let's face it, the films were the best too.
However, a fair portion of my collection is from the prequels, and these particular carded figures appealed to my vintage side. I found them on Ebay not long after The Phantom Menace's toy line had hit the shelves. I think it's fair to say the Episode 1 packaging didn't match up to the original Kenner/Palitoy designs. So, it was inevitable that someone would make these.
To be honest, I can't remember what I paid for them. They are quite well made, with punch holes on (2 with and 2 without the punched holes) - not bad for what were probably early custom cards.
So, you can see above the figures were a Battle Droid, Qui-Gon Jinn, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Darth Maul.
There were 3 different designs on the back of the cards (2 figures had the same back-of-card design). I've also included in the picture below (sorry, blurry pic!) a Protech Star Case too as I've kept all of these figures in the protective case since I got them.
Finally, here they are in their Protech Star Cases.
Dating back to the late 1970s, these were fab transfer sets that were great fun for kids, albeit very annoying when after rubbing neatly with pencil you found Obi-Wan "Ben" Kenobi's head hadn't transfered properly!
Of course, being a kid I didn't do them properly. Stormtroopers has to be jumping from the Falcon, mechanics were fixing spaceships as they flew by, characters intended to be far away in the scene appeared next to close-up characters. The adult in me is somewhat aghast as my childish efforts, though I admit a degree of rebellious pride too.
The day was 13th November 1994. It was a time of not much happening Star Wars wise, the prequels were still a few years away. Brave Star Wars fans immersed themselves in whatever Lucasfilm saw fit to merchandise at the time. I really wish I'd written this bit in Jedi text....
My dad drove me all the way down to Elstree Studios in Borehamwood, London to attend The Elstree Studios Star Wars Day! With a few hours travel to get there for a 9am start it was a long but worthwhile day.
The stars present to meet and greet and share their stories were Kenny Baker (R2-D2), Mike Edmonds (Logray, the Ewok and the operator of Jabba's tail in Jedi - note, his surname is spelt incorrectly in the programme), David Prowse (Darth Vader) and Jeremy Bulloch (Boba Fett). Special Effects Artist Brian Johnson was also there but sadly I didn't get to meet him.
I really wish I'd bought a camera with me. Yes, it was in the days before selfies but it would've cool to get a few snaps with the stars. I'd like to also have taken a few pictures of Elstree Studios too. This was a place of cinema history right in front of me, so some photos to remember the day by would've been nice.
I remember my dad having a long chat with Jeremy Bulloch who regaled us with details of his appearance alongside Cliff Richard in Summer Holiday (toodling around in a big red bus singing "we're all going on a summer holiday, no more work for a week or two...."). Of course, all I was thinking is, "He's Boba Fett! Wow!"
All the cast were really friendly. It was great to chat to them all. Kenny Baker had lovely handwriting - you can tell from his signature, below.
Warwick Davis was originally intending to attend too but couldn't due to work commitments. However, Warwick sent a message along with a copy of Return of the Ewok, which was great fun to watch! At the time the existence of this short film was unheard of and to this day has not been seen by many Star Wars fans, so, whilst missing out on meeting Warwick was disappointing, watch his film was a treat.
It would seem that this was the first ever public showing of Return of the Ewok in the UK, so, it's an "I was there moment". You can see the film mentioned on the events programme below.
I recall there being references to Revenge of the Jediin the movie, which was neat, and it was amusing to see Wicket running around different set from ROTJ, as being chased by a Bristolian Darth Vader (voiced by the man behind the mask, David Prowse).
As an interesting aside, I saw Warwick in passing a few times whilst on holiday at Disneyworld Florida in 2013. He was holidaying with his family so I decided not to bother him for a picture or autograph (I know how stressful family holidays are so, yeah, I'm sure having a geeky fan bugging you in a busy theme park would not have been appreciated.) 😊
My Star Wars Day convention ID
The programme for the day. I've circled the Return of the Ewok cinema presentation
Brochure for the day, included signatures from attending cast including Jeremy Bulloch.
The Elstree Star Wars Day Special Menu - Yak Face Pizza anyone?
The Elstree Star Wars Day - The Video - You are being filmed!
Star Wars Telephone Collector Cards - leaflet included in pack of info at Elstree SW Day
I got David Prowse to sign this early copy of Star Wars. He signed it "David Prowse IS Darth Vader", which was pretty cool!
I picked up a copy of Dark Times too.
In the paraphrased words of the dark lord, "Elstree Star Wars Day will be a day long remembered." The rebellion survived, and Star Wars convention days have grown considerably bigger since November 1994.
Note I have added rudimentary watermarks to a few images for this article as I've not seen much information about the Elstree Star Wars Day on the internet, especially images of the programme, menu or ID pass. I don't normally watermark my stuff, but I felt it necessary for these.
Erm, yeah. I picked up this Tie-Fighter Pilot at a car-boot sale a few years ago. I'll be honest, I'm not sure what set it's from and I don't really have time to research it. If I do or if someone can let me know then I'll update this post.
From the moment I saw it (whilst holidaying in Florida) I just had to have this cool Star Wars toy.
The Starspeeder 3000 was the ride vehicle on the Star Wars Star Tours ride at Disney-MGM Studios (now called Disney's Hollywood Studios). This simulation attraction has been at the Florida theme park since 1989, though in 2010 the ride was changed to "Star Tours - The Adventures Continue", which brought about a replacement of the Starspeeder. Out went the Starspeeder 3000 to be replace by the Starspeeder 1000.
Key features of the toy :-
R2-D2 SFX
Captain Rex Voice
Shuttle Engine Sounds
Light Speed Sound Effect
Working Cabin Lights & Doors
I think I got this in 2000 and it has never been out of it's box. The good thing is you can press R2-D2 through a try-me-type hole in the packaging.
I've been on both versions of the ride quite a few times (often going straight back on if the queue was short!)
You might need to turn up the volume up to hear it, but it still works! You may also hear the sound of my kids playing snooker in the background.....
Here's a bunch of Star Wars annuals. The first two of course date back to the 1970s when Star Wars was just referred to as Star Wars. No mention of "A New Hope" on here! There are also a couple of The Empire Strikes Back annuals followed by three Return of the Jedi annuals. All of them are from the UK with varying publishers (incuding St Michael, which is Marks & Spencers)
The X-Wing Fighter was one of my favourite toys as a kid. I'd run around my bedroom shouting "lock S-foils* in attack position", "I got a little cooked, but I'm all right" and "I'm going in. Cover me, Porkins." - Yep, hours of fun.
* S, as in Strike foils or stability foils. However, I think I probably said X as a kid. Afterall, it is an X-Wing.
So, what we have here is a battle-damaged X-Wing Fighter from The Empire Strikes Back in its original box (its in the box), plus another normal X-Wing from Star wars: A New Hope.
I think there were 6 released at the time (about 1995, I think) as a "Classic Star Wars" series. This Star Destroyer, an X-Wing, The Millennium Falcon, A Y-Wing, Tie Fighter and The Death Star. there was also an Episode 1 set too.
I wish I had got more of these as I bet all of them on a window would look cool.
Droid Fighter Attack - a pocket electronic game released after Episode 1 - The Phantom Menace. A handy key chain meant you could take it every where with you (I didn't).
Spiderman and Zoids? What's that got to go with Star Wars?
Only the dark Lord of the Sith himself; Darth Vader.
Issue 14 of Marvel UK Spiderman and Zoids comic featured Vader, and the front cover was a work of art. Well, for me, quite literally. In 1993 I purchased this beauty above. It's the cover artwork of Spiderman and Zoids #14 and is one of my favourite bits of Star Wars memorabilia that I own, probably because it is so unique. It is signed by artist Robin Bouttell too, so, it's a decent thing to have on my wall.
I also have the comic too - here it is!
It's difficult to place a value on a piece of art, though I think it would take a three 0s (before the decimal point!) on the end for me to part with this. Comics from the UK from the mid-1980s typically don't hold the same value as U.S. comics, but prices still can go high. As ever, condition, rarity and how sought-after an item is will affect value. The Spiderman and Zoids ones range from a few pounds to £30 and more. My gut feel is I think there is room for growth in the comic collecting market for UK editions.
