Memories needed for my Star Wars book

I can't believe how good everyone's memories are; the meetings with "Darth Vader" especially. (JuniorChubb, Frunkstar, Cc4rhu0, x-pack). Would love to hear more about your experience.

Palifan: Ian, really good memories there. I could really use more memories about meeting Vader and Boba Fett, because I'll need to split it into two parts. In fact more on everything you wrote would be great. You memories of the Death Star and Cantina play sets in particular, why did you like them so much? I got my Death Star second-hand around 1981 and remember being disappointed that it had Imperial personnel printed on the walls that could not be killed (especially the bunch stuck in a permanent charge!). Also could you dig deep and sum up how you felt about the trilogy at the end of 1983? Did you believe that there would be another SW film in a few years time? Did you want to continue to be a fan and keep collecting?

Naughtyjedi: Great! I'd love to hear more about your two meetings with Darth Vader (I have information in the book about the 1978 and 1983 Darth Vader tours that will surprise people). Again I'd like to know how you felt at the end of 1983, as this is the big finish to my book. Young fans often had hopes and dreams of the saga continuing, while more mature fans were aware that Lucas had publically stated that he was taking a break from Star Wars.

Everyone; I'd love to be bored senseless with memories. I sooner edit down what people write rather than struggle to pad out a couple of lines.

Craig.

Simply Sci-fi said:

I can't believe how good everyone's memories are; the meetings with "Darth Vader" especially. (JuniorChubb, Frunkstar, Cc4rhu0, x-pack). Would love to hear more about your experience.

Palifan: Ian, really good memories there. I could really use more memories about meeting Vader and Boba Fett, because I'll need to split it into two parts. In fact more on everything you wrote would be great. You memories of the Death Star and Cantina play sets in particular, why did you like them so much? I got my Death Star second-hand around 1981 and remember being disappointed that it had Imperial personnel printed on the walls that could not be killed (especially the bunch stuck in a permanent charge!). Also could you dig deep and sum up how you felt about the trilogy at the end of 1983? Did you believe that there would be another SW film in a few years time? Did you want to continue to be a fan and keep collecting?

Naughtyjedi: Great! I'd love to hear more about your two meetings with Darth Vader (I have information in the book about the 1978 and 1983 Darth Vader tours that will surprise people). Again I'd like to know how you felt at the end of 1983, as this is the big finish to my book. Young fans often had hopes and dreams of the saga continuing, while more mature fans were aware that Lucas had publically stated that he was taking a break from Star Wars.

Everyone; I'd love to be bored senseless with memories. I sooner edit down what people write rather than struggle to pad out a couple of lines.

Craig.

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Hi craig,

I'll have a bit more of a think about the questions you've asked, not sure if there's really much more to say about meeting Darth and Boba but I'll see what I can come up with.

I'll write soon.

Ian

theslider said:

Great response Ian! I'll do likewise and bore everyone senseless!

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I try my best and there's more to come :lol:

Palifan: Ian, really good memories there. I could really use more memories about meeting Vader and Boba Fett, because I'll need to split it into two parts. In fact more on everything you wrote would be great. You memories of the Death Star and Cantina play sets in particular, why did you like them so much? I got my Death Star second-hand around 1981 and remember being disappointed that it had Imperial personnel printed on the walls that could not be killed (especially the bunch stuck in a permanent charge!). Also could you dig deep and sum up how you felt about the trilogy at the end of 1983? Did you believe that there would be another SW film in a few years time? Did you want to continue to be a fan and keep collecting?



Craig.[/quote]

Hi Craig,

I've been thinking about my meeting of Vader and Boba and really can't remember much other than being there and getting their autographs. Both were on warm days and the whole store (and street outside as I remember it), was packed with people like I'd never seen before. It was a really big event for us kids but that really is as far as my memory stretches with it. I don't remember anything out of the ordinary happening there and I can't remember what happened or what was said during the signing sorry to say.

The one thing I will say though is that the toy shop, Martins (in Kingswood Bristol), where the event was held was my favourite toy shop growing up. It was always well stocked and back then had all it's Star Wars figures kept in large wicker baskets. You had to rummage all the way through them looking for the figure you were after which as a collector is a scary thought due to the damage it probably caused to the packaging but at least the hanger was unpunched on them all! I used to always go in there every time I went to Kingswood and look longingly at all the various playlets and vehicles they had but as I was only ever bought toys for my Birthday and at Christmas I never got to own many of them. I think either in late 79 or 80 they expanded their business and had a second shop opposite, across the road. I remember going in there shortly after the release of Empire and looking at the ESB pop up book. I had the Star Wars one (which to this day I still have no idea why as I was never bought it), but the Empire one seemed so much better for some reason. As I couldn't afford to buy it I ended up making my own and had to keep going back to the shop to see what was happening on the next page. It's a pretty low tech affair but I still have it and as I've since picked up the released one it's a fun thing to compare to my effort. I know Martins shut down a very long time ago like most of these independent toy shops which is a real shame as it was a really big part of my childhood and looking at toys in the flesh, so to speak, is so much better than on-line.

As I said earlier my favourite Star wars play set was the Death Star. It was a massive part of my childhood and I played with it for years on end. I think it was the sheer size of the thing that amazed me so much about it as you could get a lot of figures on there and reenact many of the various scenarios from the film. I loved using the trash compactor and pushing my figures down the chute as well as walking Leia across the bridge to the detention room. Also as I didn't have any vehicles I used to take the gunner section off from the top of it and fly it around with a stormtrooper inside it as if it was a T.I.E. fighter. I never had any problem with the graphics on it and it made me feel like I had a few more figures than I did with the images of the Stormtroopers and DSC. I really do think that for just a cardboard play set it had the right areas represented and meant that Darth Vader and Obi Wan could battle it out whilst the rest of the gang were trying to break out of the compactor, nothing else ever came close for me for my entire childhood.

The Cantina on the other hand was not a big part of my playing experiences. That set really didn't do a lot for me and it's taken me until fairly recently to realise that the cardboard doors and sticker hinges along with the fighting stand were missing from my set (probably swiped from the box before I was bought it :evil: ). I could never do much with that set and the figures never seemed to fit in there very well, It's probably why I still have my original one which is just as well as when I bought another complete one years later the seller had put a hairspray lid in there saying it was the table and I was able to use my original yellow table to complete the set.

Those were the only two play sets I ever owned but I used to make my own ones in the garden using my father's bits of scrap wood and pipe fittings. I ended up building some quite elaborate Hoth ones using plaster, and would freeze my Star Wars Han (as I didn't have a Bespin one), in a cup of water and put him in there. It was always an extra bonus when the snow came as it's the perfect background setting to reenact any Hoth scenes. The last set I remember making was Jabba's palace. I can still quite clearly remember the smell of the crown match pot paints that I used to finish it off! The only other thing I remember making was a huge AT-AT out of cardboard. It really wasn't very good but it was probably three times the size of the released one and I hooked up a string mechanism to raise Luke up into it's belly. Back then I never thought twice about building something if I couldn't afford to buy it (which was most things). I'm not so sure things are like that now a days but I'm sure there are children who are still encouraged to do this. I hope so at least as there's a lot of satisfaction from figuring things out and then standing back to admire your hard work.

With the end of the original trilogy I think it came at the right time for me with my playing days coming to a close. I remember videoing any little clip that was on T.V. at the time of Jedi but it did leave me a little flat after seeing it. I had several of the figures that were first released from it but really didn't play with them in the same way. It just sort of ended after that film and once I'd completed my sticker album it felt time to move on.

It was such a huge part of my childhood that I would still look into the toy shops from time to time and see what new things Star Wars related were there. My two biggest memories of those wicker baskets in Martins was during the fist Star Wars going in there looking for figures and seeing just one Luke Skywalker 12 back lying there looking a little rough around the edges on it's own and then seeing the same basket years later filled with Tri Logo's that really were going nowhere. That kind of sums it all up for me. It's still a mystery to me that the Jawa was so hard to get hold of at first and I don't even remember seeing a cloth caped one in the shops after receiving my vinyl cape one. Seems a strange figure to hold back on although I guess it was the change from vinyl to cloth cape.

The main thing I've found with other people who had interest in Star Wars back in the day is that we all gave up on it at some point but then got really excited again once the special editions were released. It gave us all a chance to see the films in the cinema again as well as those who didn't get the chance the first time around. It's had such a massive influence on the world for so long and I really hope that it continues. It would be nice to think that there are children out there still making their own space battles up like so many of us have done over the years.

Ian

Ok, I'll have a go:

When did you first learn about Star Wars?

Just before my 10th birthday in February 1978, our family had just moved house and I had to start at a new school, I was terrified. My first day one kid asked me if I had seen Star Wars, which I had never heard of. By the end of that first day I had made a new friend, but more importantly knew Star Wars featured spaceships, a tall gold robot, laser swords, an old man called Ben with a weird surname and "really good special effects".

When and where did you see each of the films at the cinema and what did you think?

My parents took me to see Star Wars in early March, 1978 at the Odeon in Stoke-on-trent. First came the endless wait outside in the huge queue, then a boring short film about bikers, and then it began.
I remember little of that first viewing, the Star destroyer roaring overhead, the Blockade runner shootout, the droids in the desert, the Cantina are what I remember most. Also the shock of seeing the smoldering skeletons of Owen and Beru, the most gruesome thing I had ever seen at that point. It's become a cliché, but I left that cinema changed somehow.
Empire was at the same cinema on opening day in 1980, again I was totally overwhelmed. The Hoth scenes, bounty hunters, Yoda sounding just like Fozzie bear and of course Vaders shocking revelation to Luke (I assumed he was lying).
Jedi was at another Odeon, this one in Blackpool. Maybe because I was older I was a little disappointed. Apart from Jabba's palace and the Death star battle, I found it boring, and still do.

Do you have any memories of any merchandise that you had in the 70's and 80's?

Of course! If it had Star wars on it, I had to have it. This includes almost everything Palitoy released, as well as Jigsaws, books, records, watches, soap, shampoo, stationery, bedding, curtains and pyjamas. The figures were my favourite, and thanks to my Mums forward thinking I still have them today. Thanks again Mum!

Did you own any of the "cash in" soundtrack albums?

Oh yeah. For my 11th birthday my Aunt got me "Star Wars-the sonic all stars" a rip off soundtrack. It sounded like it was all composed on a Casio keyboard, but it was close enough to the actual music for my purposes, and I played it to death.

What was your experience watching Star Wars on Television for the first time?

I remember it was a Sunday night when Star Wars first aired, not sure of the date but it was the first time I had seen it since the cinema. We had not long had our first Video recorder, so of course I was recording it. I was editing the adverts out with the pause button, but our Video was primitive and had no remote control, so I had to squat in front of the telly finger poised over the pause button during the ads.

Do you have any memories of the Darth Vader or Boba fett tour?

Boba fett no, but one Saturday Darth Vader appeared in our towns only toyshop, a little independent shop called Playland. Apart from being small, it wasn't even a proper toyshop- more of a primitive Mothercare, 90% of what it sold was baby stuff, prams and pushchairs and the like. One small section held "older" toys.
Anyway, the Saturday in question (sorry but the year eludes me, after 1980 though) I was in town with a friend and saw a small crowd outside Playland. Looking through the window there was Darth Vader, posing menacingly for photos with children.
My friend and I were amazed and confused. What was Darth Vader doing in our small semi toyshop? Was it David Prowse? Was it the actual suit? We never got in the shop as it was too busy so we stared through the window for another half hour before we drifted off.
There had been no advance publicity (at least that I was aware of) and the whole thing was a mystery to me. The next week our local paper ran a photo of Darth, tagged "Star Wars villain comes to town" but no info into why he was there.

Hope some of this is of use to you Craig, please PM me if you need anything else, I'm always more than happy to recount my Star Wars memories from the 70's and 80's, happy days!

This is going great. Thanks for all of the answers so far. I think that everyone has shared something that I can use.

I met Mr Vader on a trip up to see family in Sheffield in 1983.

Had no idea he was visiting that day and allegedly he landed his TIE fighter on the roof! :-O

I remember being terrified, I'd just bought a Rebel Commando and B Wing Pilot and was convinced he was going to strangle the crap out of me for buying good guys

Adam

I won a colouring competition in the local paper and the prize was spending the afternoon
with Vader while he gave out autographs in Readwells in Northampton and £10 to spend on
Star Wars toys, I think this must have been part of the Vader tour.

I still have the newspaper clipping and autograph, I remember looking up and I could see
underneath Vaders helmet and the guy was sweating like mad.

Choosing the toys was awesome as there seemed to be so many to choose from..
I opted for an X-wing and a squidhead and an ackbar, that was where it all started for me.

Funny thing is at the time I new nothing about Star Wars and I coloured in everything in the wrong
colours

Simply Sci-fi said:

Did you attend the Star Wars cinema Double Bill when it showed around the U.K in 1982?

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I'm late to this party.

I was going through old UK comics and was surprised to see the Double Bill was 1982. The first two times I saw the original film was as part of the Double Bill. The thing is, I developed a SW obsession upon seeing ESB on its release. It seems odd that I could go that long without seeing the original yet maintaining an obsession and collecting figures for a film I hadn't seen for a full two years.

Basically, this 1982 thing is screwing with my childhood memories. Can anyone remember if '82 was a re-release and the Doubler first appeared in 1981 perhaps?

Did you finish your project, Craig? I can wax on about those things without much prompting.

There's no doubt that the world premiere of the Star Wars Double Bill was on May 25th 1982 at the Leicester Square Theatre and the Odeon Marble Arch, so there's no possibility of you seeing it any earlier.

The Double Bill was a complete revelation to me personally, as I had only just turned nine when I saw Star Wars in 1978 and I was 13 when I had a chance to see it again in 1982. There had not been a video to hire (or buy) or a television broadcast to watch in the mean time. Star Wars was transformed from a foggy memory into something that was happening right in front of me.

I'd be interested to know more about your Double Bill experience. What did you think of Star Wars, after becoming a fan with The Empire Strikes Back?

I'm on the verge of sending out preview copies of my book on A4 (the limits of my home office). Depending on the reaction, and the speed of the proof-reading process, it should be out as a Kindle version soon.

Craig.

Thanks for the info, Craig. I'm quite amazed that I was so obsessed with SW between 1980 and 1982 with only having seen the sequel, especially when two years seems like a lifetime between ages six and eight!

I did have the novel, storybook, comics and much of the radio drama of 'Star Wars' so that must have been fanning the flames until I eventually saw the damn thing. Having an older brother, there was First Film stuff kicking about the house from just before my time.

I was so familiar with those adaptations that I spent all of 'Star Wars' irritating my sisters with nuggets like 'this is where Ben dies' to 'this is where Walrus Man gets his arm cut off'. So much so that, at interval, they were assuming the next one was the one I hadn't seen in the hope I'd calm down!

I saw the double bill twice during that run. Good times. Then, of course, in September ITV showed it and half of the VCR-owning UK had a copy so there was plenty of opportunities to see it at friends houses.

I've got a slightly knackered original quad poster in my flat from that release. The very same art that I gawped at while queuing outside the ABC in Muirend, Glasgow...which coincidentally I now live right the corner from. This is a coincidence, though. The quad is souvenir enough - I didn't get the flat for Star Wars!

I remember going to see the ESB and ROTJ double bill. During the interval my Aunty allowed me to buy a SW poster. There were 2 - an Ewok one and a Vader dominated one. I obviously wanted the Vader one. There weren't many available, lots of Ewok ones. I remember being very pleased about that!
Although I don't mind the Ewoks if she said I could have had both I don't think I would have done.

Great to hear those recollections - you too chipsteak.

Cc4rhu, you're remembering one of the Triple Bills, which began showing in June 1983. The same billing was also shown in the following years. Which town did you see it in? I have a list of all of the places that showed in in 1983.

The posters you saw for sale were these ones from Anabas. This is the first time I've heard of them for sale at a cinema, so that's another nugget I can add to my pool of information.

Craig.

Hi Craig,

I don't think those were the posters FS. I'll look for them.

The cinema was in Low Fell, Gateshead UK.

Cheers Richard

This may have been the Vader one...... but it doesn't look right from memory.

http://theswca.com/index.php?action=disp_item&item_id=24680


The Ewok one I can't find what I have in my head. I just glanced at it for a bit so it may have been wicket on his own?

The Triple Bill didn't show at your cinema in 1983. It may well have been in 1984 when it visited smaller towns. I went to the Romford showing in '84.

I don't know of the Triple Bill poster being sold to the public at all, unless someone knows differently. Memory is a funny thing. Could it have been the Anabas posters that you saw, especially the one of Wicket by himself?

Craig.

It could have been 1984 it was a long time ago.

I'm still not convinced it was a triple bill. I'm sure it was only ESB and ROTJ.

For some reason the poster I'm thinking of had Vader, the imperial fleet, the emperor. Lots of black - possibly a space shot.

Hi Craig,

I am pretty sure you will have finished your book by now but I have a memory of Darth Vader from 1978. My friend and I both saw him that summer (we didn't know each other then) and he was being chauffeured around in an MGB GT sports car in the north west of England. We were talking about it this evening and couldn't work out why but having read through this post was he doing a tour of toy shops? He was sitting on the back of the open top car waving giving out autographs.

Best wishes Sam

I've now got visions of the Sith Lord going into a second hand dealership and trading in his battered Tie Fighter for a sports car in order to look a little less conspicuous.
I remember when Star Wars was first shown on terrestrial TV.
It was one of my greatest Star Wars memories, I bagged the settee and never moved for the entire 2 hours plus. I never seen it at the pictures but did see it for the very first time at my dads local social club where they would hold Saturday matinees for the kids. I also remember seeing Star Trek the Motion picture and 'The Black Hole' there too. So many great Sci-fi movies back then….happy days.

It's great hearing these memories. I'm still compiling my book. The big news is that I have signed a deal with a large publisher, with the deadline for the final manuscript being the end of February.

Sam – your recollection of Darth Vader. Individual cinemas had a lot of freedom to do their own promotions in those days. Darth Vader being chauffeured around in a MGTB sports car around in the North West of England is interesting but I'd like to tie it down to a specific town or area. Usually a tour like that would encompass a single cinema. I'd love to hear more.

There were a lot of Darth Vader appearances in 1978 but they rarely used a movie costume and instead owed a lot to Blue Peter. Darth Vaders and sometimes a Stormtrooper appeared just about anywhere – used car dealerships included! I have a cutting where a cinema was visited by Anthony Daniels and Kenny Baker. The threadbare sub-Halloween Darth Vader standing behind them was assumed to be Dave Prowse. He'd be so pleased (cough).

Brian - The premiere of Star Wars on television was a national phenomenon and one of my favourite memories too. My family thankfully had a colour TV but we didn't have a video recorder. I made do with an audio recording and listened to the tape until I knew every line – every sound off by heart.