Bootyhunter
Jedi Master
- Joined
- Jan 2, 2014
- Messages
- 928
Another weird combination Squid head,ackbar and an X-wing
What was your first figure, vehicle or playset as a child..?
- Thread starter DARTH VADER
- Start date
DARTH VADER
Jedi Knight
Interesting replies guys, good times! Vader, followed by Luke (farmboy), Chewy and R2 seem the most common figures thus far, with the X-Wing and Falcon the more common vehicles...no real surprises but great to read the hows and whens anyway.
starshipriot
Jedi Master
As mentioned before, being unfortunately born in 1990 I missed out on the original figures in the shops. But in about '95 my Gran bought me back a shoebox full o' figures from a carboot or a jumble sale. I remember them so clearly, 4LOM, Zuckuss, Dengar, Luke jedi, Vader, The emperor, bib fortuna, lando skiff, prune face, klaatu, leia boush, han trenchcoat and prob a few more but I think that was it.
They were all lacking accessories including cloaks but I freakin' loved them all. I hadn't seen the film then, just the ROTJ comic book annual and I read that over and over. I got an ISP-6 minirig first off a car boot and the day after my Dad found me an X-wing, AT-ST (or chicken walker as we called it) and a snow speeder. He still finds me a few things now and then twenty years on, bless him.
They were all lacking accessories including cloaks but I freakin' loved them all. I hadn't seen the film then, just the ROTJ comic book annual and I read that over and over. I got an ISP-6 minirig first off a car boot and the day after my Dad found me an X-wing, AT-ST (or chicken walker as we called it) and a snow speeder. He still finds me a few things now and then twenty years on, bless him.
£1.49 FIGURES
Padawan
- Joined
- Nov 26, 2011
- Messages
- 33
I can still remember my first few figure purchases like it was only, er, 35 years ago. Oddly enough, I have no memory of having even heard of 'Star Wars' or having seen anything related to it until that day in 1981 when I stood looking up at a massive selection of carded ESB figures in the upstairs 'boys toys' of the one and only dedicated toy shop in Kilmarnock, Ayrshire - 'Scotch Corner'. I ended up selecting Luke Skywalker in Bespin fatigues and I think my choice was influenced more by the fact he seemed like a "good guy" figure and that he had two weapons with him.
On the way home in the car I remember looking at the cardback and the variety of other figures that were available and deciding that I would get "a few more". I even announced this to my parents when we got home in a precocious seven year old way but they ignored me, by and large, not able to foresee how much of the next three years would be spent in 'Star Wars' mode.
I was next back at the toy shop a few weeks later with more pocket money. The figures sold in 'Scotch Corner' were normally £1.49 each and my pocket money back then was, yep, 50p a week so you can see how buying a new SW figure was always a special occasion. My parents were not well off financially and I seldom received toys outwith birthday or Christmas so anything beyond that was normally saved up for by myself. And now, having suddenly found something amazingly cool, I wanted to collect as many as I possibly could. My next purchase was the AT-AT Driver who just looked really weird and smart at the same time. He wasn't quite a bad guy to my eyes, but having not seen either STAR WARS or EMPIRE at that point - that would have to wait until the following year - I was drawn more to how he looked.
And the next purchase, again a few weeks after that, starting a tradition of staring long and hard at the figures on display while also now being drawn to the toy shelves where the ships and rigs were devastatingly expensive but utterly captivating, was the Imperial Stormtrooper in Hoth Battle Gear. Again, another purchase based on how smart he looked and I remember being impressed by the card artwork.
I loved those figures and still do, so much so that this year I managed to get some Palitoy repro cardbacks of these three and have them on display in the "boy cave" (as the missus endearingly terms it) and every time I look up and see them it takes me right back.
I kept two of the three (Luke and the snowtrooper) up to the Summer of 1999 when I devastatingly sold my entire collection in a fit of pre-fatherhood worries over money. I regret that move regularly. The AT-AT Driver only lasted about a month before another boy in the class and as far as I could make out, the only other Star Wars toy fan in my primary year, swapped me THREE of his spare figures - Luke Farmboy, Leia Organa and a Tusken Raider for the driver. On the face of it, a good deal but none of the three had weapons or capes with them but I simply looked at it as the expansion of my collection.
I have so many memories of buying or receiving STAR WARS figures from 1981 - 1984, a particularly fond one being when I discovered that the newly opened SPAR shop in my home village of Crosshouse were stocking the brand new JEDI range and absolutely sprinting home to get an advance of three weeks pocket money (it had increased to a whole pound per week by then!) so I could buy Leia Boushh Disguise and Luke Jedi Knight before anyone else found them in the shop. I think I even 'hid' them at the back of the rails, behind Lando Skiff, Chief Chirpa etc!
Ah, happy days!
Rob
On the way home in the car I remember looking at the cardback and the variety of other figures that were available and deciding that I would get "a few more". I even announced this to my parents when we got home in a precocious seven year old way but they ignored me, by and large, not able to foresee how much of the next three years would be spent in 'Star Wars' mode.
I was next back at the toy shop a few weeks later with more pocket money. The figures sold in 'Scotch Corner' were normally £1.49 each and my pocket money back then was, yep, 50p a week so you can see how buying a new SW figure was always a special occasion. My parents were not well off financially and I seldom received toys outwith birthday or Christmas so anything beyond that was normally saved up for by myself. And now, having suddenly found something amazingly cool, I wanted to collect as many as I possibly could. My next purchase was the AT-AT Driver who just looked really weird and smart at the same time. He wasn't quite a bad guy to my eyes, but having not seen either STAR WARS or EMPIRE at that point - that would have to wait until the following year - I was drawn more to how he looked.
And the next purchase, again a few weeks after that, starting a tradition of staring long and hard at the figures on display while also now being drawn to the toy shelves where the ships and rigs were devastatingly expensive but utterly captivating, was the Imperial Stormtrooper in Hoth Battle Gear. Again, another purchase based on how smart he looked and I remember being impressed by the card artwork.
I loved those figures and still do, so much so that this year I managed to get some Palitoy repro cardbacks of these three and have them on display in the "boy cave" (as the missus endearingly terms it) and every time I look up and see them it takes me right back.
I kept two of the three (Luke and the snowtrooper) up to the Summer of 1999 when I devastatingly sold my entire collection in a fit of pre-fatherhood worries over money. I regret that move regularly. The AT-AT Driver only lasted about a month before another boy in the class and as far as I could make out, the only other Star Wars toy fan in my primary year, swapped me THREE of his spare figures - Luke Farmboy, Leia Organa and a Tusken Raider for the driver. On the face of it, a good deal but none of the three had weapons or capes with them but I simply looked at it as the expansion of my collection.
I have so many memories of buying or receiving STAR WARS figures from 1981 - 1984, a particularly fond one being when I discovered that the newly opened SPAR shop in my home village of Crosshouse were stocking the brand new JEDI range and absolutely sprinting home to get an advance of three weeks pocket money (it had increased to a whole pound per week by then!) so I could buy Leia Boushh Disguise and Luke Jedi Knight before anyone else found them in the shop. I think I even 'hid' them at the back of the rails, behind Lando Skiff, Chief Chirpa etc!
Ah, happy days!
Rob
DARTH VADER
Jedi Knight
Great story Rob...THAT, is what it is all about.
Yes, great story Rob. I really enjoyed reading it and it took me back to my own childhood buying days 
Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for sharing.
£1.49 FIGURES
Padawan
- Joined
- Nov 26, 2011
- Messages
- 33
Thanks for the replies guys, it's encouraged me to type a wee bit more. Truth be told, I'm actually a sucker for Star Wars childhood related nostalgia and these are my favourite threads. I've thoroughly enjoyed reading other's reminiscing so here's a little bit more regarding vehicles and playsets...
I think it was safe to say that I had most of the Star Wars figures range from 1981 - late 1983 and this was mainly due to the fact that I couldn't afford any ships or playsets. Therefore, the only other option was to get figures and I definitely regard 1983 and the initial JEDI range of figures as the peak point. While other kids in the neighbourhood seemed to have a couple of the big ships (the Falcon, an At-At, a Snowspeeder etc) , my own perspective - surprisingly mature for my tender years - was that I had the most figures.
Anyway...my first vehicle purchase was a mini-rig. I have no idea what led me to depart from just continuing with buying ESB figures at the time but I think I was taken with the box art (once again, I can't emphasise how attractive this was to my young eyes) and picked out the PDT-8. On reflection, I can't imagine this seeming more attractive than the Falcon, an X-Wing etc but, as mentioned in my previous post, this would have been bought with my own meagre pocket money with perhaps one or two grandparent contributions along the way - 20p here, 10p there etc until I raised the £4.95 (or was it £3.95) necessary. The larger vehicles were just luxuries to look at and admire in the toy shop, the mini rigs were my entrance into the Star Wars vehicle world and it all started with PDT-8.
Admittedly not the most glamourous of toys but I was delighted with it and it was regularly transporting a variety of the figures around the play world in my house and garden. It lasted all the way to 1999 when it was sold as part of my toy collection but is something that I still have fondness for and it was great to buy a replacement (in its original packaging) from eBay about 5 years ago.
Next up in terms of vehicle purchases was the MLC-3 and it was another purchase out of budget necessity but I definitely got a lot of play out of this toy and it was chosen instead of the MTV-7 - I remember holding both up and examining the box art before making my choice. I liked the sturdy construction of it and the fact that it seemed less "break-able" than the PDT which always seemed a bit more fragile, especially the door hinges. Despite my misgivings, none of my Star Wars toys (whether the mini rigs or figures or ships) were ever damaged despite regular play. How's that for quality merchandising?!
I didn't buy any other mini rigs after the aforementioned, my next purchase beyond figures was a very expensive (or so it seemed at the time)£5.49 Tauntaun in 1982, the second release version from 1982 with the "open belly rescue feature". I was the only kid in the neighbourhood with this toy and it was especially popular, particularly because I had the corresponding Hoth figures to bring that part of the film to life. By this point I had been to see EMPIRE in the cinema with my Dad so was fairly up to speed with that part of the film. The Tauntaun was an awesome toy and although over the years the limbs got a little looser, the bit and reins split and it got a little discoloured- it really was a great toy.
So, by late Spring 1983 I owned about 35 to 40 figures, two mini rigs and a Tauntaun. What happened next is particularly endearing in a "ah, those were the days" kind of way. For about the first ten years of my life, my family lived next door to my Aunt and Uncle and my litte cousins. My little cousin Peter was halfway between my young brother's and my own age and, of course, a Star Wars fan too. He owned a Snowspeeder which I was particularly jealous of as it seemed a technological marvel for 1981 - it had lights, it made sounds, two figures could fit in it! - but only seemed to have a handful of figures including one from myself and my brother that he got for his 5th birthday: I insisted upon it being another Imperial Stormtrooper in Hoth Battle Gear as, rather selfishly, I didn't want him to have a different figure than any I owned at the time!
My cousin Peter, my little brother Alastair and myself decided to have a "saving up competition" and so for what seemed like months on end we didn't spend any pocket money (although I'm sure I must have at some point to keep adding to the figures collection, I couldn't have managed to go on that long without any additions!) and instead would sit outside and count the notes and coins. This would happen regularly and I recall that we got to some astonishingly high totals (given our age and how little we were actually able to add to the funds!) before it all ended one sunny early Summer day.
Peter came back from a visit to Kilmarnock and the 'Scotch Corner" toyshop with an ESB boxed Scout Walker and a figure. They were having a sale of all their ESB range ships to make space for the forthcoming JEDI range which must have only been weeks away by that point. All his saved money was gone just like that but what a way to go. I felt pretty annoyed for the afternoon on two counts - firstly because I was enjoying having broken the £10 barrier and lording it over my brother and cousin who were labouring behind me at £4 and £8 respectively and secondly, I was increcibly jealous of the Scout Walker. Peter bought a Bossk figure as well, not quite sure why but I suppose he just liked the look of it. The Scout Walker was - and still is, to my eyes - a fantastic looking toy.
My Dad offered to take me to the shop later that afternoon and it was there that I parted with almost all of the hard saved cash and finally bought my first "proper" Star Wars ship - the ESB boxed X-Wing fighter with the Battle Damage Stickers (which of course, were applied within hours then regretted for weeks afterwards!). It was in the ESB range sale yet still over £10 but worth EVERY penny. I can remember just how big the box was in my arms as I proudly carried it over to the counter to pay for it with my own money. Many happy hours were spent flying this beauty around the back garden but I am still surprised to this day (33+ years on) why I didn't purchase a Luke X-Wing Pilot to go along with it. I can only presume that there weren't any in the shop at the time. As it turned out I did eventually get this particular figure and in a bittersweet note, it was my final Star Wars figure for 30 odd years, received at Xmas time 1984-1985 as an extra little gift even though my parents knew I had moved on from the figures by then and devoted myself to the ZX Spectrum!
I received two other "big" Star Wars toys during my childhood - firstly, the Rebel Troop Transporter for my 9th birthday in October 1983. My father (ever the joker) turned it sideways up and put a massive tablecloth over it and then a bowl of bananas resting on top so it looked as if - when I was called through to get my present - I was getting a dose of potassium rich fruit rather than a longed for Star Wars ship. I wouldn't be surprised if almost every other parent purchasing this particular ship for their child at the time was sold on the idea of the figures finally being stored away safely since it really doubled as a nifty looking carry-case. And, throughout my Star Wars childhood, I never once saw in the shops or with friends' own collections - any of the regular collector cases. I'd be lying if I said it was a great ship (it really wasn't) and I didn't even use it as a carry-case which was normally the failsafe option for this toy. I stored all my figures in an old sweet jar (the kind you still see in newsagents etc) which my Aunt managed to bring home from the village café that she worked in for each of the three boys (her son and her two nephews) to store our figures in. These were always brought out, the lid unscrewed and the figures that we each owned, removed for play time. A really clear memory is of the distinctive plastic smell of 40+ well looked after figures (and their weapons and capes etc) all stored in the air-tight container. I defy anyone of a certain age who was into Star Wars toys not to feel nostalgic about THAT particular fragrance of old!
And finally - sorry if this is boring anyone but I'm enjoying typing this up and the memories are flooding back! - I received the Jabba The Hutt playset as a major present at Christmas 1983. The impact of this gift was somewhat spoiled by the fact that I had gone snooping beforehand and discovered that, yes Father Christmas really didn't exist, so the initial joy of seeing a large JEDI boxed toy was tempered by, at some level, the end of childhood. In terms of the toy itself, I was intrigued by the rather immobile and frozen Salacious Crumb and also thought the plastic moulding on the inside of the dungeon part - a rat, skulls, bones! - was pretty grim. I probably played with this toy less than any other I received or purchased myself during my years of collecting STAR WARS toys as a child but for a few months, being the only kid in the neighbourhood with this playset was quite a coup. Who needed a Falcon?! Erm, I really did but that's for another time.
Thanks for reading guys.
Rob
I think it was safe to say that I had most of the Star Wars figures range from 1981 - late 1983 and this was mainly due to the fact that I couldn't afford any ships or playsets. Therefore, the only other option was to get figures and I definitely regard 1983 and the initial JEDI range of figures as the peak point. While other kids in the neighbourhood seemed to have a couple of the big ships (the Falcon, an At-At, a Snowspeeder etc) , my own perspective - surprisingly mature for my tender years - was that I had the most figures.
Anyway...my first vehicle purchase was a mini-rig. I have no idea what led me to depart from just continuing with buying ESB figures at the time but I think I was taken with the box art (once again, I can't emphasise how attractive this was to my young eyes) and picked out the PDT-8. On reflection, I can't imagine this seeming more attractive than the Falcon, an X-Wing etc but, as mentioned in my previous post, this would have been bought with my own meagre pocket money with perhaps one or two grandparent contributions along the way - 20p here, 10p there etc until I raised the £4.95 (or was it £3.95) necessary. The larger vehicles were just luxuries to look at and admire in the toy shop, the mini rigs were my entrance into the Star Wars vehicle world and it all started with PDT-8.
Admittedly not the most glamourous of toys but I was delighted with it and it was regularly transporting a variety of the figures around the play world in my house and garden. It lasted all the way to 1999 when it was sold as part of my toy collection but is something that I still have fondness for and it was great to buy a replacement (in its original packaging) from eBay about 5 years ago.
Next up in terms of vehicle purchases was the MLC-3 and it was another purchase out of budget necessity but I definitely got a lot of play out of this toy and it was chosen instead of the MTV-7 - I remember holding both up and examining the box art before making my choice. I liked the sturdy construction of it and the fact that it seemed less "break-able" than the PDT which always seemed a bit more fragile, especially the door hinges. Despite my misgivings, none of my Star Wars toys (whether the mini rigs or figures or ships) were ever damaged despite regular play. How's that for quality merchandising?!
I didn't buy any other mini rigs after the aforementioned, my next purchase beyond figures was a very expensive (or so it seemed at the time)£5.49 Tauntaun in 1982, the second release version from 1982 with the "open belly rescue feature". I was the only kid in the neighbourhood with this toy and it was especially popular, particularly because I had the corresponding Hoth figures to bring that part of the film to life. By this point I had been to see EMPIRE in the cinema with my Dad so was fairly up to speed with that part of the film. The Tauntaun was an awesome toy and although over the years the limbs got a little looser, the bit and reins split and it got a little discoloured- it really was a great toy.
So, by late Spring 1983 I owned about 35 to 40 figures, two mini rigs and a Tauntaun. What happened next is particularly endearing in a "ah, those were the days" kind of way. For about the first ten years of my life, my family lived next door to my Aunt and Uncle and my litte cousins. My little cousin Peter was halfway between my young brother's and my own age and, of course, a Star Wars fan too. He owned a Snowspeeder which I was particularly jealous of as it seemed a technological marvel for 1981 - it had lights, it made sounds, two figures could fit in it! - but only seemed to have a handful of figures including one from myself and my brother that he got for his 5th birthday: I insisted upon it being another Imperial Stormtrooper in Hoth Battle Gear as, rather selfishly, I didn't want him to have a different figure than any I owned at the time!
My cousin Peter, my little brother Alastair and myself decided to have a "saving up competition" and so for what seemed like months on end we didn't spend any pocket money (although I'm sure I must have at some point to keep adding to the figures collection, I couldn't have managed to go on that long without any additions!) and instead would sit outside and count the notes and coins. This would happen regularly and I recall that we got to some astonishingly high totals (given our age and how little we were actually able to add to the funds!) before it all ended one sunny early Summer day.
Peter came back from a visit to Kilmarnock and the 'Scotch Corner" toyshop with an ESB boxed Scout Walker and a figure. They were having a sale of all their ESB range ships to make space for the forthcoming JEDI range which must have only been weeks away by that point. All his saved money was gone just like that but what a way to go. I felt pretty annoyed for the afternoon on two counts - firstly because I was enjoying having broken the £10 barrier and lording it over my brother and cousin who were labouring behind me at £4 and £8 respectively and secondly, I was increcibly jealous of the Scout Walker. Peter bought a Bossk figure as well, not quite sure why but I suppose he just liked the look of it. The Scout Walker was - and still is, to my eyes - a fantastic looking toy.
My Dad offered to take me to the shop later that afternoon and it was there that I parted with almost all of the hard saved cash and finally bought my first "proper" Star Wars ship - the ESB boxed X-Wing fighter with the Battle Damage Stickers (which of course, were applied within hours then regretted for weeks afterwards!). It was in the ESB range sale yet still over £10 but worth EVERY penny. I can remember just how big the box was in my arms as I proudly carried it over to the counter to pay for it with my own money. Many happy hours were spent flying this beauty around the back garden but I am still surprised to this day (33+ years on) why I didn't purchase a Luke X-Wing Pilot to go along with it. I can only presume that there weren't any in the shop at the time. As it turned out I did eventually get this particular figure and in a bittersweet note, it was my final Star Wars figure for 30 odd years, received at Xmas time 1984-1985 as an extra little gift even though my parents knew I had moved on from the figures by then and devoted myself to the ZX Spectrum!
I received two other "big" Star Wars toys during my childhood - firstly, the Rebel Troop Transporter for my 9th birthday in October 1983. My father (ever the joker) turned it sideways up and put a massive tablecloth over it and then a bowl of bananas resting on top so it looked as if - when I was called through to get my present - I was getting a dose of potassium rich fruit rather than a longed for Star Wars ship. I wouldn't be surprised if almost every other parent purchasing this particular ship for their child at the time was sold on the idea of the figures finally being stored away safely since it really doubled as a nifty looking carry-case. And, throughout my Star Wars childhood, I never once saw in the shops or with friends' own collections - any of the regular collector cases. I'd be lying if I said it was a great ship (it really wasn't) and I didn't even use it as a carry-case which was normally the failsafe option for this toy. I stored all my figures in an old sweet jar (the kind you still see in newsagents etc) which my Aunt managed to bring home from the village café that she worked in for each of the three boys (her son and her two nephews) to store our figures in. These were always brought out, the lid unscrewed and the figures that we each owned, removed for play time. A really clear memory is of the distinctive plastic smell of 40+ well looked after figures (and their weapons and capes etc) all stored in the air-tight container. I defy anyone of a certain age who was into Star Wars toys not to feel nostalgic about THAT particular fragrance of old!
And finally - sorry if this is boring anyone but I'm enjoying typing this up and the memories are flooding back! - I received the Jabba The Hutt playset as a major present at Christmas 1983. The impact of this gift was somewhat spoiled by the fact that I had gone snooping beforehand and discovered that, yes Father Christmas really didn't exist, so the initial joy of seeing a large JEDI boxed toy was tempered by, at some level, the end of childhood. In terms of the toy itself, I was intrigued by the rather immobile and frozen Salacious Crumb and also thought the plastic moulding on the inside of the dungeon part - a rat, skulls, bones! - was pretty grim. I probably played with this toy less than any other I received or purchased myself during my years of collecting STAR WARS toys as a child but for a few months, being the only kid in the neighbourhood with this playset was quite a coup. Who needed a Falcon?! Erm, I really did but that's for another time.
Thanks for reading guys.
Rob
Yes, another enjoyable read, so thanks for taking the time to share it. You mentioning discovering your Jabba playset before actually receiving it as a present reminds me of the Christmas I received a Millennium Falcon. It cost the relative fortune of £20, and I was only able to get one by asking for it to be a combined Christmas and birthday present. My birthday is in early January, and as a child this was often appalling news as some cheapskate relatives would give me a present for Christmas that was no more expensive than those they gave my brothers, but nevertheless still claim it was for both Christmas and my birthday... Because receiving presents isn't that important to children and if they know they've missed out and have been treated worse than their brothers they really don't mind at all... Not that the whole thing still rankles to this day or anything :-D
However, the Falcon was different. My mum was a widow and money was tight, so £10 for a Christmas present was her spending limit. Therefore receiving the £20 Falcon truly was a combined Christmas and birthday gift on that basis, and I was obviously delighted! However, in the lead up to Christmas that year, my mum strung me along a bit saying things like, 'Well it is an expensive toy, so we'll just have to see whether Mother Christmas can afford and find one.' (In our house, we had Mother Christmas rather than Father Christmas, since my two older brothers had disabused me of the existence of Santa from the earliest age possible, delighting in spoiling any childhood fantasies I might have otherwise held, but my mother couldn't quite bring herself to back up their claims, and instead declared that in our house Mother Christmas brought the presents... which of course she did. From a certain point of view ;-))
My mum maintained this pretense of the Falcon not being a lock-in for my present for ages, causing the childhood me much anxiety that I might not acquire one! However, one day whilst poking around in the top shelf of my brother's wardrobe (I couldn't even begin to guess what I was actually looking for - it certainly wasn't the Falcon - but at that age it would have been entirely innocent), I discovered the almost unimaginably exciting presence of a brand spanking new Palitoy Empire Strikes Back Millennium Falcon! Talk about a rush! I didn't dare move it, and had to force myself to close the wardrobe door, and then had the tricky job of pretending that I didn't know about it for however many weeks remained until Christmas. In truth, I was terrified that if I let on that I had found it, my mum might be cross and decide I couldn't have it! I did however tell my equally Star Wars mad friend across the street about it, and together we snuck into my brother's bedroom to steal another glimpse of the treasure that awaited me... and how on earth my friend managed to keep quiet about it is one of the world's great mysteries, as keeping secrets wasn't his strong suit ;-)
Anyway, the big day finally came and I could at last stop pretending that I wasn't sure if I was getting a Falcon or not (in a rather mature move for a 9 year old, I had decided that I mustn't alter my behaviour in the slightest after discovering the Falcon or risk arousing suspicion, and hence continued to regularly ask if I was going to get one, even though I already knew that I was!).
As for the Falcon itself, it surely ranks as one of the great toys of its time. Brilliant play value, bundles of features and an awesome thing to look at. My only real regret about it is that Kenner didn't make the interior larger. I still don't understand why you can only access one third of the interior or why on earth they wouldn't include a corridor from the main play space to the cockpit, but it was still a tremendous toy, and ranks as the best present I ever received as a child.
However, the Falcon was different. My mum was a widow and money was tight, so £10 for a Christmas present was her spending limit. Therefore receiving the £20 Falcon truly was a combined Christmas and birthday gift on that basis, and I was obviously delighted! However, in the lead up to Christmas that year, my mum strung me along a bit saying things like, 'Well it is an expensive toy, so we'll just have to see whether Mother Christmas can afford and find one.' (In our house, we had Mother Christmas rather than Father Christmas, since my two older brothers had disabused me of the existence of Santa from the earliest age possible, delighting in spoiling any childhood fantasies I might have otherwise held, but my mother couldn't quite bring herself to back up their claims, and instead declared that in our house Mother Christmas brought the presents... which of course she did. From a certain point of view ;-))
My mum maintained this pretense of the Falcon not being a lock-in for my present for ages, causing the childhood me much anxiety that I might not acquire one! However, one day whilst poking around in the top shelf of my brother's wardrobe (I couldn't even begin to guess what I was actually looking for - it certainly wasn't the Falcon - but at that age it would have been entirely innocent), I discovered the almost unimaginably exciting presence of a brand spanking new Palitoy Empire Strikes Back Millennium Falcon! Talk about a rush! I didn't dare move it, and had to force myself to close the wardrobe door, and then had the tricky job of pretending that I didn't know about it for however many weeks remained until Christmas. In truth, I was terrified that if I let on that I had found it, my mum might be cross and decide I couldn't have it! I did however tell my equally Star Wars mad friend across the street about it, and together we snuck into my brother's bedroom to steal another glimpse of the treasure that awaited me... and how on earth my friend managed to keep quiet about it is one of the world's great mysteries, as keeping secrets wasn't his strong suit ;-)
Anyway, the big day finally came and I could at last stop pretending that I wasn't sure if I was getting a Falcon or not (in a rather mature move for a 9 year old, I had decided that I mustn't alter my behaviour in the slightest after discovering the Falcon or risk arousing suspicion, and hence continued to regularly ask if I was going to get one, even though I already knew that I was!).
As for the Falcon itself, it surely ranks as one of the great toys of its time. Brilliant play value, bundles of features and an awesome thing to look at. My only real regret about it is that Kenner didn't make the interior larger. I still don't understand why you can only access one third of the interior or why on earth they wouldn't include a corridor from the main play space to the cockpit, but it was still a tremendous toy, and ranks as the best present I ever received as a child.
£1.49 FIGURES
Padawan
- Joined
- Nov 26, 2011
- Messages
- 33
Really enjoyed reading that, thank you for sharing it. Someone out there should compile people's recollections of childhood 'Star Wars' toy collecting and put it into a book with accompanying pics of "back in the day". I am really looking forward to Craig Stevens' forthcoming "Star Wars - Made In Britain" which will hopefully, fingers crossed, get released at the end of the year as it's bound to be a wonderfully nostalgic read and he certainly knows his stuff. Plus, with all the contributions from many people on this board etc it's going to be a great read.
During the early months of 1984 I maintained the figure buying but then it tailed off as I became pretty obsessed by the idea of having a home computer. I was a bit of a sucker for sci fi films and computers and it was therefore a natural progression but for a good few months from Spring onwards I began dedicating pocket money to the likes of CRASH magazine and THE BIG K - despite not even owning a computer, that would have to wait until mid October.
My final purchased figures in 1984 were pretty meagre - Teebo and Prune Face. I had a few cardbacks that hadn't had their name tags cut so was able to use them and the two new ones to send away for The Emperor which arrived a few months after that and I remember thinking he was a great looking figure, really chunky and faithful to the actual character in the film. So, Teebo, Prune Face and then The Emperor. No other figures were purchased in 1984 at all which, on reflection now, is amazing considering my fevered devotion to the cause the year before but that's childhood for you!
A contributing factor, in addition to my developing an obsession with owning a computer (which culminated in receiving a ZX Spectrum for my 10th birthday in October) had to have been the family relocating to a really remote part of Scotland - Campbeltown - during the Summer of 1984 and as a result, being nowhere near the toyshop where I had spent so much of the past three years buying my Star Wars toys. There WAS a toy shop in Campbeltown during that time but the range on offer was incredibly limited - from memory I can recall they had about 4 or 5 figures and that was it, no ships or playsets or mini rigs - just less than half a dozen figures. I remember balking at the price of £1.89 or something similar as well but the truth was that I was not interested in buying any Ewok figures (I already had Chirpa, Logray and Teebo, enough already!) and that was about all they stocked. The following year I think I can recall seeing a POTF or Tri-Logo (probably the latter) R2-D2 in the shop window and thinking that it looked the exact same toy as the sensorscope figure and that they were just getting desperate for figures. Had there been a better set of figures available I might have thought differently but I was very much in the anti-Ewoks brigade which unfortunately hastened my exit from Star Wars collecting. I'm sure I wasn't the only one...
It didn't quite finish there though. I got a couple of spare cardbacks from some new friends (I think I had to offer 50p each for them!) and added the name tags from my few remaining unused cards - I can't believe I threw all of them out shortly after that, there were about 60 of them overall!! - and sent away for the free Anakin Skywalker figure. At the time (mid 1985) I was thinking more along the lines of, I'm getting a figure for free, rather than "This will be amazing" but when it did arrive I remember feeling disgruntled at how similar I thought it was to The Emperor figure from a year before and how rubbish it was that there were no weapons and the hands weren't even poseable. Infact, I think I even compared it ( in a deeply unfavourable way) to the utterly crap Bandai Terrahawks figure that I had bought from the toy shop the year before (Zelda, a totally **** figure!) such was my aversion to buying Wicket! That same summer I had also bought the Klingon Leader ERTL figure from the extremely limited STAR TREK 3 - THE SEARCH FOR SPOCK figures range. I may even have bought one of the other figures ( there were only four afterall!) so I couldn't have completely given up on action figures by then but the Ewoks finished it all off - for a while anyway! If only that toy shop had had some better figures, things could have turned up differently...
During the early months of 1984 I maintained the figure buying but then it tailed off as I became pretty obsessed by the idea of having a home computer. I was a bit of a sucker for sci fi films and computers and it was therefore a natural progression but for a good few months from Spring onwards I began dedicating pocket money to the likes of CRASH magazine and THE BIG K - despite not even owning a computer, that would have to wait until mid October.
My final purchased figures in 1984 were pretty meagre - Teebo and Prune Face. I had a few cardbacks that hadn't had their name tags cut so was able to use them and the two new ones to send away for The Emperor which arrived a few months after that and I remember thinking he was a great looking figure, really chunky and faithful to the actual character in the film. So, Teebo, Prune Face and then The Emperor. No other figures were purchased in 1984 at all which, on reflection now, is amazing considering my fevered devotion to the cause the year before but that's childhood for you!
A contributing factor, in addition to my developing an obsession with owning a computer (which culminated in receiving a ZX Spectrum for my 10th birthday in October) had to have been the family relocating to a really remote part of Scotland - Campbeltown - during the Summer of 1984 and as a result, being nowhere near the toyshop where I had spent so much of the past three years buying my Star Wars toys. There WAS a toy shop in Campbeltown during that time but the range on offer was incredibly limited - from memory I can recall they had about 4 or 5 figures and that was it, no ships or playsets or mini rigs - just less than half a dozen figures. I remember balking at the price of £1.89 or something similar as well but the truth was that I was not interested in buying any Ewok figures (I already had Chirpa, Logray and Teebo, enough already!) and that was about all they stocked. The following year I think I can recall seeing a POTF or Tri-Logo (probably the latter) R2-D2 in the shop window and thinking that it looked the exact same toy as the sensorscope figure and that they were just getting desperate for figures. Had there been a better set of figures available I might have thought differently but I was very much in the anti-Ewoks brigade which unfortunately hastened my exit from Star Wars collecting. I'm sure I wasn't the only one...
It didn't quite finish there though. I got a couple of spare cardbacks from some new friends (I think I had to offer 50p each for them!) and added the name tags from my few remaining unused cards - I can't believe I threw all of them out shortly after that, there were about 60 of them overall!! - and sent away for the free Anakin Skywalker figure. At the time (mid 1985) I was thinking more along the lines of, I'm getting a figure for free, rather than "This will be amazing" but when it did arrive I remember feeling disgruntled at how similar I thought it was to The Emperor figure from a year before and how rubbish it was that there were no weapons and the hands weren't even poseable. Infact, I think I even compared it ( in a deeply unfavourable way) to the utterly crap Bandai Terrahawks figure that I had bought from the toy shop the year before (Zelda, a totally **** figure!) such was my aversion to buying Wicket! That same summer I had also bought the Klingon Leader ERTL figure from the extremely limited STAR TREK 3 - THE SEARCH FOR SPOCK figures range. I may even have bought one of the other figures ( there were only four afterall!) so I couldn't have completely given up on action figures by then but the Ewoks finished it all off - for a while anyway! If only that toy shop had had some better figures, things could have turned up differently...
SOJ
Sith Lord
- Joined
- Feb 15, 2014
- Messages
- 1,077
Can't remember if I've told this story before on some other thread but when I was 3 or 4 I was lucky enough to inheirit another childs collection.
My grandad had taped Star Wars from the TV the first time it aired 82 and I had watched it many times so was already familiar with the movie. My nan work for Ealing Council and a colleague of hers showed up round my nans one Saturday evening with her son who must of been 11 or 12.
He handed over a box containing the Falcon, X-wing, Vaders Tie Fighter, Imperial Troop Transport, Big Head Han, DSC, Leia Organa, Walrus Man, Vader, a Stormie and Obi-wan. Even at that age I could tell he wasn't happy handing them over. But me, I was well pleased.
These were my first Star Wars toys and the foundation of my childhood collection which then went through both my younger brothers. Nothing left of them now however, my dad was very good at throwing things away without telling us. They were well loved though.
My grandad had taped Star Wars from the TV the first time it aired 82 and I had watched it many times so was already familiar with the movie. My nan work for Ealing Council and a colleague of hers showed up round my nans one Saturday evening with her son who must of been 11 or 12.
He handed over a box containing the Falcon, X-wing, Vaders Tie Fighter, Imperial Troop Transport, Big Head Han, DSC, Leia Organa, Walrus Man, Vader, a Stormie and Obi-wan. Even at that age I could tell he wasn't happy handing them over. But me, I was well pleased.
These were my first Star Wars toys and the foundation of my childhood collection which then went through both my younger brothers. Nothing left of them now however, my dad was very good at throwing things away without telling us. They were well loved though.
My first figure was a Luke jedi. My second figure was also a Luke jedi as i lost my first Luke! Still have him in my loose collection. Of the ships i only ever had a speeder bike, an INT-4 and the Ewok catapult.
