Although Star Wars costumes are still popular today, back when I was a kid they were the end all and be all of toys. We played Star Wars all the time. I had a Darth Vader helmet, a millennium Falcon collectible toy, and countless action figures to name just part of my collection. I never thought of them as Star Wars replicas. They were simply toys. Star Wars was one of the best games we knew, after all. We would get together and play it almost every day after school. Cops and robbers, cowboys and Indians, and those other games got old, but Star Wars never did. What kid does not dream of saving the universe from a force of incredible evil?
It’s a funny thing about toys. As you grow older, you either give them up entirely or get very serious about them. In my case, I did the latter. My Star Wars replica collection has grown by leaps and bounds in the past few years, particularly with the making of episodes one through three. I like the new Star Wars a lot, but the originals are the real classics. That is why it is nice to see that Lucas films has been re-releasing so many Star Wars replica models from the originals. I have a scaled-down x-wing fighter pilot helmet to complement my Darth Vader helmet and storm trooper costume. I’m not sure if these replicas will one day be valuable. I know that my older Star Wars toys are, but to me this is not point. The point is the passion I feel for the movies.
You see, Star Wars was an epic fantasy like no other. People had written great epics of good versus evil before, but none of them had originated as movies. Fans are fanatical about Star Wars replica models like nothing else, because the story is just so big. The dark side is evil enough to destroy planets with a mere thought, while the rebellion is fighting bravely to free the entire universe from tyranny.
Of course, if you’re just starting a Star Wars replica collection, the best place to start might be with the re-releases of the original toys. After all, every Star Wars collection starts with Luke Skywalker, Hans Solo, Chewbacca, and the rest of that cast. Long before we saw Yoda in lightsaber duels, he was there fighting evil by teaching young Luke Skywalker the way to use the force.
My husband and I have a tendency to stretch ourselves too thin. We get overly involved in community and church activities to the point of feeling used. In our former parish we were lectors, Eucharistic ministers, on the parish council and the environment committee. When we were asked to chair the fund raiser we agreed to do it for one year. We ended up heading it for five. When we relocated to a different area we agreed that we would not jump in with volunteering with our new parish. Within a year we were both on committees. Last year we were asked to head our parish fund raiser. I cannot believe that we said yes.
The parish had tried an adult prom the year before as a fund raiser. It was to be a formal dinner followed by a dance. Such few tickets were sold to parish members that the event needed to be opened to the community. The event raised a small amount of money once all the expenses were paid. The young families in the parish could not justify the price of the ticket and the cost of a babysitter for the evening. This year it was decided to have a family event. It was going to be a carnival evening with games for children and adults and concessions. We wanted very nice prizes. We decided that stuffed animals go over big with kids of all ages. We needed to find wholesale stuffed animals so that we would be able to keep the cost of the event down. We also solicited prizes from area businesses and took in donations for a silent auction.
One person on the committee volunteered to locate wholesale stuffed animals. They had worked in a large toy store for a while and thought that they could get some resources from the manager of the store. They thought was if we could not find wholesale stuffed animals, the manager of the store maybe willing to sell us some of the store’s supply for the store’s cost. The donations for the silent auction were very generous. People had great ideas of donating fishing trips, homemade cookies for the holidays, lawn and yard clean up and other services as well as items.
A week before the carnival we had a meeting with all the committee members to make sure everything was in place. The person in charge of the wholesale stuffed animals came into the meeting carrying four huge stuffed bears. He said that he had several more in his van as well as smaller stuffed animals. He would not give us the name of the benefactor, but it turned out that an owner of a warehouse for wholesale stuffed animals anonymously donated the prizes. We knew that all the kids that came were going to be delighted with the animals.
