Unique Serving Platter

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.

Cardboard boxes aren’t just for the homeless to sleep inside of. There are many, many things that a cardboard box can be used for. In fact, with a little bit of creativity and some imagination, an ordinary cardboard box can become just about anything. The homeless people fight over the large ones sometimes, hoping that they can crawl inside to escape the elements of the weather. Moving to a new residence can require lots of lots of cardboard boxes in order to safely relocate everything. A cardboard box can be used to transport anything from plants to groceries, and anything else you can imagine.

Practical uses for a cardboard box just aren’t very exciting. Children can take a box and turn it into a castle or a boat. As a child, my parents got a new refrigerator delivered. The delivery guys took it out of this large cardboard box. I would not let my parents break the cardboard box apart and get rid of it. That simple box remained in our basement for months and months before my parents finally convinced me that it was taking up too much room. But, I had so many adventures inside of that box. During a slumber party, my girlfriends and I were pirates on the high seas looking for treasure. We turned it into a mansion at one time. I slept in it a few times just to see what it felt like to be a homeless person. I ate some snacks and meals in that huge cardboard box. To me, it wasn’t just a box - it was a treasure.

Children are like that. I am amazed at the fact that my young daughter is sometimes more interested in the cardboard box or bag that a gift came in, than actually playing with the gift she received. I should just wrap up a few cardboard boxes for her to play with. She’d probably love it. Not only does she like cardboard boxes, but our cats do as well. After we moved into a new home, we had empty and full cardboard boxes everywhere for a few weeks. Our cats would hide inside of the empty ones until you walked past them. They would pick the perfect moment to attack and try to give us a heart attack. While that didn’t work, they did cause me to jump more than once. My daughter enjoyed playing hide and seek for a while. Oh, the joys of a cardboard box.