At the beginning of our MA in Science Fiction Studies program in 2006, Christian, Sunshine, and I boarded the River Mersey Ferry for a trip to Spaceport in Wirral where the Doctor Who Up Close Exhibition was taking place, which I wrote about here. Sadly, Spaceport has been replaced, but these photos–most are mine and a couple were taken by Christian when my camera battery died–recall one of its coolest exhibits there.
Thankfully, LEGO provides digital copies of their set instruction books online. This means that if you have the bricks, you can build anything in the LEGO catalog. Of course, it might take time and energy to hunt down each individual brick and element that you might need to assemble a given set if your collection is as disorganized and binned as mine is. Nevertheless, it’s satisfying being able to build something new with what you have instead of having to go out and buy it.
In this case, I assembled a set that didn’t buy when it came out in 2010: 8099 Midi-Scale Imperial Star Destroyer. It took a considerable amount of time to find all of the bricks that I needed to complete it, and I had to cannibalize some other sets to get all of the parts. Eventually, it came together. However, I did have to make one off-color substitution deep within and hidden from external view.
I picked up this faithful R2 unit from LEGO when I began my position as a Brittain Fellow at Georgia Tech in 2012.
It’s the 10225 R2-D2 set that was released in 2012 (shortly before I moved back to Atlanta).
It features a turning head, a little bit of wobble, arms, saw, data port interface, and a retractable third leg. It’s blockier looking than the 2021 R2-D2 75308 set, but its the blockiness that makes it endearing.
Though, be warned that R2, when left to his own devices, might try to hack your computer . . .
Almost ten years before I went to the Star Wars and the Power of Costume Exhibition in New York City, I attended Star Wars the Exhibition in London, England on 26 June 2007. It was held in County Hall, Westminster, which is across the Thames from Big Ben and the Palace of Westminster and near the London Eye.
I had a half day for sight-seeing, so I made the most of it–riding the Tube, visiting 221B Baker Street, walking through St. James Park, passing Buckingham Palace, paying respects at Westminster Abbey, and ending up at Star Wars the Exhibition.
Star Wars the Exhibition was held in an old building with fine wood detailing and fireplaces throughout the smaller rooms. It was tight in places and open in others. It was dark and the lighting produced shadows and a variety of dramatic colors, which created challenges for my camera. As you’ll see in the photos, it had some amazing life-size artifacts from The Phantom Menace (1999).
For this shot of my younger self with R2-D2, I set my camera with a timer delay and placed it on a fireplace mantle opposite R2.
In a stroke of luck in the lead-up to Sean Scanlan and I publishing our co-edited special issue of New American Notes Online (NANO) on Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens, the Smithsonian and Lucas Museum of Narrative Art traveling exhibition collaboration called Star Wars and the Power of Costume came to New York City. I visited the exhibition with my Canon T3i one summer afternoon in 2016. It was exhilarating to me to be close to the costumes and props from my most loved movie franchise. Also, I imagined how the exhibit must be a goldmine for costuming details for Star Wars cosplay.
I’m afraid that my photography skills and control over my equipment is left wanting, but I tried my best to capture the costumes and equipment as best as I could for my own enjoyment when revisiting the exhibition via memory conjured by the photos. Now, I’m sharing my photos of the exhibition for your benefit here.
Also, I attended an earlier Star Wars exhibition in London nine years earlier, which I will post next week as my Flickr album of those photos no longer exists [link added to the London Star Wars Exhibition on 17 Oct. 2023]. It will feature costumes and some vehicles and models. In the meantime, I hope that you enjoy virtually visiting the Power of Costume below.
Padmé Amidala and Anakin Skywalker’s Secret Wedding
