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.
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.
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).
Ticket Front and Back
Life-Size Naboo Fighter
Life-Size Anakin Skywalker’s Pod Racer
R2-D2 and C-3PO
Padmé Amidala
Anakin Skywalker and Darth Vader
Boba Fett and Jango Fett
Obi-Wan Kenobi and Qui-Gon Jinn
Darth Maul
Stormtrooper
Princess Leia
Yoda
Han Solo in Carbonite
Imperial and Republic Uniforms
Life-Size Speeder Bike, Model-Size Speeder Bike, and Ewok
Droids
Ships, Fighters, Monsters, and Other Models
Me and R2-D2
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.
When I was working at Mindspring in Atlanta in the late 1990s/early 2000s, I had to move on short notice. The only apartment that I could find quickly and at a low price that I could afford was a two-bedroom at the historic Bolton Apartments near downtown Atlanta.
Living alone, I didn’t need a two-bedroom apartment, but it was advantageous in two regards. First, I was able to shelter my grandparents, uncle, and dad during Hurricane Floyd, and second, it gave me room to rebuild a Star Wars collection.
When I was a child, my Star Wars toys were the Cadillacs of my toy collection. They gave me many hours of enjoyment and they survived better than they might have elsewhere. Despite how much I loved them, I sold them off just before going to college at Georgia Tech–thinking that I needed to part with youthful things to attain a more serious mindset in my pursuit of a Physics degree.
I had kept a few dear Star Wars action figures–especially an R2-D2 with Sensorscope from The Empire Strikes Back (1980) that my grandmother had driven to Savannah to find for me. I also had a complete Yoda with orange snake action figure that I had purchased at Comics Plus in Macon. And a few vehicles include the Power of the Force 2 (POTF2) Millennium Falcon and Slave I.
From those humble beginnings, I began to acquire more Star Wars paraphernalia, merchandise, and toys. A lot of this rejuvenated interest came from the release of The Phantom Menace (1999) and the onslaught of new action figures, dolls, and LEGO sets (the latter’s licensing began in 1999).
On my days off from Mindspring, my hobby involved driving around to department stores, comic book shops, and flea markets looking for Star Wars collectibles. While my rent was low, it was in retrospect unwise of me to invest so much money and time in the collection. It brought me enjoyment at the time, but it eventually caused me a lot of stress and headache. It was both ends of madness–euphoria and the crash.
The work at Mindspring, after the Earthlink merger, became less fun. Others in the call center decided to play the numbers game and win–leading to more call backs and angrier customers–and left the rest of us the job of fulfilling our original mission to support our customers and lose. I decided to pack it in and move back to Brunswick to regroup. I’m glad that I did, because I eventually got back into Georgia Tech and made my way to where I am now at City Tech.
Here are some highlights shown in the photos of the collection above from left to right.
Photo 1
Photo 2
Photo 3
Photo 4
Rebel Command Center Adventure Set with original 3 figures. Mail-in Display Stand with complete set of original Kenner Star Wars action figures. Darth Vader’s Star Destroyer Action Playset. First LEGO sets including Y-Wing, Darth Vader’s Advanced TIE Fighter, Snowspeeder, and Anakin’s Pod Racer. Dagobah Playset.
POTF2 TIE Fighter. Carded Kenner ROTJ Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker (Jedi Knight) action figures. Vehicle Energizer in box. Lots of boxed and carded POTF2 action figures and playsets. Kenner Yodas with brown and orange snakes. Pewter Boba Fett figurine. Near complete set of Star Wars and Empire Kenner action figures. POTF2 X-Wing (small), Slave I, Jabba, Millennium Falcon.
POTF2 Millennium Falcon and X-Wing (large). Multipack action figure sets and carded Comtech Reader.
More Episode 1 action figures and toys than you can shake a stick at.
