PART 1
A long time ago, in a childhood not so far away…
I was a Star Wars kid growing up in the 1970s.
I was only six years old when the very first Star Wars hit theatres, and like so many kids of that generation, I was completely captivated. My parents bought me the figures, the Landspeeder, the X-Wing Fighter… and I played with them endlessly.
I can still remember being eight or nine years old and feeling incredibly jealous of a friend who had something I didn’t — the Millennium Falcon.
Those toys weren’t collectibles back then.
They were toys.
They were adventures.
They were imagination.
They were a galaxy that existed on bedroom floors, kitchen tables and anywhere else a kid could dream up the next battle between good and evil.
My go to was the quilt from my bed. It made an incredible mountain range to hide
Sand People in as
Luke & Obi-Wan cruised thru in the Land speeder.
Then, sometime around 1987–1989, I made a decision I would remember for the rest of my life.
My parents were having a garage sale, and I decided to sell my Star Wars collection.
I still remember my Mom asking me if I was sure I wanted to part with all of it.
I was a teenager. Star Wars toys were part of my childhood, and I suppose I thought I had outgrown them.
So I said yes.
If my memory serves me correctly, one person bought essentially everything for about $50.
Figures. Vehicles. Memories.
Gone.
I don’t really know why that day has remained so vivid in my mind all these years later, but it has.
Maybe some part of me knew I was selling more than toys.
Fast-forward more than three decades.
A few years ago,
@veve_official released the
@Disney
Golden Moments collection.
I went for the drop…
…and landed C-3PO.
For a moment, something happened that I hadn’t experienced in a very long time.
That childhood excitement came rushing back.
The adrenaline.
The anticipation.
The feeling of actually owning something connected to a story and characters that had meant so much to me as a kid.
That moment helped rekindle something.
Since then, collecting — both digitally and physically — has become a significant part of my life.
Maybe the collector was always there.
Maybe he was just waiting to be rediscovered.