May 4, 2025

Happy Star Wars Day! I thought this would be a good opportunity to post a little something about everyone’s (well, almost everyone’s) favorite movie franchise. The original Star Wars movie was released on my 10th birthday in 1977; I was the perfect age to fall in love with it when it hit theaters for the first time. Although it took me a few weeks after it was released for me to become aware of it, once I did see it, I was blown away. In fact, since I had started collecting comics less than a year before, I first became aware of the movie because of the comic book tie in by Roy Thomas and Howard Chaykin.

After seeing the movie, I was crazy for any Star Wars content I could find. Two particular favorites were the Topps trading cards (after buying countless packs, I eventually got a full set) and the Kenner action figures. My younger brother was an equally rabid fan, and over the next several months, between birthdays, Christmas, and what little spending money we had, we were able to collect all 12 of the original figures released. This was very important to us, because on the package of each figure was a proof of purchase token, and an offer: send in 12 proofs of purchase (one from each of the 12) and you would receive a display stand for the figures. Once it arrived, we did bicker occasionally about whose turn it was to have the display with the figures in their room, but we knew we couldn’t have gotten the stand without the other brother’s help, so it was not as contentious as it could have been. Luckily for me, my brother no longer cares about such things and is not a collector, so I have “inherited” the full set.

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Click on the link above to see a close up video. The stand and all of the figures above are the ones from my childhood, although the cardboard back with the X-Wing and Tie Fighter battle is a reproduction I bought on eBay (the original was destroyed many years ago). The stand even has levers which rotate the figures on their base, which I thought was a cool touch. Many of the accessories are missing, and their condition is not great, but this piece still has a prominent place in my office. Every time I see it it makes me smile, remembering how amazing the movie was for the time, and how much my 10 year old self loved it.

May the Fourth Be with You!

Jeff Mara