A very odd request...

[New_Bornalex]

Hello all,

I am currently prepping a series of YouTube videos about my vintage Kenner Star Wars collection.

Now, you might think this topic has been covered by so many other channels, what's the point?

Yet what I haven't seen so far is anyone doing re-creations of specific personal incidents that occurred when they played with these in the 70s and 80s.

Like the time a sudden summer rain hit while we were playing outside, and washed away a couple of gaffi sticks. For a few years, my Sand People carried makeshift weapons formed from the hollow translucent blue plastic shaft of Q-tips, before everyone realized that lots of single-use disposable plastic was bad for the environment.

That's not even my best story, it's just one of dozens of childhood memories.

Anyway, here's my dilemma. There are some stories about ways in which my toys got damaged, and unfortunately, I didn't think to keep the damaged ones for posterity's sake (or future YouTube purposes).

And I am having a hard time bringing myself to deliberately damage toys just for illustrative purposes.

Even as a guy who's customized a lot of vintage toys over the years, there's just something that feels inherently wrong in inflicting re-created trauma on duplicates.

So, long story short, if anyone has a be-headed Death Squad Commander or a 12-back Han Solo that was chewed on by a dog, let me know!

Alex

 

[hansloroll]

Somewhere in my boxes of vintage figures reside a Greedo that lost his head. I had heard they sculpted toys in wax back then and would use candle wax to make him new heads. I also have an atat commander that was broken but repaired, He had broken just below the neck. Thankfully I had the pieces and glued it a lifetime ago.

 

[New_Bornalex]

I like the candlewax story. It reminds me of the time we were doing candles for a fundraiser in middle school and the teacher encouraged us to bring in any molds we had. I took my Star Wars Play-Doh molds, but the candle wax melted the plastic of the molds! I think they're still damaged to this day. That might be a great topic for another video!

As for the figures mentioned above, I bought a real beater of a Han Solo just now off eBay. Lots of missing paint on the face and throat. It was slightly less than what a loose Retro big head Han Solo would have cost from the cheapest source I could find. Also, probably less than what I would spend making a mold of a figure and recasting it just for the video.

Plus, this one is the small head version, just like the one my sister's dog chewed, which is a key element of the full anecdote, as I couldn't find a replacement until about ten years later while at a comic shop with my girlfriend (now ex-wife).

Push comes to shove, I may can bring myself to deliberately let a dog chew on this newly acquired beater. My niece has two new puppies at her house, I may can let them gnaw on it a bit. I own a dog myself, but she's six now and aside from a couple of power cords when she was little, she's never been one to chew on things. I'd hate to introduce/encourage the behavior in a dog that lives in the same house with my collection, for obvious reasons.

And since there is a custom I've got planned for a separate video where I would need to put a different head on a Death Squad Commander, I might actually re-create the decapitation incident live on camera, and then use the end result for the custom.

But just as Hansloroll's story about the candle wax jogged a memory about another forgotten childhood toy-got-damaged event, if you have any other odd tales, feel free to share them in here.

Alex

 

[StarFin]

I used to use those pirate sword drink swizzlers my parents had for replacement of lost light sabers. I also used my grandpa's rivets for weapons too.

 

[New_Bornalex]

Same, Starfin! I had some of those pirate swords in my collection as well. Thanks for reminding me!

LOL, I didn't have access to any rivets as a kid, but I know what they look like now and they do look like a hilt, handguard, and blade, don't they?

As for the handiness of a grandfather's tools, that does remind me of the time my R2-D2 necklace's leg broke off, and my grandfather somehow reattached it in such a way that it retained mobility. I wonder if I still have that in a box somewhere? I'd love to study it with an adult's eyes and see if I can figure out what he did. That would be a great topic to showcase in this video series.

Thanks for triggering TWO great memories!

Alex

 

[StarFin]

Yes to the rivets.

 

[New_Bornalex]

... my R2-D2 necklace's leg broke off, and my grandfather somehow reattached it in such a way that it retained mobility. I wonder if I still have that in a box somewhere?

While searching in vain for some other items, I did stumble onto a box which contained that Artoo necklace my grandfather repaired in the 70s.

I shot a video yesterday which may be a 'gateway' installment to the series I want to do about the vintage toys and their anecdotes.

Alex

 

[Tulgah]

Cool clip! I think you have a great idea for a Tube series!

 

[New_Bornalex]

Cool clip! I think you have a great idea for a Tube series!

The initial installment of this new video series grew so large that it threatened to overtax my editing software, so I broke it into three videos. And I still have some trimmings from my friend John's apartment that I might spin off into a separate video.

Alex

 

[New_Bornalex]

I shot a video yesterday which may be a 'gateway' installment to the series I want to do about the vintage toys and their anecdotes.

A followup about one of my vintage toys seen in the video from June 25th.

Alex

 

[New_Bornalex]

John got such a kick out of the finished project, I decided to use all the remaining footage in a bonus video as a birthday surprise for him yesterday.

You'll hear one or two sentences repeated from the previous three-parter, to properly set up the remaining trimmings, but for the most part this was all unused in the Blue Snaggletooth triptych.

Alex

 

[New_Bornalex]

Alex

 

[New_Bornalex]

The previous topic led me to do a little detective work about the source of a scrap piece of cardboard from 1996.

Alex

 

[Tulgah]

That’s a legitimately engaging video! It’s not only really informative and instructive but also really personal and sweet. So much Droids goodness! But the story is the delightful part.

 

[New_Bornalex]

Thanks, Tulgah! I truly appreciate that comment, because I've never felt like I had anything to add to the well-covered topics of vintage Kenner Star Wars stories... but as soon as I had the idea to tell the unique little personal anecdotes, it's like I can't shut my brain off. I keep thinking of more and more and more.

Alex

 

[Tulgah]

Well, keep posting them! Your stellar collection can support a jillion little commentaries. I’m game!

 

[Tulgah]

Btw, I replaced my door frame/doors with a custom “sci-fi” entryway with Aurebesh wording. I feel like it gives my Star Wars cantina a visual boost when displayed next to my Real West saloon (which also has a custom door). I need to add some stickers to the Star Wars piece!

 

[Oofa]

Looks good what was there before?

 

[Tulgah]

A brown cantina door, if I remember right.

 

[New_Bornalex]

Very neat stuff, Tulgah. I was surprised when going through boxes to discover how many Cantina bases I had. I was fairly obsessed with an article about other toy lines that were repurposed from Star Wars, so I wonder if I was planning to make a custom saloon at some point? (That theory is supported by the presence of all the Robin Hood Prince of Thieves toys nearby in a box with their Ewok counterparts.)

Alex

 

[Tulgah]

Yes! I occasionally will discover a repurposed product, either Star Wars to something else or something else to Star Wars!

 

[Utinniii]

If you watch the Stephen Colbert, Mark Hamil Star Wars sketch, you can see the rediscovered complete (not Arubeshe) text. It is from the actual sign partially seen in the 1977 movie. It is also seen later in The Mandalorian.
If you intend to paint it, it looks like this.

Until a few years ago, there were no known images of the entire sign. One turned up in Roger Christian's (Set Decorator for SW) private collection. I'm not sure if he has publicly shared it yet, but it might be in the Art of The Mandalorian art book. If he hasn't shared it yet, it might be because he is thinking of publishing a bout about his time in SW; unless I'm confusing him with someone else's private collection where they intend to write a book.

 

[Tulgah]

Wow! I’ve never seen the whole sign! That’s all great info!

 

[yodashizzle]

Great stuff all around, I love it!

 

[New_Bornalex]

I teased this topic in an earlier vid, finally got it all filmed and cut together.

Alex

 

[New_Bornalex]

This one was filmed in pieces across the past couple of weeks. I was headed to a 'location shoot' at Donegan's Slough when it began to rain, so I stopped my original Bossk story and did the intro for the Action Display Stand anecdote instead (which involved rain, so it worked better). I was able to complete the Stand video first, but now I've finally gone back and completed the Bossk tale.

Ordinarily, I would not have worn an Empire Strikes Back shirt for the Stand story, but needs must when you 'move to the cover set'.

Alex

 

[Tulgah]

Man, I really do just love your blog! So many of us can relate to these types of stories. Reconstructing that kind of personal history isn’t just about nostalgia for toys, or even for a time and place—it’s also a way to remember and preserve past events and actual life experience. It’s almost like the figures are a pretext for discussing this era in all its attitudes and atmospheres.

I saw the world through Star Wars figures. But I also USED the world for Star Wars figures, and never would be able to separate the vibes of that era from my enjoyment of this hobby.

EVERYTHING in the horse story only could’ve happened from about 1975-1985, or perhaps just a smidge longer. It certainly provides great context for what that period was like!

 

[New_Bornalex]

Man, I really do just love your blog!

Glad you're digging it.

And speaking of 'digging', it occurred to me that the reenactment scenes where I'm playing with Bossk in the dirt are probably the single most expensive footage I've ever filmed in ten years of YouTubing.

I couldn't very well go digging up the former field at Donegan's Slough, since I don't know the current owners. So I took advantage of a section of my own backyard that's still settling back into place from where we had a new outgoing sewage line run some weeks back. The entire line, come to find out, was a pre-1970s product called Orangeburg which is basically waterproofed wood pulp. Sounds like a genius idea, right? Actually, we hadn't had any major problems with it for the 15 years we've lived here, but it's 50 years old now and beginning to outlast its utility.

We were already spending $1800 to fix one problem at the back fence where a bush's root had penetrated it and clogged it. The hole they had to dig to reach the blockage was man-deep. When they ran the camera from there to the house and saw five more potential trouble spots where the Orangeburg simply had no floor anymore, I asked how much it would cost to replace it all. The initial estimate was $4800, but they actually got it done in a single day, so the final tally came to only $4500.

Ironic, right? In the video it's just dirt and sod, things you generally don't think of as having a price tag. Even the 'tree branches' were technically roots that had been dug up by the backhoe. But the section of my yard seen in the footage from 4:50 to 5:43... less than a minute total... actually cost me thousands of dollars. Talk about production value, eh?

I'm currently prepping the next installment for Toyaholic, one that hopefully won't tally up to quite as much of an expenditure, but I've had to postpone the shooting of the teased 'RocketFett' topic which I'd slated for today. We've got a corporate bigwig coming today at work so last night the manager asked me to come in on my off-day and help out for a couple of hours.

But, here's something you might enjoy.

Over on my Facebook page, I've been posting the various graphics prepped for this video series. In many cases, photos found online to illustrate a cardback mailaway offer etc. are retouched before being edited into the vids, but on Facebook I'm trying to show the original images, with links to the websites where they can be found. There's also still photos of some of my collection, and the occasional accidental selfie when I press the large shutter button and activate the three-second timer, instead of pressing the tiny 'record video' button further back.

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.4325477714232425&type=3

Alex

 

[Tulgah]

$4,500! .

I’ll definitely check out the link!

 

[New_Bornalex]

Hey, I remembered a few more 'proto-Toyaholic' videos from earlier this year and added them to the Playlist.

They lack the 're-enactment' aspect of the newer videos, but do talk about some childhood memories and other things, like my correspondence with Brian Daley, which will certainly be revisited in future 'proper' Toyaholic vids.

Alex

 

[New_Bornalex]

I had a new arrival, so I went ahead and did this video while the RocketFett video is still being finalized.

Alex

 

[New_Bornalex]

Alex

 

[Tulgah]

Each of these videos explains or describes something SO MANY of us experienced and still experience. It’s gratifying to see.

 

[Tulgah]

We live! And we love Toyaholic!

 

[AaylaSecurasMan]

Yes to the rivets.

My grandpa had a car repair shop and I used so many of these!

 

[New_Bornalex]

A continuation of the Boba Fett anecdotes...

Alex

 

[New_Bornalex]

Alex

 

[Tulgah]

The weird thing is that these companies’ quality control offices did begin to allow those kind of projectiles again a few years later; growing up in the ‘80s, I had lots of toys that shot something (some with quite a bit of potency).

I never knew if that BG story actually were true, so I’m glad now to be informed.

 

[New_Bornalex]

The weird thing is that these companies’ quality control offices did begin to allow those kind of projectiles again a few years later; growing up in the ‘80s, I had lots of toys that shot something (some with quite a bit of potency).

I never knew if that BG story actually were true, so I’m glad now to be informed.

That's a good point, they did eventually start having projectiles again, but always with much longer shafts so they couldn't be swallowed or 'aspirated' into the lungs as easily as these small BSG and Boba-style rockets could.

I remember some later Kenner spring-loaded toys where there was even a tether connecting the projectile to the launcher.

Although, oddly enough, when they recycled that same toy for a different line, the tether wasn't present in the new version, even though the hole for the string was still present on the mold.

That might have just been a story point though. Venkman uses the accessory to catch a ghost, so the string is present to help kids reel the ghost back. Whereas Joker just launches his as a weapon at Batman. Shrug.

Hmmm. I've still got to film a bridge element for the video I'm currently editing. I think I'll talk about those longer projectiles in the section about a specific toy. I was already kicking myself for leaving it out of the list. Thanks!

Yes, unfortunately the BSG story is true. There's an article about the incident on theswca.com with links to some of the documents that I mentioned. It's an extremely depressing read.

Oddly enough, both JediKnutt and I experienced a disconnect about it. When I was extemporizing the segments of this video, I found it hard to call specific details to mind such as what year it occurred, etc. This is despite having re-read it all in the past two years as research for that Sequart essay.

Over on my FB page, JediKnutt made a similar comment to yours, about wondering if it was true, and I privately linked him to the article. Minutes later he messaged me back saying "Oh wait, I have read this before." I think that both of us, as fathers, must be actively repressing the particulars of the tragic case.

Alex

 

[Tulgah]

I never looked up any of the details, but did assume it to be true, knowing that Kenner had scrambled to change directions right as the figure was being released. I’m sure that LOTS of toys in the old days were FAR more dangerous than now, perhaps mainly just because companies were still existing in a kind of consumer Wild West where everyone lived in a kind of less litigious way.

Even so, I remember Dan Aykroyd as Irwin Mainway all the way back in ‘75, trying to convince consumers not to sue over his “Bag o’ Broken Glass.” Even late in the day (in the mid to late ‘80s), some toys still were pretty dangerous. And it seems like everybody was using harmful chemicals and plastics to manufacture them (lead, asbestos, etc.).