Star Wars are made for geeks. Geeks love Star Wars. I’m no exception either. Star Wars was my favourite movie growing up - and it still is.
A mystical force, telekinetic capabilities and duels with lightsabers were way too cool and I was a moth drawn to a flame. I grew up on hand me down Star Wars figures from my cousins, and I had grown up watching the original Star Wars trilogy multiple times, either on VHS tapes or replays on Channel 5. I was around 12-13 when the Phantom Menace was released. Honestly, that first movie, The Phantom Menace, kind of sucked. But I still recalled watching it twice. I think the first time was with my dad on Opening Day, followed a second time with friends. Despite the inferior story telling in the prequel, there were still parts to be cheered about, such as Darth Maul and the awesome soundtrack. In addition, the final lightsaber duel between Darth Maul and Qui-Gon Jinn / Obi-wan Kenobi was beautifully choreographed. There was also Natalie Portman as Princess Amidala.
That also introduced me to the expanded Star Wars Universe - new stories and new arcs. The books, the games, and the comics. Though my main interest was with the books.
Hands down, the best EU story was the Thrawn saga. Not many villains can best the brutal yet amazingly brilliant alien humanoid with blue skin and red eyes. He was constantly outplanning and outwitting the heroes. He doesn’t use the force but his intellectual capability more than make him a match for Luke’s or Leia’s jedi powers.
Alongside the fledging Star Wars community in Singapore, I started my own toy collection around the same time too. It was exciting times. Hasbro would release the Star Wars figures in waves, and each wave would have a few popular characters and unknowns. However, getting those popular characters often proved difficult. Darth Maul was one such character. Many trips to Toys R Us and big departmental stores often yielded unfavourable results and the next options were to buy the action figures from scalpers, collectible shops etc. That was my first exposure to the Clarke Quay flea market and also shops such as The Falcon’s Hanger (TFH).
At that early age, there’s a lot more opportunity for trying out new interests and activities. It just so happened that my interest was in collecting action figures. It was a way for me to meet like minded folks in the Star Wars community, and to immerse myself in. The entire star wars universe was so well developed that I could delve into it and create my own fantasy - through dioramas. The first picture shows a printed Jawa Sandcrawler - via papercraft. It was a great sense of achievement as you put the whole vehicle together. Btw, I was 14-15 at that time :).
One shall never be too old for Star Wars
It also granted some father / son bonding time. As my collection grew, I pestered my dad for a display cabinet and we spend some time hunting around for one. The fun was in putting it together. The shelf is still around, even after 18 years. We actually made a mistake in the installation. We sort of installed one shelf in the opposite direction, but the fun is in the process right? I still look at it and smile fondly as I remember how we work together. Life is never perfect, it is filled with tons of imperfections and challenges, yet each mistake we make is for a purpose, and would only make us wiser and stronger.
