“We’re caught in a tractor beam. It’s pulling us in!” –Han Solo, Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
Star Wars is back. Even though it feels as though it never really went away, it’s really back now, and the frenzy to collect all the new toys tied to the forthcoming movie(s) is in full swing. Glancing at what can be found locally, I see empty pegs and shelves more often than I see stocked pegs and shelves, and I’m seeing more and more anxious collectors and fans trying to track down these new toys for themselves. In its own way, it’s a comforting sight to see, and it’s difficult to not get swept up in “Star Wars mania” all over again, even though I keep trying to escape that tractor beam.
With the exception of that chunk of time from 1984 to 1995 when Star Wars effectively did not exist outside of some comics and cartoons like Droids, Star Wars has been with me pretty much my entire life. I was just about to turn 5 when Star Wars (as it was called then; the “Episode IV” bit was added later) hit the big screen for the first time. My big brother took me to see it . . . and that was it. That movie pretty much shaped and influenced my life more than any other factor I could name. Parents, school, church, Led Zeppelin — they all took a backseat to a fable about droids and swashbuckling heroes. Star Wars became my lifestyle and a part of my identity, and many of my earliest memories involve Star Wars in some way. From 1977 to 1984, I scarcely thought about anything else. My walls were covered in posters, I had the bed sheets and pajamas, I had t-shirts and an R2-D2 necklace, and the toys — oh my lordy did I have some Star Wars toys.
See, the toys were in abundance back then. Stores always had mountains of product on hand, and collecting these toys was just a given that everyone I knew did. It was a great unifier — if you put two kids in a room together, chances are pretty strong those kids could form a strong friendship based solely on Star Wars. It was a great period in time and one that I miss; I will always look back fondly on those “Star Wars” years. And that’s why, when the fever kicked up again in 1999 as the release of The Phantom Menace approached, the bug got me again — bad. I was often on the phone with my mom discussing my plans for the new Star Wars toys as she was my “hunting partner” dating back to the very first wave. I attended the “midnight madness” sales and bought every figure I could get my hands on, including all the subtle variants of the Battle Droids. I had piles of stuff in my apartment and I was loving that Star Wars was happening again.
But then I went to see Episode I: The Phantom Menace.
Disillusioned, I quickly sold everything I had purchased. I used Amazon back when they had an auction site similar to eBay. I sold everything in one lump and just barely made my money back. And that effectively ended “Star Wars” for me. I begrudgingly saw Episode II in the theaters and didn’t even bother with Episode III until a coworker loaned me a bootleg DVD that had Russian and Dutch subtitles. I fast-forwarded to the end just to see the duel and the “NOOOOOO!”, and I bid my final farewell to Star Wars forever.
Or so I thought.
In 2013 the 6-inch Black Series debuted, and I was a Star Wars collector again because 6-inch is my preferred scale and Star Wars figures in this scale was seemingly a dream come true; however, it’s become harder and harder to be excited about the Black Series due to the drop in overall quality since the first wave. But the point is I found myself sucked in again — and I was already contemplating dropping it again because the enthusiasm that fueled my hunt for an army of Sandtroopers waned significantly with each successive wave, so news of Episode VII Black Series figures was barely enough to make me take notice because there was no way I was going to get burned again like I did with the launch of the Phantom Menace toys. JJ Abrams and Episode VII could take a flying leap for all I cared.
But I’m admittedly pretty weak-willed, so hype absolutely does work on me, and as “Force Friday” approached, I planned my shopping strategy to get all the Star Wars toys I had my eye on, which was Sphero’s BB-8 and absolutely no Black Series figures. Not one. No, really.
So Star Wars hype has me in its grip again, completely. I’ve picked up most of the first wave, and will complete it once stores restock. There’s seriously nothing to be found locally — I almost wonder if that’s the universe telling me to back off, but in reality it’s probably just very poor distribution at work.
Trying to deny Star Wars is like trying to deny family. Sure, they may have disappointed you at some point in your life, but they’re always going to be part of who you are. Star Wars was simply too important to me during my earliest years, so when it pops back up like it is right now, it’s silly for me to think I can go without participating to some degree. That tractor beam is always going to grab me, and as much as I may complain about it, at the end of the day, I’m glad it did.