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SCHLIEFKEVISIONdotcom

The online chronicles of a painter living in Austin, Texas

IN A GALAXY FAR, FAR AWAY...
RETURN TO THE DARK SIDE

KENNER TOYS AND ME

I was fortunate enough to have a few folks looking out for me past my Mom and Dad in the hunt to get every action figure I wanted.  Sure, I was a young, snot nosed bratty three year old, but I was cute, and my Great Aunt Mary took me under her wing, protecting me from my older cousins and even cheating on my behalf so I could win the gigantic penny pots of Pokino. 

Things were simple, quietly deliver to Aunt Mary a clear list of figures I needed without Mom or Grandma knowing, and magically, I would get the figure in a few weeks.  It was like evading Imperial blockades in a rebel ship.  God Bless her soul.  This helped my collection grow by leaps and bounds, and can't even begin to think of the ramifications these events really were in my young life. 

Of course, I still collected a bunch of playsets, from Dagobah to Tattoonie to the ultimate machine of destruction - the Death Star, in addition to some sleek ships - my favorite was Boba Fett's.  

When I opened up the both, a million memories flowed back immediately, I could picture every single figure, knew all their names, allegiances, story, and knew their exact role in the movies.  It was quite a trip, fifteen years removed from last eyeing these toys.  I never let mom throw them away, stubbornly making her keep them in her garage while I studied in Kansas City and traveled through Europe.  

Words can only say so much, so without further ado, here are the pictures:


THE PRE-PREQUEL YEARS

KENNER TOYS AND ME.

REBUILDING THE DEATH STAR

YOUNG VADER REVEALED!!!


SHOTS OF A GROWN BOY AND HIS OLD TOYS:
(These pictures are dedicated to my late, great Aunt Mary.)

Twins on Tattoonie. Yup, I had a lot of figures in my time.

Only a true fan carried his figures in a case like this.

One of my first art projects of all time. I'm still struggling with my brush work.

A mass of trading cards, inserts, guns, and miscellaneous goods - including...

This heart shaped plastic box, which contained...

Darth Vader's decapitated head. I know I couldn't part with it, but did I have to put it in a heart shaped box?

The set of mail in bounty hunters from Empire Strikes Back Nothing was more impressive than unwrapping that package back in Scotia, New York.

Nien-Numb. Another send away figure, I remember watching the commercial on TV and writing 9-Numb on the green blotter on the desk.

Two versions of Luke, the flight suit being waaay cooler, for being orange, and also being my favorite pair of underoos when I was a child.

These two Greedos argue over which one shot first.

A grown up boy finds his light saber.

Imperial figures always drew me in. I always wished I had millions of them. And look at that real life dirt on the Stormtrooper.

The ultimate villian of the universe.

Behold the dark side

A view into the box of goodies.

Some of my oddest and favorite characters of all time. Notice the trash compacter creature in foam trash. And Snaggletooth? Sweet.

Leia chained.

Racial equality hit the Star Wars universe by the second chapter. I needed the black guy because he was different from the white guy. Both sucked ass

A back panel with checks on all the figures I owned. I kept careful track.

Amzingly, this Tie Fighter pilot still smells differently from all the other figures. He always did, fresh out of the box, sweet, like cherries.

My Darth Vader poster.

The question these guys are asking themselves: "Which one of us got the bigger shaft from being in the new Star Wars movies?"

Minature spaceships, and some anonymous figure I couldn't remember his name. He must have been my brother's, I never would've insisted on getting him

The journey to the dark side is complete.