010 Millennium Falcon (1979)

I'm pretty sure I got this from Santa for Christmas in 1979 (though it may have been '80, post-Empire), after we'd been back in the U.S. for a few months.

 

This was easily one of my favorite toys, and it shows. Well played with, but 95% complete with no broken pieces. I seem to recall that it stopped making the electronic sounds pretty early into its career, but have never had any reason (other than this toy) to buy D batteries, so have never tested it to verify my memory. 

Otherwise, just a few dried up and missing stickers, and a missing light-saber-practice-sphere-and-stick (which I'm told is one of the more commonly missing pieces in this vintage toy). Also, they're not broken, but the pegs in the rear legs were never the best at keeping the legs as supportive stand (they're now augmented with some wads of paper--see the photo).

The plastic of the body's exterior is much more yellowed than is evident in the photos, but I think it's just enough to add to the sense of "dirty tech" that one might expect of a toy from the original Star Wars films. The interior floors could do with a little sponging, though; I'm pretty sure those stains are from my friends' kid playing with it when he visits. This goes for $50 to $120 or so on Ebay...so I've found it more worthwhile to keep as a display piece.

 

007 Empire Strikes Back Sketchbook (1980)

So, my mom, my godmother, and I were in Columbia Mall in 1980, and I saw this book. I asked my mom to buy it, but she refused. As we continued shopping, my godmother conspiratorially leaned into me, handing me $20: "Don't tell your mother. You go buy that book."

 

Published in 1980, this book contains lots of cool examples of design progression. As a budding artist, it was my invaluable first example of how ideas can change over time, and how your first rendering of a concept isn't always your best (and in some cases, what ends up as the final product isn't as cool as some of the preliminary ideas). For example, I prefer the helmet on this snow trooper. 

And this snow speeder looks like what eventually became the A-Wing fighter. I guess another example of how even an initially unused idea can be recycled into future creative efforts. The snow speeder that ended up on film was my favorite of all the ship designs in the Star Wars saga, but this is a close second.

Wait! I lied. The Slave I was my favorite...until I found out it didn't fly in the same way that it docked (I've rotated the picture to how I thought it would fly). Rumored(?) to be based upon the shape of a streetlamp, this was another great lesson in art: Inspiration for design may be found anywhere.

In decent shape for a well read 32 year old book.