This is a true story: Being an Army-Brat, it was by pure luck, chance and destiny, that I was in the States with my parents on leave - when I heard the wildest, most fantastic sounds to ever grace my ears - coming from inside a family friend's house. I ran inside to find out what those incredibly unique "space" sounds were and there it was on the TV, the trailer for the new Star Wars film - Episode 4. I was hypnotized by the action, the creatures, the ships, the droids, Darth Vader! Before the trailer was even over, I was screaming at the top of my lungs that "..we had to go see this movie!"
That was May 1977 - I was 6 years old and by June, we were back in Germany, just in time for the Sears Christmas Catalog to come in the mail. Of course, they were scant on the toys for that year, but I got everything that was offered for Christmas 1977. And just as religiously as Christmas was celebrated, every year following, I got every Star Wars toy available until 1985. That was the year our family was split in two from a divorce and left me with a mom and her single income and no more Star Wars toys.
I held onto my all my toys through the years, packed in boxes, and they came with me no matter where I went. Some were lost through thievery when our storage unit was ransacked while in Germany one last time, but the majority I kept, closely guarded. When I got married, the toys came with. When I had kids, the toys stayed - but never to be played with by infant hands. Even when we barely had money to eat, the toys stayed, knowing they could bring a nice chunk of change for a fine kingly feast or even pay the rent for a few months.
But, it wasn't until my wife, of 9 years by now, started to pressure me to get rid of "that junk" - the Dark Side reared it's ugly head. I protested, of course and she pushed, of course. I protested more, she pushed more, for months. I soon had my own battle for the Star Wars galaxy in my own house and it wasn't looking good for us Rebels. The Dark Side of my wife came down hard and fast and before I knew it - an entire Original Kenner Star Wars Collection (1977-1985) was gone! Yes, she sold it one day while I was at work - to a rather unscrupulous character/collector, who knew he had hit the galactic motherload that was about to net him a fortune that Jabba The Hutt would have salivated over.
When I got home after work that day - I was clueless, even when I wasn't greeted with the usual, "..when are you going to get rid of that Star Wars sh*t?" but a calm, "How was your day?" It slowly began to dawn on me, something was up. It didn't take long for her to tell me what she did for a whopping total of $75.00! A collection that, today, would have been worth an easy $20,000 or more - was lost forever for $75.00 and because, "..we needed the money...", she said.
I divorced her soon after. Literally and seriously.
To this day, I still cry over that horrid moment I was betrayed by the Dark Side of the woman who was supposed to love and cherish. I have since tried collecting those missing pieces and haev even begun collecting different Star Wars collectibles, simply because I cannot afford to replace everything that dissapeared from my life that day.
To own this magical machine would not only bring back some of the best years of my life - playing with my original AT-AT on Christmas morning in 1980 - it would be an important win in my struggle to regain what I lost and most certainly a prized item to never be lost to the forces of the Dark Side or anyone else again.
"Do or do not, there is no try"
Read More http://www.wired.com/underwire/2010/05/celebrate-empire-strikes-backs-birthday-win-a-killer-at-at/#ixzz0oadnk2Jb
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