Nerdery Week: Day 5

And the beat goes on…

Well, this will instantly align me with the millions of other nerds out there with similar tastes. You’ve probably gotten a whiff of it with some of the earlier entries for Nerdery Week.

My name is Thomas…and I am a Star Wars nerd.

*sigh*

Truth be told, I’ve been a geek/nerd/dork for Star Wars since I was a wee lad and saw it in the theatre with my dad. I was 4 years old and it pretty much changed my life. The problem is, it never changed it back.

*rim shot*

While I’ll never profess to be a ‘deluxe SW nerd’ (I’ve never read the books outside of the original 6 movies, nor do I want to acknowledge they exist) and I don’t have every single thing with the image of Star Wars emblazoned on it (cereal boxes, toothpaste, Chewbacca Depends Undergarments), I do have to admit to dressing up as Han Solo once at a Comic Convention.

Yes. Blaster and all.

But…I never, um…tried to use The Force to get myself out of a predicament.

Okay, well, there was that one time I was hanging upside down from an apple tree in winter, a la Luke Skywalker in Hoth. And yes, there was a flashlight (lightsaber) lying in the snow juuuuust out of reach. But, er… I was eight years old or something. I think.

Okay. I’m a giant nerd. But heck, this is our week to celebrate, wounds and all.

Welcome to the Star Wars portion of my Nerdery.

First off, my shelves. These are located to the left of my desk where all the ‘magic’ happens.

Let’s punch in for a closer look, eh?

Here’s the original foursome and by original, I’m not saying they’re from the original Kenner line way back in the 70’s. Nope. These are the new-fangled Star Wars figures that came out a little over 1o years ago. I was a fool when I was a youngster and sold nearly all of my old Star Wars stuff. I had gotten tired of it, so I sold the stuff at rock-bottom prices in a garage sale. Almost immediately I regretted it and spent too much time and money buying all the original smaller figures back. I think I’ve got all but 4 of them.

Anyway, here is Darth Vader, Han Solo, Luke Skywalker and my favorite Obi Wan Kenobi. I’m such a nerd, I still have an unopened OWK in my steamer trunk in the other room.

Side note: I’m pissed that Han Solo can’t hold his well-known blaster properly. How much does that stink?

Here we have 4 characters from the ‘it should’ve been much cooler’ flick The Phantom Menace.

Young Obi Wan Kenobi (complete with Padawan braid)

Darth Maul (who was the best part of the movie)

Queen Amidala (who cost like $2 at Kaybee Toys when they were going out of business)

And the suckiest guy in the group, Young Anakin Skywalker. I bought Ani on eBay for literally $1. No one else bothered to bid against me. Now I know why. Must’ve been all those midichloreans in his bloodstream.

2nd shelf down brings us to my favorite characters in the movies: The Bounty Hunters. Something about aliens and robots out hunting other people/Jedis/smugglers that just does something for me.

From the left we have Ponda Baba (that’s ‘Walrus Man’ to my generation) complete with removable left arm, a result of stepping to Alec Guiness on Tatooine. “He doesn’t like you. I don’t like you either…”

Next we’ve got Zam Wessel . She was in the worst of all of the Star Wars movies: Attack of the Clones. I still thought she was pretty cool. Almost as cool as Princess Leia as Boussh.

Next in line is Bossk. I don’t know why, but I always liked ol’ B. He was a lizard who had no business holding a blaster, but he looked mean and greasy. I was sold.

Well, you know who that is next to him, right? (If you said Zuckuss, you’re dead wrong) That’s 4-LOM which is an inside joke in that his name means ‘For Love or Money.’ You know, that’s what former protocol droid bounty hunters do it for. Love or… Nevermind.

(Okay, when I step away for a moment and re-read what I’ve just written, I can see that I am a tried and true nerd. Just sayin..’)

Hey! There’s the grand-daddy of all bounty hunters and snack of the Saarlac, Boba Fett. He’s much cooler than the shabby version offered in the 80’s. For one thing, his head is proportionate and for another, he talks. My favorite line? “He’s no good to me dead.”

Next to him is probably the least frightening of all bounty hunters, Dengar. He looks like a turd with a bandage on his head, but I still like the guy. You know, just looking at him, that he never had a chance catching up with Han Solo. Still, you gotta give the guy props for trying.

That tall droid next to him? That’s IG-88. He was a hard one to come by and I was worried that he was going to be a crappy addition to the original Bounty-Hunter-Let’s-Get-Han-Solo gang. In the movies he’s super tall. When he came in the box…he wasn’t. Thankfully, the geniuses who designed him equipped ol’ IG with extendable legs. Proper!

And next to him is…(if you said 4-LOM you’re wrong!) Zuckuss. Believe it or not, he was my first bounty hunter. Why? ‘Cause he was so darn cheap on eBay.

So that takes care of the shelf. I looked through the nerdery archives and found these two items sitting in the closet with nowhere to be.

They were priced to move at Target, so they came home with me. It’s a pocket-sized Bossk and Princess Leia in Endor Gear. I still haven’t decided if I’ll open ’em or not. A true nerd wouldn’t, but that’s never stopped me before. We’ll see. I still think it’s weird that they redesigned the figures, but put them on the same ol’ cards they had in the 80’s. Say what???

My little brother bought me this weird thing a few years back. I think it’s supposed to be Jango Fett (you know, Boba’s dad?) but he’s made out of old machinery pieces and gears and stuff. He swivels on ball-bearings and it sporting Jango’s dual blasters, but I’m not sure. I think he’s pretty cool, but definitely ramps up my nerd cred a bit, dontcha think?

And now for the crown jewel of the Star Wars stuff in my nerdery.

I found this at an antique store in Minneapolis. It’s a picture of whiny Luke Skywalker alongside his mentor and all-around bad-ass with a beard, Obi Wan Kenobi. If you click the picture or check out the closer-up shot I took, you’ll see why this is so garsh-darn cool…and nerdy.

It’s signed by the man himself, the late, great Sir Alec Guinness. It says: Good wishes above his name. Now, I have absolutely no way of authenticating that this is his real signature, but I have seen other items with his Johnny Hancock on it and it’s pretty much spot-on. Regardless, I’ve convinced myself that it’s the real deal and for that it hangs proudly on my nerdery wall…

…above my autographed picture of Salma Hayek and Gina Gershon. (maybe later)

So, there you have it: all the Star Wars stuff that I could find with the confines of my nerdery. I wish I could say that’s all the Star Wars crap I’ve got, but I can’t. There’s a steamer trunk in another room that’s contains more treaures, but hey…it’s not Steamer Trunk Week. It’s all about the Nerderies, y’all.

Check out these new updates and what-not from the Get-Nerdy-All-Stars:

Dan @ This Man’s Blog – Muses about ‘The King of Kong’
Matt @ Blue Birdland – Nerdery: A capella Style
Caryle @ Caryle’s Corner – Comic Books!
Catherine J. Gardner/Phoenix Rendell @ The Poisoned Apple – A Nerd’s Album Collection

And in case you missed ’em…

Wendy @ The Musings of Wendy Withers – Nerdery 2008, Day 3 (includes a video!)
Uvulapie @ Uvulapie and His Amazing Hillbillies – The Nerdery
Angela @ The Bookshelf Muse – Angela’s Nerdery
Unhinged – Where the Magic Happens (or not)
Susan Sandmore – It’s the Nerdery!

And there’s more…tomorrow!!! Strong finish Nerdery Dwellers! Let’s do this!