Musings & Thoughts for Friday, September 16, 2022, or: A Whimsical New Action Figure for My Star Wars Collection

If you are a regular visitor to this space, you know that I collect Star Wars action figures and other collectibles – including books, soundtrack albums, posters, backpacks, and physical media releases (DVD, Blu-ray, and 4K UHD Blu-ray) of the various Star Wars films and TV shows.

Aside from reading and listening to music, which I’ve been doing since I was a small boy, collecting Star Wars stuff is perhaps my oldest hobby; I acquired my first two figures – the original Kenner 3 ¾-inch scale R2-D2 and C-3PO – on my 15^th birthday in 1978. (Next year I’ll be 60, so I’ve been doing this for 45 years.)

Of course, I am not a completist when it comes to anything beyond the films that are legally available on disc, so I don’t buy every single book, soundtrack variant, prop replica (I only have one of those – a simulated pair of Han Solo’s “lucky” gold dice) or action figure. I can’t afford to – hardcover books now cost $26.99 on average, as do the 6-inch scale Star Wars The Black Series figures that I have been collecting since December of 2017.

And because I have the smallest of the five bedrooms here, I also don’t have a surfeit of either display or storage space. As it is, much of my pre-existing collectibles are neatly, safely, but rather unceremoniously stored in my closet, and I am running out of shelf space on my Billy shelves – which were originally purchased in Miami and set up in the townhouse that Mom, bless her heart, gave me as my inheritance when she died in July 2015 – so….

Still, every so often I see that one figure that I can’t resist, and on Tuesday I, on pure impulse, decided to get the whimsical Star Wars The Black Series George Lucas (in Stormtrooper Disguise) 6-inch collectible figure.

Here’s how Hasbro describes the figure based on the creator of both the Star Wars and Indiana Jones franchises on its Amazon product page:

GEORGE LUCAS (IN STORMTROOPER DISGUISE): We pay homage to George Lucas and his remarkable accomplishments in film with a likeness of the director clad in the distinctive armor of [an] Imperial stormtrooper.

Why did I get this figure?

Several years ago – I don’t remember the exact date – somebody (either Hasbro or a fan with the tools and skill set to make custom figures and packaging) created a John Williams (Composer) action figure. Don’t ask me which scale it was in; it might have been a 3 ¾-inch scale figure like most of the figures I own, but it could have been larger. I do remember that Maestro Williams – my favorite composer across the board – was dressed in a black tuxedo, white shirt and came with a little conductor’s baton. He also was shown in his “vintage Kenner” cardback, illustrated with a photo of Williams conducting an (unseen) orchestra and adorned with the Star Wars and “Kenner” logos.

(Now that I have found the photo of the figure on Pinterest, I can say with a high degree of certainty that the figure is custom-made by a fan. It’s still cool, and maybe Hasbro needs to make one for Star Wars The Black Series.)

Anyway, since I can’t get a John Williams (Composer) figure, I decided that I would get one of George Lucas; I had run across one on Amazon a few months back when I bought my last figure, but I could only afford the one I had already ordered, so I filed it away in the Maybe Buy Later section of my brain.

I don’t want to write a super long post today; yesterday’s book review of Sir John Hackett’s The Third World War: August 1985 took me so long to complete that I published it after 5 PM, far later than my usual posting time on WordPress. Suffice it to say that I ordered it on Wednesday the 14^th before noon and it arrived less than two hours later. (Thank you, Amazon Prime!)

I am also not the world’s greatest photographer, so even though I took a photo of the figure in its niche on the Billy shelves, I will supplement that with professional promo photos by Hasbro, Inc.

Without further ado – I am running out of ado – here he is, Dear Reader: George Lucas (in Stormtrooper Disguise)

 I don’t have much to add – I’m not in the mood to rant about politics, and I don’t have the time to write another post about playing Regiments right now, so I’ll take my leave of you.

Until next time, stay safe, stay healthy, and I’ll catch you on the sunny side of things.