Every Christmas and birthday was filled with Kenner Star Wars toys. I remember taking the card backs and marking off the figures I had. I would put little stars next to the ones I really wanted. I spent hour upon hour re-creating scenes from the movies with my figures. They were my pride and joy. I had a box that I used to transport my figures to my friend's house. We would dump our figures out and select the ones we would play with for the day. Of course, my first figure would always be Darth Vader. We would set up bases on opposite ends of the yard and prepare our pre battle briefing sessions. Once we had our scenario down, the battle would begin and our imaginations would sore.

When we moved to Washington, it was a little challenging finding the new actions figures. However, every summer my parents would take my sister and I to Portland Oregon so we could go school clothes shopping. Well, needless to say, there just happened to be a Toys 'R' Us right next door to the mall we would shop at. With a little begging and pleading (like promising to clean my room the next day), my Mom and Dad would take me to the "store of all stores". On this particular occasion, I walked in and before my eyes was isle upon isle of Power of the Force action figures. Mom said, "OK Jason, you can pick two figures and then we have to go." Immediately I would start thumbing through every single row searching for the figures I "needed" most. Mom and Dad would help me thumb through as I explained what exact figure I really needed. "Luke Stormtrooper....YES!" I continued to search and then, "Han in Carbonite!" Mom then said, "All right honey, let's go." As we started to walk away, I couldn't help but keep my eyes on all the figures and ships. I then spotted an Imperial Shuttle down one of the other isles. This was the "ship of all ships". I walked over to it as my parents were trying to leave. My sister was whining because we had spent the last 15 minutes looking at figures. Mom said, "C'mon Jason, no more." At that point, I think my Dad felt a little spark. I think he sensed his own memories of childhood as I stared at the Imperial Shuttle. He walked up to me and said, "Son, if we get you this, you have to promise to clean out the cubbie hole." My eyes widened. The cubbie hole was sort of like the basement, except it was upstairs, and it was our household pigsty. This little room was one you had to crawl in on your hands and knees. It was filled with boxes, toys, and most of all junk. This seemed a heavy price to pay, but at that moment I would have done anything to get that ship. I then promised that I would and good 'ol Dad grabbed the box and off we went to the check out counter. I never did get around to finish cleaning that thing out.

One weekend in the summer of 1985, I got a sudden motivation to be creative. I took all of my Star Wars toys and headed outside. It was a bright, sunny morning and I was ready to go to work. My plan was to set up scenes from Return of the Jedi using my action figures and ships. Off I went. The first scene was of course, Darth Vader's arrival on the Death Star. Using my front porch, I grabbed all of the stormtroopers, biker scouts, and tie pilots I could round up so Darth had a grand entrance when exiting off the Imperial Shuttle. I spent the whole day making up scenes throughout the movie. From the Sarlacc scene on Tatooine (using a piece of wood and paint stirring sticks for the skiff) to the final battle on Endor (using bricks to make the bunker). This was by far one of the most enjoyable childhood Star Wars experiences I can remember. Using a trusty 35mm camera I borrowed from Mom, I felt like George Lucas creating something spectacular. Of all my collectibles I have, these photographs are by far my most cherished items. This brings to life the extreme imagination that Star Wars fans everywhere experienced then, and still experience today.

Today, I still love Star Wars and continue to enjoy the collecting aspect. You can check out some of the things I have accumulated over the years at my web site. Heck, you can even see the rest of my award winning re-enacted scenes from Return of the Jedi....NOT!