RANDOM MEMORIES OF RETURN OF THE JEDI

For the last post of Jedi Week, I just thought I would share some random memories and some stuff that I found packed away in boxes from my childhood. Thirteen is an odd age for anyone. It's right at the end of childhood with one foot back and one foot forward. This is the time that life gets a little awkward and confusing. For me, it was nice to have Return of the Jedi in the summer of 1983 for a great diversion from the onslaught of adolescence.

A photo of a thirteen year old me sporting the same T-shirt seen below. I had a pretty extensive Star Wars T-shirt wardrobe back then. 

"It's a trap!" It was always exciting to cut out the proof-of-purchase from the Star Wars figure cards and mail them in for a free figure. Receiving the odd looking Admiral Ackbar just added to the mystery of the last movie in the trilogy. Because of this figure I became an Ackbar fan. I even named my pet fire newt, Admiral Ackbar! 

By age thirteen I had given up playing with my action figures. I found a fun way to still interact with them and that was through photo taking. I tried to make my own scenes from the films with my 110 camera. I remember trekking into the woods to take Endor photos. The above is a snap from that photo session.

Thanks to this Marvel Super Special comic magazine I learned a spoiler. Actually it wasn't the mag's fault but a kid on the school bus. The Super Special was released before the movie and a kid on the bus had a copy. He blurted out that Leia was Luke's sister!

What? I could have killed him! First I didn't believe it and refused to look at the magazine. I even had my own copy at home but was never tempted to open it until after the movie. I really hoped he was telling lies, but to my chagrin he was right. I wasn't a fan of Luke and Leia being siblings. 

A Return of the Jedi birthday card given to me by my Uncle for my thirteenth birthday. Inside, it simply says, "Hope you have a royal time! Happy Birthday."

I attempted to start a Star Wars scrap book around this time. I only filled a handful of pages. I found this  article that I clipped inside. 

My grandma gave me a set of Return of the Jedi activity books. I guess I was too old because all of them are unused. I love that she added an inscription on the cover of the Word Puzzle Book. Back then when I thought I was big time "collector" this always bugged me. Of course now, these signed items are special and they have more value to me than other items in my collection.

I need to ask the First Lady of Neato Coolville to bake a batch of Monster Munchies. If anyone makes any, let met know!

I loved getting polybagged comics! I especially remember getting a bunch of Whitman comic three packs back in the 1970s. Someone gave these to me for my birthday or Christmas and since I had the individual issues, I kept it sealed in the bag!

I purchased this Official Collectors Edition and all the poster mags like the one below at my childhood grocery store, Carl's Market. I blogged about this supermarket earlier this year.

This poster magazine cover always made me laugh! I think Jabba is going to eat little Wicket the Ewok. Gobble gulp!

Memories are weird and for some reason unimportant memories sometime stick with me. My memory of this Rolling Stone magazine is that it caused me to have a dilemma. I saw it on the magazine stand at our local 7-11. The mag cost $2.50 and I only had three bucks, my weekly allowance, in my pocket. Hmm...I had a major decision to make because the 7-11 had a small arcade and I had been trying to master Donkey Kong Jr. The big dilemma was; do I buy the mag or buy a Big Gulp and play Donkey Kong Jr.? Not even a half naked Princess Leia nor a jam box toting Darth Vader could win over the arcade. I didn't pick up the Rolling Stone mag until about ten years after when I found it at a flea market. Just so you'll know, I did master Donkey Kong Jr. that summer!  

Rummaging through my boxes of childhood stuff, looking for things for Jedi Week, I ran across two Return of the Jedi candy heads by Topps. They both still had some candy inside! Check out John Rozum's post about these.

A Return fo the Jedi lid from a tin container.

A sticker sent out by the Star Wars Fan club. I didn't order it, but you could buy a patch of this image with the Revenge title.

A photocopy of a drawing that I did for the 1983 Star Wars Fan Club's Creativity Contest. They gave out some amazing prizes from signed posters to actual movie props. I didn't win, but it was fun entering the contest.

Funny fan club cartoon that I clipped from an envelope received from the club.