Pictures from February 1999

A long shot of the display case containing the Star Wars ceramic mice.

A closer view of some of the Star Wars ceramic mice.

Loot from Thomas' February 1999 buying trip. Visible here are two rare Star Wars Van models from 1978, a "Duel at Death Star" motorized race set from 1978, a Darth Vader bop bag (in box) from 1977, an R2-D2 shampoo bottle, a Dutch slide projector with slides and an album in which to keep them, a "faux pewter" vinyl figure of Luke with Yoda on his back, a Droids video, a pack of Dutch trading cards from 1983, two vintage stickpins (Darth Vader and R2-D2), and five boxes of Star Wars character pushpins that were on clearance at Toys-R-Us for $1.00 each.

Here is a closer look at those Dutch trading cards.

The Museum has expanded into a second room, which we call "The West Wing." Here, a couple of empty display cases await filling, Towards the bottom left is an R2-D2 cake pan.

Here is a display case that has been filled. This one contains a display of Star Wars trading cards and related materials. This display covers nearly 22 years of trading cards from Topps, as well as pogs (caps), tazos, and Decipher's wildly successful Star Wars Collectible Card Game cards.

Here is a table in the West Wing, displaying an eclectic mix of vintage and modern Star Wars collectibles. That yellow cylinder in the middle is an Inflatable Light Saber, the first lightsaber toy that Kenner ever produced (vintage 1978), Perched atop a milk crate on the right is the Star Wars Sand Art kit by Rose Art. This is one of our favorite pieces. Thomas holds it up and says, "They can put sand in a box, write 'Star Wars' on it, and sell it for twenty bucks." But at least it's really good sand!