#MyFirstStarWarsMemory trending on Twitter

The hashtag #MyFirstStarWarsMemory has been trending on Twitter today, with some entertaining results. Here's a few of the tweets I liked. 

#myFirstStarWarsMemoryWatching THAT Star Destroyer overtake Leia's Blockade Runner. 6-7 yrs old?Absolutely stunning #jawonthefloor

— Jim Franklin (@milkmaker73) May 17, 2013

#MyFirstStarWarsMemory I don't actually have one. It's like language, it's been part of my life for so long that I don't have a first memory

— Aldo Ojeda (@aldoojeda) May 17, 2013

#MyFirstStarWarsMemory Age 5, scared to see the movie w/ the "big red monkey" (Chewbacca). Begged my parents to see "Benji" #fatherknowsbest

— Dace Campbell (@DaceCampbell) May 17, 2013

#myfirststarwarsmemory trying to still watch a new hope while ducked under a table during the northridge earthquake

— Doug Porter (@doug_porter) May 17, 2013

#myfirststarwarsmemory is fighting off all the girls in kinder who wanted to play Star Wars bc there was only ONE Princess Leia. @starwars

— Jenn Rodriguez(@JennJenn1074) May 17, 2013

@starwars#MyFirstStarWarsMemory the film breaking during the Death Star trench run and not seeing the end until the next weekend. May 1977

— Sean Mullin (@Sean_Mullin_) May 17, 2013

#MyFirstStarWarsMemory was going to see Jedi in the theater with my Dad, a memory I will repeat w my son when Episode VII comes out in 2 yrs

— Mr. Kevin Graber(@kcgwisdom) May 17, 2013

Did anyone else use the cardboard tubes from inside wrapping paper as "light sabers"? Because this girl did. #MyFirstStarWarsMemory

— Clairification (@thedailyclaire) May 17, 2013

@starwars #MyFirstStarWarsMemory Being seven years old in '77, and sitting down front in the theater; the Star Destroyer looked a mile wide!

— John Hanlin (@pittboy87) May 17, 2013

Pretending to be sick so I could stay home from school to watch them.#MyFirstStarWarsMemory

— Marilynn † (@murryelizabeth) May 17, 2013

#MyFirstStarWarsMemory Han Solo in carbonite. I was 4/5 and I didn't understand so my dad told me they'd kind of pickled him for a while :D

— Alexandria Hope (@zandryah) May 17, 2013

Seeing ROTJ in the theater (RKO Keith's - Flushing, NY) I was 3 & it's one of my 1st memories at all @starwars#myFirstStarWarsMemory

— Frank Hallam (@nuftjedi) May 17, 2013

Another recent discovery: IGrewUpStarWars.com

On Monday I posted about the Space: 1970 blog, wondering on Twitter how I had managed never to see it before. Then today the indefatigable Kevin Gawthrope (of KG's Vintage Star Wars Corner) posted about my book on various sites, including the Facebook page of something I really ought to have known about already: IGrewUpStarWars.com.

In case you, like me, have somehow missed it, IGrewUpStarWars.com is partly a collectors' site for Kenner Star Wars fans. But it's broader than that. In particular it has a great collection of photographs of boys living out their Star Wars obsesssions in the 1970s and early '80s (including the picture above). From the site's blurb: 

Do you remember playing with your STAR WARS figures in the sandbox? Do you remember running around the schoolyard at recess on a snowy day pretending you were riding atop a Taun Taun? Do you remember talking your parents into watching STAR WARS at the theater just one more time, because nine times just wasn’t enough? Do you remember begging your Mom for that Stormtrooper figure you walked past at the grocery store? If you remember any of those things, you have come to the right place. Since I was 7 years old, STAR WARS has been a part of my life...

Surf over for more photos, a large number of videos, and more.

IGrewUpStarWars.com

See also @TomBerges (author of the site)

Grenadier/West End Star Wars miniatures

It's surprisingly (and annoyingly) hard to find a good web site dedicated to Grenadier Models' Star Wars miniatures. These lead and pewter models were produced between 1988 and 1990 to accompany West End Games' Star Wars roleplaying and miniature battles games. I've got a nearly complete collection of these models in my basement (excluding only the Zero-G Assault Troopers box set, which I have never bought because it's dumb). 

These miniatures were very well sculpted--some of the best miniatures on the market at the time in any category. For some reason they were a little small: the standard at the time was 25 mm, and increasingly 28 mm, yet the Star Wars models were more like 22 mm, making them slightly harder to paint. 

Originally the miniatures came in boxed sets of ten. These boxed sets were, for the most part, extremely well done. Ten terrific figures, well-chosen, well-sculpted, and attractively presented. Later the miniatures were released in blister packs, usually of three. 

I loved these things! They were such a joy to paint. If I had any spare time I'd paint them again now. I am amazed that no contemporary miniatures company has bought the licence to make new SW 28 mm miniatures. If you'd like to pick up the old ones, there are usually some available on eBay.

Below are what few links I have found to these old miniatures. 

The Stuff of Legends: Grenadier/West End Star Wars miniatures

Jake's Tabletop: Star Wars miniatures

The Bothan Spy: collectible of the day