Star Wars Power of the Force Wave 1 Collection

I've always loved Star Wars. It was something that just always seemed to be a part of my life. I have mentioned before how I was able to benefit greatly from having older cousins who grew out of their need for toys and passed them down to my brother and I. With Star Wars, it was no different. We were given a good 30ish vintage figures as well as a well used Millenium Falcon that was missing quite a few pieces and we loved them.

Just like we did with Masters of the Universe and other toy lines, whenever my brother and I had a chance to visit a garage sale or an antique shop, we looked for more Star Wars stuff to add to our collections. It was the late 80's and early 90's so there weren't really any other options.

Eventually, the Justoys Bend-Ems came out. We bought many of these but preferred the figures that were closer to the 3 3/4 scale. That Leia, 3PO, Yoda and R2-D2 filled some nice holes in my collection. The included Topps cards were very cool too.

Not long after, Galoob began releasing their Star Wars Micro Machines line. We gobbled this up as well but the 3.75 line was still the main toys for us when we wanted to play Star Wars. Then one summer, my Mom surprised me with a mail away figure that I had no idea was a thing: a brand new Han Solo as a Stormtrooper from Kenner. The day this thing arrived changed my life forever as it signaled to me that there were NEW Star Wars toys out there to buy and I didn't even have to scour antique shops to find them! And buy them we did. From 1995-1999, the Power of the Force Star Wars line was pretty much all I bought, besides the new G.I. Joes that popped up and a summer collecting the Lost World line.

As the line began to focus more on the newly arrived Prequels and the figure sculpts began to "improve", I began to shift towards other things. Eventually, I passed my entire collection on to my younger brothers and was able to enjoy watching them experience Star Wars. Now, that we are all adults, our Star Wars toys are safely tucked away in my parent's basement awaiting the day that my niece and nephews discover them.

Recently, I became aware of how inexpensive the Power of the Force line was on the secondary market. I didn't just dip my toes in, I dove head first. I now have the entire first wave of figures and then some. I didn't stop there either as I also now have many vehicles I never owned like the X-Wing and the A-Wing. In fact, I've even begun building my own playsets out of cardboard like I used to when I was a kid! This has been a pretty fun ride this summer. In a way, I feel like I have reconnected with a part of me that I've missed for a long time. So let's see where this goes!

As soon as I opened Leia, her shoulder crumbled! I was able to super glue some parts back into place for the pictures but I will be purchasing another one. Why not? They're cheap!

And of course, the one that started it all.

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