May The Fourth Be With You!

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Happy May the Fourth to you all, we all have stories of how we became Star Wars fans, everyone’s is different. Whether you were in the theatre in ‘77, started watching the Clone Wars series first or just watched The Mandalorian on DisneyPlus, there’s a part of the Galaxy Far, Far, Away made just for you. This is my Star Wars story.

My first encounter with Star Wars was as a kid in the 80’s, I was just a little too late to see the Original Trilogy in the theatres (I was born in ‘79) and my first memory of Star Wars was a vhs recording from tv, to this day I can still remember where some of the commercial breaks were! I was in the sweet spot for Ewoks, and of course had a bunch of toys - an x-wing, the rebel transport and Millenium Falcon were all Christmas and Birthday presents. Going to Peter Jones newsagents, stationers and toys in Rayleigh was my favorite thing, toys were upstairs and my first stop was the end cap immediately at the top of the stairs which was covered in the Kenner figures, and if I’d been ill I’d always get to choose one (it never occurred to me to pretend to be ill!). I don’t really remember playing Star Wars with other kids, it was mainly just for me and being an only child I got to take over the living room when I was making up my stories. I kick myself to this day for selling all those toys when I was 12 so I could buy a tv for my bedroom.



The second wave came in 1997 when I was at sixth form college and the Special Editions came out, and it was the first time I really got to share Star Wars with my friends who were all just as excited as me. We collected the tazos and swapped our doubles at lunch (as I write this I’m looking at Tazo sets on eBay), and getting to see Star Wars on the big screen for the first time with my friends was a magical experience and gives the Special Editions a special place in my heart. This excitement rolled into the hype for the prequels, reading every issue of Star Wars Insider for any little detail. I started university in 1998 and the Phantom Menace hype helped me bond with my new flat mates, we had that iconic poster on the wall, we went to Toys R Us and bought the lightsabers (we broke them within a day). The actual movie didn’t come out until July in the UK so I was at home for the summer by then, I enjoyed it but the negative public reaction really affected my enjoyment, and for a while I even went along with the hate. I saw all the prequels and enjoyed them but was never as excited as I was in ‘99, I have since come around to them and share the love, but late 1999 was kind of the end of my second period of Star Wars fanhood.


Like many the Disney acquisition of Lucasfilm and announcement of a new trilogy reignited my fandom and the hype was something special, while many hated the expanded universe being made Legends (I had read a few in 1997/8), it gave me a way in to start and keep up with the new canon. I saw The Force Awakens with my wife and friends, went to my first Star Wars Celebration in London in 2016, created and sold art,  discovered Star Wars podcasts (Black Series Rebels was my first), went to Celebration Chicago, found Star Wars community with the Star Wars Sessions podcast, visited Galaxy’s Edge in 2020 just before the world closed, and this year started this blog. Who knows where Star Wars will take me next.



May the Force be with you, always.


Jonny O


April Star Wars New Round Up (RE)Watching the Ewok Movies

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