A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away....26/04/02

Tuesday was effectively Episode II day as across the world Attack of the Clones merchandise hit the stores!

Now I was working on Tuesday so I had to wait until Wednesday which gave me enough time to check out the UK Toys 'R' Us website and work out what I wanted.

When I arrived at Toys 'R' Us I discovered the site did not feature all of the merchandise to the point that some of my dream figures were in stock.

Now as an 'old-school' Star wars fan I collect essentially the 3" Hasbro (formerly Kenner) figures so everything non-Hasbro does not get a look in.

Seeing all of the figures made me feel like a big kid again, and for the first time since 1995 (when the range was re-launched) my primal urge to spend now worry later came into play.

Now I am a big fan of Yoda and to see him was the ultimate! Of course I had to have two (I open one for my work station) as well as Jar Jar Binks (I'll admit it I am the one whose been buying the Binks figures), Anakin, Padme, Jango, R2, C3, Obi-Wan and Jango.

The coolest figure I was able to find was the Royal Guard, a real throw back to 1983 and Return of the Jedi.

Now I don't like spoilers even though I seem to know what happens in Episode II, but I could not resist looking through the picture books (research).

This as been a good week for Star Wars and it can only get better!

Memory of the week: Leavesden '98

The summer of 1998 was an interesting experience to say the least.

In between completing my degree in Media Production and Graduating, both my friend Peter (who I mentioned in last weeks Diary) and I headed off to Leavesden near Watford after hearing a rumour that you could see some of the sets from a certain movie that had just wrapped there.

It was just under a year until said movie, Star Wars Episode I The Phantom Menace was due to be released and 15 years since Return of the Jedi so expectations were high and even the remotest chance of seeing anything Star Wars was worth the trip.

So one morning Peter picked me up and we headed towards Watford packed with only a tank full of petrol, a camera, some Star Wars books and my green lightsaber.

After getting lost quite a few times, and a stop of in Watford we were able to find the studio (a converted Rolls-Royce factory) which is in the middle of nowhere.

Now as a Star Wars fan to actually be where they have filmed a part of the Saga is like walking on Holy Ground.

Only years before Peter and I had made trips to to Elstree Borehamwood just to visit the Tescos superstore which is standing on the site which was the studio where they filmed the original trilogy.

It is a weird feeling to walk on the Tescos land in Elstree knowing that they filmed your favorite movies on the same land years earlier. It is also sad at the same time!

With Episode I still one year away, the trip to Leavesden was a big thing to us.

When we arrived and parked the car the first thing that we did was to scout out the area looking for vantage points to which we might be able to see some exterior props as well as scouting out for security (meeting celebrities teaches you how studios work) who are like the Imperial forces.

What we did see was very little! If we could have penetrated the defenses we would have been in heaven.

Luke may have had his X-Wings but all I got from the Leavesden experience was wasp stings.

After we had walked around the security fences I noticed a little woodland area to which on the other side was a chain link fence, so me being me I had to go in and see if I could get a closer look at the studio from that point.

The good news being I did get a closer look, but I didn't see anything. The bad news was that I jumped over a wasps nest.

Now I pride myself on my intelligence but when it comes to those movies my stupidity also comes into play! So rather than jump back over the wasps nest and get out, I decided to take a few photos first.

This gave the wasps chance to wake-up and be ready for me, so within seconds of taking the photos I ran out of the woodland area covered in wasps.

The end result was multiple wasps stings to my arms hands, legs with wasps finding their way into my jeans pockets and some on my crotch.

There is nothing worse than being stung by wasps and whacked in the groin with a plastic lightsaber to remove them.

So what did I learn from the experience?

Nothing! It was a great day out, a real laugh and I would do it again!