My Nerdy Life in 100 Geeky Objects - #5: Marvel Star Wars Special Edition (1977)

Way back in 2024 I was feeling all nostalgic and started a series of blog posts called "My Nerdy Life in 100 Geeky Objects", looking at stuff I remember fondly from my past and the impact they had on my life and who I'd become. Well, it's coming up to my birthday, and every year I get nostalgic again and wonder about writing about my less than exciting life. 

I was staring at the blog, having just renewed my ownership of the domain name, and thinking that I hadn't done anything with the site for over six weeks. I needed to write something, to get something on the site and to vent my creative frustrations, and couldn't think of anything I wanted to write, or could write...

And then I remembered this little series of posts that I started, and didn't get very far with. The first posts covered the James Bond 007 Lotus Esprit made by Corgi in 1977, my subscription to Super Spider-Man and the Titans comic in 1976, the 2000AD Summer Special of 1977 and my first exposure to Star Wars, and the very first Palitoy Star Warsfigures my dad got for me. 

You can see a theme developing here... number 5 in my list of 100 Geeky Objects stays in 1977. 

---

#5: Marvel Star Wars Special Edition

I made a video about these a while back (11 years ago... hoooboy), when the first issue of the new Star Wars comic was released. I enthusiastically looked at the new comic, and then had a flick through how I was introduced to Star Wars comics.

I don't know what prompted it, but I remember dad coming home one day with this HUGE, oversized comic under his arm for me. It was twice the size of the average comic, not just in page count, but also in dimensions. 

Look at it. It's flipping gorgeous. The name Star Wars had been firmly lodged in my dad's mind after that 2000AD Summer Special, and, bless him for knowing my early forming nerdy interests so well, picked it up on a whim. I have fond memories of laying on the floor, the comic spread in front of me, while I poured over every panel. Unknown to me, there were scenes in there that wouldn't make it into the final film – the now legendary sequences with Biggs and the Tosche Station. I absolutely loved it, but it was only half of the story! 

It felt like months until the second half of the movie got its own collection (and it was, the first half was July 1977, the second October 1977), but thankfully my dad was just as happy to get the remaining half for me. It would be months before I finally saw the movie. It was only showing in one cinema in the nearest city (Hull) where they'd reopened the long closed Dorchester to show Star Wars continually for months and months. We got tickets before Christmas 1977, but the waiting list was so long to get in, those tickets were for screenings a few months later. Though seeing Star Wars for the first time would be one of those life-defining moments, and one I've written about before.

---

I'd like to write more nostalgic stuff like this, and I've often thought about writing a weird fictionalised account of my nerdy life, like Ready Player One meets that movie 5-25-77, but it just stays in the list of things I want to do but just can't motivate myself. Maybe one day.

In the meantime, I'm hoping to write more for the blog and the Patreon. Both remain free to access, do subscribe to the Patreon if you can to ensure this heads into your inbox when I finally write something. 

Until next time, stay multi-classy!

My Nerdy Life in 100 Geeky Objects – #4: Palitoy Chewbacca and R2D2

 #4 - Star Wars Action Figures: Chewbacca and R2-D2, Palitoy (1977)

Something big was coming in my young and impressionable life, and I had no idea how much of a massive impact it would have. 

I'd seen that double-page spread about the upcoming movie Star Wars in the 2000AD Summer Special Supercomic, and, while I thought it looked cool, I just went back to reading Judge Dredd and MACH-1. But those images of Stormtroopers, Han Solo, and Chewbacca must have stuck in my subconscious, ready for a little more fuel. 

That fuel came in the form of a pair of gifts from my dad. My dad was a nurse. I don't know how he got into that job – I'd heard stories about him doing his part during the Second World War in various positions until they realised how short-sighted he was. He ended up working in a hospital, and that's how he met my mother. They married, relocated to my hometown, and worked at a huge psychiatric hospital as a nurse. 

Once a year he'd get called away from work for something to do with work, some conference or training or something. He never really talked about his work. It never seemed to be easy, though I visited his work a few times when he needed to pop in to pick up something he'd forgotten. It was huge. I mean HUGE. They had a massive hall which they used for special occasions like Christmas parties, and I remember going with my parents and discovering that my dad could play the drums. Another of his little secrets. (I'd later discover, many years after his passing, that he had piano qualifications from some fancy school in London). 

However, it was after one of his work training conferences, and he'd had to go away for two or three days. He came home, travel bag in hand, with a few gifts. Always was the way in those days, wasn't it? You went away on a trip, you always brought something back for the family. I don't know why. I'm sure he'd bought mum something she usually liked, something like dates or coconut ice - remember that pink and white stuff? I never liked coconut... 

Palitoy Chewbacca from 1977

Anyway, my dad handed me this little bag and said that the guy in the shop had told him this was going to be "the next big thing" and that they'd just arrived. I looked inside and there were two carded figures – Chewbacca and R2-D2, from the new movie called Star Wars. 

And there was that fuel. Those characters were the coolest things I'd seen for a while, and I remembered seeing them in that 2000AD Special. It was all starting to make sense. 

My parents knew the value of things, and how valuable things could become, and my mum instantly told me to open the blister card carefully. Not just ripping it off the card, but carefully cutting the top of the blister so that the figure could slide out the top. That way, when it wasn't being played with, I could slip it back into the packaging, and it'd be safe.

So I did. I looked after those figures. They were my prized possessions for many years. But it was the start of a bit of an addiction. 

Y'see, on the back of those first two figures was an illustration of the other figures in the range. The first twelve. I had no idea who these characters were at first, but they looked so incredibly cool. 

The list of names were awesome, the pictures were cool, the vehicles at the bottom were fantastic. I needed to know more. 

It wouldn't be long before I found out. Dad came home from work one Friday night after popping in to the local newsagents and brought home the first of the two oversized comic adaptations. When I mean 'oversized', they were huge. Almost A3 rather than the usual book or comic size. And it was only the first half of the movie! But at least I knew who everyone was now, and immediately wanted to be Luke Skywalker, and I'd basically sold my soul to Star Wars.

(Like many, many others at the time)

Star Wars became a heck of an obsession for me, and eventually I managed to complete that collection of the first 12... I even cut the nameplates out of all of those backing cards to mail off for the mysterious Boba Fett figure. And I continued collecting through all of The Empire Strikes Back waves.

They were my favourite thing in the world. When I went away on holiday to those lonely self-catering bungalows in the middle of Scotland or Wales, I took a selection of Star Wars figures with me. 

Of course, when I was older, I thought I'd grown out of them and sold the lot... One of my biggest regrets. What an idiot... 

Palitoy R2-D2 from 1977. Glorious!!!

My Nerdy Life in 100 Geeky Objects #3 - 2000AD Summer Special

#3 - 2000AD Summer Special Supercomic 1977

We’ve already established that I’ve always been a nerd. My mother had me watching James Bond movies on TV, and introduced me to Doctor Who because she liked Jon Pertwee, and my dad had been buying me a weekly comic, which (up until this point) had been either Look-In - due to my obsession with cool stuff on TV - or the aforementioned Super Spider-man and the Titans (see previous post).

I was watching all of the genre TV I could, The New Avengers, Fantastic Journey, Space 1999, I, and The Six-Million Dollar Man. Heck, that series… there was a time we were all running around the school playground pretending to be in slow motion making that ‘dunnunnunnunnunn’ noise. When word went around the school of a new comic in the newsagents that had these stickers that made it look like you had bionic implants, it became the ‘in thing’ and I had to check it out. 

Front cover of 2000AD Issue 2, March 1977

I had a little pocket money every week (I think it was something like 10p or 50p, which was plenty in those days) as long as I did some chores like washing up, so I headed to the big newsagents in town and managed to get a copy of 2000AD, issue 2. It was cool! Of course, the stickers went on my arm, and pulled a load of armhair out when pulled off, and the weird eye sticker that was supposed to go on your forehead like a ‘third eye’ obviously looked better if you stuck it over your own eye… (sticky… and not a great idea, kid). 

Inside were stories of dinosaur hunters, cool air-sport teams of the future, and my favourite - a powered secret agent in the form of MACH-1. It was all great, and it introduced 2000AD’s most iconic character, Judge Dredd. I asked my dad if we could put 2000AD on a standing order at the newsagents (which, of course meant that I had to drop my subscription to Super Spider-man and the Titans). Every Saturday morning, with the morning paper, 2000AD would drop through the letterbox.

We’re all going on a Summer Special holiday

In a clever bit of planning, 2000AD launched their ‘summer specials’ - perfectly designed to give kids something to read over the summer break from school, or to shut them up when they’re on a long journey. I don’t remember which holiday it was we were going on in 1977 - my parents loved going to Scotland and my grandmother usually came with us, so it was probably a trip there. I have a strange memory of my dad gesturing to the comics in the newsagents telling me to pick out something to read for the holiday, and seeing the familiar 2000AD logo, I leapt at the first ever 2000AD Summer Special. Or, ‘Summer Special Supercomic’ as it was called. 

Front cover of the 2000AD Summer Special Supercomic - 1977

I mean, look at that cover. Amazing, and weird! Kinda mesmerising and engaging. It was great, full of new strips of my favourite stories, but there was a double-page spread that really stood out and stuck in my mind. A spread for a little known new movie that would be hitting our shores in the UK soon called Star Wars…

Spread from the 2000AD Summer Special and my first introduction to Star Wars

Droids! Stormtroopers! A mis-credited Han Solo! It was amazing, and I was instantly intrigued. It was just the start of a fandom that would dominate my thoughts for years. But it wouldn’t be until a little later that my obsession really kicked off. That’s for next time…

Who Do You Think You Are?

I'm not sleeping very well. I don't know if it's the lack of physical activity in this (third) lockdown, or if my head's too busy worrying about everything, but I spend a lot of time just staring at the ceiling and thinking. Wondering. Wondering why I'm not able to sleep. Wondering if Star Fleet uniforms in Star Trek: Discovery are so comfortable that you don't need socks - let's face it, Burnham wasn't wearing socks when her boots were ripped off by that baddie in the Jefferies Tube.

Anyway, at three in the morning a few weeks ago I had this idea. I wanted to write my autobiography. 

Crazy, huh? First of all, I'm not a great fan of autobiographies. I know a lot of people do get a kick out of them, but they really don't float my boat at all. I've read a few - one of the few I really did enjoy was Wil Wheaton's 'Just a Geek'. There was something about its honesty and the way it was written that meant I actually enjoyed it. 

But secondly, I don't think I'm actually very interesting. I had this conversation in my head at 3AM where I thought...

Why would anyone want to read an autobiography of you?

Well they wouldn't. But, then there are others out there who have done the same and I didn't know who they were either. Look at that Mark Barrowcliffe chap who did the one about growing up while playing Dungeons & Dragons? 

Yeah, but you didn't enjoy that one did you? 

It's no fault of the author, I'm just not a big fan of autobiographies! I know lots of people who loved that book.

But he was basically saying the same thing. About growing up in the 70s and 80s and playing far too much D&D. What could you bring to the table that's different?

That's the thing isn't it? What would make my boring autobiography different?

I had this idea many years ago about doing some of my Roll Your Own Life entries as some form of webseries - this was back when I used to think webseries were cool and before everything went horribly wrong. Of course, not only did the webseries thing come to a grinding halt, I had that realisation that (in the long run) no one would want to stare at my big bald face for any length of time.

How to make it different? And not boring?

One way of avoiding looking at my boring face is doing a podcast. But then there's editing, recording it without any background noise, adding music and stuff like that. It's doable, but is it the best way forward?

The other option is going for the comic strip. Heck, I used to draw comics. When I thought the RPG writing thing wasn't happening I wrote and published comics back during the UK Indie Comics boom of the late 90s. Admittedly, it has been a long time since I've drawn comics. I've done some drawing recently for illustrations for WILD, but I'm convinced I can't draw. 

But, I may give it a go anyway. 

So here's the pitch. My life, retold in comic strip form, in small episodes from different eras, badly remembered and slightly fictionalised, from the perspective of a long time tabletop gamer who really should get a life. It'll get me away from looking at computers in the evening (when I've spent most of the day looking at them) and it may be a laugh. It may also be rubbish. 

Now... where to start...???