Star Wars Episode 1 - Queen Amidala Dolls by Hasbro.

I was so looking forward to George Lucas renewing his Star Wars series, being a huge fan of the first three films.

I saw the first one in the cinema when I was two and my big brother Carl, had a friend called John who had every one of the figures, our Mums were friends so we used to go and play with him and his collection for hours. We'd act out each scene of each movie with his cool arse toys.

I never wanted to go home, it was such a wrench to leave those awesome starships and alien races behind, and I'd be on pins until the next time we could go back round to play.

We were Star Wars obsessed in those days anything remotely Star Wars and we got our "Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy" bounce going on.

We lapped up Caravan of Courage: An Ewoks Adventure in 1984, Ewoks: The Battle for Endor in 1985, the discovery of Star Wars: Ewoks cartoon series in the local video rental shop in the mid- eighties gave us a new way to get our Star Wars kicks.

Nagdabbit, we even loved Spaceballs when it came out in 1987, that's how bad we had it!

Each new film and spin off bought new toys that John would be bought so we'd have more characters to act out new stories with next time we visited him.

I kept that love and those happy memories of those amazing films and the hours of fun the toys gave and always looked back on those years fondly. 

So the announcement that George Lucas wasn't only going to make a new Star Wars film, but he was planning to complete the entire saga of that "Galaxy far, far away" filled me with the same excitement I'd felt all those years ago, even better my son was already a Star Wars fan after I'd introduced  him to the original films which had pride of place in my video collection.

We counted down the days until release and excitedly went off to the cinema to be wowed...

Unfortunately we weren't, to be honest we made a pact never to mention "Phantom Menace" again, friends and family also quickly learnt to uphold this pact as to this day it is something I'm unable to talk about without getting on a "Damn, you Lucas" rant.

What seemed like an alignment of cosmic forces; the release of this film coinciding with my having a Son at just the right age turned turned out to be particularly unsettling for me as it obviously became the latest must have fad, so my home quickly filled up with merchandise and even a video of a film I cannot abide!

Some pretty cool toys came out at that time though, several of Aaron's which we've kept and more importantly it lead to a resurgence of many of the original toys being reproduced and remarketed.

Getting back to "Episode 1" though, I loved the look of Queen Amidala and her almost Feudal Japanese style.

I even have four Queen Amidala Barbie size dolls in my collection, (although she'll never be as good as my vintage Kenner Princess Leia dolls), two boxed and two loose ones which were bought for customizing although I've forgotten what I had planned for them!   

¯\(ツ)/¯

Still never mind all that here's my two that are still boxed...

I got them for £4.00, for the two from a seller on Ebay a year or so ago, I haven't quite gotten around to photographing them myself yet though so you'll have to make do with the listing photographs for now...

Royal Elegance Queen Amidala

The Royal Elegance Amidala Doll is dressed in Queen Amidala's Throne Room Robe, which she wears during her Coronation and again just before the Invasion of Naboo.  

The robe is decorated with gold embroidery and Sein Jewels which sit just above the wide hem.

The hem of the dress is decorated with the fur of the Potolli, a creature from Naboo, cultivated for it's brown fur.

On her head she wears the Jewel of Zenda as part of her head dress, which is customary on Naboo, she also has her gold face frame supplied in the box, which is also part of the outfit depicted in the film.

The back of the box reads: "Beautiful Styles in a snap! 

This captivating doll brings Queen Amidala vividly to life in all her strength, spirit and beauty! Her radiant Thread throne robe features special snap on pieces for lots of great looks! Join Royal Elegance Queen Amidala on an exciting quest to free her planet from the evil Trade Federation forces."

Hidden Majesty Queen Amidala

During The Occupation of Naboo, Queen Amidala becomes aware that her life is in danger and decides to swap places with her handmaiden Sabe who will then act as a "decoy" Queen.

As part of the plan, the Queen wears the robes of a handmaiden and is therefore able to pass for her and get away from danger while her handmaiden performs the Queen's duties.

The way Hasbro have chosen to depict this, is by dressing their "Hidden Majesty" doll in the traditional Naboosan Handmaiden outfit and having an extra head dress which comes complete with a mask of Sabe's face attached.

The back of the box reads: "Discover Queen Amidala's Secret!

In Star Wars: Episode 1, Queen Amidala wears a handmaiden disguise to keep her identity hidden from the evil Trade Federation forces. When you remove Padme's hood from this realistically styled doll, the Queen, in all her magnificence is revealed! Enjoy exciting Star Wars adventures as you help Hidden Majesty Queen Amidala surprise her enemies and save her planet!"

Out of the two of them, I can't make up my mind which if any I like best, I have a massive thing about doll sized masks, so that aspect of the Hidden Majesty doll really appeals to me, but the Royal Elegance Queen Amidala is so beautifully dressed it makes it impossible for me to decide!

On a slightly different subject, while writing this post I've decided what I'm going to do with one of those spare Queen Amidala dolls I have... I feel a "Custom" coming on!

Star Wars - Escape from the Death Star Board Game by Palitoy -1977

Growing up with a big brother I shared his love of all things Star Wars, we couldn't get enough of the films and merchandise released from each of the films when they came out.

For a many years our favourite game to while away rainy days was the "Escape from the Death Star" board game, released by Palitoy in 1977.

The game is for 2 to 4 players, aged 8 to 10, but don't let that fool you, the game is still fun, even at mine and my Son's ages. 

The box contains 8 Playing Tokens, 4 Death Star Blue Print Cards, 4 Tractor Beam Cards, an  R2D2 Spinner, a Deck Of 52 Force Cards and of course the game board.

Each player has two playing pieces, Han & Chewbacca and Princess Leia & Luke Skywalker and both playing pieces must reach the Rebel's Base before a player can win the game.

As you travel around the board you must  Death Star Blueprints which you collect as you move around the board.

To help or hinder you along the way, you must periodically draw from the "Force Card" Pack, and follow the instructions written on it.

The back of the box reads: "Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Han Solo and Chewbacca are trapped in the Death Star Trash Compactor. It's your challenge to help them escape to the freedom of the Rebel Base."

"R2D2 spins out your moves, but you must decide what passage ways to follow. The safe way is the long way. And time is running out. You must turn off the tractor beam and pick up a pair of secret plans. Will you take short cuts that risk encounters with the Force? You will if you're daring, and could be the first to board the Millennium Falcon, fight your way through Tie Fighters, and reach the rebel Base to win!"

Although the game is now quite rare, I've recently seen some come up for sale on Ebay.co.uk for between £30.56 and £49.99, whereas Amazon.uk also has two for sale priced at £49.99 and £80.00!!