The Neil Collection: Where Star Wars Meets Batman

  R4-M9. Most definitely NOT the droid I was looking for (just in case the article title wasn't clear). So, there I was, writing a backstory for my new Sith lord... Darth Carodon (aka Red Snaggletooth as a Sith). Initially, I ordered a Jedi starfighter (Obi-wan's from ROTS). That Star Wars collectible is still lost amongst the stars (well, lost for moths amongst the US postal service's facilities throughout the eastern US). Still hoping it will be found. Anhwhoo, I needed a new starfighter plan for my Snaggletooth turned Mando foundling turned Sith (one of 'The Thousand'). My next favorite ship... arguably my favorite ship which I forgot about... the Y-wing starfighter. I was able to get a vintage 1983 Y-wing, minus a few bits. I in turn got the missing bits (vintage canopy and 3D-printed canons)... well, accept for the engine struts and engine endcaps. I decided that Darth Carodon would fly the Y-wing minus the struts. I'm still debating whether to get 3D print...

Yep... I said it! 1977! Good year! Even as I write this, I hear the Star Wars theme and envision my post scrolling up the screen like in the beginning of Star Wars (ANH thru ROTJ). In 2015, I started to collect a few odds and ends connected to Star Wars and other franchises I was a fan of. As of today, Star Wars is the franchise I have mostly gathered collectibles from. I was a kid in 1977, but I was old enough to remember the Star Wars fever that gripped the nation. I remember our excitement at the toys, the comic books, and of course, the film itself! I kept a lot of my Star Wars toys from when I was a kid. I didn’t have a lot, but I wanted to protect what I had and replace what I’d discarded/destroyed through playing. In 2015, comic books from the first film were my starting point, at least a major part of that collecting action. Among the first Star Wars Comics I collected were two large/over-sized comics that Marvel produced, which covered the entire film in those 2 issues.  I...

 This post is sort of a warning to all. Don't delay if you really want to preorder a collectible. This is an 'almost' tale of woe. In the 1970s, the Mego corporation produced a Batmobile to go along with their Mego 'pocket' Batman. All these years later, I still had my 1976 Mego Batmobile. Sure, it's missing the steering wheel and some stickers (not to mention a tiny amount of surface rust on the axels after years of heavy use), but I still got it. The bad news is that I had used the Batman 'pocket' action figure until it fell apart. My bad. Well, not really. That toy saw a lot of use as toys should. Be that as it may, Entertainment Earth and other store posted pre-orders for a new Batman action figure from McFarlane Toys, which was in the 4" scale. Now, I had checked out Ebay for a vintage replacements - prices were off the charts and beyond what I would spend. The McFarlane Batman seemed like an incredible option. I thought about it for a couple d...

  The Tie Fighter. It was the most vivid experience for me in 1978 when I saw Star Wars in the theatre. The sound of that starfighter was off-the-charts AMAZING!!!! The Tie fighter, which stands for ‘Twin Ion Engine’ fighter, Was the ship of The Enemy in Star Wars. The sound forever intwined with the Empire and its presence on screen. Sure, the X and Y-wing fighters made unique sounds, but the Tie fighters, when they showed up to the party, everybody knew the Empire had arrived. Honestly, in 1978, the sound production for Star Wars shattered every other movie experience I ever had. To this day, there have been few films that have been so groundbreaking (from my viewpoint). That Christmas, all the kids wanted a Star Wars vehicle. My friends gravitated towards the X-wing and Millennium Falcon. For me… I was all about the Tie! Even have Vintage Tie fighter pilots. Here is what’s left of the tie fighter I got for Christmas. I went on to learn that Mom went through quite the ordeal to g...