North Shore Times (New Zealand)
Boy’s Star Wars collection out of this world
The force is definitely with a father and son duo who amassed more than 50 sets of Star Wars collectables for children’s hospitals.
A long time ago in a suburb far, far away, Sunnynook to be exact, Greg Stowell and his 10-year-old son Tristan started collecting Star Wars ’’Cosmic Shells’’ from their local Countdown.
The collectors-card, featuring characters, planets and vehicles from the film franchise were awarded for every $20 spent at the supermarket since August.
Stowell - a Star Wars fan - saw it as a great way to draw his son to the light side and increase his appreciation for the films.
On their quest to collect one full set of 36 cards, the pair collected more than a few spares, enough to start completing several sets.
‘‘We collected from friends and from staff at my wife’s work and we managed to complete six sets,’’ Greg says.
Soon the pupil became the master and Tristan’s collecting efforts took off faster than the Millenium Falcon in hyperdrive.
Countdown Sunnynook let the pair set up a swap table and collect or trade what they could from passing patrons.
After hours of collecting, the pair came away with 56 complete sets and countless more incomplete ones.
So what to do with all those cards? Simple, says Tristan, give it to children in hospital to play with.
‘‘People in the hospital are sick and their mums and dad can’t get theirs, so we’re collecting the cards for them.’’
They plan to donate the cards to Starship children’s hospital, or other similar children’s charities.