Some Star Wars toys for diehard fans who have RM42,000 to burn
“STAR Wars” returned to the big screen with fans young and old already lining up in Hollywood for early screenings. “The Last Jedi” attracted a wide audience, including those same kids who were there in 1977 to see the very first episode.
Back then, they might have had to scrape together paper route money for a ticket. Now older and wealthier, some are still brought to tears by Luke Skywalker’s appearance at the climax of the last instalment, “The Force Awakens.”
What to do with that reverence for a galaxy far, far away? Well, spend, of course. And when it comes to Star Wars, there’s always been an almost endless selection of goodies to choose from. Now under the auspices of Disney, the latest push for toys is unparalleled, starting this year in September with a “Force Friday” marketing extravaganza to further boost sales. The first Force Friday in 2015 accounted for about US$ 1 out of every US$ 11 spent on a Star Wars toys, according to NPD Group, and sparked a sevenfold increase in online sales for the month of September.
But what if you want something more fancy than a light saber? If you’re a diehard fan with money to burn, here are some items you may not find at the local mall. • The US$ 8,999 ( RM37,790) Star Wars pinball machine: For the den, what can be better than a Star Wars themed pinball machine? Retailing for as much as US$ 8,999 from Stern Pinball, a limited edition version immerses the player in “the dynamic and challenging Star Wars pinball environment as they battle to restore justice to the galaxy.” The game features speech from the original trilogy and colourchanging LED-lighted inserts, as well as a sculpted LED-lit Millennium Falcon and TIE fighter. • A US$ 6,499 Millennium Falcon coffee table: What living room of any self-respecting Star Wars fan would be complete without a Millennium Falcon coffee table? The team at Regal Robot has made an official line of Star Wars furniture. Among the highlights is the US$ 6,499 Millennium Falcon Asteroid Coffee Table, featuring the famous craft navigating a dangerous debris field like the one in “The Empire Strikes Back.” The item is hand-painted and made of fibreglass from original hand sculptures. • The US$ 9,999 Han Solo carbonite desk: Let’s not forget the office. Why leave your workspace bare when the desk you work on every day can feature Han Solo frozen in carbonite? The downside is it’s too late to get it for Christmas, as it takes 12 weeks for this madetoorder item to come your way.
• The US$ 10,250 Darth Vader crystal: Add sparkle to your favourite Star Wars character by having her or him or it cast in Swarovski crystals. For US$ 10,250, you can have one of 300 black crystal Darth Vaders, set by hand with 29,000 crystals. Each one took 120 hours to complete, according to Swarovski. There’s also a crystal set C- 3PO droid at a lower price point if money is an issue. • Star Wars coutre: Imagine you’re fighting for the Rebel Alliance in high end clothing brand Rag & Bone- specifically its line of Star Wars themed clothing. That means a lot of white, sand colours, and orange. Desert style. One white-padded jacket retails for US$ 1,295. To match, there’s a Rag & Bone “Ellis Force Boot” for US$ 695. But, as with most objects of desire in fashion, many have already sold out, so you may have to use the Force on a more susceptible sales associate. — WP-Bloomberg