Karen says: Welcome to the Sanctum, part 2

The next part of the Sanctum is focused on that modern classic, Star Wars. Not "Star Wars IV: A New Hope" but Star Wars, the original film, and its two sequels. In the Sanctum, the so-called prequels do not exist. George Lucas' "revisions" also do not exist. In the Sanctum, Han shoots first!

Here you see four examples of an "elegant weapon for a more civilized age". My fiance and I are such epic geeks that one Christmas we actually gave each other lightsabers for gifts. It was another sign that the relationship was meant to be, as neither of us had said a thing to the other about it prior. After that, we acquired two more. We had read that displaying them in a horizontal position could lead to the blades bending. Luckily I was able to find a seller on ebay who had vertical wall mounts for these sabers. Just in case you're wondering, the first one is Mace Windu's (the only violation of the no prequel rule, but come on, it's purple), the next is Vader's, then Luke's, and finally Obi-Wan's. The glorious Star Wars poster that I recalled from the theater as a bright-eyed kid adorns the wall. And of course, they look spectacular when they are all activated!







They also make quite a racket when all four are turned on!

Next to the big poster are two 8 X 10 autographed photos. The first is from David Prowse, who likes to sign his pictures as "David Prowse IS Darth Vader" !! I got to chat with him at a Star Trek convention a few years ago and he was absolutely lovely, very friendly and even had me come around the other side of the table to take a picture with him.

The second picture is of his "son", Mark Hamill. He was signing at another convention. Mark was a great guy, very enthusiastic and welcoming to his fans. I love this picture of Luke from Return of the Jedi. I was so impressed by Luke's growth as a jedi! Luke was a real icon to me as a kid, in a way my other heroes, like Captain Kirk or Mr. Spock couldn't be. He was young, restless, and needed to find himself. I could easily see myself in him.

There's some blank space above the Star Wars poster that is going to host my autographed Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia picture. Getting her autograph was a different experience than the first two. Let's just say Ms. Fisher would rather kiss a wookiee than sign autographs and leave it at that. As soon as I get a frame for it, it will go up, regardless of her attitude! I'm hoping this spring I can get Peter Mayhew's autograph to finish off that space. I missed him the last time I saw him at a con (he went to lunch when I came by and that was that).

That's probably the last Star Wars-related autograph I might want. I don't really feel the need to get a bunch of these - seems like there are always folks at conventions who had some bit role, like "third jawa on the left" or something akin to that, who are trying to hock their autographs. It was really bad at the old Trek conventions I used to go to, when you'd have all these 'red shirts' trying to sell signed photos for $20 a pop. And yet...people would still buy these things! To each his own, I suppose.

Next time: more Ross, and some outstanding busts! (stop thinking dirty)