This week our Star Wars fandom took us to an event a little closer to home than usual. The touring exhibit ‘May the Toys Be With You’ made its way to lovely Wimborne, where it has a residency at the Museum of East Dorset from til April 2024.
Having seen photos of the collection at previous stops, I believe this was a scaled back amount on display here. There were some great pieces on show, but the unexpected star of it all was a wall where postcards, handwritten by visitors were pinned.
In truth, I’ve probably seen enough vintage Kenner figures to last me a lifetime, but I’ll never tire of people’s personal stories and their connection to the saga. After reading the cards I took a few photographs and continued on.
Sorting through the photos, I saw these memories again and felt they were too good not to transcribe and share. Perhaps the organisation behind the exhibit is planning to do something similar, if so, I look forward to seeing a collated collection from across the country someday.
In the meantime, here’s a selection of what I found in Wimborne. There are stories here from generations who grew up with the original, prequel and sequel trilogies. The latter, though more simple, convey exactly the same joy, almost five decades later. That’s a big part of why I love Star Wars.
“I saw Star Wars in the Odeon Cinema, Cheltenham in 1978. I was 8 years old and from that moment I have loved science fiction and Star Wars ever since. I begged my father to take me back to see it again. He refused, bless him!”
“I remember going to see The Empire Strikes Back at the then Poole Arts Centre. It was phenomenal and made me a Star Wars fan for life.”
“We collected Dairylea cheese wrappers which we redeems for a cartoon Ewoks VHS in the late 80’s. It’s now long gone. I wonder how much that might be worth these days!”
“I remember watching Episode 1 at the cinema in 1999. The excitement was everywhere, posters, TV, the news and adverts. The music was the most powerful in all of the series and at only 9 years old Darth Maul was terrifying!”
“My father was an actor and he starred as a Stormtrooper in the original Star Wars movie in 1977. He went to many comic cons along with other members of the cast!”
“I remember playing in the garden with my brother’s Star Wars toys. Fond memories of queuing and watching the film at the cinema in Camberley.”
“I like BB-8.”
“I lived in Birmingham, I had a day off school and we queued for hours. Every couple of hours the queue would go down as the next screening was shown. I was on the balcony and that first scene when the big ship flew overhead just blew my mind. I thought it was real. I was 7.”
“I loved the films so much my son is called Luke. He is now married to a girl named Leila!”
“I remember the excitement of waiting for the films to be on our TV at Christmas. My brother kept many of the original toys and their boxes but they were very much played with. The music and characters are iconic. May the force be with you!”
“I saw Star Wars in Shepherds Bush in 1978 and have been a fan ever since. So much so, I wrote a book about Star Wars figures.”
“Seeing The Resistance fight The First Order.”
“Standing outside the local toy shop look at the Death Star play set wishing I could own it. However I did play with it in my mind.”
“I saw the first Star Wars in 1977, aged 7. The opening text move too fast for me to read so my Dad had to read it to me. Long live Star Wars.”
I, of course, added my own postcard to the wall. You can read an extended version of that same story here.
The ‘May the Toys Be With You’ exhibition has now moved onto it’s next stop at The Beacon Museum, Whitehaven in the Lake District, not too far from where scenery was shot for use in The Force Awakens.
Liam Toms 