Still not over how great The Force Awakens was? Me neither, which is why I’ll be straight down to Hove Museum on Saturday to get a good look at their new toy display. From Saturday, Hove Museum will be displaying rare Star Wars items that have been loaned to them from private collections. These will include early figures and ‘dioramas’ (displays) from the first series of the Star Wars movies such as a Land of the Jawas set which was released by toy company Kenner in the 1970s.
There is already a collection of well-known historic toys at the Hove Museum, and they are situated in the Wizard’s Attic area and includes a rare model of an AT-AT, the feared combat vehicle from the first Star Wars film trilogy. This new collection will sit in the museum’s Collectors’ Corner and has been loaned by two of the museum’s staff and includes more unusual items as well as ones from the second Star Wars trilogy. The collection will demonstrate how merchandising developed between the two film series, as the array of characters grew and increasingly diverse options were explored.
Of course, the sale of Lucasfilms to Disney in 2012 has created even more opportunities for new toys and the new display at the Museum will bring things up to date with the new range. The display will be open until May 17th and has been designed to appeal to everyone, from vintage collectors to brand new Star Wars fans.
Holly Martin
