Star Wars Forever!

Star Wars Village Mos Eisley Cantina

I’m the first to admit that I’m a die-hard Christmas Village nut, and set up my big beautiful display every Christmas. Not only that, I have started building up a Halloween Village too! So imagine my surprise and delight when I saw that Hawthorne Collectibles has now released a very cool STAR WARS GALACTIC VILLAGE, and the first set of buildings and accessories has just been released.

Being a collector by nature and a Star Wars fan from the very beginning, I love Star Wars toys and collectibles. The franchise is so big, though, that most of the items are pretty “ordinary” and I like to focus on the more unusual Star Wars collectibles that don’t appear in Wal-marts or Targets all over the country.  This Star Wars Village definitely falls into that category, as it’s currently only available by mail order from Collectibles Today.  Click on the thumbnail below to see the details of the set and purchasing info.

Click pic to get details

This is the first set or issue of the collection, the Mos Eisley Cantina and Luke Skywalker figure. We first saw this fabulous bar in the very first Star Wars 1977 movie, A New Hope. The Cantina is located in Mos Eisley on the desert planet Tatooine, and it is where Obi-wan Kenobi and Luke Skywalker go to find a pilot to get them off the planet after Luke’s aunt and uncle are killed. It’s in the Cantina where they first meet up with Han Solo and Chewbacca.  But the most memorable characters here are the wonderful array of alien creatures that are in the bar, especially the band! This was breakthrough special effects technology at the time, and those of us sitting in the theater seats were blown away.

The second issue in the Galactic Village is the Hoth Rebel Base, which comes with the building and a free Darth Vader figure.

Star Wars Hoth Rebel Base

For those of you who don’t know much about village collecting, especially with the Hawthorne line, the cool part is that you get to put together something very special. Unlike a single Star Wars figure or other collectible, you’ll build a dynamic display of some of the most famous scenes in the Star Wars movies. Hawthorne sets generally run about $60 per issue, and the cool thing is that they offer a 3-month payment option so that you can pay about $20 a month instead of coming up with all of the money in advance.

The buildings in the collection have lights – usually a night-light sized bulb that fits into a hole in the back of the building. The lighting makes it look wonderfully realistic.  Usually a set will have a building plus a character figure or two, but I know in the Star Wars Gallactic Village series they’re running a special on a set of Star Wars figures for free when you buy the series.

The other cool thing I love about villages is building the terrain. You can just set your pieces out on a plain table or shelf, but it’s a lot more fun when you actually build the scenery to go with the piece. In this case, the setting for the Mos Eisley Cantina is in a desert, and there are various ways to acquire the right ingredients for the display. I put together some tips on landscaping your village on one of my other sites, so check out the articles to get some tips, and sources for more information.

For more Hawthorne Collectible Villages and Star Wars stuff be sure to check out Collectibles Today.

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