It’s less than six months until a new Star Wars movie hits our screens with the release of Episode VII: The Force Awakens on 18 December. The next few months may well represent “peak arousal” for Star Wars fans – that optimal period during which all things are possible, nothing is yet a disappointment, and fannish geeking out is adorably unavoidable.
As Abrams and company begin to amp up the anticipation with behind-the-scenes footage like the clip below, released yesterday during San Diego Comic-Con, the urge to splurge on merch is going to be hard for fans to resist.
With that in mind, the following is a shopping list for some the more unexpected items Star Wars nerds may not already have on their wishlists. Yes, there are a myriad of merch and toys you can buy via big retailers like Mighty Ape, Reel Collectibles, and ThinkGeek (if you can stomach the US shipping, and it might just be worth if for the velvety Chewbacca leggings) but there are other less obvious options if you’re looking for something a little different that doesn’t require you to blow all your hard-earned Galactic credits.
- Long ago on a keychain far, far away
- Mister Minit stocks Star Wars branded keys in a totally sweet range of designs. They’re only suitable for cutting into keys for certain kinds of locks but at $10.80 (that’s what I was quoted at my local outlet) they’d make a stylish addition to any keychain, cut or not.
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- Chewbacca in Tweed
- Meet the Lalaland melamine plate range. Available online at Ikoiko for the rather reasonable sum of $19.90 each (not incl. shipping) you could be eating your breakfast toast off Darth Vader’s Top Hat. Or do what I did – buy the whole set and mount them on the wall as art.
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- Retro comic postcards
- Paper Plus are currently selling pop culture postcards including a range sporting Star Wars comic book covers, such as these ones from the Marvel Star Wars series of the 1970s-80s (not all of them feature a foxy jumpsuit Leia, sadly). At a buck a pop they’re a budget-friendly way of Star Warsing up your work cubicle, refrigerator, or bedroom wall. Or apparently you can send them in the mail? Tywin Lannister reckons that’s a thing that still happens…
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- Aren’t you a little pixelated to be a Stormtrooper?
- Christchurch artist Mark Catley has been making his Star Wars nerd mark on the city in recent months, pasting up larger than life pictures of original Kenner SW action figures on boarded up buildings.
- He’s designed this kick-ass Stormtrooper t-shirt ($50, free shipping in NZ) and makes jumbo Stormtrooper wall-hangings ($100) which would look lovely in any vestibule, entranceway or the foyer of your very own hive of scum and villainy.
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- I R2 accessorised
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Planet Rawr do a great line in inexpensive pop culture jewellery that is totes cute too, like this adorable R2 necklace that is only $24. Yes please! Threepio is also available.
- Ewok before you can run
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Handmade in New Zealand, this furry little dude is the perfect bedtime buddy for small Star Wars fans. He’s $37 from HAPA (ps if your various fandoms overlap in much the same configuration as mine then you might be interested in knowing that the woman who makes these just started making . OMG, so cuuute).
