Star Wars Action Figures Make it to The Toy Hall of Fame

The Star Wars action figures many of us grew up with are now in the national Toy Hall of Fame. Yes, there is a Toy Hall of Fame, it’s in Rochester, N.Y. and yes you can visit it. In 1978 Kenner put out the first set of Stars Wars action figures, which was just as big a hit as the 1977 movie. I told every Santa in my family about them about 400 times. They did get the hint and that year it was a Star Wars Christmas.

Now, for those kids who could keep from playing with them you now have a nice little treasure. I was NOT one of those kids. I spent many afternoons carving out a hill in my backyard (which really ticked off my folks) to make a play world. I had a couple of friends who also scored big in the Star Wars bonanza and we just about the whole set.  Thinking about it I don’t think my Mom was as upset about the yard as she made out, she did know where to find me.

For a couple of years I played almost every day with them, creating stories, battles and adventures. I would pick up new figures anytime I had a few bucks and had a pretty good collection going. Then I got my first pellet gun. I put together an area in my yard where I could shoot and it didn’t take long before I started setting up my action figures just to shoot them down. I know it sounds a little demented, but I had a lot of fun (I didn’t run around shooting helpless animals) and looking back I wouldn’t trade those figures for the fun they brought me as a kid.