Return of the Nerdi.

Dec 3, 2005

I tried to be good, I tried to avoid the toy Isles in the stores, but then my wife went and gave me permission to buy a Star Wars episode three action figure. It went downhill from there. Is it okay to be a 28 year old man buying Star Wars toys even if it's under the guise of " Me and my daughter play with them"?, which we do but I'm not buying them for her really. When George Lucus put out the first Star Wars film he put out a large line of related merchandise and with each subsequent film it has been the same story and a new form of nerd was born. Now when A New Hope came out I was just about finished being born, and when empire came out I was six or seven and when Return of the Jedi came out I was nine or ten something like that, the prime age for toy buying and action figure role-play. However when Revenge of the Sith came out last year, incidentally on my birthday ( May 19th) I was twenty-eight years old not exactly toy buying age anymore. Here's how it went down, my wife, four year old daughter and I were in target walking through the toy section, I started looking at the Star Wars figures, my four year old saw one of the female Jedi's and asked to buy it. I told my wife we shouldn't get into buying Star Wars toys cuz it would reignite my Star Wars nerdiness and I might not be able to stop. She said " go ahead, buy the toys." which is the Obi Wan like mantra I hear in my head each time I ask myself ' do we really need the Target exclusive Shadow Trooper clone trooper which is all black with a red visor and supremely cool looking, the answer incidentally was yes we do need the Target exclusive Shadow Trooper. So it began and now my daughter and I have enough episode three figures to choke a Sarlak. Let’s go down the list just for kicks, We have nine Jedi's, three Sith, Three astro (two R2-D2's and one non R2-D2) droids, one protocol (C3PO) droid, four battle droids, five wookies, and a whole army of clone troopers of varying colors and ranks, not to mention every single Toy that came from the Burger King happy meals, first series and second, with the exception of the first R2-D2,. Now this may not seem like a lot but spread it out over the living room and it looks like what George Lucas sees every time he closes his eyes. Now I'd like to say that if I didn't have a daughter I wouldn't have bought all of this, but the truth is not so kind. If I wasn't married with child I probably would have bought more, because I wouldn't have to worry about things like having enough money to feed my wife and daughter. I know it's bad I'm a grown man I shouldn't act that way but what can I do. George Lucus ruined me and about all the men age 18 to 40 with his space battle movies, and it's not like there's a twelve step program for nerds, there's no Dr. Phil for geekdom, no Betty Ford clinic for dorks, no AA for, well you get the picture. I may still be addicted to Star Wars but I have made great strides in lessening my dorky geekness, and I figure this is it this is the last chance I get to buy new Star Wars figures. Besides my daughter and I have hours of fun playing with them, I didn't think I could play Star Wars again until I had a boy, but she loves it and so do I. Let's face it soon there will be no new Star Wars things at all too buy so better buy em' up now before you have to spend triple the price on E-bay. Star Wars is the one thing that truly turns me into that little ten year old kid again, which is why I enjoy it. So I just need to say it out loud and say it proud I am a Nerdi Master, so there. May the force be with you all. Until next time Catch ya' on the flipside.