Saturday, December 18, 2010

My Christmas Tree - Part 2 (The Ornaments)

Okay! Today, I'm going to show off my Star Wars and Star Trek ornaments, as well as a few other cool ornaments that somehow made it onto this theme tree.

I grouped the Star Trek stuff together (I don't have as much of it), and then have mini-tableaux of the Star Wars ornaments. My ornaments are mostly from Hallmark, mostly bought by me, and I'm not a completionist, so I don't have all of the ones ever made, just the ones I liked (or could afford - these babies aren't cheap!).

First up: Star Trek!

When I was a kid, we watched the original series (yay! Captain Kirk! Spock!) on TV on reruns with my dad. I remember being really afraid of the "pizza monster". I'm not ashamed to admit that I was a member of the Star Trek: The Next Generation Fan Club (okay, maybe I'm a little ashamed) in the early 90s - I had a jacket patch and everything.

We boldly start with the trifecta of Star Trek vessels (or "wessels" if you're Chekov):
Sorry, it's a little blurry - these are less than 2" big and they kept swaying on the tree. At the top is the Klingon Bird of Prey, on the middle left is the Enterprise D (from "Next Generation") and at the bottom is the original Enterprise. These were issued in 1995.

I have a full-size Enterprise D (from NG):
It's a plug-in one; the nacelles light up (blue and red) and a yellow light blinks on the top of the dish (near where the bridge is - you can't see it in this pic). This was issued in 1993.

Then, there's the Romulan Warbird, issued in 1995:
Nasty looking thing! I wouldn't want to be in the same quadrant when that sucker de-cloaks!

Again, it plugs in and has green lights on both nacelles. I got this one when I worked in the Christmas store - I was chatting with a customer about how I'd missed getting this one from Hallmark (I used to get my ornaments right after Christmas, when they were 1/2 price), and she actually mailed it to me! I still keep it in the shipping box - it was sent to "Number 1 Elf".

The shuttle Galileo is probably my favourite of all the Star Trek ornaments:
It's a plug-in and lights up - it was issued in 1992, and is the oldest one I own. Up until this year, it played a recording of Spock's voice: "Shuttlecraft to Enterprise, shuttlecraft to Enterprise. Spock here. Happy Holidays. Live long and prosper." When I plugged it in and pressed the button this year...nothing. So sad.

But, it's just an ornament, so let's move on to the USS Defiant:
I think I got this one from Mom for Christmas in 1997 (I watched "Deep Space Nine" but I wasn't as much of a fan of that series). The nacelles light up, naturally, but the front also has a glowing green window (not visible, sorry) and those two little dots on the left flash yellow.

The Klingon Bird of Prey is awesome:
This is from 1994 - and I'm sure I paid full price for it because it was so cool. You can see lots of lights on this one, and I caught the yellow flash just under the "head" on the left.

And now....

Star Wars!

I am a massive Star Wars fan! Original trilogy only (Han shot first! Lucas, stop messing with your masterpiece!).

I've been collecting the Star Wars ornaments since 1997 when Hallmark first started issuing them. Again, I only got a few here and there - this isn't the complete series by any means.

I got the Death Star in 2002:
It lights up from the inside and when you push a button, the voice of the evil Emperor says, "As you can see, my young apprentice, your friends have failed. Now, witness the firepower of this fully armed and operational battlestation! Fire at will, commander! [sounds of charging energy that then shoots and explodes]."

And yes, I typed that from memory.

I like to make little groupings that tell a story (you'll see more of that soon):
Luke, that rash hothead, has abandoned Yoda on Dagoba to go charging off for a confrontation with Darth Vader. Vader says raspily, "The Force is with you, young Skywalker, but you are not a Jedi yet."

Yoda's all like, "Ready you were not, mmmm!"

All three figures are from 1997 - that's the year I got married. I remember we had ol' Darth doing his thing on the answering machine for a while. Heh.

Next up, we have the classic confrontation:
Crazy old Ben (Obi-Wan) Kenobi who lives out beyond the Dune Sea and the desert-dwelling Tusken Raider have a go at each other.

Obi-Wan is from 2000 and the Raider is from 2007.

The whole story of Star Wars is actually about the droids, C-3P0 and R2-D2:
I got Artoo in 2001 and had to wait a whole extra year before they finally issued Threepio in 2003. The nerve. R2-D2 takes a couple of watch batteries inside him to make him make bloop and beep. He didn't work this year, so the batteries are likely dead.

A classic tie-fighter:
It makes zooming flying noises and shooting bursts. It's from 2003.

It's usually paired up on the tree with Luke's Tie Fighter:
They shoot at each other! You can see Luke in the cockpit and Artoo's little shiny head just behind it. It's from 1998 - it doesn't light up anymore, alas.

I really wish I had the Han Solo and Chewbacca figures. I should just bite the bullet and buy them online. Anyway, if I had those, I'd put them with these two:
Boba Fett (the coolest!) and Princess Leia. They're both from 1998.

All of the above figures are around 4" big, but these ones are tiny:
They are about 1.5-1 inch tall and are from 1997.

The first Christmas we had with Inigo, he was just a little kitten still (I know, hard to imagine). He was pretty good with the tree and all the decorations, but we were never sure what he and Othello would get up to when we were at work. Othello was terrible for biting ornaments until they fell off the tree. Inigo liked to carry things around in his mouth: coins, pens, whatever he could pick up and carry.

One day I went to feed him and Othello as usual, and I found C-3P0 laying face up in Inigo's water dish. He looked like he had been crying for help - he seemed very happy to be rescued from his watery prison.

Vader's Tie Fighter:
Note the curved wings, that's how you know it's Vader coming after you! Well, that and you can clearly see him in the lit-up cockpit. This ornament is from 1999.

If I don't have Han and Chewie, at least I have their ship, the Millenium Falcon:
The cockpit lights up, it flashes on the top and the rear wide nacelle lights up. This was my first Star Wars ornament, from 1996.

My favourite movie of the trilogy is "The Empire Strikes Back." It's got everything: adventure, romance, exciting revelations, and Yoda. Not to mention the best planet: Hoth! Where we see the AT-ATs (the All-Terrain Armoured Transports):
I know they are the most cumbersome, non-efficient way to invade a planet, but how can you not love a walking tank? Especially one with a little speeder about to trip it up and send it into a huge crash! It even makes the clanging walking noises and the zreeeooooommm of the ship!

It's from 2006.

I used to have a subscription to National Geographic's "World" magazine as a kid. Every few months, there would be a poster - and I remember one was of Star Destroyers. I had that one beside my bed.

Of course, I had to have the ornament when it came out in 2004:
That little blur hanging from it is Princess Leia's diplomatic ship that's sucked into the Star Destroyer in the opening scene of "Star Wars" - accordingly, the ship plays some dialogue over the background of shooting and alarms:

C-3P0: Did you hear that?
R2-D2: Boop-be-boop!
C-3P0: They've shut down the main reactor! We'll be destroyed for sure. This is madness!
R2-D2: Boop-be-boop!
C-3P0: We're doomed.
R2-D2: Boop-be-boop! Boop-be-boop!
C-3P0: There'll be no escape for the princess this time.
R2-D2: Boop-be-boop!

Awesome.

Well, that's it for the Star Trek and Star Wars...but I do have a few other ornaments that I have on the tree that are sort of in the theme.
The big light bulb:Hee, you can see my reflection in it! It's by Department 56 and is about 6 inches long. It's really heavy.

I also have a space shuttle:
It was a present from our friend Andrew, from his travels.

I'm also a "Babylon 5" fan, so I have a little Minbari cruiser:
It was a keychain originally - I just removed the hardware and tied some thread to it for hanging.

I have a wire star as my topper, but right below that is my favourite space-farer, the Iron Giant:
"Superman!"

My last anomaly is this one:
Yes, it's William Shakespeare - I got it in the Globe Theatre gift shop when we went to London last May. He's the right colours for the tree, but he also reminded me of one of those wacky time-travel Star Trek plots where Kirk and Spock meet some historical figure.

And so, at last, that's it!
I hope you enjoyed my tree!

18 comments:

  1. Sheila--I am impressed by how thought through all of this is and the stories that are attached to each item. Your tree is "out of this world". Methinks, Shakespeare approves.

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  2. Oh my, thought I was the only chick in the world who loves both Star Trek and Star Wars- I really liked Deep Space Nine too. Thank goodness I'm not the only one out there anymore- wish you lived closer:(

    Merry Christmas, may the force be with you!

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  3. I love the theme of your Xmas tree. 1994 was the year I came up with the idea of doing a gingerbread theme. Your stra wars theme is unique and beautiful!

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  4. OK. This may just be one of the most unique trees I've ever seen! My favorite ornament is William. The rest of it is like hieroglyphics to me!

    You are incredibly knowledgeable about the subject. And I DID watch (and enjoy) Star Trek reruns at one point in my life--just can't remember why or where :)

    Merry Christmas! May the Force be with you! (I THINK that's an appropriate greeting?!?)

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  5. Love it! And the little scenes are the best - "Luke, I am your father. Noooooooo!" And then Luke takes a header off the fir. Tee-hee!

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  6. Wonderful tree, I love your collection. I find it somewhat bizzare that Hallmark made Star Trek ornaments, but they are very cool.

    Love Indigo posing by the tree. Like if you're going to admire this tree, spread some to the gorgeous kitty too!

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  7. I am SO in love with that tree!!! What a fantastic ornament collection. Color me impressed & a bit jealous :-)

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  8. Wow, a crazy tree, but neat. My hubby loves Star Wars - so will show him your pics. Hope you are doing OK!! Blessings this Christmas.

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  9. I'm so jealous! I was a big Star Trek fan, too, and can't believe how beautiful and interesting your ornaments are. Plus, the Shakespeare one fits right into the sci-fi convention of bending space and time. These ornaments are yet another instance of your uber-coolness.

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  10. I was drrroooooling ove all the fantastic Star Wars ornaments... and feeling like such a loser-- I had absolutely NO CLUE Hallmark put those out.

    My Jedi status has been revoked. I hang my head in shame.

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  11. hahaha i dooo! its very unique!!

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  12. Just Great! and your mom makes beautiful quilted pieces - how lucky for you!

    i always have a soft spot for Hardware Wars:

    http://tinyurl.com/243bgl
    http://tinyurl.com/28tk87t

    this was back in the 1970's, so you'd have to catch HWars at some of the non-chain theatres (shown as an actual preview) or on the late nite UHF channel shows. god, we used to crack ourselves up quoting hardware wars lines to each other as kids!

    thank you for the christmas tree posts! really beautiful and fun - hope you're feeling better, steph

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  13. Ok, you had me at the Christmas village, but this tree is all kinds of fabulous. These photos really made my day!

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  14. Thanks, Alison! I'm really glad you enjoyed it. I'm just that much older than you that those movies/series all hit me when I was 9-15 years old - prime nerd time.

    Terri, thank you so much! Yeah, Will would like it, ha!

    iminozz, now we're out of the closet, haha! Geek chics unite! Happy Holidays, live long and prosper!

    alethia, thank you very much for your kind words and for commenting! Theme trees can be so fun and quirky - I bet yours is lovely.

    Rebecca - I know it's not typical (you'll want to be wary of the village, I'm sure), but I'm glad you appreciated it. :) May the Force be with you - that is perfectly appropriate. And a very Merry Christmas full of joy to you.

    Cheap Chick, ha, that's so fun! Glad you enjoyed it.

    Northmoon, thank you! Yes, I'm always amazed at what Hallmark comes up with - some really bizarre stuff. Yes, Inigo's on of the fam - he's always got to be in the pics if he's into it.

    Trystan, I knew you would like it! Thanks, darlin'!

    bonnie! So nice to hear from you - I hope you're well - a very Merry Christmas to you! Thanks for your kind words.

    Shy, thank you very much! Yes, I thought Shakespeare was perfect. :) Hee, "from geek to cool" - my new motto!

    'Doll, you have to check out all the ornaments they do, it's nuts. Aw, you can still be a Jedi, young padawan.

    Nilcha, thanks!

    Steph, isn't she amazing? I love the colours and rich textures she uses. I loved Hardware Wars when I was a kid - sooo funny! Glad you're enjoying the posts...still sick, unfortunately.

    Sarah, glad you enjoyed them, fellow sickie! Hope you feel better - thank you very much for commenting!

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  15. Agreed: Empire Strikes Back is by far the best of the Star Wars films! Fellow Star Wars geek over here.
    Your collection is fantastic, and I love that you've grouped the ships and figs into narrative scenes.

    Shakespeare would love Star Wars (original trilogy only, obvs).

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  16. Awesome, Kelly! I love that there are so many fashionable geeks out there. Thank you!

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  17. I loveeeed your treee !
    It's the first StarWars tree I HAVE EVER SEEN !
    I have friends who would probably make some of those ornaments dissapeaR!
    All of these Starwars ornaments remind me of my brothers as they had all of these action figures and the spaceships while growing up. They did not keep a single item :(
    I personally loved Yoda and R2D2.

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  18. Thank you, Lorena! No way - I'm so flattered that mine is your first Star Wars tree. :) I liked Yoda and R2D2 best too.

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