STAR WARS CREATING ADVENTURE PHOTOGRAPHY BY BRIAN HICKEY
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
There has been a vast number of people who have supported me on this creative journey, and without them, this book would not have been possible. Firstly, huge thanks to Ken Costello for his enthusiastic support for this project. Ken gave me access not only to his own collection, but he opened doors to other collectors who loaned me valuable pieces from their own vintage Star Wars treasuries. Most notable among them are John J Lennon and Les Fitzsimons. Many of the more ambitious shots in this book were only possible because of the help of these three awesome gents. Other collectors and dealers who helped me along the way include Jay Flood, David O’Brien at the Bronze Art Foundry in Dublin, Doc and the crew at Dublin City Comics, Jason Burke aka Jayo on Adverts, and Romeo Ortiz and Tony Medina of the Vintage Star Wars Collectors Club.
there when I needed to bounce ideas around. A special thanks to Paddy for stepping up and writing 15,000 words of content that delves deep into the history of the Star Wars toy line while also providing a blow by blow breakdown of all of the playsets released by Kenner and Palitoy. Other good friends who helped champion this project and spread the word include Brian Volk Veiss, The Toys that Made Us, Chris Porteous and Andy Preston at the Vintage Rebellion Podcast, Catrina, Erik and Andrew at Boss Fight Studio, Adam Riches, Derryl De Priest, Mark Telfer at Fantha Tracks, Steve Evans aka mrstevie18, Kim Simmons aka The Man Who Shot Luke Skywalker, Justin Berger aka HK Films, Adam Gingras aka Jedi Akira Customs, and Chandler Rylko aka The GQ Jedi. A huge thanks to you all.
Huge thanks to Daragh Bohan, my legal advisor on the project for his dedication and steadfastness in helping to guide me through the legal quagmire of copyright.
To my fellow photographers on Instagram thank you for your support and inspiration. Paul Panfalone aka Plastic Battles, Jason Yang aka Work More or Less, B Acree aka Skeleton Astronaut, and Andrew Sheard aka Kingdom of Weird - I salute you. A special thanks to Kendal Gray aka Boog Nice and Simon Hill aka Plastic_Snaps for pushing me to go the extra mile with my shots.
Massive thanks to David Tree, Christopher McLeod aka Diagnostic80, Guttorm Fjeldstad aka The Kenner Boy, and Paddy Lennon - all close friends, who not only supported me, but were
To the admins of the various vintage Star Wars groups on Facebook - Michael Esposito, Dennis Hall, Aidan Delaney, Robin Bocra, Vicki Bitter, Jason Knox, FJ DeRobertis, Abdul K. Hemani Jr.,
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Michael and Andrea Havens, James Coleman and Gary Wines - thank you for allowing me to share my photos with your members. Thank you to Jim Swearingen, the principal conceptual designer for Kenner’s Star Wars toy line, and all design team at Kenner for the wonderful toys that grace these pages. And thank you to George Lucas, for not only creating Star Wars, but for his persistence to find a licensee to produce the toys. I need to give a special thank you to everyone on Facebook and Instagram who liked, commented and shared every image I posted since this project began. There are too many of you to mention here, but please know that I’m truly grateful for all your support. It kept me going when I needed it most. Thank you to my wife Karen and my children, Liam, Caoilainn and Cathal, for your love, patience and support. Finally, thank you to my parents, Rosaleen and Tony, for introducing me to Star Wars and for buying all of my toys as a kid. We didn’t have much, but you made sure I had all I needed. This digital book is for you.
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INTRODUCTION
I can’t remember exactly when I came up with the idea to make a photo-book recreating all three original trilogy Star Wars movies using only vintage Kenner toys, but I had been musing on the concept for a long time before I finally broached it with anyone. Over the years, I’d seen many photographers tackle all kinds of Star Wars scenes, using mainly modern era figures, but up to that point I had never seen a single photographer focus on a project of this scale using only the vintage, 5 POA figures. I felt this was an original creative challenge, and I was excited to take it on. The biggest obstacle that I could foresee was sourcing enough vintage toys to complete all of the scenes from the movies. I owned a modest vintage Star Wars collection that consisted of close to 80 loose, complete figures; two AT-STs; and a few mini rigs. It was addressing this challenge that first prompted me to broach the idea with anyone. I also knew that I wanted to do this without relying on photoshop. In the spirit of the original movies, and in the spirit of how I played with the toys as a kid, I wanted to use practical effects. That would mean I would have to build any set pieces and props that hadn’t been created by Kenner (or Palitoy if you’re from my side of the Atlantic) as toys, and I’d have to find a way to create convincing looking explosion and blaster effects.
In August 2017, after mulling the idea over for I don’t know how long, I reached out to two of my mates, Chris McLeod and David Tree. I figured I needed someone with a huge vintage Star Wars collection that I could team up with to create this project, and if anyone could point me in the right direction it would be these two guys. I sent them both a message outlining what I was planning. David responded almost immediately, enthusiastically offering me full access to his personal collection. He shared my vision for using practical effects and simple, home made dioramas and suggested that something akin to the Topps cards would likely go down well with vintage SW collectors. As part of the outline plan I shared with David and Chris I had prepared a shot list consisting of approximately 25 images per movie. In the years since that initial conversation with Dave and Chris, that shot list has expanded considerably. Despite David’s enthusiasm and generous offer we never progressed any further together. Geography, as well as work and personal commitments, were key factors. I tried my hand at a few practice shots, but the project never really got going. Nevertheless, the idea stuck with me and wouldn’t let itself out of my head.
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I didn’t give up on the idea of finding a collector who would share my vision and passion for this project. And in April 2018 I reached out again. I’d been following The Kenner Boy on Instagram for some time, and felt that this could be someone I could work with. For those of you who follow The Kenner Boy you’ll know that he really is an expert on all things Kenner Star Wars and he is collection is most impressive. I sent a DM with my pitch, and included some of my professional credentials in the hopes that he wouldn’t think I was a complete nut case. I called the book Star Wars: The Kenner Years. To my surprise, he replied saying he was interested to discover more. We arranged an initial phone call to review my idea, which Guttorm (The Kenner Boy’s real name) warmed to. We struck up a rapport, communicating regularly via DM and phone calls. We even met face to face in Oslo on one occasion. Guttorm had some great ideas to contribute, and had already taken many impressive photos of his own. A concept for a more expansive book began to form. This book would feature more than just diorama recreations of the scenes from the movies. It would have more of a guide book feel, but with a particular focus on the playsets. Guttorm would write and I would photograph and design. Guttorm suggested that the design could pay homage to the Kenner cross-selling catalogues that came packaged with the playsets.
I prepared some sample pages using images I’d grabbed from the web for mock-up purposes. Renewed by the energy that had struck up between us, I began photographing more scenes from the films with a view to establishing a visual style that was my own, but paid the right amount of homage to the work of Roy Frankenfield and Kim Simmons. During this early period of creativity I realised that I could do a lot more with my collection than I had originally thought. Ideas began to flow and my confidence grew. I was feeling so confident that by that August I decided to send an email to Paul Kennedy at Krause Publications (the editor behind Mark Bellomo’s book, The Ultimate Guide to Vintage Star Wars Action Figures, 1977–1985) pitching our ideas for a hyrid photo-book/guidebook. Within 24 hours Paul had replied, keen to learn more details about the project and asking if I could send him come content and pages. However, apart from a small selection of images, all we really had was an idea and a sample page design. We were a long way from having a finished book. I replied to Paul explaining that we were in the early stages, and I mapped out an ambitious timeline to deliver the complete book by the summer of 2019. Guttorm expressed to me his reservations about being able to commit to such a demanding project plan, but I wanted to capitalise
on the interest expressed by a publisher. To me it seemed like a golden opportunity not to be missed. Despite me saying we were a year away from delivering the book, Paul still seemed interested. The lines of communication with him remained open, and each month I would send him and email reporting on our progress. During this time I was expanding my vintage collection with pieces I needed for various shots. The number of completed images for the book was growing and my photography techniques were improving rapidly. But we still didn’t have any text. Professional and personal commitments prevented Guttorm from being able to commit to any kind of schedule for writing the content. He had lots of ideas though, which we discussed on our calls. The initial concept of focusing on just the playsets expanded into a complete guide for all things Kenner Star Wars - a sort of ULTIMATE guidebook for collectors. Guttorm explained that he was good friends with renowned collector, Robin Bocra and that he had arranged with her that we could travel to the United States to photograph items from her vast collection. I thought this was a great idea (and still do) but as we discussed it more over the following weeks, the scale and ambition of the project dampened Guttorm’s enthusiasm. It would be a massive
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undertaking, fraught with risk and considerable expense. Plus, we still didn’t have a deal with Krause Publications - just interest, which I felt was beginning to wane since we were still nowhere near ready to deliver any kind of a finished product.
not being able to commit, I made a decision to drive on ahead working with just Paddy. We had a good track record working together and I knew he could deliver. So Guttorm was out and Paddy was in. I knew I had the right partner to tackle the editorial side of the book.
In an attempt to reenergise the project I reached out to my long time collaborator and good friend, Paddy Lennon. It was now March of 2019. Paddy and I had known each other since 2013 and had already produced two books focusing on modern era action figures. I was aware that vintage Star Wars wasn’t Paddy’s area of expertise, but suggested that if he took on the writing, Guttorm could be the ‘source of knowledge’. Encouraged by the interest from Krause, Paddy was eager to come on board.
The two of us reconsidered what this vintage Star Wars book would look like. I felt that with Paddy, my own vision didn’t need to be compromised. I wanted a produce a photo-book recreating the original trilogy, something Guttorm always wanted to play down. For the editorial side of things we reverted back to a focus on just the playsets. This made sense as thematically, as we could connect these with the diorama building featured in the photos. Paddy came up with a new title - Star Wars: Creating Adventure.
In June 2019 Paul Kennedy replied to my latest update letting me know that Penguin Random House was in the process of acquiring Krause Publications, and that his future in the company was uncertain. By August, the buy-out was complete and Paul, and all of the staff at Krause, had been let go. All communication with him ended there. It was a real blow
With about 70 percent of the book complete, our first task was to find a new publisher. We reached out to Derryl De Priest, a former brand manger for Star Wars toys at Hasbro and who had recently crowd funded his own Star Wars book on Kickstarter. He had formed a publishing company called Blue Milk to publish Star Wars: the Vintage Collection Archive Edition which he had co-created. Derryl responded positively to our pitch, but advised that a book that recreated the original trilogy movies so faithfully would be an infringement on Lucasfilm’s IP, and would need a license from Lucasfilm before it could be
By this point I had already taken thousands of photos and had edited them down a shortlist of a couple of hundred for the book. Paddy had written over 10,000 words. With Guttorm still
published. His company was not a licensee so he couldn’t pursue the project any further with us. While our correspondence with Derryl was happening, a breakthrough on a different issue presented itself in the form of Ken Costello. I met Ken in September 2019 when I bought some imperial troop builders from him. He had them for sale on a popular buy and sell site. We didn’t live too far from each other, so we arranged that I would collect the figures from him. When we met, I mentioned that I was in the market for more vintage Star Wars. We exchanged numbers and later that day Ken forwarded me photos of his collection. WOW! I was blown away. He had almost everything needed to finish the more ambitious shots in the book. I brought him up to speed on the project I was working on and asked if he would allow me to borrow items from his collection to photograph. He immediately and enthusiastically agreed. I’d finally found the collector I’d been seeking for 2 years and he lived less than 30 minutes from me. Unable to strike a deal with Blue Milk, I prepared a detailed submission proposal for Star Wars: Creating Adventure and over the next 2 years I sent it to a slew of publishers and literary agents in the UK and United States. I received only two replies, both rejections.
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With no sign of a publishing deal forthcoming, myself and Paddy discussed bringing the project to Kickstarter. But given Derryl’s advice, we knew this was risky, so in June 2020 I reached out to my solicitor, Daragh Bohan, and presented to him what we intended to do. His initial reaction was exactly the same as Derryl’s. We would be infringing on Lucasfilm’s IP by essentially telling their story in picture form. He suggested we contact Disney directly to secure a license. He carried out some research and found a licensee application portal on the Disney website. Daragh made the submission on our behalf and received a reply from Lucasfilm within the hour. It wasn’t good news.
images previously, but in a random order. Now I was presenting them chronologically, posting one image every weekday, each with its own caption. In hindsight, this approach wasn’t far from the Topps cards idea that David Tree had mentioned to me back in 2017.
The Luscasfilm response explained that due to certain exclusivity arrangements with its publishing licensees, Lucasfilm staff were legally prohibited from reviewing any book related submissions. It didn’t matter that we were seeking a license and not an actual publishing deal, as soon as they saw the word ‘book’ the process immediately ended. Incidentally, in January 2022 we tried contacting Luscafilm again via a different route and received the exact same response - copied and pasted.
I posted the final scene from Return of Jedi on December 23 2021. I can honestly say that that evening, as the comments of support and appreciation poured in across the various platforms where I’d been posting, I felt very emotional and had tears in my eyes. The positive reaction from so many people was overwhelming.
In July 2020, in an attempt to raise awareness of the book, I started the process of sharing all of the photos on both my Instagram account and in a number of facebook groups. I had shared lots of
Initial engagement was low, but the posts quickly grew in popularity. I was really inspired by how well received the images were by fans and collectors of vintage Star Wars toys. I knew that something good was happening and despite the rejections from publishers and literary agents, I really believed that people other than myself would enjoy this book.
knowing that I achieved what I set out to do the book is now complete. For licensing reasons I can’t sell it, but I can give it away for free. So here it is. I hope that you all enjoy reading it as much I enjoyed making it. But this isn’t the end of the line. There’s still all that text that Paddy wrote, and I’m working away on a brand new series of photos that bring the Kenner toys beyond the movies. Hmmmm, maybe that will be name of a new book coming to Kickstarter soon… B
As I write this, it’s been almost 5 years since I began, what has been for me, a significant creative challenge and a huge labour of love. I have a greater appreciation for the Kenner Star Wars line now than I ever had, and my modest vintage collection is not so modest any more. I’ve made new friends; I’ve improved as a photographer; and I have the satisfaction of
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Episode IV
A NEW HOPE
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Episode V
THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK
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Episode VI
RETURN OF THE JEDI
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STAR WARS CREATING ADVENTURE PHOTOGRAPHY BY BRIAN HICKEY
Instagram.com/BrianThehick
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