Need some info on a piece I own

AshburnerX

New Hunter
Well this doesn't really fit on any of the other forums, so I thought I'd ask here. Anybody have any information on this thing?

DarthLamp.jpg


I've had a ceramic lamp like this one sitting around my room ever since I was 8 or 9 years old... but any time I've tried to get any information on it, I've had little success. The only thing I really know is that it's probably from a mold made in 81, which makes this thing at least 4 years older than me. So I thought I'd ask here... does anybody have any information on these things? Is it official or a bootleg? Are they all alittle bit different? Mine seems to have different holes cut into the chest piece than the one pictured above.

I'd really appreciate being pointed in the right direction here folks!
 
Try sending the picture and description to Star Wars insider. I think it is Steve Sansweet that has a section in there every month where he discusses odd Star Wars items or just Star Wars collectibles in general. I don't know the e-mail address to send stuff too but if you pick up an issue I'm sure you can find it in there.

Well this doesn't really fit on any of the other forums, so I thought I'd ask here. Anybody have any information on this thing?

DarthLamp.jpg


I've had a ceramic lamp like this one sitting around my room ever since I was 8 or 9 years old... but any time I've tried to get any information on it, I've had little success. The only thing I really know is that it's probably from a mold made in 81, which makes this thing at least 4 years older than me. So I thought I'd ask here... does anybody have any information on these things? Is it official or a bootleg? Are they all alittle bit different? Mine seems to have different holes cut into the chest piece than the one pictured above.

I'd really appreciate being pointed in the right direction here folks!
 
The weird thing is, all of these have a hole for him to hold a lightsaber in... but I've never seen a lightsaber for any of these. Anybody know where you can get clear glass or plastic tubs about half an inch in diameter?
 
Mine actually still has the lightsaber and most of the lenses in his face and chestbox. The "lightsaber" is just a piece of clear plastic.

I would be curious as to where these things came from? Anyone find out yet?
 
Mine actually still has the lightsaber and most of the lenses in his face and chestbox. The "lightsaber" is just a piece of clear plastic.

I would be curious as to where these things came from? Anyone find out yet?

You know, I've seen a lot of these things heavily modified with things that look like Light-Bright pieces, but I've always thought this was just something the owners did after market to spruce up their lamp to add extra colors to it. But now I'm thinking this is something that hobby shops or other stores did to make them more appealing...
 
Well mine actually has lenses in the eye sockets which would be rather hard to fit otherwise.. I think they originally had the lenses, but that they were cheaply made and fell out often, but I could be wrong.
 
Alright folks, here's info I got.

----------------------------

I don't know how long they were for sale, but Windmill Ceramics produced
three molds (Chewbacca, R2-D2, Darth Vader) starting in 1979. The molds
weren't licensed since back then it wasn't that big of a deal to make crafty
merchandise that appealed to movies or television shows.

It looks like your Darth Vader is missing his lightsaber. It was a clear
cylinder of plastic that was cut off (squared) at both ends. Windmill
Ceramics didn't supply the part, but most of the ones known are all similar
as if coming from the same source. Perhaps a distributor filled the needs
and those buying directly didn't have the benefit? Anyway, less than 50% of
the Darth Vader 'lamps' have the lightsaber today.

The unfinished ceramics were sold without the lamp kit. Some people chose to
add a lighting kit, while other decided to keep it as a small statuette.
Vader commonly has a single bulb in the base whereas R2 frequently has holes
poked in his barrel with Christmas twinkle lights inside.

R2-D2 is more common than Darth Vader (lends himself better to being a table
lamp) and I've only ever seen three of the Chewbacca in my life.

Because Darth Vader is a craft item, he's not worth a lot; topping out at
$15-$20 on eBay for a nicely finished one. Frequently the person who
glazed/painted and fired the piece etched their initials in the bottom,
giving it increased sentimental family value.

There are 4-5 different Vader Lamps that can be seen currently for auction
or sale on eBay:

http://shop.ebay.com/?_from=R40&_trksid=m38.l1313&_nkw=ceramic+vader&_sacat=
See-All-Categories

Hope this helps!

Geoffrey Carlton

----------------------------------------------

Well this explains why my Vader didn't have a light source or Saber when I originally got him: My Grandmother was very into painting ceramics, so she probably bought him unfinished from the hobby store. Still, it's good to at least know about this **** thing. Thanks for everybody's help!
 
Yeah, I have the DV and R2. My DV never had the lightsaber but my cousin's did. My R2 is sweet. My mom made a lamp out of it when she took ceramics class way back when. I think she stole my R2 figure to do the paint job, i was freaking because I couldn't find the little guy! R2 was covered with tiny holes that you had to fill with these little plastic things that had a narrow long part to stick into R2 and a little ball on the end, sort of a really cheap fiber optic. He had 5 or 6 of those classic big x-bulbs inside that would blink on and off as they warmed up.

I still have him and will set him up whenever I can find an affordable home!
Thanks for the info,
Tim
 
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