I have been looking forward to this coming weekend for approximately 360 days. It is once again time for me to get my full geek on and attend C2E2 (The Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo). From Friday until Sunday, I will have the opportunity to be immersed in movie previews, celebrity panels, photo opportunities, games, toys, comic books, T-shirts, art and of course crazy people in costumes.

In other words...

Heaven on Earth!

Yes this is heaven to me... I have problems.

When I first began attending these conventions, I was drawn in by the vintage and collectible toys. I used to be an avid toy collector. Now I am more of a toy browser. Although I still enjoy taking the walk down memory lane and checking out cool new versions of my sci-fi and fantasy favorites, with my kids' college bills right around the corner, I can't really justify buying things that will just sit on a shelf.

In fact, as soon as my learned to walk, I made myself a pledge. I vowed to never buy any toy I was not willing to let my children play with.

There is one exception to this rule:

The 1980 Kenner Star Wars Darth Vader's Star Destroyer Playset.

Wow! A Red Ryder BB gun with a compass in the stock, and this thing... wait wrong story.

A few years ago I decided to make this toy my Holy Grail. I simply had to have it.

OK that sounds easy. Just go on Ebay. Find one. Select "buy it now" and pay for it.

But that is the problem. That is too easy. What's the fun in that? Half the fun of collecting is the hunt. To make it even more entertaining, one can set some strict parameters to increase the level of difficulty of finding the perfect piece. I did. I needed to find a totally complete set in decent shape for under $75.

Do you remember how special the Holy Grail looked in Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade?

Donovan chose... poorly.

Ha! That was a trick question!

If you thought it looked all special and fancy, then you would turn to dust just like Walter Donovan did when he "choose poorly". It was just the opposite. Indy made a very big deal out of the fact he was looking for the cup of a carpenter. There was nothing fancy about it at all.

There is nothing fancy about my Holy Grail either. In fact, the Star Wars Darth Vader's Star Destroyer Playset super sucks!

Just look at this thing!

Ooooo barbie can get her hair done in that thing in the middle!

How in the heck is that a Star Destroyer?

For the uninitiated, this is a Star Destroyer:

Rumor has it the Empire originally called these the "Super Cool Star Destroyer"... but that was redundant.

Aside from Darth Vader's incredibly cool meditation chamber, there is literally nothing that would make one think that cheap piece of junk has anything to do with Star Wars let alone a playset based on the coolest ship in the entire universe.

I honestly don't know what the toy designers thought you were supposed to do with this thing. You couldn't make it fly. It wasn't going to be involved in any epic living room dog fights. No battles were going to be staged on the small plastic platform. In fact, all you could really do is stand figures on the little pegs and have them talk about their plans.

This thing was tantamount to Barbie's Dreamhouse for Star Wars action figures.

I told you the Star Wars Darth Vader's Star Destroyer Playset super sucks!

And yet, I simply had to own this stupid piece of incredibly cheap plastic.

If "it" means "the Star Wars Darth Vader's Star Destroyer Playset" I totally understand.

Why?

For me, collectibles are conversation starters. Perhaps the conversations they spark are about the piece of pop culture they are based on. Maybe it is about the successful hunt to acquire it. Sometimes it is just an excuse to crack jokes about how silly things were in the 1980s. Mainly they are about the memories that the piece stirs within me.

Usually these are happy memories from my childhood or some other significant time period from my life. I imagine when I am much older, I will buy some Little Einsteins figures and recall how much both my children loved those little connoisseurs of art and music.

However, none of those conversations are worthy of The Holy Grail of my toy collection.

As crappy as it may be as a toy, the 1980 Kenner Star Wars Darth Vader's Star Destroyer Playset, will always be the catalyst of a very meaningful conversation to me.

One month before my 10th birthday, my father died.

Whoa Nelly! What? I thought this was another one of his silly posts. Why the drama?

Don't worry, this isn't going to be some sob story of a boy growing up without a father. That was over 35 years ago. I am fine. In fact, if I were given an opportunity to go back in time and change that event, I wouldn't. It is part of what has shaped who I am today. If that event had not happened, perhaps I would never had met my wife and I would not have our two amazing children.

Although I am fine and would not change a thing, that does not mean I don't want to remember my dad. Some people use pictures or videos to rekindle these memories. Some people use songs. I use the 1980 Kenner Star Wars Darth Vader's Star Destroyer Playset.

My dad died one month before my 10th birthday. After he passed away, my grandmother had to clean out his apartment. Buried deep inside his closet, hidden underneath some old shoe boxes, she found the 1980 Kenner Star Wars Darth Vader's Star Destroyer Playset.

He had planned to give it to me for my 10th birthday.

I played with that Barbie Dreamhouse in a galaxy far, far way every day for almost two years.

Like most kids who grew up in the 1970s, when I outgrew my toys, my parents threw them away (that is why they are all so damn valuable now). But that is ok. The hunt for my Holy Grail was a ton of fun.

Last year I completed my quest.

You can't have a playhouse without any dolls.

Now it sits on a shelf in my children's toy room. If my son ever wanted to play with it, he knows he could have. But he also knows why it is special to me.

If I ever want to start a conversation with someone about my dad, all I need to say is, "Hey do you want to see my 1980 Kenner Star Wars Darth Vader's Star Destroyer Playset."

And no that is not a euphemism for anything.

For that I use, "Would you like to pet my Wookie?"

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