Whaddaya think of this?? Back in the summer my good friend Mike of
4th Moon Toys tipped me off to this item that was for sale on our local kijiji site: a vintage "unlicensed" Darth Vader ceramic lamp.
This thing is super-cool and although not particularly rare or valuable, can be tough to find undamaged and with the original clear plastic lightsaber.
Back in the day, DIY ceramics were a real thing... people would have parties at their houses, and someone would bring in a bunch of ceramic stuff they'd cast for the partygoers to paint as a fun activity (and to generate a bit of cash of course). Then the person would take the ceramics back and fire them, then the attendees would go pick them up. Sometimes the ceramics maker had a retail shop where people would come to paint ceramic items, and again the shop owner would fire them for later pickup. The items came in all different themes, but pretty much all were unlicensed by any legitimate trademark or copyright holder. This Darth Vader is a great example.
The lamp is hollow of course, and a short string of incandescent coloured lights fits up inside, shining through the eyes and details on the chest plate, and of course illuminating the lightsaber.
Here's a short video clip of the item all lit up. Not sure how it works exactly but once it's warmed up, the lights blink different colours, and things get pretty freaky. So cool.
Faint date marking on the bottom of the item reads "1982" with initials. Certainly no copyright or trademark info to be found here!
I love this lamp and want to thank Mike again for putting me onto it. Of course these things are relatively delicate and don't travel well, so finding one locally is really the only way to get them. The Star Wars Collectors' Association has a few pages with a bunch of information on these unlicensed items
here, if you want to learn more and see some really crazy items.
I hope everybody gets as much of a kick out of this as I do, and I hope you're having a great Holiday season!
