Collection Diary 09/05/09

To find unique Star Wars collectibles sometime you have to take things apart. For instance some collectors are attracted to the mini figures from inside LEGO building sets but not the brick sets themselves. Today I bought and dug into Hallmark's 48 piece party favor pack distributed under their Party Express division.

As far as party favors go, I would grade the selection as a weak "B". It's a bit heavy on the paper goods side (which would normally grade it lower) but as it is so reasonably priced, you really couldn't ask for much more. If you've got kids in the 4th grade or younger then this pack is probably just right for you.

Like most things in the world of party goods, this packet is designed for a group of eight children. The eight party treat sacks all feature a Yoda design which is 3D friendly (glasses not included). That means that while looking at him through a blue/red set of glasses will enhance the view, Yoda still looks just fine to the naked eye.

Darth Vader adorns eight spinners - or tops as we used to call them. The nub on the bottom is rather small which makes them difficult to use as battlers. The pack I got didn't contain any warped tops so if its an average set the tops are all worthwhile for fun.

Green kaleidescope viewers have Yoda's unhappy face upon them. The larger end is capped with beveled plastic to distort images geometrically and thin enough that colors come through from whatever you've got it pointed at. Again, as a party toy it's not bad.

The red plastic Star Wars coil is pointless. It isn't long enough to be Slinky-like and it's stiff enough that all you can do with it is stretch it out and let it snap back into position. Since there are eight of them the coils make decent cake decorations. That's about where the fun ends though. Still, Star Wars Party Coils will make an interesting category in the next edition of the book. :)

Yoda stickers! Who doesn't love stickers? These oval shaped Yoda stickers are nearly 3 inches long. A combination of Saga images, X-Wings are in attack configuration above the Jedi Master who has his signature lightsaber out and ready.

Finally we have Death Star maze. When you open the party pack these look like tightly wound Chinese yo-yos. (I was a little disappointed to find out that they weren't...) In recent years mazes for kids have gotten easier and easier to make kids think they were brilliant for being able to see their way through without even trying. I was pleased to see that at least this maze had some bite to it. Even as a paper good, I found it to be the more entertaining piece in the lot.