Star Wars super fans show off their collections
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E-mail CNTV, December 18, 2015
As fans go, they don't come much more fanatical than a Star Wars fan. Some are even shedding tears over the latest trailer and forming lightsaber clubs. As we await the seventh instalment of the movie franchise, let's meet some of the hard-core super-fans in Taiwan and Hong Kong.
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Star Wars super fans show off their collections |
"Star Wars" fan Tsai Jung-chou has dressed up with his friends in New Taipei City to celebrate the new movie.
The 32-year-old says he has watched the trailer for "The Force Awakens" many times but still gets emotional when he sees it again, especially as many of the characters in the previous films have been brought back.
"I am actually happy that Disney has bought this movie franchise. They brought all the old cast: Luke, Princess Leia, and Han Solo. I watched the trailer so many times and every time I cry. I get so emotional," Tsai said.
Better known by his alias Makoto, Tsai spends his days making lightsabers. He says his are brighter and more robust than others now on the market. They are also equipped with motion-sensor effects of humming and buzzing.
And even with pricetags up to 400 US dollars per weapon, Tsai's mailbox is flooded with orders from sci-fi fans from Taiwan and abroad. His Lightsaber has become so popular that he quit his job as an optical engineer three years ago and became a full-time Lightsaber maker.
And here's another lightsaber obsessive, this one in Hong Kong. 32-year-old Chris Chan says the plastic lightsabers in toys stores are not good enough to engage in sparring with other fans.
So he searched online and found out that there was a professional lightsaber maker in Taiwan, traveled there, and learned how to make one from scratch.
Now, Chan and other members of the lightsaber club get together monthly to discuss the craft or just to duel with their weapon of choice.
"We get together and have a meal, chit chat about making props, or some people like to talk about their lightsaber fighting skills. So we would have exchanges about that," Chan said.
Another Hong Kong superfan is 36-year-old professional Edmund Tong, who has been collecting "Star Wars" toys for more than 20 years.
"I started my collection around 1985. Before, my mom and dad would buy them for me, but when I got older I continued to collect while in middle school. Kenner (toy company) began making "Star Wars" toys. So I started buying that collection, and that's how it started," Tong said.
Tong's collection got bigger and bigger and now numbers more than a thousand "Star Wars" memorabilia, including toys, photos, and, of course, lightsabers!
Tong has vintage "Star Wars" toys and figurines from the '70s. He even has a customized figure of himself dressed as an X-Wing pilot. He says his collection is bound to expand with the release of the new film but, because of space issues, he will only acquire items he deems worthy.
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