One of the contestants in out Toy Denial competition Chris B also provided me with not only a mall appearance photo but a pretty funny story as well:
"Do you remember / did you have a Yellow Front in your neighborhood? Ours was in Thornton, Colorado, and I still vividly remember my father driving me there for a Darth Vader store appearance. I waited over an hour to meet him and all I could think to do when I did was attempt to screw up the controls on his life-support chest panel for the Rebellion. He simply shoved a signed photo at me dismissively and the clerks waived me out. This was not good enough, as I had my mother purchase so many of his products since I saw him for the first time at the Continental Theatre when I was only five years old. Plus, I worked for the Rebellion."
"With my cousin providing a distraction by screaming her lungs out, I ran back through the line, jumped over the rope barrier, rolled under a table and popped back in front of him again. This time he stood up - my father at the ready with a camera ( as he usually was whenever his son was about to humiliate himself in front of others ) - and pretended to crush my face. I was about to ask why he didn’t just use his force powers but I was physically hauled out by Yellow Front staff. Perhaps they remembered me as the odd little boy who always sat in the toy aisle while my mother shopped for beauty products."
Chris has some more funny and honest stories of fandom on his blog if you'd like to read more. Thanks for reading and as always, please send me your vintage Mall Appearance Photos!
3 comments:
I can still smell that sweaty pleather glove. Thanks, Brian!
Dude, that's dedication! :)
I remember when Darth Vader, C-3PO, R2-D2 and Chewbacca came to our Hy-Vee Food store about '78 or '79. I was around five. I was actually afraid of Chewie for some reason. Darth Vader fascinated me. I remember a little boy was going to reach up and touch one of his belt buttons, but my sage words froze him in place. "Don't touch him or he will force choke you!" He slowly lowered his hand and I thought I really saved his life!
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