The Star Wars Yard Sale Story

My name is Derek and I've been a Star Wars collector my whole life.  I was born the same year that the toys came out for A New Hope and thanks to my parents my brother and I had nearly everything Kenner made in the 80's.  I was in high school when Kenner made new action figures in 1995 and I got a job just to buy the new toys.  Ever since then, I've collected one of every action figure and vehicle Kenner/Hasbro has made.  Over the last 30 years, Star Wars collecting has been fun.  However, today the toys are not as easy to find.  Stores don't have them and if they do they cost way too much.  If I were a kid today there is no way I'd ever be able to afford to buy Star Wars toys, let alone accumulate a collection.  That's where the Star Wars Yard Sale comes in.  

I've been doing these sales for nearly 15 years and it all got started by accident.  My wife is a 1st grade teacher and in 2010 she had bought a lot of extra teaching supplies and classroom materials. She decided to have a Teaching Materials Yard Sale.  It was a brilliant idea and it was very successful.  At the time I had a closet full of extra Star Wars stuff I had accumulated over time.  Among those things were a couple of the 12" Unleashed Star Wars figures/statues.  I put them out at the sale thinking a classroom teacher may want to decorate their room with one of them since they were very cool looking and had zero play value.  Not a single one sold. However, seeing those statues sitting on a table in my drive way made a light bulb go off in my head.  Why don't I do a Star Wars Toy Yard Sale!  

At the time I had no idea what to expect.  We put signs out that said Star Wars Yard Sale and we even paid to put an ad in the paper.  Yep, the newspaper I don't think Facebook Marketplace was a thing yet.  I was so afraid no one would come, and I was dead wrong.  The sale was very popular and thus the Star Wars Yard sale was born.  It was so popular that we took the show on the road.  Setting up at my wife's parents house in Vernon Hills and friend's houses in Grayslake and Gurnee.  There was one thing that was clear at every sale, no matter where it was.  Kids love Star Wars toys.  Before we did the first sale I really thought the only people that would show up were collectors like me.  After 15 years of doing this I know that kids are a FORCE to be reckoned with.  

I enjoy having the Star Wars Yard Sale.  It's like having a Star Wars Store in my front yard once a year.  My own children love the sale too, as it's a chance for them to set up their own shops.  My son runs three different Star Wars themed target practice games for 50 cents, and my daughter makes Star Wars crafts that she sells.   Besides my own children, the kids that come to the sale are a key motivation for me.   As I said before, collecting Star Wars toys now a days is hard and expensive.  The toy companies have nearly priced the kids right out of the market, but I'm not a toy company.  The items that I sell are fairly priced and really meant to be played with.  Plus, when I open my yard for the sale I instantly have the largest variety of Star Wars wars toys for sale in the state.  I have something for everyone, whether that's the 4 year old who is just getting into Star Wars and says Dark Wader, the casual fan who loves Baby Yoda, or the hard core collector who knows who Bom Vimdin is and the exact scene in the movie that he's in.  

I love all things Star Wars and the Star Wars Yard Sale is a way for me to share that love.  It's a great way to connect with other fans and talk about the movies, collecting, and the universe in general.  It's a way for me to help foster the joy that can come from a child's imagination when they pretend they are Luke Skywalker facing off against Dark Wader and the rest of the bad guys.