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| IG-88 - Author's Collection |
The IG-88 Incident
The IG-88 incident occurred after 1980 (I guess) when Kenner released the action figures. It had to take place in or shortly after 1980 because The Empire Strikes Back release date was 1980.
I remember the event well because it took place on my younger brother's birthday. On my birthday and his, mom and dad always grilled hamburgers and hot dogs. My mom's sister and her family would always come too. If I'm not mistaken, we always had homemade ice cream for dessert, as well as birthday cake.
In those days, a Star Wars action figure cost (at Wal-Mart) $3.14. The only other place that carried them was Kmart, and I don't even know if they exist anymore. On the morning of my brother's birthday, I was in town with my mom. I don't remember where my brother was. Anyway, at Walmart, I bought myself an IG-88 action figure with my allowance. Let me stress here that I absolutely LOVED that droid. Note: We always got $5 a week, each, for an "allowance." I always hated that it wasn't enough to buy two action figures, and there was no talking Mom into giving us more - I tried. ✊
I opened my package on the way home. Later, before the festivities, I showed my brother my prized IG-88. A look of wonder came over his face. In a small, pleading voice that was full of awe, he said, "Ohhhh Ren...is he MINE?" I assume he thought so because it was his birthday. And I had no intention of giving it to him, but...
I fell for the sad puppy dog act (if it was indeed an act) and I let him have my prized toy. To this day, decades later, I still regret it. I still remember how much I valued that toy, even though it was just a piece of plastic. Understandable, I guess, since even though I was the "big brother," I was almost certainly a preteen myself.
Well, now I'm in the driver's seat, once again. And I have IG-88. For clarity, it is officially the IG-88B. Something may happen to it. It might get misplaced. It might get stolen. For now, it's going on my shelf with my other collectibles, and I can promise with 100% certainty that I will never ever give it away. Edit: I MIGHT be convinced to give it to my grandchild one day (don't have any yet). My daughter will eventually end up with it because I plan on leaving all my personal possessions to her when I leave this world.
Nostalgia, euphoria, and pride are the keywords that describe me and my relation to this great internet find.
The figure is part of "The Empire Strikes Back Retro Collection." It's a bounty hunter two-pack. The other figure is Dengar, who will be the subject of a later post. Both IG-88 and Dengar were notorious bounty hunters.
IG-88 was an IG-series assassin droid created by Holowan Laboratories. He was part of a group of assassin droids that plotted to kill all biological life forms.
