Howdy gang!!!
Another poster by the name of "skyvvalker" on another message board posted this question, so I CANNOT claim it as my own. But KUDOS to him, because I think it a good topic!! Anyway here goes...
Do any of you guys and gals here own one of the 6 foot long Toys R Us
MILLENNIUM FALCON Extraordinaires?
Skyvvalker himself owns one:
http://images.snapfish.com/345996%3B%3B%3B%7Ffp337>nu%3D3273>674>783>WSNRCG%3D32334494<9%3B58nu0mrj
Steve Sansweet's got one:
http://www.rebelscum.com/features/ranchoobiwan_IMG_4481.jpgPhilip Wise has one (upper right corner)
http://www.rebelscum.com/room/1-1.jpgAnd there is one on display at the
Star Toys Museum of Meerkat Meade in suburban Baltimore, Maryland:
http://www.readersadvice.com/museum/mfextra.htmlIs there ANYONE else out there who is a proud owner of one of these GORGEOUS Collectibles??
For those of you that may NOT know:
The 6 foot long(!)
MILLENNIUM FALCON "Extraordinaire" (with working lights, Radar Dish, and Twin quad laser cannons (dorsal AND ventral) is a direct "tool-up" of Kenner / Hasbro's various toy Falcons.
The "Extraordinaire" is a close approximation of the Millennium Falcon's true size if it were correctly scaled for the 3.75 inch scale figures! These were made of sturdy styrene plastic, and have all of the same details, deco, and decals as Hasbro's 1995 POTFII Falcon.
There were ONLY (approximately) 700 of these made for display in Toys R Us stores around the country. Each one had a numbered, engraved brass plaque bolted to the circular gun-port area of the dorsal quad-laser cannon.
These Falcons could be seen hanging from the celings of Toy R Us stores back in 1997 during the height of the release of the STAR WARS Trilogy, Special Edition.
Out of the 700 that were made, a (smaller) undetermined number of them survived their months of display in the nation's various Toys R Us stores as MINT specimens.
In late 1997, Toys R Us held a nationwide charity raffle, giving away 500 of the existing "Extraordinaire" Falcons.
Initially, there was some talk that Hasbro would actually REFURBISH any of the non-mint / damaged Falcons to "like-new" condition before shipping them out to all of the raffle winners. Any missing or broken parts (Laser Cannons, Radar Dish, Power pack. etc) would supposedly be replaced.
However, right before the raffle winners were awarded their prize, it was then announced that these were going to be shipped in "as-is" condition"!!
That means that quite a few raffle winners got "Extraordinaire" Falcons that were beat-up, dirty, and / or with missing parts.
Now, some of those winners were fortunate enough to know that they should contact Hasbro and request replacement parts. I know of at least ONE "Extraordinaire" owner that did just THAT back in 1998, and got his replacement parts!
But, everyone else was outta luck. They were stuck with "Less-than-mint" Falcons (which they presumably either still own OR have sold off in the secondary market).
I am happy to say that I too am the proud owner of a MINT
MILLENNIUM FALCON "Extraordinaire" , and she is THE absolute "holy-grail" of my collection! My "Extraordinaire" is numbered as "#315".
I no longer have my "Extraordinaire" on display. I was quite concerned with her gathering dust and being exposed to harsh, damaging sunlight. So, back in '98, I had a very good friend manufacture a LARGE cardboard carton to store her inside of. This box ended up being as large as a king-sized BED!! In addition, I bought a HUGE clear plastic tarp from a hardware store and fashioned a very neat air-tight sealed "envelope" to store her inside of before putting her in the new BIG box carton for storage.
But just last month, I got the old "geek-play" itch, and pulled the big Falcon out of storage!!!
Let me tell you... my wife and I had an absolute BALL attacking the big Falcon with four of those new
Target Tie Fighters with Larger Wings! I haven't had that much STAR WARS "play" fun since I was a twelve year old!!
I'm telling you... the scale between these Ties and the Falcon "Extraordinaire" is absolutely SUBLIME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I particularly enjoyed the sight of one of those gorgeous Ties "firing" upon the Falcon's big Radar Dish!!
Wifey and I had a grand ol' time, making the screaming Tie Fighter sounds and laser sounds, and quoting dialogue: "They're coming in too fast!!" "We've lost the lateral controls!!!" "Don't worry!! She'll hold together!!" Hear me baby? Hold together."
Oh Yeah!!!! And we even played the John Williams "Tie Fighter Attack" music score on the stereo system for full effect!!!
And THEN, we... Oh!... um... heh-heh... Sorry. I, uh... geeked-out again a little bit. So sorry about that. Heh...
Anyway, if any of you are interested, here are some pics of MY Falcon "Extraordinaire" before she was put away in storage. These were taken in the bedroom of my old small apartment before we bought our current home. She used to stand on edge, in a corner of the room next to the window.
You can get a sense of her sheer SIZE with the STAR WARS Han and Chewie standees displayed next to her. Han is 6 feet tall!
