Star Wars super fans share impact of iconic franchise - from R2D2 ringbearer to £100k spent on toys
It’s May the Fourth and the force is strong with some of Britain’s biggest superfans. In fact for these wannabe Jedis, it’s one of the most important days of the year - the day the world comes together to celebrate Star Wars.
Yes, it’s the unofficial day of celebration of a galaxy far, far away. This year also marks the 25th anniversary of Star Wars: Episode 1 - The Phantom Menace.
May the 4th be with you.......
"R2D2 was our ring bearer and Darth Vader was on the dancefloor"Not many people can say they had R2D2 as the ring-bearer at their wedding with a team of Stormtroopers standing to attention at the ceremony.
For Mark and Nicky Tidridge, a traditional wedding simply wasn’t on their radar. The Star Wars super-fans wanted their big day to be exactly how they wanted it to be - and that meant adding Darth Vader to the guest list. Business owner Mark, 51 from Newton Abbott has been a fan of Star Wars since he was about four years old.
He says his wife Nicky wasn’t a Star Wars fan to start with but over time she began to get involved and loves the social side. “When we decided to get married, Nicky had one condition - that we could have a themed wedding but we couldn’t dress up ourselves.
The couple found their perfect venue in Torquay for the wedding in September 2017 and decked it out with lots of Star Wars items including 2m high posters. “It looked like a film premiere,” Said Mark. It really was an amazing day”.
Adding: “I bought my wedding ring at an auction and they engraved it for me with ‘the force will be with you, always’. I thought it would be a special thing to have done.” Mark even has four tattoos, including Luke Skywalker, Yoda and Darth Vader on his right arm and the original film poster on his left shoulder/back. The tattoos took 15 hours and cost over £1,000.
“They just remind me of the original films which started my passion and will always be a part of me and who I am. we’re only here once and you have to embrace the things you love and not be afraid to show it. There’s a lot worse things in the world and it’s good to be of an age where you’re comfortable in your own skin and not worried about being passionate about something that brings joy to so many.”
In 1999, I even flew to America specifically to watch The Phantom Menace on the opening day. “Some people may think it’s nerdy but I don’t care. I love it.” He has a large Star Wars toy collection, lots of costumes and fan made props that he displays around the country. He is a member of the 501st UK Garrison, part of a worldwide costuming organisation, that carries out many charity fundraising events and Nicky even takes part now.
Nicky jokes: “I think I’ve been brainwashed but I love Star Wars now.” She now owns three costumes and attends about five events each year. “I realised that this was such a big part of Mark’s life and I just started getting involved. We have met some amazing people through the charity work and we do what we can. He’s even caught me watching one of the original films on my own,” she joked.
Nicky, 51, who works as a hairdresser, says: “We’ve even had to build an extension to house the costumes, original figures, display cabinet and all the other collectables.” She remembers her wedding day with great fondness. "It was very special. Everyone said it was the best wedding ever. We had Imperial Cogs as centrepieces, blow-up lightsabers and premiere posters.
“Not forgetting Darth Vader, R2D2 and the Stormtroopers all dancing.” Even Nicky’s 26-year-old daughter Lauren Shepherd - Mark’s stepdaughter - now has an appreciation for Star Wars. She says: “It definitely makes for an interesting conversation when I tell friends about my parents' love for Star Wars and their costuming but it feels so normal to me now and I love it.”
Mark will be at an Exeter toy store today (May 4) dressed as a Rebel Pilot to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Lego Star Wars. Mark says he owns a few costumes and that it’s a labour of love to get the detail right and can be very expensive. He says: “You buy costume kits but then you have to weather it and make it fit. This process can take anything up to a year to get right. They can cost from £750 to £5,000.
“You don’t wash the costume, you might just Febreze the soft parts.” He adds: "Star Wars is a modern day fairytale. The fight between good and evil. It’s only been this past year that I’ve realised that probably why I was so hooked as a child on the story was because I never knew my dad. If you think about the origins of the story with Luke Skywalker, that must have resonated with me on some level.
“[Now] I can live out my dream. I always wanted to be a Stormtrooper. Being part of the Garrison has allowed me to go to film premieres, photo shoots and we have raised a lot of money for charity.”
Keith Guppy from Yeovil has one of the largest collections of Star Wars memorabilia in the UK. A senior manager for a logistics company, Keith’s main focus is on collecting action figures and estimates he has spent over £100,000 on his collection over the years. He estimates he has over 2,000 pieces in his collection.
He received his first R2D2 figurine for Christmas in 1981 and he had a beloved AT-AT vehicle. His most treasured possession is an Ewok village that his late nan gave to him for Christmas in 1983. His vast collection now includes official, 3.75-inch Star Wars action figures, with over 1,400 figurines and around 350 ships which fill the middle floor of his home to the brim. He is now currently extending his collection into the spare room.
Keith, 50, from Yeovil, says: “My colleagues do take the mickey about Star Wars but I do think they are impressed and quite like it. My love for Star Wars started when I was about eight years old and watched the first film. there was nothing quite like it. I remember that feeling of watching something quite special. I really got the bug after watching those VHS videos.”
He admits that his wife Emma, is very understanding of his love for all things Star Wars and has even watched some films with him. So much so that when the couple got married in April 2015, Keith and his wife even had a Stormtrooper and Scout Trooper at the wedding to greet people. “She really has been supportive and very understanding,” he says.
“She’ll come to conventions with me but then that means I have to take her out for a meal. Before buying anything I will talk it through with her. She wouldn’t stop me from buying anything but just makes me think about it thoroughly first.” The largest item he has is a very rare Haslab Jabbas sail barge and the most valuable item he has is a graded vinyl Cape Jawa, which is worth about £3,500.
He says: “Our son Ethan who is 15 calls me a geek - I think he’s joking”. He hopes that in the future he may be able to take some of his collection on the road and show it around the country. “There’s no more space in the house for my collectibles so it would be great to take a mobile museum around on a double-decker bus or even open a warehouse. Who knows”.
Keith says he will be spending May 4 reorganising his collection room after extending it further from 40m to 55m square.
"My wife’s religious, so the deal was if we got married in a church that I want to wear my costume. I never thought the vicar would be Kylo Ren”Kevin and Tina Rankin renewed their vows in a Star Wars-inspired ceremony. The super fans were keen to have a ceremony that reflected their shared love of Star Wars. They both dressed in costume as did the Reverend Charlotte Ruston who dressed as Kylo Ren - the villain from the latest trilogy - for the service at St Catherine’s Church, Pontypridd in 2022.
Revd Ruston tells the Mirror : “I said yes immediately when Kevin and Tina asked me about the wedding. It was no issue for me. We have a mutual love of Star Wars and both Kevin and Tina are part of my Church. And it was a fantastic day.” The couple from Pontypridd, Rhondda Cynon Taf, first got married 20 years ago but were determined to have a very special renewal ceremony.
Kevin, a conductor manager, is a member of the 501st UK Garrison. He says: “I do about two events with the Garrison per month. I do a lot of prop building and keep them all in my man cave in the garden and I keep half-built R2D‘s and all sorts there. We even run open days where we let the public come in to see the costumes.”
The couple met in Portsmouth when their fathers were both in the Navy. “We decided to move to Wales where her family is from. Tina would watch Star Wars films with me when they were on but I would say she’s more of a fan now. Tina is very religious and the deal was that if we got married in a church that I want to wear my costume. I never thought that we would find a vicar to go along with it.”
Kevin says that he encouraged guests to wear a costume - but to whatever standard they were happy with. "If they just wanted to come in a normal suit then that was fine. It was a stressful day but not as nervous as my first wedding day. because I was wearing a mask, it wasn’t so bad. We did a quick dress rehearsal beforehand. Once the music started playing it was amazing. It was a day full of joy.”
Kevin says that Star Wars means a lot to him. “It’s a very grounded story. I can see a lot of things in my own life and history that resonate with me. And I dare say so can a lot of other people. It’s kind of taken over my life.” He says that Tina is now very happy to come out and help at events.
“She will also sit down and watch the films with Kevin. My daughter Sarah is also now involved with doing the costumes. She’s 16 and doing her GCSEs.” Reverend Ruston is a member of the Saber Guild, a not-for-profit, LucasFilm-recognized Star Wars costuming group that specialises in choreographed lightsaber shows.
She says: “I have been a Star Wars fan since the age of two. I three costumes myself and on May 4 I will be dressed as a Sith at an event in Cardiff. I made the costume myself.” Her husband also shares her passion for Star Wars and he even has a Stormtrooper costume.” Kevin says that he will be spending today dressed as Boba Fett at a free to attend community event in Pontypool, raising money with a fellow Stormtrooper.
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