If you were a child in the late ’70s or early ’80s, chances are that Star Wars was a major presence in your life. The huge amount of Star Wars merchandise available—from bedsheets to lunch boxes to an almost unbelievable number of action figures, play sets, and vehicles—meant that a child circa 1982 never had to go more than three minutes without looking at a Star Wars character.
I Grew Up Star Wars is a website that’s spent most of the last decade documenting the raw, Christmas-morning joy of Carter-and-Reagan-era children showing off their new TIE Fighters and meeting Darth Vader at the mall. (Wanting to meet Darth Vader seems like a weird thing, but presumably these kids were so stoked about Star Wars they would be down to meet a lesser member of the cantina band.)
Whether you were one of these kids, or were a younger sibling who inherited their mountain of plastic crap, or had a Gen X dad who tried to get you to care about Star Wars, the site’s photos will probably strike a chord with you.
Look at more ’80s Star Wars-centric photography at the site.
[Via Meta Filter]