My Kenobi Stuff

This is an incomplete  inventory of my ever expanding collection of Obi-Wan (Ben) Kenobi collectibles. I'll use "Ben" to indicate collectibles of the OT character so ably brought to life by the incomparable Sir Alec Guinness. "Obi-Wan" refers to the younger version dynamically played by a hunky Ewan McGregor. :)

|| Ben || Obi-Wan ||

Rest in peace, Sir Knight

Why Obi-Wan Kenobi??

I was eighteen and a senior in high school when Star Wars first premiered back in 1977.  I was instantly smitten with the story, spending most of that summer with my fellow sci-fi fan friends watching and re-watching ANH.  If you include the re-release later in the year, when Lucas added ANH to the opening crawl, I saw Star Wars 63 times in the theater, NOT including the Special Edition release!  :) 

Sure, Luke was cute, Leia was a terrific role model (far beyond the usual female roles of the time), and Han was nice and roguish, but my favorite character was by far the wise old wizard, Ben Kenobi.  Heck with being a princess, I wanted to learn lightsaber fighting from Obi-Wan! <g>  My favorite literary character has always been the wise Merlin/Gandalf/Belgarath type, who appears in a variety of forms in  many different mythologies.  Add to that the fact that I was already a Guinness fan, as my British-film-loving parents had earlier introduced me to the Ealing comedies and "Bridge On The River Kwai" and you had one hooked teen!

   My very first Kenobi collectible was my 1977 Obi-Wan Kenobi action figure with telescoping blue lightsaber.   Unfortunately, since I then became a starving college student, the only goodies I could afford were little things like the Ben Kenobi folder and the occasional bumpersticker.  I've since made up for that lean time. <g>

When Ewan McGregor was announced to play the young Obi-Wan, I was concerned.  I hadn't seen any of his other work aside from "Brassed Off!" (which was great, but not sci-fi/fantasy <g>)  Would he be able to do justice to such a beloved, well-established character?  I am soooo glad that my fears were unfounded!!  IMHO, Ewan did a marvellous job, especially considering that his character was in a rather limited role.   He caught the essence of Sir Alec's voice wonderfully, and had that same devilish twinkle in his eyes.  Add to that a confident sexy walk, superb lightsaber fighting, and a very....um.... decorative face <eg> and you had one terrific package!!  I promptly rented many of Ewan's other movies and developed an even greater appreciation for his acting talents.  I'm really looking forward to seeing how Ewan handles the huge amounts of angst heading poor Obi-Wan's way in the next two episodes!! :)

Disclaimer:  The Great Flannelled One and Lucasfilm own everything Star Wars related  except for all the Kenobi goodies I've bought over the years.  They have money.  I do not.  This is a non-profit fan site of love and appreciation
Jedi Kirin aka Obi-Mom

 If I get a bit picky about eye color, it's because I've been irritated since 1977 at the inaccuracy of all the Ben Kenobi toys that had brown eyes.  Sir Alec always had blue/grey eyes!!  They simply *looked* dark in the oft-copied pic of a hooded Ben with lightsaber, so Kenner/Hasbro made brown eyed Kenobi toys for years until they finally caught their error! ::sigh::: So only the earliest and latest toys have the correct eye color.