DENVER — It all started long ago but not in a land far far away for 46-year-old Carlos Lopez.
He watched the first Star Wars movie in 1977. “My entire imagination was just completely blown open and anything I could think of was possible,” he said.
After that first Star Wars movie, “Episode 4: A New Hope,” Lopez was hooked. “I wanted to read about it, I wanted to write about it, I wanted to reenact the scenes with the toys. I wanted to collect it.” That, he did, and once Lopez started, he never quit.
Eventually his passion turned into profit and HE now owns Big Top Collectibles, the Star Wars superstore in Colorado. Lopez owns over 20,000 Star Wars collectible pieces.
Starting November 18, you can see up close and personal some of his collection at the Denver Museum of Miniatures, Dolls and Toys. “It’s everything from Mickey Mouse dressed as Yoda, to vintage to modern toys that every collector kind of dreams of,” Said Kelly Wulf, assistant director at the museum.
But they are more than just toys to Lopez. He said Star Wars was a template for his life. “What Star Wars taught me was about family, friends, loyalty and the difference between right and wrong.”
The force is strong with this one.