its the toy that did the kessel run in 12 parsecs

It's funny how coincidences pile up like Wampa's doo doo. This happened to me whilst holidaying in West Wales this summer.

Strolling through the town of Tenby I chanced upon a toy shop. In one of the rooms on a lonely top shelf was this:

Researching this toy further I discovered that this domed Empire Strikes Back display was made by N.J. Farmer Association Ltd of Leicester back in the day.

As it turned out, this particular example was also known to other Star Wars fans and collectors. In fact the toy shop owner sought their advice concerning the display on the Star Wars forum in 2014

http://starwarsforum.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=22269&sid=91e503427d15377a8e486cb7137cf7f3

Goggling further I found that the same display on the same toy shop turned up on an online auction, the Saleroom, in June 2015.

https://www.the-saleroom.com/en-us/auction-catalogues/peter-francis/catalogue-id-peter-10068/lot-15846c38-72f8-43c6-80a8-a4b400fa9d09

Unless there is more than one toy shop in Tenby housing such a fine domed display I would say it didn't sell as I saw the very same this summer!

Its worth noting that the link between Star Wars and West Wales goes beyond a mere perspex dome however. In fact one could say that the kessel run goes right through it!

The Millennium Falcon was built in Pembroke Dock no less, a huge working model made in secrecy under the code name Magic Roundabout according to Wiki.

You can see pictures and read the full story on various Welsh websites such as 

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/whats-on/film-news/welsh-town-millennium-falcon-built-11323238

Can you believe that I was actually in Pembroke Dock this summer and only found out about this afterwards so missed the exhibition there!

I am consoling myself however with a possible Millennium kitbash connection I've spotted!

Remember the cup-like cockpit sticking out on the front of the Falcon?

Well check out the similar ends to this Monogram Space Taxi!

Then again the Flying Fortress had a bulbous gun turret too!

Does anyone know the actual sources used for the Millennium Falcon?