Kansas City, Missouri
Original Star Wars Figurines
Why we were there: Brookside Art Annual
When we were there: March 2026
Where did we go:
Brookside Art Annual was fantastic. We lucked out with the weather and the patrons we all so kind and engaging. The show is on the smaller size which is really nice. Sometimes shows are just too damn big. They are exhausting. There were under 200 artists in an easy layout. There was no admission, so visitors were able to come multiple days. And they did! It feels very much like a neighborhood show, with a very high caliber of artist.
We made it to one touristy place during this visit, but it was a great one. The National Museum of Toys and miniatures. A little gem that all the neighborhood folks were very proud of but other people from out of state hadn’t heard of. Founded by two collectors, Mary Harris Francis and Barbara Hall Marshall, the museum features rooms and rooms of tiny and even tinier miniatures and scaled houses. The upper floor is devoted to toys dating back to the 19th century at least - also a huge collection of doll houses. I think I get the difference between a miniature and a dollhouse now, I will say it is an adult vs. child thing, but not sure if I read that or just absorbed it. I am including a bunch of photos in the gallery below but there are some toys that I feel require a little more narrative.
Lite Brite
Star Wars: The special exhbit was about the Star Wars figurines of the late 1970’s and beyond. In 1979 my sister who is a few years my senior collected most of the original ones through a mail order situation, I think? Well, during a family trip to Arizona when I was 8 years old, I left Princess Leia in the rental car. Not sure why we brought the figurines with us in the first place. I spent a lot of time in the backseat of said car playing with the electric windows, a brand new thing for me. Yes, I did close my finger in the window, just as my mother warned me I would. I have never been able to get past the guilt of leaving Princess Leia. Every time a new Star Wars movie comes out, my family gifts me a new Princess Leia, so I suppose they have not moved past it either.
Clue
Lite Brite: I consider the time I spend with my Lite Brite to be formative artistic and intellectual development. My family owned the first SCUBA shop in the NY Hudson Valley in the mid 1970s - our claim to fame. I would sit in the driveway with my Lite Brite, leftover styrofoam blocks, and pieces of cut up wet suit material making computer consoles and rocket launchers. The Lite Brite was the monitor, styrofoam the hardware, and neoprene scraps were the buttons on the keyboard. Possibly I was very influenced by I Dream of Jeanie, whose story line revolves around Astronauts and early computers. I will say that the modern day Lite Brite is not inspiring at all, IMO.
Clue: I loved Clue. Eventually, we lost several of the pieces - the knife, the pipe, something else. My mom’s partner at the time, David - a trickster of a man in many ways, made replacement pieces of Shrinky Dinks. I loved those pieces, maybe more than the game itself. In fact, I might even say that my early experience with Shrinky Dinks influenced my career as a maker from early on.
Missing from the museum: Shrinky Dinks, Colorforms, Weeble Wobbles.
What to visit next time:
Mom keeps talking about the Truman Presidential Library and Museum. I guess the museum is pretty transparent about what a screw up he was and it is pretty unusual to see that and fascinating. Also, passing through Oklahoma we passed signs for the oil barron museums. I love a mansion tour. After looking it up it seems it is only one oil baron, E.W. Marlan, with two homes: a Mansion and a grand home. So, next time.
