Star Wars-related birthday gift for a 6-year-old boy
May 1, 2017 9:17 PM Subscribe
My little friend E is turning six soon, and he absolutely loves Star Wars (as do I). What would make a good birthday gift for him? He already has Star Wars legos and I think some light sabers. Other ideas much appreciated!
Books! The Star Wars Little Golden books are cute. There's one that recaps each movie, which tend to be really wordy and kind of a lot to read for a 6 year old, but there are some other ones like I AM A DROID which are adorable and cool and good for early readers.
I also recommend any of Jeffrey Brown's Star Wars books. The Jedi Academy graphic novels are good but skew a bit older. But the Darth Vader & Son/Darth Vader & Friends/Darth Vader's Little Princess/Goodnight Darth Vader books are a delight.
posted by sleeping bear at 9:28 PM on May 1, 2017 [3 favorites]
I also recommend any of Jeffrey Brown's Star Wars books. The Jedi Academy graphic novels are good but skew a bit older. But the Darth Vader & Son/Darth Vader & Friends/Darth Vader's Little Princess/Goodnight Darth Vader books are a delight.
posted by sleeping bear at 9:28 PM on May 1, 2017 [3 favorites]
Honestly, Dollar Tree has such a fun variety of Star Wars stuff right now. I recently thrilled my 7-year-old nephew with a bunch of random things - a SW tote bag filled with cups, Tupperware, pencils, stickers, puzzles, q-tips in a Yoda tin (wtf), seriously like 15 things, all branded, all decent quality. Just in case your young friend might get a kick out of a random fun assortment!
posted by jessicapierce at 9:35 PM on May 1, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by jessicapierce at 9:35 PM on May 1, 2017 [1 favorite]
I was about his age for the original films, and I was nuts for the action figures. Well, nuts for all of it (figures, ships, play sets, cards, posters, models, puzzles, bedding, clocks, blasters, whatever). But figures were the fundamental awesome objects. Any figure was a being with agency and motivation. The coolest ships and sets were diminished by a lack of appropriate figures to pilot or inhabit them.
posted by thinman at 9:40 PM on May 1, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by thinman at 9:40 PM on May 1, 2017 [1 favorite]
Seconding thinman on the action figures. He's just the right age for them.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 9:44 PM on May 1, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by The Underpants Monster at 9:44 PM on May 1, 2017 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: I loved the action figures at that age (and still have some of mine!). Any suggestions on where to buy? A quick look around Amazon, etc. finds mostly "figurines" (on stands), or expensive individual figures. I'd love to buy a nice set for a reasonable sum.
posted by Conrad Cornelius o'Donald o'Dell at 10:07 PM on May 1, 2017
posted by Conrad Cornelius o'Donald o'Dell at 10:07 PM on May 1, 2017
It looks like Amazon, Walmart and Toys'R'Us all have some. "Star Wars 3.75 action figures" may be the secret pass phrase.
posted by thinman at 10:23 PM on May 1, 2017
posted by thinman at 10:23 PM on May 1, 2017
Last Christmas I failed to get my nephew a Jeffrey Brown book (maybe Goodnight, Darth Vader?) I saw in the bookstore and paged through. I can't remember exactly why or what I got instead.
When in passing I described the book to my younger brother (ie, my nephew's dad) and said I got gift X instead, he looked at me with total & complete disgust at my idiocy.
posted by mark k at 11:48 PM on May 1, 2017 [2 favorites]
When in passing I described the book to my younger brother (ie, my nephew's dad) and said I got gift X instead, he looked at me with total & complete disgust at my idiocy.
posted by mark k at 11:48 PM on May 1, 2017 [2 favorites]
How about not-stuff? A young Star Wars fan I know went absolutely nuts at the chance to attend a 'Light Saber Fighting 101" class run by volunteers at a local sci-fi con. Perhaps you can find something similar in your area, or dress up like a Jedi Knight and mentor him yourself?
posted by gakiko at 2:42 AM on May 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by gakiko at 2:42 AM on May 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
My kid got this Millenium Falcon for his 6th birthday and it was a big hit. It opens up and the figurines can go inside, and it has a handle to carry it around when folded.
There are also a ton of big beautiful Star Wars picture books that give kids a lot of inspiration to draw from; we have read this one (which is pretty silly), and this one and this one (which aren't).
posted by tchemgrrl at 6:13 AM on May 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
There are also a ton of big beautiful Star Wars picture books that give kids a lot of inspiration to draw from; we have read this one (which is pretty silly), and this one and this one (which aren't).
posted by tchemgrrl at 6:13 AM on May 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
I loved the action figures at that age (and still have some of mine!). Any suggestions on where to buy? A quick look around Amazon, etc. finds mostly "figurines" (on stands), or expensive individual figures. I'd love to buy a nice set for a reasonable sum.
He's 6? Playskool Galactic Heroes, for sure. Our favorites are the Endor Adventure playset and the Millennium Falcon. There is also a sweet AT-AT and you can encounter the Wampa.
They're sturdy, perfectly sized for small hands, have a high "play value" (as they saying goes) and have been around for ages, so if he likes the current sets you can browse around on Ebay for fairly inexpensive lots of the retired figures.
PS: I find that the prices for Galactic Heroes on Amazon are typically much higher than they are on Toys r Us or other sites. Dunno why. Collectors, maybe? Anyway, search around for price.
posted by anastasiav at 6:29 AM on May 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
He's 6? Playskool Galactic Heroes, for sure. Our favorites are the Endor Adventure playset and the Millennium Falcon. There is also a sweet AT-AT and you can encounter the Wampa.
They're sturdy, perfectly sized for small hands, have a high "play value" (as they saying goes) and have been around for ages, so if he likes the current sets you can browse around on Ebay for fairly inexpensive lots of the retired figures.
PS: I find that the prices for Galactic Heroes on Amazon are typically much higher than they are on Toys r Us or other sites. Dunno why. Collectors, maybe? Anyway, search around for price.
posted by anastasiav at 6:29 AM on May 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
My grandsons are this age and they LOVE costumes.
posted by raisingsand at 6:37 AM on May 2, 2017
posted by raisingsand at 6:37 AM on May 2, 2017
My Star Wars-obsessed 6 year old has been bashing through Star Wars early readers (I like the World of Reading and Lego ones). He really enjoys them and particularly enjoys reading them to himself, which has improved his reading skills a LOT. Zero violence, not scary.
He also really likes this Original Trilogy graphic novel, which is a little above his reading level, but we read it to him and then he pores over it by himself and I think it is also improving his reading skills. There's a little more violence than there is in the early readers but it's still not as violent as the actual movies, which he has not seen yet.
posted by The Elusive Architeuthis at 8:52 AM on May 2, 2017
He also really likes this Original Trilogy graphic novel, which is a little above his reading level, but we read it to him and then he pores over it by himself and I think it is also improving his reading skills. There's a little more violence than there is in the early readers but it's still not as violent as the actual movies, which he has not seen yet.
posted by The Elusive Architeuthis at 8:52 AM on May 2, 2017
My kid got a Darth Vader hoodie from Target recently. Loves it.
posted by freezer cake at 9:13 AM on May 2, 2017
posted by freezer cake at 9:13 AM on May 2, 2017
Response by poster: It was surprisingly difficult to find much in the way of action figures online, but I wound up going with this set from Rogue One.
posted by Conrad Cornelius o'Donald o'Dell at 9:50 PM on August 22, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by Conrad Cornelius o'Donald o'Dell at 9:50 PM on August 22, 2017 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by dorothyisunderwood at 9:21 PM on May 1, 2017 [3 favorites]