Yoda
has been kidnapped! Well sort of. Four life size Yoda statues that weigh
170 lbs were on their way from the Artworks Foundry in Berkeley, CA
to Los Angeles to be delivered to Doug Calamar, the puchasing agent
for these high dollar collectibles. But one of them never made it. It
was stolen off the back of a flatbed truck at the Westway Inn
in Pasadena.
The
President of Artworks Foundery, Dale Smith, was contacted by the IESB.net
this morning to see if Yoda had been recovered since the theft occured
over 10 days ago. Mr.Smith told us that in fact Yoda has not been recovered
and that as of today the police have not had any leads.
The
statue of the Jedi Master is 1 of 30 licensed by Lucasfilm and according
to Mr. Smith about 15 of them have been already sold. Star Wars collectibles
have always been in high demand even when the retail price is $15,000
dollars. Never the less, one customer flew in from Japan and purchased
5 to take back home.
These
statues are the artwork of Lawrence Noble of Crestline, CA. Mr. Lawrence
is no stranger to the Star Wars universe. He has made Yoda in the past
in a smaller limited edition bronze statue that had a 50 piece run and
is also responsible for The Empire Strikes Back 10th year anniversary
poster. He is also the artist for the advanced one-sheet movie poster
of Flash Gordon and the final movie poster for Time after Time. Mr.
Lawrence Noble is very well known in our neck of the woods, the Inland
Empire. His work can be seen at the Quake Stadium in Rancho Cucamonga
where a larger than life statue of Jack Benny stands. As well as the
once controversial "Officer Down" statue inside the San Bernardino
County Court house also in the city of Rancho Cucamonga.
One
thing is for certain, Mr. Noble is a Star Wars fan. He says that it
began that summer of '77 in midtown Manhattan when he first saw Star
Wars: A New Hope. "I was hooked, " he says. Just a few years
later he became part of the Star Wars legacy once he designed and drew
a movie poster for Lucasfilm for The Empire Strikes Back. Now, Mr. Lawrence
has once again put his artistic talents into the Star Wars universe
by creating more of these lifesize statues of your favorite characters.
He is not at liberty to say which ones but he says they will be a fan
favorites.
There
is a $1000.00 reward for information leading to the recovery of Yoda.
