By Sharlene Celeskey, December 2011
Contemporary Culture Editor

Photo by Sharlene Celesky

R2-D2, C-3PO and Boba Fett stand at the entrance to one of the two Star Wars rooms at the Arizona Popular Culture Museum at Desert Ridge.

The windows are covered with bright, colorful comic superheroes posters. When you first walk into the Arizona Popular Culture Experience at 21001 N. Tatum Blvd., you think it is just a comic and sci-fi shop. You are greeted by a friendly staff member behind the counter, and you look around and see the black plastic barrier. After you pay the admission price, the rope is lifted and you are ushered into a world of sci-fi, comics, anime, film, pop music and historical characters and much more. Memories of your childhood will flood your mind. After you leave the museum you will never look at action figures the same again.

The Arizona Popular Culture Experience is one man’s collection of pop culture memorabilia with action figures making up the majority of it. John W. Edwards, the owner, has been collecting pop culture items for over 40 years. He believes the museum has a double purpose as it gives him a place to house his huge variety of collectables as well as to educate the public about pop culture history. He also explains he has more at home like the 280 porcelain figures that would need to be housed in a locked glass case. He is a former aerospace engineer who owns Renaissance Records, a company that produces classical and alternative music.

The museum, located at the Desert Ridge Mall, has five rooms downstairs and two upstairs. Edwards is most proud of the DC comic superhero display in front of the comic character rooms. He explains he has every major comic book hero that DC comics has created in that long glass case. The four black shelves are a myriad of color made up of hundreds of figures.  If he was unable to find a figure for his collection, he had it made, so every superhero would be represented. The several different versions of Wonder Woman stand out, and each one looks very different, but recognizable by her blue, red , white and gold costume.

DC Comics and Marvel Comics figures are housed in separate rooms. The most popular figures, Batman, Superman, Spiderman, Wonder Woman and Iron Man, have many generations of figures represented here and were made by different toy companies. Some of the DC female characters and several male characters are made by the Japanese company Kotobukiya. These figures are very picturesque and eye catching and are sexier with a Manga influence.

On the other side are the three sci-fi rooms which are divided into Star Wars (the original films), Star Wars (the prequels) and Star Trek. The majority of the items are action figures, but there are other items like the Star Trek captain picture that has been autographed by all of the captains. Patrick Stewart (Captain Picard) was the hardest autograph to get, Edwards says. The sci-fi costumes on display are a highlight of the tour and were screen worn.

Each Star Wars room has rows of boxed Star Wars characters dating from the first release date of the film up to recent issues or reissues. Edwards and one of his employees, Neal Ward, talked about the history of the figures and the companies that produced them and the evolution of the figures. One of the most unusual figures there is a bright red metallic Darth Vader Target 2005 special Christmas edition. Mike Harpel, president of the Anime Club, says his favorite figure is a custom Darth Vader figure with a removable mask. A biography of the actor who played the unmasked dying Vader is included in the box.

There are many more pop culture figures upstairs. A large part of the collection is made up of rows of G.I. Joe action figures, including the early ones that came out in 1964. The G.I. Joe section included figures of generals such as Patton, Eisenhower, Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant. There are also soldiers represented from previous wars and even a G.I. Joe of comedian Bob Hope who entertained the troops overseas for decades.

A variety of all kinds of figures in the room include baseball and a variety of sports figures, movie and TV figures ranging from Napoleon Dynamite  to Edward Scissorhands, the Matrix, Hogan’s Heroes, Dark Shadows and comedy and cartoon figures. One of the most interesting Barbie sets is the green colored Herman and Lily Munster. There are also political figures such as Presidents Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush and one of the most unusual items in the collection, political commentator Ann Coulter. There is also a collection of pop musicians such as the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Sex Pistols, The Doors and Motorhead.

The store also has a group called Justice League of Arizona, a volunteer group that dresses in character costumes and does fund raising and charity events. If you are interested in acting, film or theater, give the store a call for an audition

Many of everyone’s favorite childhood characters are in the museum. The amount of history housed here is immense, and it is impossible to see everything during your first trip. There is enough there for a repeat tour. The admission is very reasonable at $3 for adults, $1 for ages 6-17, free for under 5 and active military, firefighters and police with ID are free. The store is open during mall and museum hours and can be found on their website at http://www.azpopculturemuseum.com/.

Email Puma Press