If you’re like me, you probably have a little nook in your house dedicated to all your nerdy possessions. It’s just natural for us to adorn a corner or even an entire room with action figures, posters, LEGO sets, and even movie props. Unfortunately, not everyone has the means to do so, due to lack of space, budget constraints, or several other reasons. In cases like those, you can always hop to your nearest comic book store or toy shop to find a nerdy sanctuary. Not only will they be filled with things that you love, but you might even find like-minded people who would love to hear about your personal Star Wars starship ranking. However, it seems Colorado has an entire restaurant dedicated to vintage pop culture.
As pointed out by a fan on Reddit, Totally 80’s Pizza & Museum, located in Fort Collins, is a themed restaurant filled with vintage pop culture merch, props, and memorabilia of all kinds. However, what stands out among the all the retro TV, movie, and video game merch is, of course, the awesome Star Wars stuff on display. Not only does the restaurant have merch like a retro Star Wars lunchbox, a poster for the Atari Star Wars arcade machine, and a life-size replica of Han Solo in the Carbonite Chamber, but also a pretty neat diorama of what appears to be vintage Kenner action figures and toys. Some of them are actually pretty valuable, and the entire set might be worth a few thousand dollars.
It appears the owner is a big fan of The Empire Strikes Back, as the diorama is themed on Hoth, featuring Snowtroopers, rebel soldiers in snow gear, a Snowspeeder, a Tauntaun, and even a Wampa and a trapped Luke. Unfortunately, it seems they couldn’t find an AT-AT, so they swapped in a couple of AT-STs. It’s actually a pretty great diorama, although it also features some out of place figures like Yoda, Obi-Wan Kenobi, C-3PO, and R2-D2. But that’s only the images that this Redditor shared. Looking at the restaurant’s Google page, I can see a life-size statue of Yoda, which could be the original promotional statue for The Phantom Menace. There’s also, what looks like a Darth Vader shaped playset in one of the pictures, along with a lot more.
But it’s not just vintage Star Wars figures that the restaurant boasts. I spotted a Transformers G1 Optimus Prime figure in its original packaging, as well as what appears to be a vintage Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles figure. Another picture reveals a massive shelf filled with retro Masters of the Universe figures and the iconic Castle Grayskull playset. Considering how much people are willing to pay for vintage toys these days, I assume the restaurant has made sure security is pretty tight. Someone could end up making tens of thousands of dollars by taking home the items on just one of the shelves alone. While retro themed restaurants aren’t that rare, those featuring nerdy toys and merch like this most definitely are. I can’t speak for the food, but it sure looks like a great place for collectors to take a stroll if they’re ever in the area.
