One year ago today, a group of 18 pioneers
journeyed to Tatooine (Tunisia) to visit its
Star Wars filming locations and found themselves at the Lars Homestead exterior which was falling apart due to the harsh winds and desert sun. Just months after this trip, a goal to raise $10,000 to restore the Lars Homestead was started so future fans could enjoy it for years to come. This goal is now within reach.
As of this story, $9,429 has been raised! If you want to help close the gap even further, click
here to donate.
Tatooine Timepieces Tour Guide Mark Dermul writes this on the official Save the Lars Homestead
Facebook page:
We are proud to announce the launch of our Kickstarter Project to create the Tatooine Timepieces. You can find the project here.
It's a unique opportunity to grab some neat stuff and help us get to Tunisia as well. You never know how collectible these watches might get. If nothing else, they are a surefire conversation starter. “Hey, look at the sand in my watch”. Yep, that is actually sand from the Mos Espa set, brought back during our last Trip to Tatooine in May 2010.
Essentially these watches are something that has never been done before. Tom, our US-based watchmaker, did a lot of research when coming up with the idea and seems pretty sure that no one has ever put loose sand in a watch so it spills around under the dial. The thing that is kind of cool is that this sand is from the Mos Espa site and was literally walked on by filmmakers, actors, characters, animals, robots and George Lucas! It certainly beats an ordinary watch.
The key thing to get this whole “Kickstarter project” off the ground is to get the number of watches people pledge for over 244. That’s the magic number. In other words, if 1 out of every 10 people on this Facebook group “invests” in a watch, the Kickstarter project will easily hit the goal ($22,760) and Tom is off and running. This is called “all or nothing funding”. If the pledges don’t hit the minimum goal, then nothing happens. No money is transacted. When the pledging gets over the goal then the business is off and running.
By the way, if you don’t want to buy any of the watches and stuff, you can definitely still help the cause by spreading the word. Post everywhere you can think and get other Star Wars fans to visit the Kickstarter “Rescuing science fiction history” page. The more traffic checking out “Lars Expedition Watches” the better. Go here now!
Thanks everyone for your help!
May the Sand be with you!
Mark Dermul
Project Lead
