Eric the toy stormtrooper will fulfill your sense of wanderlust
Eric the toy stormtrooper lives a fuller life than most humans.
England-based conceptual artist and food photographer Darryll Jones uses his photography skills to turn tiny Eric into what looks and feels like a real-life person.
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"Eric has travelled far more of England than most people in England have travelled their own country," Jones told Mashable in an email. "He has been to Wales, London, Lake District, Norfolk, all over Scotland, the isle of Skye and even Hong Kong. He does plan to travel the world, but he is a very nervous flier. That's why I bought a tiny Honda 125cc to get him through Europe."
For Jones, including the adventurous stormtrooper in his Instagram feed feels like including any other friend, albeit a friend with a very exciting and photogenic life.
"Eric has developed into the character he is all by himself," Jones said. "One of my jobs was to drive around the whole of the UK and capture images of farmers and suppliers, which gave me the opportunity to take Eric along. This led to some awesome backdrops and his story just kind of developed from that."
Jones began photographing Star Wars toys with a Lego Darth Vader and a couple poseable storm troopers he named Lionel and Martin. However, he started saving up to buy the 6-inch Hasboro stormtrooper that has become the outdoorsy Eric.
"I get emails saying, 'Please don't tell me you have dumped a £300 ($425) display figure in a river', and I say, 'hell yeah,'" Jones said. "I play with my toys, man."
Jones believes the stormtrooper has become a tiny part of himself.
"[Eric's] personality reflects my own," Jones told Mashable. "A 41-year-old male whose life is slowly and tragically falling apart. Nothing goes his way, but he just keeps on carrying on. He is moody, grumpy and lactose intolerant."
Jones' ultimate goal is to mix his love of food photography and adventure to create a cookbook with Eric.
However, there are legality issues with selling images of a the copyrighted stormtrooper.
"Up to now it has just been a hobby, or 'second job'," Jones said. "I still do keep expecting a cease and desist letter from Mr. Lucas though...".
[h/t BuzzFeed]
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Topics Star Wars
