In this great saga called Star Wars, there are many scenes that take place off camera. We know the essentials of what happened, but can only imagine the details of the situation. I just thought I would take some time to give my ideas on what happened in some of these situations and maybe stir up some fan debate.

Selling Luke's Landspeeder -- A New Hope

Have you ever wondered how hard it was to sell Luke's beat up old landspeeder? During the movie Luke complains about how little it sold for, "He says it's the best he can do. Since the XP-38 came out, they're just not in demand." But can you really imagine that the demand for the XP-38 is the only reason it didn't sell for much. Afterall the thing was just ransacked by angry Tusken Raiders looking for parts.

Wookiepedia, the Star Wars Wiki, says that Luke sold his landspeeder to a speeder shop called Spaceport Speeders, owned by Unut Poll (an Arcona pictured in this blog at the cantina). We see this in the movie although no names were given. Some might wonder how many different places Luke and Ben had to go to find a descent enough deal. However, I think this might have been the only place that they tried. Think about it, they are fugitives fleeing the Empire, they are obviously in a hurry, and Ben assures Luke that the amount paid will be enough. This would imply that Luke was obviously disappointed by the price and suggest frustration in a lack of effort to try to bargain for a better price. Remember Luke is young and naive, he is concerned with price, think "Ten thousand? We could almost buy our own ship for that!" While Ben is more elderly and patient and concerned so much with price, he knows that the Princess can take care of things once they help her.

Im my mind, I kind of see this as almost a comedic routine. Luke and Ben approach the Spaceport Speeders rep and offer up a great vehicle. The attendant takes a minute to scan the landspeeder and enters some data into a computer terminal. He comes back with an initial offer (think Kelley Blue Book Star Wars style). Luke is offened by the offer and immeadiately tries to convince Ben to find someone else to sell the speeder to. Ben ("The Negotiator" in Episode III) suggests that Luke bargains for the price. So Luke goes about making a series of ridiculously high offers. The salesman writes him off immeadiately asking about the condition of the landspeeder. Luke, not wanting to lie, says something about an infortunate mishap in the Judland Wastes (but does not mention the Sandpeople). He then tries to point out the highlights of the vehicle in a fleeble attempt to raise the reps offer. As the movie would have it they settle on a price just above the initial offer and Luke and Ben leave for Docking Bay 94.

I guess Ben did not see it fit to use a Jedi mind trick on the sales attendant. He probably wanted to teach Luke a lesson about thinking for himself and using the force to calm his thoughts in negotiations. Besides, I just don't think that it is the Jedi way to do things that way.

Oh well, there is my take on the scene. Share yours by posting it in the comments section for this blog.

Next time: Tarkin and Vader take a coffee break after blowing up Alderran.

MTFBWY