SEATTLE — Sure you may dress up as Princess Leia or Han Solo, you may have all the movies, or maybe you even have an X-Wing fighter toy. But you are still in a galaxy far, far away from Gus Lopez.
Shut the front door! And when you do, there's THE Death Star!
Around the corner, it's Luke Skywalker's X-Wing ladder. Just steps away, Darth Vader’s helmet and Princess Leia's gilded bikini!
Gus Lopez's Capitol Hill House is a museum!
“I like to think I help relationships,” said Gus, “because like you bring the spouse over and they say ‘See, it could be this crazy!’”
Yoda's cane is in the bedroom with Han Solo's chair, and down the hall, you'll find Jaba the Hutt's mechanical tail!
Each piece has a story, like Luke’s ladder.
“A guy who worked on the film had saved this in his garage for decades,” said Gus.
The Death Star was left for dead. It was at an antique mall in rural Missouri and then it made its way to a music store.
“And they were using it as a trash can,” he said.
When Leia's lingerie arrived…
“I think about 20 friends showed up to help,” said Gus. “I got a lot of help on this particular piece. And then every time I'd step out of the room, they'd take selfies with it.”
He also has the princess's blaster. Yes, that blaster.
“This is kind of cool because it's from a main character,” said Gus. “And there are very few of those kind of pieces that come up.”
Gus admits he loves the thrill of the hunt and how this stuff connects him to his childhood. He's not really a dress-up guy, but sometimes he can't resist.
“Helmet itself is really heavy. It's this heavy, fiberglass thing. So I didn't really wear it,” said Gus. “But occasionally when I get a prop like that, I'll try it on and then put it away forever.”
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