You might not recognize Tom Spina but by the picture above you should already be able to tell that he has a definite Star wars fascination. Spina is a designer that collects and restores old memorabilia as well as creates new items to be used and displayed in peoples’ homes. His art and his passion is in providing original pieces that are deemed as museum quality and often come from suggestions made by those visiting his company’s site. This is a great example of Star Wars as a part of culture spawning something quite positive and very impressive since Spina has been in business for a while.
Here a few other things of interest.
5. His obsession with design started when he began collecting toys back in the 70’s.
He would collect Kenner toys and other items in order to reproduce the cantina scene from original Star Wars: A New Hope. His obsession with this scene has led him to what he’s doing today and has also inspired him to keep up the work he’s always loved by procuring and restoring whatever he can back to working condition. The man is an artist, and a very good one.
4. He has his own company.
It’s got a pretty simple name, Tom Spina Designs, and it’s been a rather lucrative position for him since it was initially getting over six hundred requests a week for work and eventually moved up to a few million. People obviously loved what he was doing so much that they wanted his work in their homes and were willing to pay top dollar to get each piece.
3. His passion for memorabilia was what started his company.
Like so many people that are passionate about what they like Spina has allowed his love for all things old and nostalgic to drive him and to become the cornerstone for his business. He’s centered everything around the idea of making his business work solely from the restoration and creation of items that people want to see in the most spectacular way possible.
2. He’s into designing Star Wars-themed decor.
One of his greatest pieces was the Han Solo desk in which he recreated the image of Han Solo frozen in carbonite and then built a desk around it, adding a clear glass top over the main portion. This design took the internet by storm and had people clamoring to get their hands on it. Something tells me that his work, as impressive as it is, doesn’t come cheap. But it also seems like it might be worth it to own.
1. He’s a big Star Wars nut.
This is said in the most affectionate and respectful way from another Star Wars nut/geek/nerd that absolutely loves the franchise. There’s nothing quite like seeing the level of commitment to one’s work that is inspired by something as great as this kind of franchise. Quite honestly if I had deep enough pockets I think that I would try to commission a piece from Tom Spina just to say I’d done it.
Always great to see other people being inspired by a great story.
