So we met Nick Maley aka “thatYodaGuy” at the Yoda Guy exhibit in St. Maarten. He was friendly enough but unfortunately, he wanted to sell his products more than he wanted to share his toys. From what we could tell he had some interesting movie memorabilia but not enough to make me feel like buying $40 worth of his artwork to justify it. He did have some interesting mementos from his time working on the Star Wars movies but they were priced based on their sentimental value to him and not based on their worth to anyone that hadn’t been there with him.
The Yoda Guy Movie Exhibit is the brainchild of “thatYodaGuy” Nick Maley, an international artist, better known for his contribution to the creation of Yoda and other creatures for STAR WARS. It’s a small non-profit museum with a LOT of movie history packed inside. We focus on the individuals and techniques that brought to life Yoda, Darth Vader, Chewbacca, the Terminator, Alien, Highlander, Superman & more.
While we were in his shop I asked him what he thought of the Disney purchase and the promise of Episode 7. He didn’t seem particularly keen on Disney purchasing the franchise but it was pretty clear that he had felt an Episode 7 was in the works and had already predicted that it would come out before 2017. He was extremely intent on selling his wares and that was the only way to tour his museum. It looks like he had some interesting stuff behind the “velvet rope” but it was stuff I opted not to see. Had the museum admission been $5 or maybe even $10 I would have considered it but $40 of something I didn’t need seemed a bit much. I could have pulled the “I’m a big name blogger from the states” but one of us putting on airs was enough.
I do think Nick Maley got some of the George Lucas entrepreneurial spirit while they worked together. If you follow the breadcrumbs on his site you’ll see he not only has the museum and art gallery but his own Caribbean Escape – the Yoda Guy Apartments.
My suggestion? If you are in St. Maarten anyway go and visit. It won’t take long and you might walk away with a Nick Maley original and more importantly a tour of his museum. Even if you don’t the place is pretty neat from the outside.
Entry into the Yoda Guy Movie Exhibit is $10 per person or $20 for a family. Not $40 But anyone spending $40 in the shop, gets what they paid for, signed and dedicated PLUS goes through the museum for FREE. As Anthony points out, we are a not for profit foundation encouraging kids to follow their dreams and make the effort to live exceptional lives. To do that we have to be in the tourist main drag where rents are high and monthly bills are in the thousands. We may be non profit, but we have to pay our bills. So yes, we have to sell things. Anthony overlooks that If everyone who comes in contributes nothing… we can’t afford to be there to answer all the questions that he asked.
Nick – I wish that had been an option when we were there. We asked and were told that we had to purchase $40 worth of merchandise to tour. I would have loved to gone through and taken pictures of your collection and would have gladly paid $10 to do so. Next time I’m in St. Maarten expect to see me. Good call on the Disney/Star Wars collaboration timeline. I hope you’ve gotten your call to come back since rumors are swirling that Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher are all in the works. If you do feel free to shoot us some insider details. We’d love to share and it might generate more interest in your museum.
And sorry – I didn’t overlook anything. I completely understand that you need revenue to operate a non-profit. I would have purchased a ticket outright had I been offered and am very glad to see that you have modified your business model to include this option. Good luck and may the force be with you. Thanks for visiting nosvc.