Anyone who knows me, knows that I have a very slight obsession with Star Wars. I recently bought a particular action figure that has an interesting and touching story behind it. This exclusive figure was created in memory of Katie Johnson, a little girl who died from brain cancer in August 2005, at the age of seven.

It was inspired by Katie's sister Allie, who thought it would be great if Katie had her own R2 droid to watch over her while she had her cancer treatment. This was made into a reality by the R2 Builders Club who built a full-size, one-off droid for her, and named it R2-KT, after Katie.

A Star Wars costuming fan club called The 501st Legion, which Katie's father Albin is the founder, approached toy makers Hasbro with the idea of producing a special R2-KT commemorative figure in support of the Make-A-Wish Foundation, who had previously granted Katie's wish to visit Disney World. They thought it was a great idea, and so in conjunction with this figure, Hasbro and Lucasfilm donated $100,000 in Katie's memory to the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

What a great story! For more on this have a look at www.rtkt.com

Steve Tse