SHE'S FAST ENOUGH FOR YOU, OLD MAN.

We all know the best part of Christmas is... the presents.

Sunday was spent at my sister's home, with her two little daughters, and the sheer quantity of gifts was overwhelming. For about an hour we were trapped by mounds of Barbies, blocks, books, and shredded paper. I don't think the individual presents even registered with the little ones.

By the end, we - my mom, myself, Annie, and my niece Emily - were playing catch with a balled up piece of tissue paper. This ended up being the most popular toy of the day.

Anyhow, now it's Hanukah (insert your favorite spelling here), which means eight nights of... presents!

In honor of the Holiday, Annie and I took a little ride to Toys R Us last night to do a little last minute shopping. For ourselves.

I got it.

Yes, after nearly twenty years, I have a new Millenium Falcon.

It's pretty impressive. They've used the same molds as the original, so the overall feel of the ship is the same, although the plastic is different.

The satellite dish, the gun and gunner's chair, and the little false floor (for hiding from the Imperial Troops) are all the same. The supports for the hatch are slightly different - the originals were very fragile - as is the "glass" for the gun. They've also changed the way the cockpit door opens - it used to open to the side, with a little "hinge" that never worked very well. Now the hatch opens straight up, taking the instrument panel with it.

Missing is the little ball Luke can use to practice his lightsaber skills. Choking hazard, perhaps? Or is Luke sufficiently practiced after all these years?

The original Falcon made one noise, kind of an engine revving up, but the new model has three. Once I get the batteries put in I'll let you know how they are. But it does flybys, engines starting, and cannons firing. There are light up cannons on the ship itself (were these in a movie? I don't know) and it has headlights! Very cool for when you accidently fly into the mouth of a giant space creature while hiding from TIE fighters in an asteroid belt. There's also a missile that fires from between the "mandibles" at the front. Was this in "Return of the Jedi?" Again, I don't remember. But I don't like having the missile in there - it's just not true to the original. So mine is out.

The engines at the rear of the ship are totally different. What used to be three sections with stickers (if I remember correctly) is now one big bluish piece of clear plastic, much closer to the movie version.

It also has an entirely new paint scheme - everything that used to be blue (like the cockpit seats) is now brown, and there is a lot more detail on the body, as well as some space dust and battle damage.

I'm setting up a small Rebel Base on the coffee table.

All in all, very very cool. I took it for a spin around the apartment last night and both Annie and Buck just shook their heads.