Since 1863, the Pendleton Woolen Mills in Portland, Oregon, have been producing high quality wool blankets, warm enough to keep you as toasty as a tauntaun's tummy even in the frigid wastes of Hoth. Now, in perhaps the most genius marketing cross-promotion ever, Pendleton is taking their Indian blankets to a galaxy far, far away, with four limited edition Star Wars blankets.
Spun from virgin wool and cotton, these blankets feature beautifully geometric designs, which land somewhere in feel between Ralph McQuarrie's classic designs and the traditional native-inspired patterns Pendleton has been selling on their blankets for 150 years. In other words, they're classy: this isn't the smelly Droids comforter you wrapped around you as a four year old. When folded on the foot of your bed, no one would ever mistake these blankets for being Star Wars themed, but hang them on your geek den wall, and all of a sudden, it's Lucas art.
There's four designs to choose from: one with the heroes of the original trilogy, one with Darth Vader and a squad of storm troopers, one with tie fighters, Star Destroyers, and the Death Star, and one with A Force Awakens' new big bad, Kylo Ren. (Where's the Jar Jar blanket?) Each is available as a limited run of 1,977 blankets, a nod to the original film's 1977 release date, and costs $249, which is normal for a Pendleton blanket.
This is a devious cross-promotion. I, as frequent readers well know, am a Star Wars nerd; my wife, meanwhile, is a Pendleton die-hard. Just as she has long since accepted that living with me means dealing with constant references to Dash Rendar and Chewbacca's heroic death on Sernpidal, I have come to accept that the rest of my life will be spent co-habitating a space with countless scratchy, too-warm wool blankets. With these blankets, Pendleton is making a Kessel run, right at my wallet.
You can buy your own Pendleton Star Wars blanket here