Trey Laymon has more than 10,000 Star Wars items in his Oskaloosa home. 

He has a 2010 Ford Raptor decorated with the menacing figure of Darth Vader on one side and stormtroopers on the other – a companion to his wife 

Nancy’s Volkswagen Beetle dressed as the droid BB-8. 

The one thing he didn’t have was Harrison Ford’s signature. 

Until last week.

For eight years, Laymon has collected the signatures of every main — and some side — characters in the original Star Wars trilogy. 

He has the scrawls of Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, Jeremy Bulloch (who played Boba Fett in “Return of the Jedi”) and more across the tailgate of his truck above where their names are printed.

Ford’s was the last he needed, and he got it March 4 during a trip to Wichita, Kansas, after Laymon read in the Wichita Eagle that Ford was there for flight safety training.

It was Laymon’s third trip to Wichita this year, after two leads that Ford would be there didn’t pan out. He knew Ford was in Wichita once a year for flight training, typically at the end of January. But when Ford wasn’t there then, or a week later, he almost gave up.

Then he read in the Wichita Eagle during his lunch break March 3 that there had been Ford sightings in Wichita. He took an emergency personal day off work for the next day and drove more than six hours to Kansas.

He woke up early that morning and waited outside a hotel he knew Ford had stayed in before in the hopes of spying the star when he left for training. After a couple of false alarms that had him following Ford look-alikes, he saw Ford around 8:30 a.m. and began to follow his car. And then Ford saw Layman

“He saw me following him and he actually pulled into a parking lot and stopped his car,” Laymon said. “I pulled in behind him and he got out of the car and went to my passenger window and said, ‘Can I help you with something?'”

Laymon said Ford, who played Han Solo in the Star Wars movies, was smiling so Laymon knew he wasn’t angry. Laymon explained his goal, telling him he had Fisher and Star Wars creator George Lucas’s signatures.

Ford agreed to add his name and Laymon met him behind the trunk, fumbling with the pen cap in the presence of one of his favorite celebrities.

“It was two minutes of pure adrenaline,” Laymon said. “I geeked out for a little bit because I was nervous.”

He quickly showed Ford the life-size replica of Han Solo frozen in carbonite that rises up from the bed of his truck. He said Ford told him it was “really cool.”

Laymon wanted to chat with Ford a bit longer, but the star had to head to training. Reluctantly, Laymon said goodbye and immediately told Nancy. 

Since he was six years old and first saw “Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope,” Laymon has been one of the franchise’s biggest fans. He estimates he has 95% of the vintage Star Wars toy collection. Every time he looks at them, he remembers the hours he spent as a child playing with the figures.

In 2012, Laymon started seeking autographs from the original Star Wars cast. He started with Bulloch, and now, he’s ended with Ford.

Laymon’s love of Star Wars is only exceeded by his love for his wife, Nancy, who matches his passion for the movies. Her prized possession, Laymon said, is a gold pen she received from Fisher after she spent the day using it to sign books in Orlando in 2008. 

Laymon’s newest prized possession is Ford’s autograph. He said Ford is notoriously elusive when it comes to giving out his signature. 

“I’m still on cloud nine about it,” Laymon said. “It’s the holy grail when it comes to autographs.”

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