TALENTED youngsters used poster power to take on the might of the Galactic Empire.

The fighting didn’t exactly take place a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away – instead the battleground was Paisley Museum, where a popular Star Wars exhibition is being held.

The winners of a competition to design a poster for the show, dubbed May The Toys Be With You, were presented with their prizes and had to contend with the Empire’s fearsome stormtroopers before they eventually won the day.

Among those who received prizes for creating the best posters were 12-year-old Aine Currie, who attends St Mary’s Primary, in Paisley, and nine-year-old Erin Bill, who is a pupil at St James Primary, in Renfrew.

The winning designs have now been printed as posters and can be seen in shops and venues throughout Paisley.

As a reward, the artistic kids were presented with a Star Wars DVD, book and limited edition framed print.

Joyce McKellar, chief executive of Renfrewshire Leisure, which runs arts and culture services locally, said: “The May The Toys Be With You exhibition has been hugely popular, with thousands of visitors coming to Paisley Museum to see the exhibits.

“It’s also caught the imagination of lots of people and there were lots of great poster designs submitted to our competition, so it’s well done to the winners.”

The free exhibition at Paisley Museum runs until May 29 and features one of the UK’s finest collections of vintage Star Wars toys, original cinema posters and memorabilia.

The collection of more than 400 items, worth £100,000, is owned by 44-year-old Star Wars enthusiast Matt Fox, from Kent, who was given his first Darth Vader figure by his parents on his fifth birthday.

Matt said: “I can still remember sitting in the back of the car, so excited, and ripping open the packaging to get my hands on the Darth Vader figure.

“My love affair with Star Wars began when I saw the first movie in 1977 and, from that day, all I would ask my parents for at birthdays and Christmas would be Star Wars figures.

“This was in the days before we had videos to watch the movies again and again and the only way kids could recreate the adventures they saw in Star Wars movies was to play with the figures.

“My galaxy was under the dining room table.”

As a teenager, Matt stopped asking for Star Wars toys but years later, as a 28-year-old, he was in the loft of his parents’ home and came across a big box.

When he opened the box, he was amazed to see all his Star Wars toys had been kept safely by his parents.

Matt said: “I looked into the box and it was like a golden glow of nostalgia beaming up at me.

“It was quite an emotional moment and that’s when I started to seriously collect Star Wars memorabilia again.

“They say collecting is an illness and sharing is the cure.”