Was the Lars family relatively wealthy?

[FaxModem1]

In A New Hope, Luke Skywalker lived on Tattoine, and as established in Attack of the Clones, it was at the Lars family farm. Considering that the family owned property, could afford to buy personal droids, was able to buy Shmi from Watto, a speeder convertible for Luke, and a T-16 Skyhopper, was this normal for non-enslaved citizens of Tattooine, or was it a showing of how well the Lars family were doing with their moisture farm?

Does this mean that Luke was doing rather well as a big fish in a small desert pond, with relatively wealthy friends like Biggs, or was he just a normal kid on Tattoine, where everyone owned their own T-16 Skyhopper and it was the same as getting a kid a bicycle for Christmas?

[Borgholio]

I wouldn't say they were fairly wealthy. They obviously weren't poor but you have to look at the circumstances.

1. Owning property isn't anything special. Farmers own vast tracts of land all over the world.

2. Droids are very common in the SW universe. Buying one is probably no different than you or I buying a lawnmower, tree mulcher, or some other kind of equipment for the yard or the house. So for him, it was basically a mobile swap meet that came rolling by and he picked out a couple things to help around the farm.

3. Watto did imply that a slave was a valuable (and expensive) piece of property. But he was desperate for money at that time (having lost everything on the Boonta Eve Pod race). He may have let her go at a discount.

4. The speeder was a piece of junk. It worked, but it was obviously not a high-end model like you would find on Coruscant. It could have been the equivalent of an old Chevy pickup that is held together with spit and duct tape. Even Rey, someone in a far worse financial position than Luke, had a speeder. So it was probably a general purpose utility vehicle for use around the farm.

5. We don't know the in-universe cost of a T-16. The EU states that is a very common vehicle that is often used as a trainer for higher-end starfighters. I doubt it's all *that* expensive and it's probably something Luke saved up for as his own personal vehicle, with the open-cockpit speeder used for work and transporting stuff.

So overall I don't think they're wealthy, they're probably about typical for a farming family.

[Joun_Lord]

Pretty much what Borgholio said, it seems like a typical farming family.

When I was growing up we lived on a bigass farm and while we weren't wealthy we could afford a few things like new-ish and new equipment and old junker cars. While we weren't a "traditional" farm, mostly the farming was a side business, neighbors who were full time farmers could have or afford the real world equivalent of the the stuff the Lars had.

Most kids growing up had access to some ancient truck that at times would be in the family for literally generations, pretty much how Luke had an old speeder to tool around in. I wouldn't be surprised if the speeder was second or third hand or had even been in the Lars family since little orphan Anni was whining in the garage.The T-16 would probably be a bit like a quad or dirt-bike, something else alot of farm kids had.

The Owen buying the droids are probably the same as any farmer going to a flea market and picking up a used plow and wheelbarrow.

The buying of Shmi was the only thing to show any real wealth but like Borgholio said they might have got her at a discount. If I remember correctly the Old EU said Cliegg with the help of Owen actually tricked Watto into selling her for pretty much nothing and Watto had softened towards her to the point he was happy to let her go so she could be happy, even had deactivated her slave bomb thing after Anakin left because he was afraid she'd blow herself up in her grief. I don't know what the story of her freedom is in the new canon though.

I don't think the Lars were dirt poor but certainly were not wealthy.

[FaxModem1]

How common is a T-16 Skyhopper then? Is it the equivalent of buying the teenager of the house a bicycle, a convertible, or a propeller plane for them to fart around in when they're bored so that they can shoot at small animals?

[Borgholio]

I'd say it's the equivalent of a lifted 4x4 that is used by a bored farm boy. In the SW-verse, flying or hovering vehicles are as common as ground vehicles today. So while an 18 year old in Nebraska would not be out of place with a lifted 4x4 sporting Yosemite Sam mud flaps and a horn that plays Dixieland, having a personal flying machine may be fairly common as well. It's worth noting that nobody batted an eye or raised any question about Luke being a bush pilot or when he boasts about shooting womp rats in the thing. So it can't be all that unusual.

[Elheru Aran]

This is an economy where repulsor vehicles are highly common, filling the general slot of automobiles, after all. If Coruscant is any indication, you can have repulsor vehicles that can fly quite a distance above ground with ease. I would expect a T-16 or something along the lines of the snowspeeder to be about as easily obtainable as an automobile, especially considering that with droid and computer technology on the level they have, it would be quite easy for them to automate flight while the driver learns how to fly it. Something like if the driver starts throwing the skyhopper into an uncontrollable spin, the autopilot kicks in, disables the pilot controls, takes it out of the spin, flashes a "you dumbass don't do that" signal and restores it to its previous course.

[NecronLord]

The deleted scenes imply that the farm is barely solvent, though it may be that they bought these amenities beforehand.

The speeder shouldn't be considered a luxury purchase necessarily; it's a vehicle Luke uses for farm work. We can't say whether they're rich or not, but they're not free and clear of debt.

[Knife]

Yeah, the T 16 seems to me the symbolic version of the old crop duster on the farm where Luke grew up. It is also the only other vessel we see at the farm besides Luke's old beat up Chevy... er speeder. It's possible it was just the family car/truck that Owen used to move his crop and/or make runs to town in. Slightly better than Luke's POS but not necessarily a Lincoln town car either.

[Elheru Aran]

Actually the Lars family had another speeder, we see it in the garage where Threepio is hiding after Artoo escapes. It's slightly larger, sort of looks like a station wagon with a pointy nose and a spoiler. That one was the 'family car'.

[Knife]

Oh, yeah. Forgot about that. Well, same thing really. Owen has his car and a truck to do farm work, not seeing how it changes things much. The other speeder doesn't look like it could carry much, we see another of it's kind in Mos Eisely, and the aircraft looking one (T16) has some carrying capacity. Besides the 'old dust cropper' but so that look 'knows how to fly', I would say it is just t he farm truck.

[biostem]

Given the longevity of tech in the Star Wars universe, Luke's speeder and skyhopper could have been decades old, (or older). As for property, what little we do see is basically a graded section of dirt with those moisture vaporator pillar things - they don't run a conventional farm, remember.

[Lord Revan]

Given the longevity of tech in the Star Wars universe, Luke's speeder and skyhopper could have been decades old, (or older). As for property, what little we do see is basically a graded section of dirt with those moisture vaporator pillar things - they don't run a conventional farm, remember.

I don't remember atm how canon the novelizations are now, but in the ANH novelization it was implied that without a working moisture vaporator the Lars Farm isn't anything but dried up dirt and they need those vaporators to get enough water to grow anything. With a fully functioning vaporators it was implied to look like conventional farm looks like on earth.

[Elheru Aran]

Given the longevity of tech in the Star Wars universe, Luke's speeder and skyhopper could have been decades old, (or older). As for property, what little we do see is basically a graded section of dirt with those moisture vaporator pillar things - they don't run a conventional farm, remember.

It's probable that the moisture gathered by the vaporators is piped to a central tank of some sort. Nearly all crops on Tattooine would have to be grown hydroponically or in imported soil, if there's no suitable dirt on the planet. If the atmosphere is too intense for ordinary crops to grow, all these would by necessity have to be underground. The implication is fairly strong that most of Tattooine's development is underground; note the architecture of the Lars homestead, most of which is in dugouts around a large pit. The little dome-building is only the entrance. Considering the casual use of droids and slave labour, it wouldn't be particularly difficult to dig all this out in a low-tech fashion (albeit unethical, of course).

[biostem]

Wait - they referred to them as moisture farmers - I thought that they collected and sold the water as their primary function, and the growing of other vegetables and such was secondary.

[Elheru Aran]

Oh, I wasn't actually saying the Larses (Lars? Larss?) specifically grew crops, I was just talking about crops on Tattooine in general. Certainly the Lars family could have made the bulk of their income by moisture farming rather than actual crop farming.

[Solauren]

um, I thought I saw the T-16 in the garage in AOTC when Anakin was hiding in their after her recovered Shimi and before her funeral service.

[Knife]

Given the longevity of tech in the Star Wars universe, Luke's speeder and skyhopper could have been decades old, (or older). As for property, what little we do see is basically a graded section of dirt with those moisture vaporator pillar things - they don't run a conventional farm, remember.

Oh I get it's not a 'real farm'. But the theme stays the same, bored farm kid who got to play with uncles/dad's crop duster who went on a great adventure and fought the space nazi's in a fighter plane.

[Scottish Ninja]

And considering the parallels of the T-16 - you can buy a light airplane like a Cessna 172 for around $25000 nowadays. Right after WW2, you could buy a war surplus Stearman biplane for as little as $250 - around $3000 today. I'm sure someone like Broomstick could speak with a lot more experience about the costs of flying but I imagine a plane like that, pretty much kept in a barn, do your own maintenance, take off and land on cleared farm fields... that's a pretty reasonable thing to own on a farm, especially a remote one. Especially in a place like Tatooine where no one's going to check your pilot's license.

[Enigma]

Looking at the stats from Wookieepedia, it has a cargo capacity of 50kg? 110lbs? That can't be right. My subcompact can carry more than that.

[Simon_Jester]

With aircraft, weight isn't the only issue; balance is a problem too. If a T-16 represents the bare minimum of what can function as a flying vehicle, it may not be designed to compensate for large loads of cargo.

[Borgholio]

By comparison, the X-wing fighter wasn't able to store all THAT much equipment either. On Dagobah, Luke had enough room for a few crates of gear and that's about it.

[Batman]

I doubt the limit on the X-Wing was mass so much as volume, though. The X-Wing is tiny. Given the accelerations Wars ships are capable of 50 kilos does seem a tad on the low side and with their technology balance issues should be a nonconcern.
Of course that number comes from a now noncanon source.

[SpottedKitty]

Looking at the stats from Wookieepedia, it has a cargo capacity of 50kg? 110lbs? That can't be right. My subcompact can carry more than that.

A better comparison might be with one of those not-quite-microlight planes, the sort that looks like a chibi Bulldog. Planes like that really do have a lifting capacity limited to one non-overweight pilot plus one medium suitcase.

[Elheru Aran]

It's a matter of primary function and efficiency. X-wings aren't *supposed* to carry a lot of cargo. The T-16 has always been portrayed in EU material as a joyride vehicle for Luke. They've got other vehicles for the cargo duties.

[Adam Reynolds]

Looking at the stats from Wookieepedia, it has a cargo capacity of 50kg? 110lbs? That can't be right. My subcompact can carry more than that.

That is probably the same source that claims that an X-wing can only travel 1000 kph, so I wouldn't pay too much attention to it.