You practically answered your own question. If you recall, that pod was considered to be just random scrap that nobody wanted until he assembled it into a kick-ass pod. And, even up until the point where he had some help to finish it, it was considered to be a piece of junk. Nobody stole it because nobody wanted it.
People suck, no matter what galaxy or time period. The Jawas would have taken it for the scrap value alone. It is kinda their fetish.
I actually theorize Kylo was using the Skywalker saber as a Jedi. Based off two things. 1.) When Han sees it his emotion is not equivalent to seeing the weapon of an old friend, but something more personal. 2.) As soon as Finn ignites it Kylo instantly recognizes it. Sure he could have somehow seen old Holo's of Anakin but with out that knowledge the only conclusion is he had seen it in person. I think Luke found it sometime between RotJ and TFA and gave it to his nephew. From there it gets a bit more hazy..but that's why its a theory.
My money is on he recognized it as Anakin's saber, and viewed it as a family heirloom that was rightfully his. He is rather full of himself after all. My other theory is that he could sense the weapon's checkered past. I've heard it theorized that the children we hear screaming, as Rey is being drawn to the saber, is actually a Force echo of the younglings Vader slaughtered in the temple. And being an obsessed fan-boy, as well as family, again, Ren felt that the saber was rightfully his.
Absolutely... I'm just waiting to view the whole. Right now its like a pizza. This first slice was pretty good to me... but if by the time I finish the whole thing I am not satisfied..I will be pissed.
Lucky you. That first slice left a foul taste in my mouth.
But then, TPM made me a little uneasy in the opening scenes as well. I remember sitting in the theatre with the vibe that this wasn't quite Star Wars. (But podracing totally made up for that.
) I'll also cop to the fact that I'm older now and possibly more resistant to change. (This is not to be misconstrued with my hatred of the current crystal canon. That's just garbage.)
