Dustin Roberts, former Star Wars Fan Club president and owner of R2D2central.com – a site devoted to all things Artoo — recently posted a cool video short showcasing his vast collection of Star Wars merch. Naturally, it’s astromech-heavy, but also a wonderful example of how to successfully showcase a collection (space-challenged collectors will be jealous!).
We asked Dustin a few questions about his collection – check out his responses and a link to the video short after the jump –
While it seems Star Wars merchandise has been produced in nearly every corner of the globe, it’s not often collectors have an opportunity to explore the hobby in any depth within those areas obscured by a formidable language barrier. That’s why the recent article on Polish Star Wars collectibles posted at starwarsy.pl (via theforce.net) is such a boon for Western collectors – for the first time, we get some informative insights on the posters, books, pencil toppers and more to come from Poland, a country where information on Star Wars collectibles has always seemed murky at best.
Written by Kuba Turkiewicz with translation by Lukasz “Miagi” Mlotkowski, this fantastic article is coupled with a second piece focusing on the world of Polish bootleg Star Wars action figures – a sideline category that’s picked up a lot of momentum in recent years among diehard Kenner collectors.
You can check out the comprehensive article of Star Wars Polish collectibles here, and the follow-up on Polish action figures here.
If you happen to catch Antiques Roadshow last night, you may have seen collector Matt Gibson get an early Star Wars printing block appraised at $300-400!
An extremely rare piece, this particular block was used to print ads for Dolby’s new six-track stereo system, a breakthrough in theatrical sound presentation that Star Wars helped to make popular. Ads printed from this block appeared as early as December, 1976, in industry trade magazines such as Boxoffice.
Click here to check out a video edit of the appraisal.
8 Comments » | 
Tags: Antiques Roadshow, TV
Collecting, In Pop Culture | 
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Created by figure customizers Sillof & Glorbes, this set of World War II-era Star Wars characters looks like something out of a vintage B-movie serial – which isn’t altogether inappropriate come to think of it.
Captain Han Solo with leather flight jacket – yeah, that feels about right. And we love the dual curved cartridges on Chewbacca’s rifle doubling for his signature splayed-front bowcaster. The stormtroopers look like, well, their classic namesake, and Fett still fits the feel of his cinematic counterpart, minus the missile-firing backpack.
The biggest props have to go to the Luke Skywalker figure, though – amazingly, these customizers were able to repurpose the “beefed-up” Luke action figure from the mid-90s, which for all intents and purposes was a pretty big miss in most fans’ books.
Hopefully we can look forward to some Rebel Spitfires and Imperial Stukas rolling off the assembly line soon. Check out the full set of figures here.
1 Comment » | Tags: Art
Collecting, Creativity, Fans and Community | Permalink
For anyone who experienced Star Wars in the ‘70s, you’ll remember the custom van was as much a part of the mainstream as disco and shag carpet. And since pop-culture is notorious for cross-pollination (Star Wars disco, anyone?), we got ourselves a lot-full of customized Star Wars vans back in the day. While these were popular for a few years, most were either junked or painted over by the time the Reagan Era rolled in.
But once in a blue moon-roof, one of these anachronistic behemoths of the ‘70s rears its chrome-tipped tailpipes to count itself among the survivors of a lost moment in pop culture history. And as all things eventually reach eBay, one of these rare gems is currently riding a modest bid of just one grand – roof rust and all.
We’re hopeful the winner will decide keep the original Star Wars deco – and that, um, ‘classic’ ‘70s interior. An 8-track quadraphonic looping Star Wars and Other Galactic Funk might be a nice touch, too. Check out the eBay listing here.
4 Comments » | Tags: Art, Cars
Collecting, Creativity, Fans and Community | Permalink
A pair of Bodyguard Magna-Droids from The Clone Wars collection.
In addition to posting images of some of the new products coming from LEGO’s Toy Fair reveal last Friday, we’ve got StarWarsShop’s Matt Martin on the floor to send back images from the LEGO booth itself.
The new line based on The Clone Wars is looking better than ever, and these pictures bring a nice sense of scale and detail to the kits that’s not always apparent in the press kit imagery. Make sure to check out all the images after the jump!
39 Comments » | Tags: LEGO, The Force Unleashed, Toy Fair
Collecting, Events, The Clone Wars | Permalink
A fan named Payton emailed us this weekend with a link to a blog entry he’d just made asking after the whereabouts of one Mr. Rusty Miller, the 12-year-old author of 1982’s Jedi Master’s Quizbook (making him about 37 years old this year).
Truth be told, we here at starwars.com have had an open MIA file on Mr. Miller for some time, hoping to track down the fan prodigy for a chance to catch up on his adult life, career, and whether or not Star Wars still fits into it.
18 Comments » | Tags: Retro
Around the Web, Books and Comics, Fans and Community | Permalink
At Toy Fair this weekend, Sideshow Collectibles unveiled their General Kenobi 12-inch figure, which is based on the costuming seen in the first Clone Wars animated series. The Sideshow exclusive edition will include a transparent clone hologram. Pre-orders will begin at Sideshow on February 22nd, so make sure to be there bright and early that day!
3 Comments » | Tags: Toy Fair
Collecting, Events, The Clone Wars | Permalink
Jungle Rancor (with Felucian shaman) will be a Target exclusive available in April
Hasbro revealed a bit of what we can expect from their The Force Unleashed lines, including a very cool Jungle Rancor set. More pics below.
6 Comments » | Tags: Hasbro, LucasArts, The Force Unleashed, Toy Fair
Collecting | Permalink
The Fett Legacy
According to Hasbro’s Toy Fair presentation, there will be four new Evolutions packs this fall, three of which we’ve showcased here. Check more images below.
3 Comments » | Tags: Hasbro, Toy Fair
Collecting, Events | Permalink
