This year more than any previous year, Star Wars Day (or May the 4th) has inspired numerous Star Wars licensees to put on some spectacular events, create some amazing new products, and offer many killer deals. Read on for a summary of what’s in store…
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Tags: LEGO, may the 4th, May the 4th Be With You, may the 4th deals, Rancho Obi-Wan, star wars day deals
Collecting, Events, Fans and Community, May the 4th Be With You | 
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The vision and goal for Star Wars: Edge of the Empire Beginner Game impressed me with its ambition. As a designer at Fantasy Flight Games, I’m part of a team that was tasked to create an adventure for Star Wars that can be played straight out of the box by people unfamiliar with role-playing games (RPGs). In our perfect world, this means that three-five friends can gather around a table, open the box for the first time, and immediately begin role-playing their way through epic adventures in a galaxy far, far away…
5 Comments » | Tags: edge of the empire, fantasy flight, rpg
Collecting | Permalink
As many fans of the Star Wars universe know, 501st and Rebel Legion members across the globe dedicate time and effort year-round in support of local community and charitable organizations to help raise funds and bring smiles to Star Wars fans of all ages. And with spring just around the corner, that means “con season” is back! Officially kicking things off for everyone on the West Coast, Comic-Con International presented WonderCon 2013 with three days of convention fun.
4 Comments » | Tags: Celebrities, clone wars, Comic-Con, Conventions, Costumes, Rebel Legion, The 501st Legion, WonderCon
Collecting, Events, Fans and Community | Permalink
It’s the collector’s universal dilemma: No matter how much stuff you amass, there’s always something left to find, always one more cool item you didn’t know about. When it comes to Star Wars comics, that’s certainly true.
More than 800 Star Wars comics have been released over the past 35 years, from Marvel, Dark Horse, and the L.A. Times Syndicate. But even if you’ve managed to track down everything from those publishers, there’s still a wide variety of comics you may have overlooked, from Star Wars 3-D, Star Wars Kids, Pizzazz and Contemporary Motivators to Kenner’s Imperial Troop Transporter comic, Rocket’s Blast Comicollector #139, Hasbro Italy’s exclusive comic, Golden Books’ An Ewok Adventure coloring comic and more. No matter how hard you’ve tried to be complete, the chances are good that you’re missing something.
13 Comments » | Tags: Comics, palitoy
Books and Comics, Collecting | Permalink
We know what certain Jedi Masters have to say about judging by size, but this is definitely an exception to the rule.
Introducing Star Wars Black Series from Hasbro. The world’s first collection of 6″ Star Wars action figures.
Star Wars Black Series sets out to capture the quintessential characters and scenes from the Star Wars saga — legendary moments in time brought back to life in excruciatingly accurate detail. Go ahead and picture it. Luke Skywalker has just climbed down out of his X-wing fighter with helmet in hand after destroying the Death Star. Massive hangar doors slide open to reveal a sinister Darth Maul, prepared for an epic lightsaber battle on Naboo. These are the kinds of memories that are burned into the hearts and minds of every Star Wars fan. That’s why each figure is highly articulated and comes with the right accessories, so that fans can pose them to recapture these classic Star Wars scenes.
18 Comments » | Tags: 6 inch star wars figures, Action Figures, Hasbro, star wars black series
Collecting | Permalink
It’s funny how much impact a child’s surroundings and interests can have later on in life and really reconnect them with what makes them happy. I still remember sitting on the floor of my parents living room listening to the Return Of The Jedi 7″ record, the one filled with narration of the movie and came with the read-along/photo book. Now, 20 years later, my label I Am Shark is releasing the Episode I, II, and III soundtracks on vinyl for the first time? I’m back to being my giddy, little, kid-self again.
5 Comments » | Tags: soundtrack, star wars on vinyl, star wars soundtracks, vinyl
Collecting | Permalink
Just about everyone reading this knows how innovative Lucasfilm has been since its founding in 1971. And much of that innovation was spurred by George Lucas’ desire to do and show things onscreen — specifically in his Star Wars movies — that had never been done before. In fact, he’s long been one of the leaders in cinema’s digital revolution.
But that’s not what I had in mind here. I want to talk about the stuff, the merchandise. Has that same sense of innovation carried through to at least some of the hundreds of thousands of items that have been produced worldwide over more than three decades?
Of course, in the toy businesses innovation means something a lot different than devising ways to film spaceship battles or digital picture and sound editing systems. There are problems of size, pricing, and scale, for example. Trying to take the latest cutting-edge technology developed for military or industrial use and making it “toyetic,” could be hazardous to a company’s health. Adapting proven technology through clever adaptation and design, however, is another matter.
1 Comment » | Tags: Toys
Collecting | Permalink
“If there’s a bright center to the universe you’re on the planet that it’s farthest from.”
Any Star Wars fan worth his or her salt knows that Luke Skywalker was talking about his adopted home world of Tatooine, but last month, Farthest From — a retro Star Wars toy show — was right here on planet earth in the UK, in the middle of the New Forest and a small village called Fordingbridge.
For the past three years, event organizer Dave Tree (you may know him as the brains behind Celebration Europe’s massively popular 2007 Palitoy Archive exhibit, a display so incredible it reduced Dengar himself, Simon Pegg, to nostalgic tears of joy) has held events in the town. First he hosted two Fordingbridge Film and TV Festivals, the first of which saw original trilogy and Indiana Jones producer Robert Watts present the UK’s only showing that year of Raiders of the Lost Ark and then bringing Farthest From to the Town Hall in September and now December of 2012.
5 Comments » | Tags: Collecting, Conventions, farthest from, Toys
Collecting | Permalink
If you take a moment to think about it, Star Wars and Christmas make very strange bedfellows, as this 1983 U.K. comic cover shows. There’s nothing in the movies themselves that comes close to a festive holiday except for the spontaneous galaxy-wide victory celebration at the end of Episode VI. The infamous 1978 Star Wars Holiday Special and its depiction of Life Day is nothing more than a botched attempt to create a Christmas simulacrum.
Now I may have missed them, but I don’t recall seeing sets of Mr. Spock and Captain Kirk holiday lights. Dr. Who tree toppers are probably stored away on the Tardis. And while there may be festive nutcrackers of Planet of the Apes‘ Cornelius and Dr. Zaius, I’ve never seen them.
So why Star Wars and Christmas? It’s just one more indication that Star Wars quickly became an all-encompassing, once-in-a-generation phenomenon — that kind of singular sensation that can’t be created by publicity, advertising, or marketing muscle. And as a long-lived, multi-generational phenomenon, we’ll still have Star Wars when Honey Boo Boo is in her 40s and people will be asking “Honey who?”
4 Comments » | Tags: Christmas, Collecting, Holidays
Collecting | Permalink
It’s the holiday season, and you’re running out of time to buy gifts — much like the Rebel Alliance was running out of time as the Death Star closed in on its base at the end of A New Hope. (Not exactly, but you get the picture.) Still, fear not — the Official Star Wars Blog has assembled a guide filled with gifts of all kinds, perfect for your Star Wars-loving friends and family (and yourself). Think of it as your proton torpedo in destroying the Death Star of holiday disappointment. (Or something like that.)
4 Comments » | Tags: Christmas, gifts, holiday gift guide, Holidays
Collecting, News | Permalink
