An Important Slave Leia Cosplay Public Service Announcement
In this cute video actress Kaley Cuoco takes on the ever important issue of Slave Leia cosplay at conventions: Read more…
What’s Worse Than Zombie Storm Troopers? Try Zombie Sith
Posted by Tim Sheehy on Jul 13, 2011 in Star Wars
I admit that I loved Joel Schreiber’s Death Troopers. It certainly wasn’t the most original concept I’ve ever come across, but the idea of taking Star Wars and adding a bit of horror to the mix seemed to work well enough. Better yet, the story gave us a familiar setting without relying too heavily on established characters — aside from a well-scripted cameo which I refuse to spoil for any of you. Unfortunately, I don’t think I could ever bring myself to read it again. Since its release, there has been an unfortunate increase in zombie fiction. So much so, that I feel it’s over-saturated the market — a shame since Schreiber just released his Death Troopers prequel Red Harvest. It looks interest enough, set in the Old Republic and centered around the Sith and the origins of the virus from the first novel. A few years ago, the very concept of zombie Sith would have sold me on the novel alone, but these days I can’t even bring myself to read a proper summary, let alone recommend it anyone else. I suppose if you’re big on zomibification, you’ll want to check out a copy at your local bookstore, or pick up the ebook online. There’s also an Audiobook for those of you who’re too lazy to read. At least it might have some creepy music in the background to help you through it.l
Fanboy Wisdom: Life Lessons from 40 Films in 7 Minutes
Ouch! Sadly it seems that the editor of this fan video finds that there is more wisdom in Star Wars than Star Trek films: Read more…
Recreating Star Wars Without Having Seen It…
Somebody asks their friend who had only caught bits of Star Wars to retell the tale of the trilogy: Read more…
Han Solo on the Rocks!
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jul 7, 2011 in Star Wars
It’s that extra warm time of year to enjoy cool beverages, and what better way to do that than with Han Solo ice cubes? This cute Star Wars Han Solo in Carbonite Silicon Tray allows you to make up to six mini-Solo ice cubes plus a giant-Han on ice for your punch bowl. By the way while researching this post I came across this wonderfully humorous tribute to George Lucas: Read more…
Enter Our PredEwok T-shirt Giveaway!
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jul 6, 2011 in Star Wars
The very kind folks at 604republic.com are sponsoring a PredEwok t-shirt giveaway on our official Facebook page! To enter just go to this page and tell us if you love or hate Ewoks…
Dejected Fanboy Forced to Clean Up Office Cubicle
Those damn bastards! You spend dozens of hours of hours and hundreds of dollars buying the coolest geeky stuff for your cubicle to keep up company moral — and then some dumb ass forces you to “clean it all”. Heartbreaking video shown below: Read more…
Darth … Mader?
I’m having trouble imagining a plot device convoluted enough to produce the image above, but then again, Star Wars non-film media has definitely erred on the side of “x character goes to the Dark Side for some reason,” so I’m sure this has happened in print at some point. Credit goes to Phil Noto for this great image. At least he had the courtesy not to give her the cinnamon-bun haircut. That probably would have reduced the badassedness a bit. Read more…
Hoodies From a Galaxy Far Far Away
Posted by Tim Sheehy on Jun 16, 2011 in Comic Books, Star Wars
These Star Wars hoodies look cool by themselves, but every image I’ve seen of someone wearing one has them looking like a Japanese Sentai hero, or a Mexican Luchador. I really can’t decide if I want one or not. On some level, looking like a Sentai might be awesome, but you’d also look like the least intimidating thief to ever step in a 7-Eleven. If it’s looking like a superhero we’re worried about, we may as well pick up one of these officially licensed Marvel hoodies instead. Sure, they don’t provide a makeshift helmet, but at least they look silk enough to wear out on a regular basis — the Spider-Man ones do, any way. If you’re looking to pick one up yourself, each of these hoodies will run you $49.99 via ThinkGeek.
The Perfect Gift for an Executive Hutt
Posted by Tim Sheehy on Jun 2, 2011 in Hobbies and Collections, Star Wars
As Jabba would tell you, nothing says you’re the boss like your very own smuggler frozen in carbonite. Sure, you could just mount him on the wall of your pleasure palace, but why not find a more practical use for it? The guys at Tom Spina Designs did when they created their own custom Han Solo carbonite desk. It’s truly an amazing piece of functional fanboy art, I just wonder how much they’d charge us for one of our own. I wasn’t able to find a price quote on their official site, but they do have plenty of other great props, and furniture you can browse. After all, why wouldn’t you want your own galactic throne.
Fear Leads to Anger, Anger Leads to Hate
Like many of you, I’ve spent the last year pining away for the upcoming Blu-ray release of the Star Wars saga. Specifically, I’ve been looking forward to owning a copy of the original trilogy in high definition, seeing as I haven’t purchased a set since the THX remastered edition in 1995. They released those “special edition” films less than 2 years later, but the way I see it, at least I’ll always have proof that Han shot first. I was hoping that the upcoming Blu-rays would feature both the original and “special” editions of each film. God knows they have the space to fit them on the disc, but it’s as I feared, only those “special” editions will be included. At least the box art looks pretty swank, right?
Star Wars Brand Name Logos? I’m Too Old for This Sith
Graphic designer Barn Bocock took iconic brand logos and gave them a Star Wars twist. You can see some of his handiwork above, with inspired edits to the Nike and Puma logos. There are other great pieces on his page, and t-shirts and stickers are (of course) available should you wish to adorn yourself or your property in pop culture versions of already-ubiquitous corporate propaganda. That’s some pretty Dark Side stuff, I think. A Jedi knows not crass commercialism. Read more…
Star Tours Update “Light Years Better”
Star Tours, the venerable Star Wars attraction at Disneyland, recently underwent a big renovation to bring it up to speed for the 21st century. So how does it stack up to the original? “Light years better,” says the L.A. Times. Not only was the ride updated to feature hi-def 3D , but it also has a total of 54 possible storylines, so you’ll likely never have the same ride twice. The physical hardware (the seats, for example) apparently wasn’t updated as much as the visual stuff, but the Times admits it’s a minor quibble amidst the admittedly awesome rest of the ride. You can ride the brand-new Star Tours on June 3rd. Read more…
Soul Calibur 5 Finally Happening
Posted by Tim Sheehy on May 18, 2011 in Star Wars, Videogames
It’s hard to believe that it’s been nearly three years since Namco Bandai’s Soul Calibur IV hit the market. Better known for its quick, combo-driven gameplay, and scantly clad femme-fatals, the latest entry in the series shocked us all when Namco Bandai teamed up with LucasArts to include several guest characters from the Star Wars universe. Some details have finally emerged regarding its long-awaited sequel.
Darth Vader Goes Feudal
Posted by Tim Sheehy on May 17, 2011 in Hobbies and Collections, Star Wars
Feast your eyes on this extremely limited edition “Musha” Darth Vader. Yoshitoku, a long-standing Japanese art and craft house, has decided to design this exclusive figure to commemorate their 300th year in business. At just over a food and a half tall, this aluminum and resin sculpt How limited, exactly? They’ll only be producing 30 pieces total and each figure will sell for around 136,500 yen — that’s nearly $1,675. They’re incredibly detailed but I can’t imagine wanting to pay that much for one. Assuming you can afford it, and know enough Japanese to surf Yoshitoku’s official website, pre-orders are open through June 10th.
This Xbox Can Make the Kessel Run in Less Than 12 Parsecs
Posted by Tim Sheehy on May 11, 2011 in Star Wars, Videogames
The other month we wrote about Mark at Major League Mods and his amazing R2-D2 Xbox 360 projector mod. His design was astonishing enough to make any Star Wars fanboy green with envy. Now, he’s at it again, this time with a fresh take on his original Millennium Falcon Xbox. Years ago, Mark combined the innards of Microsoft’s old black box with a classic Kenner ’79 Millennium Falcon. Microsoft recently released another black box, and while this one is much slimmer, it didn’t stop mark from throwing together another great mod for a customer. This fully functioning 360 slim looks absolutely fantastic. The engines and running lights are a great touch as well. To see how everything works, check out the video below. You can also check out the Major League Mods website for more of Mark’s mods.
These Ghetto Star Wars Prints are Pimped Up
Posted by Michael Pinto on May 9, 2011 in Star Wars
Harshness by Harshness is a shop on Etsy that features a number of wonderfully done culture jamming art prints — my favorite set deals with “ghetto Star Wars” and features appearances from everyone from a hip hop Yoda to a Jack Daniels drinking Darth Vader. My person favorite is Boba Phat with his ghetto blaster. Here are a quick mini gallery: Read more…
A Smuggler Without a Cause
Perhaps it’s a day late to post fun Star Wars stuff, but: did you know Christopher Walken was almost Han Solo? It’s weird to think of it now, of course. So who knows what could’ve happened if Star Wars was made a little … earlier? These mashup pics of classic cinema stars as Star Wars characters delves into it a bit, with appearances from Marilyn Monroe and Peter O’Toole, as well as … William Shatner? You’ll have to see that one yourself. Now we can just try to imagine a strange universe where there Star Wars movies made in the 90s. Maybe ones that took place before the original films. Boggles the mind, doesn’t it? Read more…
Sideshow’s 2011 Comic-Con Exclusives
With San Diego Comic-Con is right around the corner, plenty of retailers are starting to ready their exclusives for this years show. Last week, Sideshow Collectibles unveiled their exclusives for the event, some of which look mighty fine. There’s a G.I Joe 12 inch Cobra Ninja Viper figure, AvP Predator replica mask set featuring three three separate sculpts from the series, a Star Wars Clone Commander 12 inch figure, and finally an Iron Man 2 bust set that feature replicas of the helmets used in the recent film.
Surprise! 80s Star Wars Underoos Commercial is Embarrassing
Posted by Michael Sacco on Apr 16, 2011 in Star Wars
George Lucas is (and has never been) never shy about the whole merchandising thing when it comes to Star Wars, but sometimes it just goes way over the top. This 80s Underoos commercial is definitely one of those times. It gets even weirder, though — as io9 points out, the C3P0 dancer is actually Erika Eleniak, aka the stripper from Under Siege. Try to be comfortable with that juxtaposition. Read more…
Nothing Says Party Quite Like the Dark Lord of the Sith
Posted by Tim Sheehy on Apr 6, 2011 in Star Wars
Hallmark’s official Star Wars Darth Vader pinata is quite possibly the coolest pinata money can buy. It’s not quite the Deathstar, but you’d have to make one yourself. This bad boy measures 10.5 inches in width and hight while being nearly a foot deep — plenty of room for candy. If, on the other hand, you want to pull a fast one on your friend, you might be able to hide his picture behind the mask to freak him out when he knocks it open just to freak him out a little. Worked for Yoda, didn’t it? The pinata should run you about $22 on Amazon and comes packed with safety strings in case you’re not fond of swinging a lightsaber around. Read more…
The Sweetest Wampa You’ll Ever See
This Star Wars-themed Wampa pound cake was recently designed by Star Wars fan & professional illustrator Alica Policia for her 30th birthday. Pretty amazing, right? Made with her mother’s classic sour cream pound cake recipe and featuring some fantastic buttercream icing, one might wonder why she didn’t bother going all the way by adding a layer of ice cream. After all, Hoth has plenty of ice — you’d think it’d be a necessity.
Vintage Japanese Commercials Starring George Lucas
Posted by Linda Yau on Mar 14, 2011 in Star Wars, Television
Prior to the availability of Youtube, there is little to no chance that viewers can see foreign commercials that well known people can be involved in. Certainly in the United States, unless with a right fee, you really wouldn’t catch popular and established celebrities selling commercials. However if you are in a country like Japan, you’ll see many celebrities selling Japanese products. Like Bill Murray in the movie Lost in Translation. You can see Arnold Schwarzenegger selling instant cup ramen, Leonardo DiCaprio selling a car, Brad Pitt selling a cell phone, with enough money, the choice is clear. Consider these following commercials starring George Lucas. Read more…
R2-D2? More like XB-360
Posted by Michael Sacco on Mar 11, 2011 in Star Wars
If there’s one truism of good hardware modders, it’s that they never stop with just one awesome mod. To prove it, Mark of Major League Mods followed up his far-out Millenium Falcon Xbox mod with this: an almost life-size R2-D2 that’s also an Xbox 360 and projector. Artoo projects the 360’s video output from the lens on his forehead on surfaces up to fifty inches diagonal. But that’s not all — he also has auxiliary ports for all the other game consoles as well. Even the controllers received the droid’s paint job. That’s one cool robot. You might say he’s the droid you’re looking for. Read more…