You may remember me mentioning an awesome Skeletor/Darth Vader mask a while back. It was part of HalloweenCostumes.com’s Vader Helmet Art Contest, and guess what? Now you have a chance to own it, or one of many other fantastic Vader helmets that are going up for auction. 24 artists were selected to create a custom Darth Vader helmet, and on February 7th, they’ll go up for auction on HalloweenCostume’s site. All proceeds will be going to the Midwest Art Catalyst and The Miracle League of North Mankato. Click through for a gallery of some of the helmets! Read more…
Some of you may be excited for the upcoming February re-release of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace in 3D. I don’t really fall into that camp, but I’m still interested in the process behind it and the fan reaction to it. I like observing pop culture and fanbases. I also enjoy a solid poster, and with movie releases come movie posters. So what have we got to promote Episode I 3D? 2 cool posters and 3 over-Photoshopped posters. Read more…
Ever wonder if droids felt things too? In the touchy-feely way? Paperbeatscissors, aka Chris Gerringer, wondered that too and recently made a series of 8 prints featuring iconic Star Wars droids and some thoughtful type. These are pretty unique, and I love the solid bright, saturated colors. Looking for something a little more introspective to hang on your wall? These might be the ticket. Read more…
Photographer Dale May is currently having an excellent exhibition at the Samuel Owen Gallery in Connecticut (it runs until Jan 19th), called LEGO WARS. Tons of fantastic pieces are on display and for sale, but the one that caught my eye was the X-Ray Trooper. It’s a really neat setup, it’s even displayed on a lightbox for full authenticity! It makes me strangely happy to know that there is a LEGO Star Wars gallery on display in this world. Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jan 4, 2012 in Star Wars
The French fast food chain Quick is about to introduce a line of Star Wars themed burgers in the first quarter of 2012. For one month three different burgers will be offered: The Dark Burger (red), the Jedi Burger (green) and my favorite the Darth Vader Burger which features a black bun. Read more…
Here’s bit of sad news to start out the new year. Bob Anderson, Hollywood Sword Master and former Sith Lord passed away on Monday. The 89 year-old Olympian choreographed some of Hollywood’s most memorable fights, but is best known for his role as Darth Vader, having donned the mask for many of his iconic duels.
Looking for another quirky t-shirt for your already large collection? 6amCrisis brings us an excellent Star Wars shirt with a great coat of arms design featuring the most important members of the Skywalker family. Some might ask where Padme is – to them I respond: who? Ok, joking aside, this is a pretty great shirt, and a nice plus is you can choose which color you prefer. You can also get it as an iPhone case or baby’s clothing (huh?). Check his redbubble profile for more awesome work! Read more…
It’s funny I always remember my sense of disappointment as a kid when looking at the amazing realistic cover art on videogames of that era and seeing what I perceived as the terrible lack of quality as to the 8-bit images that I’d see on the screen: So it’s a bit of a joy to reverse that in my later years and embrace the ugly pixels of days past. This 8-bit t-shirt collection does a nice job of taking Star Wars characters and converting them down from 70mm to good old fashioned 8-bit: Read more…
Star Wars: The Old Republic hit the ground running this week and despite some crowded servers, its reception so far is seemingly positive. At a distance, the gamemay resemble World of Warcraft more ways than one. Visually, both titles might appeal to the lowest common denominator, in that they’re designed function with the average PC, yet feature beautifully crafted opening sequences. Being that they’re MMORPGs, both titles feature an ability-based interface and similar gameplay mechanics. However, one area in which The Old Republic really shines is its ability to tell a story. World of Warcraft has some incredibly deep lore, and the while the story is well-told, Bioware really excels. Here’s a documentary to explain why.
This falls into that category of “too cool not to post.” Ever want to see a bunch of Jedi ninjas battle to the death? Well, thanks to directors James Mark, Justin Lovell, you’ll get to. Featuring the martial arts performance squad Team 2X, this awesome short aims to recreate some of the stylized lightsaber combat featured in Star Wars: The Force Unleashed. It’s very reminiscent of those over-the-top lightsaber battles from the latest trilogy, but you have to admit those lightsaber duels were probably the best part of the films. Be sure to watch the clip all the way through, as there’s a pretty funny reveal around two minutes and twenty seconds in.
I love finding beautiful or cool art prints online. There’s always something new and exciting popping up, you just have to keep your eyes open. And I’m glad my eyes caught this poster by Victor Vercesi! He recently created a great custom Star Wars print featuring everyone’s favorite green bounty hunter, Boba Fett. I’m particularly fond of the integrated logo – solid work all around. It’s available on his Society6 page for purchase. Read more…
Check out this neat little recreation of the Battle of Hoth from The Empire Strikes Back by youtube user TheToma69. It was crafted using Xbox Live! Arcade’s FortressCraft. I’m sure some of you probably wondering what that is, and the answer is yes, it’s just another MineCraft clone, but it also happens to be the highest grossing indie title on Xbox Live, and I’d say this was pretty good for something built on a home console. Read more…
I don’t know exactly how many motorcycle-riders are die-hard Star Wars fans, but there must be more than I expected, because UD Replicas is releasing an incredibly authentic-looking Stormtrooper motorcycle suit. Crafted from grade-A cowhide and featuring a huge amount form molded details, at first I thought I was looking at one of the usual plastic costumes you see online. But no, it’s all leather. And if white isn’t your color, a Shadow Trooper variant is also available. Only downside? The helmet is only a prop. Sorry, no Star Wars motorcycle helmets yet! Read more…
Have you ever wanted some art to spiff up your geek abode? Finding excellent art prints of your favorite movie or book isn’t hard these days, but every once in a while you catch a glimpse of something truly special. Case in point: Steve Bialik’s delightful Samurai Star Wars prints. These six 11″ x 27″ prints feature several popular Star Wars characters reinterpreted in the style of traditional Japanese art. It’s quite an interesting circle, given the inspiration Star Wars took from Japanese history (something that was probably the basis for these prints). One thing I must note is the fantastic use of color in these – I particularly like the “Emperor” and “Jabba the Hutt” prints, they’re really eye-catching. These would make great pieces for any fan’s home, so if you’re interested in any of these, be sure to check out Steve’s site where he has them available for purchase. Read more…
Oh sure anybody can make a plain old gingerbread house for the holidays! However fangurl supreme Rachel Klemek created this yummy AT-AT which can feed several hungry rebels. Rachel is based out of Irvine, California and you can find her cool website here.
The year is 1980 and what you don’t quite understand as young fanboy is that your parents are dealing with a recession — so while you dream of giant Kenner playlets for your Land of the Jawas playset action figures instead you settle for using your imagination! Or at least that’s what your cash strapped parents told you to do, so alas the sandbox became Tatooine and when you were lucky to get a snow storm it was time to play on planet Hoth. Well through some magic we’ve come across three amazing vintage Kenner playsets from 1979 and 1980 — a magical time when the hype and merchandise machine for The Empire Strikes back was going into high gear: Read more…
I’m not sure why I would want a Luke Skywalker with a scarred up face and missing hand, but if I did, Hot Toys would have me covered. Recently they unveiled the latest addition to their DX series of collectible figures, the 1/6th scale Luke Skywalk in Bespin outfit two-pack. Like all Hot Toys products, it’s sure to cost you a hand, or a leg (see what I did there,) but at least you’ll be able to faithfully recreate the greatest moment of Empire Strikes Back, and no, I don’t mean the scene where Han gets dropped into a vat of Carbonite after completely blowing Leia off.
Just like Darth Vader’s cameo in a series cell phone ads, Yoda recently starred in a Japanese commercial for Nissin’s Cup Noodles — speaking English, no less. Of course, they had to subtitle him, but it would seem the Jedi master wants Japan to recover from its recent tragedies as much as anyone else; the commercial ends with him wishing the force be with the entire nation, kind of a sweet little gesture on Lucas’ part. I wasn’t aware you could use the force to boil water, though. Also, the line “Boil Japan.” looks a bit strange out of context. Oh well, it’s still kind of cool.
