HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Happy 2013!
 The new year will bring new concepts, and new ideas.
 Stay tuned.

Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays!!

As I write this it's Christmas Eve-Eve. That's right, two days before Christmas.
 I have a lot of memories of Star Wars Christmas pasts. From 1978 through around 1983 I was always blessed with new Star Wars toys at Christmas time, be it my "Millennium Falcon Spaceship," the title given to the original Kenner release of the classic starship in 1978, my "Death Star Spacestation", or the Christmas of 1980 when I received my Kenner AT-AT. Those all hold fond memories of my childhood that I still think about to this day!

 Steve Sansweet, collector extraordinaire, recently made a blog post of his own talking about all of the great Christmas/holiday collectibles that have come out in recent times and I would like to share that with you now....

http://starwarsblog.starwars.com/index.php/2012/12/21/star-wars-and-christmas-make-an-odd-combination-but-don%e2%80%99t-forget-the-droidel/#more-19181

With that, I wish everyone the happiest of holidays, and May The Force Be With You!!

  See you next time!

12 Days of Tested Christmas: Beep Boop

  "Tested" is a web series that I follow on YouTube that was created by Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman - you may have heard of them from their show on The Discovery Channel - Mythbusters.

  Anyway, this Tested web series is all about gadgets and cool stuff, and is hosted by several guys that make up the "Tested Team." Recently they have started a series counting down the twelve days of Christmas wherein they show you some cool things that they have purchased which make great gift ideas. On this particular day they are showing off our favorite Astromech.

  I thought I would share!
  Stay tuned for more fun holiday stuff in Mike's World!!

Pic-Of-The-Week #6!!

Hey hey!!
  My blog continues it's updates! New stuff in the design every day!
   For the rest of this month I'll be celebrating Christmas in the Pic-Of-The-Week. Christmas related goodies from my collection.
  This week we will start with Santa Yoda from last year's LEGO Advent Calendar. Each day with the calendar you get to make a LEGO somethin' or other. It could be a ship, or a mini-fig, and at the very end you were able to build a Christmas tree and this cool little Santa Yoda!
  Santa Yoda is inspired from an image created by Star Wars concept artist Ralph McQuarrie for a Lucasfilm Christmas greeting card that was sent out to staff members back in the 1980s.

 Enjoy this first holiday Pic-Of-The-Week, and come back next week to see what else I come up with!!

Please pardon my construction....

I am slowly redesigning my blog. Everything should be working but the layout is in flux at the moment.
  Hang in with me while I (slowly) make some changes to make an even better blog!

  Thank ya!! :)

Pic-Of-The-Week #5!

He was featured in a quick homage this season on The Clone Wars - Kenner Blue Snaggletooth!
 He is featured here with the other action-figure aliens from Star Wars, including his "cousin," Red Snaggletooth
 Pic-of-the-week #5 (a vintage spotlight).....

Pic-Of-The-Week #4!

Here is a pic from a set that I just purchased and added to the collection. It's The Lars Homestead!
 I got this piece in excellent, used, condition without the figures...which is fine because the figures that were included in the set were kind of outdated from the start.

  My intention is to build a larger diorama around this central location.
  In this particular set-up, we see Luke and 3PO racing outside of the homestead in hopes of finding R2-D2 who has left to begin his search to find Obi-Wan Kenobi....

Stay tuned! More to come!!

Pic-Of-The-Week #3!

Lots of rumors and speculation coming out revolving around Star Wars Episode VII! I can't wait to touch on those as we go forward. It's a very exciting time!!
  The one thing that we know so far is that a writer has been chosen - Michael Arndt. Mr. Arndt has written screenplays for the movies Little Miss Sunshine and Toy Story 3. He will have his work cut out for him on such a big project as a Star Wars film! I can't wait to see what he does with George Lucas' outline for the new chapter!

  Wow! Star Wars: Episode VII! I still can't believe it!!

O.K., on with the pic-of-the-week #3. Another one of my select images from my collection.
  This week, amid some of my R2-D2 focus, is a cute little hippo. The Kinder Hippo is the mascot for a company called Hipperium which makes cookies and candy in Germany. My wife got me this one a few years back for Christmas and it makes me smile every time I see it.
   My little stowaway in R2-Land.....

 

See you soon with more great stuff to share!!

Pic-Of-The-Week #2!

The second of my "select" series from my collection!
  Each week I will choose a random image from my collection room just for fun.

 Here is #2....

Stay tuned! There's much more to come!!

STAR WARS IS FOREVER!

 "Star Wars Is Forever" has been the mantra that has been stated time and again over the last few years in Star Wars fandom. We true believers always thought so, as we would celebrate Star Wars no matter if it's still playing in movie theaters, or in some fashion on television. We love it and we live it. It holds great memories of the times that we had growing up, in most cases...

 I feel that in recent times we have all felt a little discouraged that the flame of Star Wars was fading a bit. George Lucas, the creator of our imagined world was indeed retiring, and perhaps that world that we loved would no longer hold new stories for us to treasure.
  We still, and always will, hold a fondness for the days that were, and they WOULD live on with us forever no matter what.

This week a HUGE announcement dropped on the world as from out of the blue came word that Disney was purchasing Lucasfilm, and all of it's properties, and was eager to make more Star Wars films, television, and expansion in their theme parks! Bob Iger immediately stated that we can look forward to a brand new Star Wars Trilogy of movies, beginning with episode VII, to hopefully arrive in 2015!!

I don't know about you but this announcement totally blew my mind!! NEW STAR WARS??!!
 Lucas will be a creative consultant, but the main job of the new movies will be passed to Kathleen Kennedy, the new CEO of Lucasfilm, to produce the new installments with a new director.

  This is  giant!!
   No one knows what the future holds in the new movies. It's a new day filled with excitement, and speculation, for a new era, and a new generation of Star Wars fans!
   The original trilogy will always be my favorite films, but I cannot wait to see what is in store for us in the near future! It's just a very exciting time to be a Star Wars fan!!

  May The Force Be With Us All!!!

Pic-Of-The-Week #1

Good day to all!
Well, I have decided to start a new series, as well as continue my regular-ish posts.
  I introduce to you: The-Pic-Of-The-Week!! The pics will be select images from my collection. Of course we are going to have a lot of Star Wars, but also select images from other interests in my collection. I hope that you will enjoy these pics. I know that I will have fun posting them!

So, here we go! One of my favorite figures in the entire modern Star Wars line - Gamorrean Guard!

 

Gamorrean Guard has been difficult to find, but when you see him he will surely make an impression on you as he has to me!

Gamorrean is super articulated, has an (unusually) brilliant use of "soft goods," and comes with three weapons!

If you get at least three Gamorreans each can have a different weapon which makes for great variety amongst your Gamorrean Guards in Jabba's Palace.

 Gamorrean Guard - displaying just what Hasbro can do when they put their minds to it!

 

O.K., Pic-Of-The-Week #1! I look forward adding to this and being able to give you some other looks into my collection, and collecting interests!

 

  See you soon!!!

Star Wars Miniland models arrive to Legoland Florida

 WOW does time fly!! It has been a busy few weeks around our homestead, but I didn't want the month to go by completely without a post because that wouldn't be cool...at least to me.

   Here is a just-released video of some cool LEGO models arriving at Legoland, Florida!
   I hope to check it out in person soon!!

Stay tuned for more posts coming up! I have a few new things a-brewin' that should be up soon for your perusal.

Kay-Swok Escape-TOT!

 

Back again for a little fun!

  Some of you may know that I co-host a podcast known as The Kentucky Star Wars Collector's Club Escape PodCast, or "Kay-Swok Escape PodCast" for short. Well, in last month's episode I put out a call for anyone going to Star Wars Celebration VI in Orlando, Florida to keep me in mind for The R2-D2 "Star Tot" (more on what Star Tots are can be found here - http://www.starwarscelebration.com/Whats-Happening/Events-A-H/Collector-Showcase/Star-Tots/) for my R2-D2 focus part of my collection....

 

As you can see by what is in my hand, I was able to obtain the R2 Star Tot by none other than my co-host and producer on the podcast, Mr. Tim Hopkins!

  Tim was able to obtain the complete, for now, collection of 20 tots! They all look absolutely brilliant! The "tot" itself is made of metal of some kind and painted with enamel. Each piece is placed on a small uniquely designed card. The art on each card pertains to whichever character is on the card, and the whole thing is sealed in a small plastic clamshell.

  What a great little item to commemorate the collecting track of Celebration VI! They are just wonderful and I can't say enough about them. They look great all displayed together (I saw them at Tim's), but the R2 will suffice for me...for now.

 

 

The back of the tot card is just as neat as it duplicates, in a way, the design of the vintage Kenner Star Wars action figure cardback. Really cool!

  My four word review on these things - "I can dig it!"

 

 

Finally, I can thank Tim for grabbing these for me too! Three LARGE magnets each featuring the art used on the vintage Kenner vinyl action figure cases. I didn't realize these magnets would be this large, OR this cool! I really love 'em!!

  I took this picture with my vintage Hoth Rebel Transport in the back so you can get an idea of just how large the magnet turned out to be!

 

Thank you again Tim for bringing these great pieces back for me!

  I hope to make it to Celebration VII in the future. There is a Star Wars Celebration in Germany in 2013, but unfortunately I don't think that trip is in the cards for me. :)

 

More items from Celebration VI coming soon!!

  Stay tuned!!

 

 

Star Wars Nikto Skiff Guard VC99 HD Action Figure Review...

Here is a nice review on the Nikto figure that I posted awhile back from Flyguy.
I love his podcast, and his reviews, so I thought I would post this one since it's pretty relevant to my thoughts, and my excitement, over this figure!
  Do add this one to your collection!

In the Nikto time!

A look at the new Nikto (Skiff Guard) Figure from Hasbro's Vintage Collection.

First released in 1983 in the classic Kenner Star Wars action figure line, Nikto (Skiff Guard) was a character seen on one of the two skiffs that was sending Luke, Han, and Chewie to their doom at The Sarlacc Pit by the order of Jabba The Hutt.

Nikto was released, initially on a Return of The Jedi cardback in 1983, and of course on a Power of The Force (POTF) cardback in '84-'85 with a collector coin.

The original Nikto had only 5 points of articulation, which was typical of the action figure line at that time.. He was very well designed, and by 1983 the Kenner line was starting to get pretty progressive in terms of sculpting and paint applications.

It was a great figure then, and of course I still love it to this day.

2012 gives us a Hasbro updated edition of the classic Nikto Skiff figure on a replica cardback of the vintage Kenner card, from the line known affectionately as The Vintage Collection (TVC).

I love comparing the figures that I grew up with, with new updated versions when they are released, so look for even more of these coming soon!

The only thing against the new version of the figure is the unsightly, and unpainted, knee hinges.

For some reason this has become a common occurrence from Hasbro, and something I'm sure I will be talking about in future figure reviews.

2012 (TVC) Nikto (Siff Guard) sports a whopping 14 points of articulation, and sculpting and paint applications which are just tremendous! These days Hasbro can really impress when they want to, and this is one of those times.

Nikto is really just a background character in Return of The Jedi, as one of Jabba's goons, but Hasbro pulled out all the stops to make this figure a wonderful addition to your modern Star Wars collection.

Sporting a removable headpiece, a battle staff, and a silver painted blaster, Nikto can be used in many applications of your dioramas, and the 14 points of articulation gives you many options on a shelf display.

First seen on store shelves July 2012, this is a great one to find, but with Hasbro store distribution being kind of slow, he may be a challenge to find for the moment.

Do seek this one out!

Until next time,

  collect-to-collect!

Richard Pryor -- Star Wars Bar

 Yesterday's post with photos of alien action figures from the cantina made me think of this great skit from Richard Pryor that aired just after Star Wars was released back in 1977.
  Star Wars was really on everyone's mind in '77 and '78. It was unlike anything ANYONE had ever seen, and the cantina is a topic always discussed by anyone that has ever seen the movie.

  Check out this skit and see if you can recognize some of the action figures from my photo set....

  ....and may The Force be with you, always! ;)

Views from The Mos Eisley Cantina....

Hello there!
It's been a while since my last post. That's life, huh?? Things move quickly these days and sometimes it's hard to find the time to post anything.

 Much has been going on since the last time that I had a chance to post, and I will fill you in on what I have been up to shortly, but for now - how about a photo montage??

 As you know, if you have been keeping up, I am a Star Wars figure fan! One of my favorite things in Star Wars (the original) is all of those great aliens that we see in the cantina on Mos Eisley. It's one of my favorite scenes, and I'm sure one of your's as well.
  Recently I set the camera up around the cantina to capture some of my fave aliens. So, until my next post, check out some of these great figures from my POV.....

See 'ya next time!

LEGO Star Wars Ultimate Collector's Series R2-D2

 Oh my goodness.
   ...yep, that's all that I can say.

For the love of Astromechs!!

This week I purchased the new Wal-Mart Exclusive Royal Starship Droid Pack form the Discover The Force collection. These were pretty tough to come by, and without the help of my fellow collector's from KSWCC (Kentucky Star Wars Collector's Club) I would not have this set in my possession at the moment. These seem to be kind of hard to come by right now! I guess I'm not the only one who has a soft spot for the little droids.

These droids were featured near the beginning of Episode I "The Phantom Menace," as they were called into action to fix the queen's royal starship when it had become damaged by blaster fire. Each droid was seen scurrying to the top of the starship, while it was flying in space, to service the ailing ship.

  One by one each of these droids, heroes all, were blasted off of the ship "into oblivion" by blaster fire from The Trade Federation, with the exception of the hero-of-them-all - R2-D2 - who once again saved the day!

Each droid in this set is made from B.A.D. (Build-A-Droid) parts that was originally a concept that was offered a couple of years back by Hasbro wherein you could collect one piece of a droid per regular action figure to create one standard droid. For instance, an astromech was usually broken down into five parts : the dome, the body canister, left leg, right leg, and center foot). If there was a wave of action figures (usually five in a given wave), and you collected all of the figures from that wave, you were rewarded by being able to build an astromech, and creating a sixth figure for the wave.

Ummmm....did that make sense??

I hope so. :)

One of the great things about this set is that we now have the long awaited R2-D2 utilizing the B.A.D. concept! There have been many others, but never R2, so it's great to add him with his brothers in the B.A.D. mold!

The Dog Strikes Back: 2012 Volkswagen Game Day Commercial

Do you like the dog better than that Vader kid??

Quinlan Vos = Great new figure!

Today I purchased a figure from the Hasbro Vintage Collection Phantom Menace wave - Quinlan Vos.

Normally, I don't buy too much from the prequel era anymore, but there is the exception from time to time. The prequels, while being far from perfect movies, do have their moments. I love the idea of The Jedi. I think that whole mythology is one of the stronger ideas addressed in episodes I-III. Some of the Jedi were kind of strange like Oppo Rancisis (the hairy, bearded Jedi with the snake body), and Yarael Poof (AKA: long-neck-dude thanks to SNL). They were only briefly seen in the movies, but their characters were explored more fully in the Dark Horse Star Wars comic series - Republic.

If you haven't read Republic, DO check it out! I really like the story from issue #48 through the end of the series which deals with the time frame mainly between Attack of The Clones and Revenge of The Sith - The Clone Wars era. This is where Quinlan Vos' character is truly explored!

Vos was a character that came out of the movie The Phantom Menace (hitting theaters again on February 10th, in 3D!) He was a character seen in the background in Mos Espa on the planet Tatooine. He was never named, or mentioned, in the movie, but Dark Horse Comics' artist Jan Duursema spotted him and liked the way he looked. From Jan a character was born! He became a central character in the Republc comic, written by John Ostrander, and drawn very well by Duursema. He had a rocky relationship with one of my favorite characters from from the comic series, Jedi Master K'Kruhk - a Whiphid Jedi (seen behind Vos with his hat, that I customized) with great ability as a healer, which served him well as he has lived through countless battles, and has survived where many others certainly would not.

  Also pictured, in the back, and on the left is Ki-Adi-Mundi. On the right is Plo-Koon.

 These two are very important to The Clone Wars era, and have made numerous  appearances in the films, the comics, and on The Clone Wars animated series.

  So, back to Vos - the action figure! I had to make a post about him after purchasing him today!

 This figure is amazing in every way. The sculpt is fantastic! Lots of articulation for those great Jedi poses. He comes with ignited lightsaber, AND just the hilt which can be attached to his belt. Also, he comes with a blaster and a holster on his belt which a Jedi should NOT have, but that's the thing about Vos - he didn't follow The Jedi Code very well, sometimes had a tendency toward Sith behavior, but ultimately remained a Jedi.

  An interesting character, Quinlan Vos. One that I am glad Jan Duursema took under her wing, and released into the Republic comic from Dark Horse. He has also made some guest appearances on The Clone Wars animated series. His appearances in the animated show portayed him in a less dramatic fashion than the comics, but was still good fun to watch.

  Add this figure to your Jedi ranks!!

Verizon Commercial - Spectrum by LG: R2D2

So, Verizon thinks that people would actually choose one of their phones over R2??
I think NOT! ;)

It's only temporary...

Renovation. It happens sometimes, and many times, like now, it can take a while, and of course there are set backs to contend with. At the moment we are trying to renovate our basement....where my collection exists. First, we had to deal with a crack in the wall which was leaking. I'm happy to say that has been repaired, so YAY! However, that was a financial set back, and now ANOTHER set back - the good 'ol car repair....which was a BIG financial set back, but not as bad as I had feared.

  Anyway, as a collector who likes to have his stuff displayed, all of these set backs (I'm gonna try to stop saying set backs) means that the stuff that I had packed up for the renovation continues to be packed up, and that means I don't get to see it as often.
  To remedy this I try to bring a few figures out and switch out a scene, or two, just to remind me of all of the cool stuff I have collected over my years as a Star Wars fan -- which leads to the little shelf "scene" above! I brought out my Jawa figures (great little figures!) and my droids from the purchase of R2 and 3PO scene in the original Star Wars film (A New Hope - as it was eventually tagged). I LOVE all of the droids from Star Wars, and the fact that Hasbro has produced all of the droids from this scene is amazing! Hasbro is getting around to making essentially all of the background characters from the original trilogy and I just love that!

  Bottom line is - be sure to celebrate what you love! You don't have to have it everywhere, but sometimes just a small reminder will make you happy, as it does for me....for now ;)

January 1st, 2012

Today is the first day of a brand new year, with new possibilities.
It's a fresh start for everyone, and now all of the annoying reports of "news year's resolutions" can begin. It's stupid really. Do you need a new year to start living your life as you feel it needs to be, only to forget all about it tomorrow. It's silly.
  Pick any day. Just live your life as it should be. Treat others as you would want to be treated. Live a life style that benefits others, without excess, and realize that each of us has the duty to make life better for all.
  My hope is that everyone will have a happy, and healthy, 2012. Treat your neighbor with respect, and understand that we are all in this life together.
  Peace to all, and HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

  Looking forward to more blog posts this year so I hope that you will stick around!!

  -Mike