Christmas Holidays Star Wars Projects

Next Monday I'm heading back to New Zealand for Christmas. Fortunately I've managed to pick up all of the items I'd been hoping to track down in the US. They're now boxed up, and ready to head home.

It'll be a busy few weeks for the collection. As well as adding my latest additions, I'll be systematically going through my figure displays and attaching the Protech figure stands I recently acquired. Once this is done, I'll be taking a new round of photographs of the collection to bring the My Collection page up-to-date.

My other project over the Christmas break will be making a start on my long-awaited suit of stormtrooper armour. I'll be posting regular updates on this project, so be sure to keep checking back to see my progress!

The Old Republic: Episode 9 - Across the Stars

It's finals time at the moment, so my adventures through the galaxy in The Old Republic will be going on hold for a short while. I've been having a blast since the game went free-to-play though. My final mission before leaving Taris involved visiting the wreck of the Endar Spire  - a real treat for any fans of the original KotoR.

The Endar Spire - a poignant reminder of Taris's rich history.

After this, it was off to Nar Shadaa - a wretched hive of scum and villainy to rival any other in the galaxy.

I've also been enjoying working my way through the space missions.

Most recently, I headed back to Coruscant to join an operation and take down the World Boss, SD-0.

Finals will be over in a few short weeks, and after that I hope to return to the spacelanes for more adventures!

George Lucas and Kathleen Kennedy On the New Star Wars Films - Part 3

Part 3 of George Lucas and Kathleen Kennedy's discussion of the new Star Wars films has just been posted by StarWars.com:

The Old Republic: Episode 8 - Into the Wild

The SWTOR servers ended up being down for much longer than expected while Bioware got the new Free-to-Play option up-and-running. By the time I got home last night, however, everything was working splendidly and Revuge was finally able to board his ship and set off out into the galaxy...

A bridge to call my own!

Once off Coruscant, my first goal was to try out space combat. I've heard a lot of complaints about the on-rails nature of these missions, and while it might be more enjoyable if there was more freedom of movement, the space missions are still an enormous amount of fun.

After this, it was off to Taris to continue my class storyline. I'm a huge fan of the Knights of the Old Republic games, so returning to the ruins of this once-great metropolis was rather poignant.

It was on Taris that I was able to join my first op and take down the world boss - earning a nice cache of XP and Social Points in the process.

At 2.00am the servers were shut down again for maintenance, but before they were I jumped back in my ship and stole a glance at what is always my favourite world in any Star Wars game - Tatooine.

I've no doubt SWTOR will be eating up more than a little of my time over the next few days. It's an enormous galaxy out there!

The Old Republic Goes Free-to-Play In the Next 24 Hours!

In just over three-and-a-half hours the The Old Republic servers will be going offline for 12 hours in order to make way for update 1.5 - the update that (among other things) will make the game go free-to-play.

It's almost time to get off this rock...

As we speak, Captain Revuge is patiently standing next to his ship awaiting permission to depart, I've enjoyed my time on Coruscant, but I truly can't wait to blast off and begin exploring the wider galaxy...

Be sure to look for regular updates under The Old Republic tab once the game goes live!

The Hunt Is On - The Vintage Collection 3 3/4" VC116 Republic Trooper (The Old Republic) Found

Success! Earlier this week Amazon.com listed a load of The Vintage Collection 3 3/4" VC116 - Republic Trooper (The Old Republic) figures for only $12.99US ($15.69NZ) each. I quickly put in an order, and he turned up in the mail today. I've gotta say, he's all kinds of awesome!

This purchase officially closes off my huntlist for 2012. You'll be hard-pressed to find a better deal for this figure, so if it happens to be on your huntlist, then I recommend getting your order in now.

Michael Arndt to Write Screenplay for Episode VII

StarWars.com has now confirmed that Michael Arndt - Academy Award-winning writer of Little Miss Sunshine and Toy Story 3 - will be writing the screenplay for Star Wars: Episode VII.

George Lucas and Kathleen Kennedy On the New Star Wars Films - Part 2

Part 2 of George Lucas and Kathleen Kennedy's discussion of the new Star Wars films has just been posted by StarWars.com:

The Old Republic Free-to-Play Preview #2

About an hour ago Lucasarts and Bioware released the second in a series of preview videos for the new free-to-play option for The Old Republic coming this fall.

Contrary to some earlier misgivings on my behalf, Lucasarts and Bioware are staying true to their word and will be releasing the free-to-play option for The Old Republic next Thursday 15th November (US time). You can see the first preview here, and read about my adventures playing the trial version of the game here.

Episode VII to Feature Original Cast?

GeekTyrant - among other sites - is reporting that Episodes VII, IIX, and IX will continue to focus on Luke Skywalker, and that the original cast will be returning to reprise their roles. Granted, this another story from a an unidentified 'source', so for now it should be taken with a grain of salt.

If true, however, this news is everything I could have hoped for!

[UPDATE (08/11/12): Various sources around the web are reporting that both Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher have confirmed that they would be interested in reprising their roles if given the opportunity. This is excellent news!]

Episode VII Thread on the SWNZ Message Boards

I've just started an Episode VII thread over at the SWNZ Message Boards for us to begin collecting our speculations, hopes, musings and ramblings about the upcoming film. My first contribution is a thought I had earlier today:

From what I can tell, the latest EU material involving the characters from the films (the Fate of the Jedi series) is set in 43BBY. The ages of the main characters at this point in time are: 

Han Solo (born 29BBY): 72

Luke Skywalker (born 19BBY): 62

Leia Organa (born 19BBY): 62 

Let's assume production will be in full swing by 2014. At this time, the age of the actors from the original trilogy will be: 

Harrison Ford (born 1942): 72

Mark Hamill (born 1951): 63

Carrie Fisher (born 1956): 58 

If the films are set after the original saga, and if the producers want to have a brief 'pass-the-torch' appearance by the old guard, then setting it shortly after the FotJ series would be a perfect way of having the original cast back to (believably) reprise their roles. This move would remove the problem of recasting and avoid any conflict with any of the existing EU material (so long as the history spanning between RotJ and the FotJ series wasn't explicitly contradicted).

Be sure to head on over to the boards and let us know what you think!

3 3/4" Protech Action Figure Stands

I've put it off for a while now, but last week I bit the bullet and put in an order for some stands for my 3 3/4" figures. Up until now I've made do with Blu-Tack and some artful balancing, but after a few figure falls I thought it was time to invest in the real deal.

I needed 200 modern-figure stands and another 10 vintage-figure stands. A bit of research online suggested that the bases made by Protech were the best choice, and my buddies over on the SWNZ Message Boards were able to recommend&nbsp Collecting Warehouse as the best value source for these. I didn't have the chance to inspect these stands in person before purchasing them, though the general consensus online was that they were the best choice out there. Having received mine, I can confirm that they're fantastic. They're incredibly sturdy and made out of a much higher quality plastic than I expected.

One of my favourite design features is the narrow ridge around the underside which prevents the clear plastic of the stand from scratching when slid. (Those of you familiar with Games Workshop's transparent bases will know just how frustrating these scratches can be.)

I'm really looking forward to getting back home and mounting the rest of my figures on these!