New 15-Second Teaser for The Force Awakens

A few hours ago, the Star Wars Instagram account posted a new 15-second teaser for The Force Awakens. You can watch the video here.


The short only contains four shots - two of which we've already seen - but damn, it still gave me chills. It's fantastic to finally see who Ren is facing off against in the snowy forest, and Finn certainly looks all kinds of awesome wielding that lightsaber.

What are your thoughts on the teaser? Be sure to email them to relicsoftheforce@gmail.com, or send me a tweet at @Archon_Revuge!

September 2015 (Force Friday) "Wretched Hive" SWNZ Wellington Meet-Up

If you've been following this thread over at SWNZ, then you'll know that the Ballance Street Toyworld and Lyall Bay Warehouse stores in Wellington will be holding a special "Force Friday" release event for the line of new The Force Awakens toys at 12.01am on Friday 4th September. The following day, we'll be holding our next "Wretched Hive" SWNZ Wellington Meet-Up as a chance to compare hauls and talk about the new line of collectibles.


The meet-up will be held at 5.00pm on Saturday January 31st at a bar/restaurant in the Wellington CBD. Despite the allusions to scum and villainy, it'll be at a venue that's very family-friendly, so kids and significant others are more than welcome!

If you're interested in attending, be sure to send me (Archon Revuge) a PM on the SWNZ Message Boards, or email me at relicsoftheforce@gmail.com for full details of the venue. I hope to see you there!

Stormtrooper T-Shirt

Last week, I hit up the Porirua K-mart and was pleasantly surprised to find a range of new Star Wars t-shirts on sale. For obvious reasons, I couldn't turn down this particular design.


Two other styles are available, one adorned with a classic Empire Strikes Back poster, and the other featuring Chewbacca and a familiar line from A New Hope. Each t-shirt is retailing for only $15.00.

The full range of Star Wars t-shirts currently available at K-mart. 

Presumably, this is only the beginning of an onslaught of new Star Wars clothing that'll be hitting stores in the lead-up to The Force Awakens. It looks like my wardrobe will be soon be expanding!

The Hunt Is On - The Force Awakens Hasbro Products

With less than two weeks until 'Force Friday', the time has come to start seriously planning my collecting strategy for the upcoming inundation of The Force Awakens merchandise. It'd be impossible to pick up everything - and on a limited budget, planning is key.


Unfortunately Hasbro hasn't yet released any official details about what we can expect to see on shelves from September 4th onwards. But nothing stays secret for long on the internet - and last week, Hasbro's full catalogue of new Star Wars products was leaked online. Takedown notices have been issued to a number of websites hosting the images, so I won't be posting them here. You can, however, check out a link via Rebelscum.com. After carefully analysing this catalogue, I've now worked out exactly what'll be on my wishlist.

It's clear that there's going to be a lot on offer when it comes to The Force Awakens. Hasbro alone will have 3 3/4" figures, 6" Black Series figures, 12" figures, Micro Machines vehicles, Black Series Titanium Series vehicles, and a range of life-size weapons and masks. Add these to the Lego and Hot Wheels lines, and the options are almost overwhelming.

First, the figures: For some time now, I've been fearful that the 3 3/4" line would move away from the fantastic super-articulation we've all come to love. Unfortunately, it seems that's finally happening with this new line of figures. I could make the move up to the more collector-oriented 6" line, but I'm simply too invested in the smaller scale figures to do this. And, truth-be-told, after seeing images of the first wave of 3 3/4" figures from TFA, I was pleasantly surprised. I'll still need to be picky however. The figures come in two lines - "Build-a-Weapon" (where three separate figures each contain parts of a constructible weapon) and "Armor-Up" (where each comes with a piece of snap-on armour). Barring one exception, all of the characters in the AU line are also available in the BaW line - so it's an easy choice to focus on the latter. With all of this in mind, my current wishlist for 3 3/4" figures is as follows:

Constable Zuvio and the Resistance Trooper are currently "maybes". I'll really need to get a better idea of their role in the film before biting the bullet on these, and I've got a sneaking position they're likely to become heavily-discounted peg-warmers in the near future.

The real no-brainer is the return of the Micro Machines line. These vehicles are where it all began for me, and formed the focus of my collection until they were discontinued in the early 2000s. I've always been a completist with this line, so I'm after one instance of each previously unreleased vehicle. After a bit of planning to work out the most cost-effective way of doing this, I've settled on the following:

And that's it. These are the items that I'll be after on Force Friday, and in the weeks that follow. For now, I'll be skipping everything else, as keeping up with these two lines will stretch my collection budget far enough!

How about you? What's top of your wishlist? Be sure to let me know by emailing relicsoftheforce@gmail.com or sending a tweet to @Archon_Revuge!

A Recap of Everything Star Wars at D23 2015

Last weekend, Anaheim played host to Disney's annual D23 Expo. With the next Star Wars film only a few months away, the saga was always going to play a large role at the event. First up was another Force Awakens panel with J.J. Abrams, John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, Oscar Isaac, Lupita Nyong'o, and Harrison Ford. (It seems the latter is becoming a fan of the convention circuit!) Unfortunately, the panel contained nothing quite as revelatory as at Celebration or SDCC. In fact, no new images or footage from the film were shown, Fans were, however, treated to a copy of a stunning Force Awakens poster by veteran Star Wars artist Drew Struzan. While at the convention, attendees could also get up close and personal with a variety of costumes from the film, including the previously undisplayed armour of Captain Phasma.

Perhaps the juiciest Star Wars reveal at D23 was our first look at the cast from the upcoming anthology film Rogue One.

Rogue One actors Riz Ahmed, Diego Luna, Felicity Jones, Jiang Wen and Donnie Yen. (Image courtesy of StarWars.com)

Lucasfilm has now confirmed an ensemble cast consisting of Felicity Jones (The Theory of Everything), Diego Luna (Elysium), Ben Mendelsohn, (Bloodline), Donnie Yen (Blade II), Jiang Wen (Let the Bullets Fly), Forest Whitaker (The Last King of Scotland), Mads Mikkelsen, (Casino Royale), Alan Tudyk (Firefly), and Riz Ahmed (Nightcrawler). Elsewhere in Star Wars film news, Colin Trevorrow (Safety Not Guaranteed and Jurassic World) was confirmed as the director for Episode IX, joining J.J. Abrams and Rian Johnson to round out the sequel trilogy.

Disney also used this year's D23 to confirm a long-running rumour that Star Wars-themed lands will be coming to both Disneyland in Anaheim, California and Disney World in Orlando Florida. These expansions will be over 14 acres each and will involve:
"transporting guests to a never-before-seen planet, a remote trading port and one of the last stops before wild space where Star Wars characters and their stories come to life... These authentic lands will have two signature attractions, including the ability to take the controls of one of the most recognizable ships in the galaxy, the Millennium Falcon, on a customized secret mission, and an epic Star Wars adventure that puts guests in the middle of a climactic battle."
As of now, there's no specific timeline on when these attractions will open - but comments by Disney representatives seem to suggest a completion date of 2017.

Sadly, there was no news for Star Wars collectors, but gaming fans were treated to an announcement of new limited edition Battlefront and Disney Infinity 3.0: Star Wars bundles containing containing a customised Darth Vader Playstation 4.

What were your highlights of this year's D23? Be sure to email them to me at relicsoftheforce@gmail.com, or send me a tweet at @Archon_Revuge!

The Relics of the Force Spoiler Policy

Over the last week we've seen a number of The Force Awakens merchandise photos being leaked online - some of which include previously unreleased details about the upcoming film. In light of this, it seems fitting to officially state our spoiler policy here at Relics of the Force.


My intention has always been to stay as spoiler-free about the upcoming Star Wars films as possible. The one exception to this rule is anything that is released through official channels. If a video, image, or detail comes from Lucasfilm or one of its affiliates, then I consider it fair game for consumption. The same philosophy is extended to everything that is posted on this blog.

First Look at The Force Awakens 3 3/4" Figures

It's by no means an official release, but this morning Rebelscum.com gave us our first look at a handful of the new The Force Awakens 3 3/4" figures. These aren't meant to be hitting shelves until September 4th, but it seems that a few of these have escaped early and somehow made their way on to eBay. In accordance with our spoiler policy, images won't be posted here - but you can see plenty of images at this link here.


I've been down on the potential return to 5POA for some time now. But if this is what it looks like, then I think I'll be okay. I really like these sculpts, and - in their neutral stance - they won't look at all out of place next to their more highly-articulated friends. At this stage, I'm not a fan of the "build-a-weapon" gimmick though. I'd much rather have had some extra accessories, or a build-a-droid!

What are your thoughts on these figures? Be sure to email them to relicsoftheforce@gmail.com or send me a tweet @Archon_Revuge!

Entertainment Weekly Releases New Images from The Force Awakens

Yesterday, Entertainment Weekly released a swath of new images from The Force Awakens to coincide with their upcoming spread. Some of the photos had previously been spotted at official TFA panels, but others are completely unseen. The highlight is perhaps our first glimpse of Teedo - a character who rides something called a "luggabeast" (adorned with strangely familiar armour) and presumably has a pivotal interaction with BB-8. High resolution versions of all of these images are now available over at superhero.com.


Entertainment Weekly's coverage includes some great conversations with both J.J. Abrams and Lawrence Kasdan. The pair give us a unique glimpse into the production of the film as well as some insight into the current political state of the Star Wars galaxy and a surprise reveal that the mysterious Kylo Ren was not actually born with that name.

This issue of Entertainment Weekly will be on shelves in the US by the end of the week, and will most likely hit New Zealand shores some time in September.

Korean TV Spot Shows a Different Point of View

Yesterday, Star Wars Korea posted a thirty-second TV spot for Episode VII: The Force Awakens. The promo is mostly filled with footage we've seen before, but it does feature one brand new shot at the 0:02 mark. You can check it out below:


This looks to be a different point of view of the First Order parade that was seen in the second teaser trailer. If you pause the shot and crank the resolution up to 1080p, you'll spot a few interesting things. The the chrome figure of Captain Phasma can be seen standing to attention - and there's a safe bet that's General Hux standing in front of her. Off in the distance on the left we can also see a row of the "white van" troop transports that'll play a large role in both The Force Awakens and Rogue One. Slightly more difficult to spot are a row of four-legged walkers on the opposite side - perhaps modern descendants of the old AT-ATs?

Park Avenue Star Wars Character Cookies

There's been various reports of these showing up in New World supermarkets recently, but last week I finally managed to track down a few packets of the new Park Avenue Star Wars character cookies at my local Warehouse store for $4.00 each.


Each pack comes with ten individually wrapped bags of cookies. The bags come in five varying designs, and the cookies themselves are sculpted in the shapes of Darth Vader, Yoda, C-3PO, R2-D2, a Stormtrooper, and the "Star Wars" logo. The cookies are incredibly cute, and pretty darn tasty - but the best part is the very cool Star Wars character magnet that comes in every pack. I'd love to track down the whole set, but with fifty to collect I'd need to buy about another $200 of cookies to accomplish that...