Walmart are now stocking a range ofThe Last Jedi t-shirts for the very tidy price of $7.50US ($10.90NZ) each. There's a variety of designs on offer - but I went for the simple Last Jedi logo, and the Rebel Alliance / Resistance emblem with X-Wings and A-Wings in the foreground.
I'm not completely sold on the golden / glittery print on the latter, but I'm expecting it to weather and wear after a few washes. The former will also go well with the Force Awakens t-shirt I picked up a couple of years ago!
The 3 3/4" First Order Snowtrooper Officer and Poe Dameron 2-pack very nearly made it onto my Rogue One huntlist.* I usually pick up any costume variant of a main character, and this was collectors' first (and so far, only) chance to get hold of a D'Qar celebration Poe. Unfortunately, the $34.00NZ price tag was far too much to justify, especially when he came packed with a figure that - although a useful army-builder - was already in my collection. Last week, however, I came across the Poe 2-pack at my local Five Below for the ridiculously low price of - you guessed it - $5.00US ($7.19NZ). How could I say no?
While not the most exciting two-pack from the Rogue One line, this set still has its charms. I'd heard a lot of complaints about the paint app on Poe's face - but it seems that Hasbro must have remedied this at some point during production, because this Poe doesn't look bad at all. In fact, it's an incredibly decent likeness given that this is a 3 3/4" 5-points-of-articulation figure. Poe comes with his usual blaster pistol sidearm, and an enormous backpack-cum-missile-launcher. I usually criticise these oversized pack-ins, but I have to admit that this is exactly the kind of accessory I would have thoroughly enjoyed playing with as a kid.
For anyone who didn't pick up the First Order Snowspeeder or the Snap Wexley 2-pack, this pack is also a great way of picking up a pauldroned snowtrooper. For those who already have a version of this figure (like myself), the pauldron can easily be removed and the trooper added to the ranks of ordinary grunts. As with previous iterations, the snowtrooper features some fantastic tooling and a surprisingly intricate paint job (especially on the chest plate). He also comes with a screen-accurate blaster rifle and a removable backpack.
While this 2-pack might not have been worth the original RRP, it was definitely worth picking up on clearance. Poe will look especially good next to the D'Qar Leia I picked up recently!
*While both characters in this set are from The Force Awakens, this set was - somewhat confusingly - released under the 2016 Rogue One line.
There's a lot of money to be made in Star Wars products - and for as long as there's been officially-licensed merchandise, there's also been bootlegs. They're not as common here in the US, but I've always found independently-owned New Zealand dollar stores to be a treasure trove of off-brand saga toys.
For the most part, these bootlegs try to circumvent blatant copyright infringement by either featuring a well-known character under a different brand name (like the KSZ "Space Wars" Kylo Ren above) or by coupling Star Wars branding with a completely unrecognisable character - like everyone's favourite Force Awakens character, Jason (pictured above).
Sometimes the placement is a little more subtle, intended to lend legitimacy to an otherwise unfamiliar product - like the Peizhi "Star Pioneer" set above. Other times, manufacturers are far more brazen, combining the Star Wars logo with actual (if horribly disfigured or miscoloured) characters from the franchise - as with the "Jedi Force" pack above and the lightsaber-wielding Ackbar below.
And then, every once in a while, you'll see some Star Wars imagery on a product that defies all logic - like the backpack above. I mean, we all remember the N-1 Naboo Starfighter being Spiderman's preferred mode of transport, right?
Have you come across any interesting Star Wars bootlegs in your local stores? If you have, be sure to share them with us via Facebook or Twitter, or by sending an email to relicsoftheforce@gmail.com.
After a long while of speculation, the official name for the Han Solo anthology film has officially been announced as Solo: A Star Wars Story.
This is exactly the title I was hoping for. Short, sweet, and leaving no doubts about who the star of the show will be. There's also a good chance "Solo" might take on a convenient double-meaning depending on the plot of the film.
Despite some directorial distruptions, Solo is still set for May 25th 2018 release date. What are your thoughts on this title? Be sure to let us know via Facebook or Twitter, or by sending an email to relicsoftheforce@gmail.com!
Despite appearing in the store, most of the wave is currently listed as "Coming Soon..." The one exception to this is Leia, who is listed with a release date of October 20th. If this date is accurate, then it's a safe bet we can expect to see the rest of the wave released at the same time. With a 20% discount code from a previous purchase, I'll be putting my order in as soon as they're available. I'll also be adding another item from my huntlist - the Probe Droid and Darth Vader Deluxe Figure Set that's been out since Force Friday.
What's about you? What are you planning on picking up from Wave 2 of the Force Link line? Be sure to let us know via Facebook or Twitter, or by sending an email to relicsoftheforce@gmail.com!
It's been a long wait (about six months longer than with The Force Awakens), but the first full-length official trailer for Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi has finally arrived - and it's a doozy. You can check it out below!
While April's teaser left me feeling a little underwhelmed, this brand new trailer ticks all of the boxes. Comprised of almost entirely new footage - and backed by a superb tension-building score - this trailer does everything a good trailer should. While it treats us to some beautiful shots and intriguing thematic insights, it gives very little away in terms of plot. I still can't fathom how it all fits together, or in which order the set pieces occur, and that's exactly the way I want it.
I'm especially happy with the general aesthetic of the film as it appears here. A number of the Last Jedi designs we've seen so far (mostly via merchandising) have had me worried that the film was departing from the very familiar, well-worn universe of the original trilogy - the look and feel of which The Force Awakens captured perfectly. My concerns were dispelled by this trailer however. Put simply, The Last Jedi just looks like Star Wars.
For me, the best things about this trailer are seeing more of Luke, and more of Phasma. At the same time, however, I also love the tiny Easter eggs hidden throughout (like the blink-and-you'll-miss-it AT-ATs and AT-STs). There are a million more little things to dissect, but with half of the internet doing that right now, there's little need for me to add to the noise. There's one important thing to remember, however: Namely, that everything is not always as it seems. If we've learned anything in recent years, it's that these trailers are often edited with misdirection in mind. The splicing of two disparate scenes - or the juxtaposition of a line of dialogue with a particular shot - are often done with the specific intention of subverting our expectations. So, too, will it be with this trailer.
The excitements doesn't end there, however. Just before the trailer dropped, StarWars.com gave us our first look at the absolutely gorgeous official poster for The Last Jedi:
This design is leaps-and-bounds ahead of The Force Awaken's Photoshop-esque poster, and marks a return to the classic Drew Struzan style of the prequel and special edition era. It's simple, striking, and makes excellent use of the blood-red theme we've seen throughout the promotional material for The Last Jedi. I'm also particularly happy that it places two of our legacy heroes - Luke and Leia - centre stage.
Along with the trailer and poster release, tickets to the The Last Jedi also went on sale world-wide last night. Be sure to pick up yours if you haven't already, as cinemas are filling fast!
What are your thoughts on the theatrical trailer and poster for The Last Jedi? Be sure to share them with us via Facebook or Twitter, or by sending an email to relicsoftheforce@gmail.com.
Unlike K-2 and Phasma, Zuckuss is rendered in the same vinyl as Funko's other non-bobblehead Pop! figures. This gives the figure a surprising amount of heft, making him feel extra nice in the hand. Zuckuss sports his screen-accurate blaster rifle, as well as a couple of breathing tubes that - while slightly restricting the 'bobble' action of the figure - give him a distinguishing feature that's not present on any other Pop! figure.
Best of all, Zuckuss happens to be a Toy Wars exclusive, making him all the more unique!
Ever since Disney purchased the Star Wars franchise, I've been making my action figure purchases solely from the 3 3/4" five-point-of-articulation (5POA) line. There are a few reasons for this: For one, I was too far invested in the 3 3/4" line to even consider making a move to the super-articulated (SA) 6" Black Series. Further, the limited range, rarity, and Walmart exclusivity of the SA 3 3/4" Black Series figures ruled these out as a viable collecting focus (especially for those of us in New Zealand). Fortunately, almost every SA character has also been rendered in 5POA. There are two exceptions, however: Starkiller Base Han Solo and D'Qar Ceremonial Dress Princess Leia Organa from The Force Awakens.
Oddly, both of these figures received a release in the SA 3 3/4" Black Series line, without any 5POA equivalent. For this reason, I'd been considering breaking my usual 5POA-only rule for some time. The scales were tipped when I came across the pair discounted down to the ridiculously cheap price of $5.83US ($8.04NZD).
Overall, this pair represent everything we've come to expect from SA figures. Each features fourteen points of articulation, along with some great sculpt and paint details. Han comes with a working holster and blaster, while Leia features a well thought-out cloth highlight to her dress. There are a few minor quibbles - Han's face is a little off, and his hair is considerably less grey than his other 3 3/4" Force Awakens appearance - but not enough to detract from an otherwise excellent pair of figures. Most importantly, its great to finally have a Force Awakens Leia in this scale!
While searching for the Lego First Order Heavy Assault Walker Mini Building Set, I stumbled across another polybag vehicle that - despite being released almost a year ago - had so far been completely absent from any of my local stores: the First Order Star Destroyer.
Retailing at $3.49US ($5.49NZD), this set is at the opposite end of the feature-spectrum when compared with the Heavy Assault Walker. Put simply, it doesn't do a darn thing. The silhouette isn't quite right either - with the sharp, elongated prow being traded in for a much stubbier nose. Nevertheless, I've become something of a completionist with this line, and there are still a few nice details incorporated into the design: chief among which is the usage of some transparent tiles to simulate running lights. It'll also nicely complete the set of Force Awakens mini building sets I've been building, including Poe's X-Wing, the First Order Special Forces TIE Fighter, and Kylo Ren's Command Shuttle.
In recent years, I seem to have started a small collection of Star Wars Pez dispensers quite by accident. They were never easy to find when I was growing up in New Zealand - but that all changed when I first moved to the US in 2012. For the most part, recent releases have merely been repacks of original trilogy dispensers available since the '90s. The release of The Force Awakens finally saw the release of two new sculpts - the First Order Stormtrooper and Kylo Ren. Now, with The Last Jedi only months away, Pez has released a raft of brand new designs - including BB-8, a Porg, and an Elite Praetorian Guard.
I managed to pick up all three for $1.99US ($2.74NZ) each - which seems to be the standard price across most stores. There's not a great deal to be said about the dispensers themselves, which all function just as every other Pez dispenser does. That being said, the sculpts are nicely detailed, and the trio look great lined up alongside previous releases from this line.
