This Is Madness: Team Hondo Strikes Back!

team-hondo-2014Ahoy! It’s your old pal Hondo Ohnaka, Scourge of the Spacelanes, here, and I’ve gotten word that once again I will be competing in the ‘This is Madness‘ tournament from StarWars.com. So here’s your captain to tell you who to pick since you’re all pressed into Team Hondo!

They seem to have expanded the number of spots available by adding these play-in things. At least they are smart enough to not make me join in one of those. In a four-way fight, I would win… or maybe hide… or run away until there is only one left, and then club that guy when his back is turned. But the point is, I’d win.

So they decided to let me skip these add-on rounds, but here are my picks – you have less than three days to get your votes in.

  • In Attack of the Play-Ins Matchup 1, we have Wedge Antilles, C-3PO, Mon Mothma and Jek Porkins. I hear this Wedge guy is a bit of a rogue, even if he wears a uniform. But smart money’s on the protocol droid. Why? He’s made of gold. Anyone with that much as you say bling has got to be a baller. Also, if I had to face him, I could knock him over easily. Pick C-3PO.
  • For Matchup 2, we have a bunch of Jedi. As Watto says, we don’t need them. They always cause me trouble. Last time they came to my base, they wrecked it up and didn’t even stick around to clean up the mess. Still, that Ahsoka Tano is probably the only one I’d trust, and for a pirate to trust a Jedi, that’s a rare thing. Vote Ahsoka.
  • In the next matchup, there’s some members of the Empire and Separatists. Like the Jedi, these guys cause my head to ache. Sep sent their battle droids to shoot up my stuff, so there’s no way I’m going to pick them. I’ll pick General Veers because picking a Navy admiral just seems like bad luck to a mostly illegal businessman like me.
  • What are we up to, now? Matchup four. Bounty hunters. While sometimes I work with bounty hunters, other times, they are looking for me or my men. I do background checks when I hire crew. Wait, no I don’t. Anyway, between Bossk, Greedo, IG-88 and Dengar, Bossk is the most lethal, and I don’t want to be on his bad side. Pick Bossk and live, I say!

Looking down at the full brackets, I see that I’m paired against Han Solo in the first round in the scoundrels division, on the light side of the board. I’ll have to make sure I move back to the dark side of the chart next year, but this year, you’d better vote Team Hondo, or else I’ll let my Kowakian monkey lizard tattoo you. Remember, now this is MADNESS!

Rancho Obi-Wan announces eBay charity auction and more fundraisers

han-fixing2

Rancho Obi-Wan released their 2014 schedule of fundraising events, including a seven-day charity auction on eBay called “Rancho Obi-Thon.” Starting on March 2, several lots of collectibles will go up for auction to raise funds for the not-for-profit Star Wars memorabilia museum, including a trove of artwork, rare posters (including an immunization poster donated by our own Paula), and autographed merchandise.

Also, there’s a chance to own loot that comes from the world’s largest Star Wars collection with their Dupe Deals auctions, where they will be selling off duplicate merchandise in the collection, also starting March 2 via eBay. Each duplicate will come with a certificate of authencity that it came from Rancho Obi-Wan.

Finally, Rancho Obi-Wan wants you to save the date: September 20, 2014 will be the Annual Fundraiser Gala. Like last year’s World Record Night, this will be a day long remembered!

All of the funds raised for Rancho Obi-Wan are used for such things as maintenance, security, professional services, providing tours for other charities to raise money, and community outreach. None are used for buying collectibles.

Rebels cast reveals spark discussion of diversity, representation

Rebels cast (concept art)

While we’ve focused on the female character introductions and (lack of) toys so far, Mia Moretti at Eleven-ThirtyEight takes on the issue of character races and representation – and the fandom reactions to it.

The importance of diversity is something that Bria and Nanci at Tosche Station wrote up not so long ago, while Brian took on some of the common arguments against it. While we’re a while from seeing if Rebels can deliver diversity beyond the main cast, it’s interesting to note that these discussions weren’t happening as openly even as far back as The Clone Wars debut.

As for the issue of female action figures, Amy Ratcliffe has some numbers.

This is madness: Best #StarWars, #SWEU and #Episode VII tweets for Dec. 30 – Jan. 12

https://twitter.com/josswhedon/statuses/419645632887156737

No, I haven’t forgotten about the Twitter roundups, I was just busy freezing, falling and not being able to sit in a desk chair for several days. It was fantastic! In any case, the roundup is back, and it’s been busy. This installment covers the latest rumors, Marvel/Dark Horse and, of course, the ever-present freaking out whenever anyone mentions the Lucasfilm Story Group. Brace yourselves.

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