Tag: darth vader

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Ready for Hallmark’s 2011 Star Wars ornaments?

It’s May, and as always, Hallmark’s 2011 Dreambook is out. The ornaments were on display at Celebration, but for those of us who weren’t there or somehow completely missed the Hallmark booth, this is the first look.

Come July 16, you can pick up Jedi Master Yoda, Slave I, LEGO Darth Vader and the ever-controversial Showdown at the Cantina, featuring audio from the DVD edition. A fifth ornament, Bossk, will be available during the Keepsake Ornament Premiere.

Other familiar franchises you can deck your trees with this year include Star Trek, Harry Potter, Wizard of Oz, Pirates of the Caribbean, several superheroes and… Twilight.

All these ornaments will be available only in Hallmark stores.

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Out this week: Allies paperback, comics

The paperback reprint of the fifth Fate of the Jedi book, Christie Golden’s Allies, will be in bookstores tomorrow. (Be sure to check out Erika’s review when you’re done.) And while you’re buying, keep an eye out for Star Wars Insider #125, which features a brand-new Vestara Khai short story from Golden, ‘First Blood.’

Meanwhile, comic fans will have a few things waiting for them on Wednesday. Both Legacy: War #5 and Darth Vader and the Lost Command #4 made the shipping list.

StarWars.com also lists a few trades that may be making their way to the bookstores… But I wouldn’t count on seeing them in the comic shops until Diamond lists them.

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EUbits: Dig into Vader, Burton’s craft book

Trauma ward. Dying for all the damage details on everyone’s favorite pan-fried villain? You’re in luck, ’cause Becker & Mayer has announced Darth Vader: A 3-D Surgical Log. Written by Dan Wallace with art by Chris Trevas (who has designed Vader’s underwear) and Chris Reiff, it sounds like it’ll be in the same vein as Millennium Falcon: A 3-D Owner’s Guide.

Actual nonfiction. StarWars.com has a look inside Bonnie Burton’s The Star Wars Craft Book, which is coming out in March.

The blogside. Authors Troy Denning, John Jackson Miller and Joe Schreiber just wrapped up their joint stint on Borders’ Babel Clash blog.

Your moment of zen. A reader over at the romance novel blog Smart Bitches, Trashy Books reviews The Courtship of Princess Leia. She is amazingly kind to it.

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Vader to make CES announcement Thursday

Darth Vader will be on hand at the Consumer Electronics Show later this week to make a “most impressive announcement.” While my immediate thought was the Blu-Rays or Phantom Menace 3-D, the location – Panasonic’s booth – makes me think it could have something to do with this little tidbit.

UPDATE 01/05: And it’s the Blu-Ray. Oh well!

UPDATE 01/06: The Digital Bits says that the announcement will be an October release date for Star Wars: The Complete Saga – 35th Anniversary Collection. We’ll find out for sure in a few hours. (via)

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Indulge your darker side this Sithmas with gifts of Vader

Santa Maul finds that there is nothing quite like the holiday season for bringing people together – and then rending them limb-from-limb. As a veteran of many blood-soaked Maul family Sithmas celebrations, Santa Maul encourages you to deck yourself in gear that shows you are not novice to the festivities.

Santa Maul's Holiday Gift GuideAlthough he finds the Darth known as Vader to be little more than an unwisely pan-fried brute, the fact is that the plebeian hoards respect and fear his plastic visage. Show you are not to be trifled with by wearing or gifting his shrunken head!

If one desires a more subtle revenge, dried and roasted remains are often greeted with glee and horror.

Or Santa Maul supposes one may always just abandon subtly entirely.

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In the news: Vader costume going on the auction block

Costume for sale. An original Darth Vader costume – believed to have been from The Empire Strikes Back – will soon be going up for auction at Christie’s in London. It’s being put up for sale by “an American private collector” and is expected to fetch at least $250,000. A percentage of the sale price will go to cancer research.

In spaaaaace. A stable planet orbiting twin stars has been found 49 light-years away. (Alas – it is a gas giant.) Still, researchers have named the planet “Inrakluk,” which sounds pretty Wookiee to me.

Partnerships. Lucas Online has a new partner, Big Spaceship, for some of their digital endeavors. Maybe this means we’ll see a kickass StarWars.com app?

People. USA Weekend interviews Matt Lanter, the actor who angsts enough for two on The Clone Wars and 90210.

Books. Visions is getting some nice press… Check out a profile of contributing artist Robert Bailey, who got to meet George Lucas, from The Edmonton Journal.

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The fandom minute: Star Wars economics, Her Universe fan interviews, adorable crafting, and Chad does D*C

Click to see the whole thing!The economics of Star Wars. This infographic that’s been circling around the interwebs breaks down just how much money the Star Wars cash cow brings in. To which we say: Damn.

Interviews. Ashley Eckstein turns the tables on the fans! She talks to our pal Mandy from TheForce.net, plus costumer Vera Campbell and EU fan Erin Kelahan.

Listage. Totalfilm includes four Star Wars movies in their 40 baffling movie plot holes, and Darth Vader as one of their 30 most influential movie characters.

Fanmade. These super-adorable Star Wars amigurumi almost inspire me to learn how to crochet. Almost.

Video. Chad Vader identifies costumes and meets George Lucas at Dragon*Con.

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“Darth Vader” robs Get & Go in suburban Detroit

Darth Vader is loose in Metro Detroit! A not-too-bright criminal put on a Darth Vader mask to rob a Get & Go store in Ferndale on Monday. The police have him on video, though – before he put the mask on.

At least the cops have a sense of humor about it:

“I guess he didn’t have a light saber with him,” said Ferndale Police Lt. William Wilson. “When he walked up to the male clerk he pulled out a butcher knife and demanded money.”

(In other news, if you’re a law-abiding Star Wars fan in the area, some folks are trying to relaunch the local FanForce, R2-Detroit, with a meeting at the Oakland Mall Borders on Saturday.)

UPDATE: Pictures of the robbery and an arrest is made.

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SDCC: Eight Star Wars comic series coming in 2011, including Blackmen on Vader

So much for there being no EU news out of Comic-Con… Comic Book Resources reports that editor Randy Stradley revealed that there will be eight new Star Wars series in 2011, including something Vader-centric from Hayden Blackmen:

Most will be revealed at Star Wars Celebration, but Stradley said Blackman will be writing a Darth Vader series. “It chronicles one of Vader’s greatest failures ever,” the editor said. Vader then lit up his lightsaber and choked Stradley using The Force.

I suspect most of those – including the Vader one – are actually mini-series, but time (and Celebration) will tell.