Author Archives: Jacob Burdis

Star Wars Rebels Season Two Trailer

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Earlier today, the official Star Wars Youtube Channel released our first look at season 2 of Star Wars: Rebels. The footage originally aired at Star Wars Celebration Anaheim earlier today. Lucasfilm has done an outstanding job this year of releasing a lot of content coming out of Celebration online for fans not able to attend the convention. Check out the video below or here.

Stay tuned to Yoda’s News for more coverage of Star Wars Celebration Anaheim! What do you think of this first look at the next season of Rebels? Share your thoughts with us on Twitter! You can follow the author of this article at @arybak89 (Alex Rybak) and you can follow the official Yoda’s News handle at @yodasnews.

Collectibles Panel Gallery (SWCA 2015)

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Earlier today, at the “Behind-the-Scenes” stage of Star Wars Celebration, fans got a look at the past and future of Star Wars collectibles. Notable companies in the realm of collecting such as eFX, Gentle Giant, Kotobukiya, and Sideshow Collectibles took the stage and engaged the audience in an exciting panel. While thousands packed into the convention center in Anaheim, California, thousands more got to watch online via the live streaming service provided by the official Star Wars website. The panel was hosted by Anita Castellar, the fangirl responsible for managing the countless licenses of toys, collectibles, and electronics at Lucasfilm. Check out these awesome stills from panel that show a remarkable history of collectibles in the world of Star Wars, in addition to some exciting new projects in the works.

Stay tuned to Yoda’s News for more coverage of SWCA 2015! What do you think of these awesome images? Share your thoughts with us on Twitter! You can follow the author of this article at @arybak89 (Alex Rybak) and you can follow the official Yoda’s News handle at @yodasnews.

 

 

Images from The Force Awakens panel at Star Wars Celebration

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This morning at 10am PDT, The Force Awakens panel kicked off at Celebration. While I wasn’t there, I was able to watch the live-stream of the event and grab some awesome screenshots. Check them out below and keep tuned to Yoda’s News for continuing coverage!

The Force Awakens panel.

The Force Awakens panel.

J.J. Abrams poses with Chewbacca on set.

J.J. Abrams poses with Chewbacca on set.

Shot of a brand new desert planet (not Tatooine).

Shot of a brand new desert planet (not Tatooine).

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Hasbro has discontinued the current Saga Legends figure assortments

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Longtime YN sponsor Andrew’s Toyz reports in:

Hasbro has discontinued the current Saga Legends figure assortments and will not be making additional shipments. We may receive some cases of Wave 7, but we are not sure at this time. While unconfirmed, this is likely to devote resources towards The Force Awakens product line.

We have also confirmed that EE has stopped taking orders on these as well!

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Heir to the Jedi: A First Person Review of the Scion’s Journey

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Heir To The Jedi by Kevin Hearne, used with permission from Random House Publishing

Heir To The Jedi by Kevin Hearne, used with permission from Random House Publishing

Because I write fiction, I don’t write autobiography, and to me they are very different things. The first-person narrative is a very intimate thing, but you are not addressing other people as ‘I’ – you are inhabiting that ‘I.’

-Kate Atkinson

 To date, only one other Star Wars novel (I, Jedi) has portrayed the galaxy far, far away in first person. First person narratives can be some of the trickiest to accomplish, as it requires the author to become a character on such an intimate level. They can also, if executed correctly, give the most rewarding experience to the reader. Kevin Hearne masterfully achieved this goal in Heir to the Jedi, providing the galaxy with the most insightful and profound chronicle  inside the head of Luke Skywalker to date.

Almost forty years has passed since we were first introduced to the farm boy destined for greatness. Over that time period, countless books and comics have attempted to capture a true representation of Luke Skywalker, to varying degrees of success. I for one, was somewhat cautious when I read the publisher’s summary for Heir to the Jedi, as I felt it was something that had been covered ad nauseam.

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Luke Skywalker, Heir to the Jedi

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Heir to the Jedi, by Kevin Hearne

Heir to the Jedi, by Kevin Hearne

 

In August 2012, Heir to the Jedi was announced at Star Wars Celebration VI. At the time, the novel was without a final title, and simply described as a first-person story about Luke Skywalker after the events of A New Hope. This was somewhat intriguing, as only one other Star Wars book has been written in first-person to date: I, Jedi. Shortly after the book’s initial announcement, Jennifer Heddle (the Senior Editor of LucasBooks) stated on Twitter that Hearne had submitted an outline for the novel. She also boasted that the outline was very funny, a somewhat unique description for a Star Wars novel.

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NEW Charitee – Chris VS Chris by Bamboota

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Via TeeFury.com (not Star Wars but pretty cool):

To celebrate the epic Super Bowl bet placed between Chris Pratt and Chris Evans, this tee is available for $11 until February 10th.  A portion of proceeds will benefit the charities that the actors are contributing to – Christopher’s Haven and Seattle’s Children’s Hospital. Click Here or below to order!

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Lucas Museum Bogged Down In Negotiations

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The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art has had a somewhat troubled history and constant hurdles have put the project behind; much like the construction of the second Death Star. The Lucas Museum is a dream from the inspiring creator of the Star Wars franchise, George Lucas, who aims to focus on narrative art to engage the public in his new venture. As a veteran storyteller, narrative art is something that Lucas is quite intimate with. Narrative art is the idea of using art to tell a story, either as a singular moment of an event, or a sequence that shows an ongoing story. Lucas has always had a passion for narrative art, and the Lucas Museum is the perfect outlet for him to share his passion with the world.

Unfortunately, the project has been met with many roadblocks (or blockades perhaps?) over the past year. Last summer, the city of Chicago won the bid to have the $300-million museum placed in it’s city, after Lucas was unable to obtain his desired city: San Francisco.  Lucas acquired 17-acres of property on Lake Michigan, a location currently occupied by two parking lots. The image below shows the planned museum location, which is projected to be opened in 2018.

Map of planned Lucas Museum in Chicago, IL, via www.LucasMuseum.org

Map of planned Lucas Museum in Chicago, IL, via www.LucasMuseum.org

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Atomacon 2014 Recap

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This past weekend marked the second annual Media Arts Convention in Charleston, South Carolina: Atomacon 2014. The convention is described as, “a nonprofit educational corporation dedicated to creating awareness of, and appreciation for science fiction, fantasy, and science through related literary and other popular art forms. This is accomplished primarily through a convention to celebrate the history of and on-going contribution of science fiction, fantasy, science and related genres to art and popular culture.” This year, our very own Alex Rybak of Yoda’s News was invited to not only cover the event, but to partake in several of the panels. Alex Rybak joined Atomacon guest of honor and legendary Star Wars author, John Jackson Miller, for many of these panels.

The convention kicked off on the afternoon on Friday the 14th of November. Alex Rybak moderated for John Jackson Miller’s main panel “Tales from a Galaxy Far, Far Away,” in which the two discussed Miller’s recent work in the Star Wars galaxy. They also were both panelists on another panel titled, “The Future of Star Wars.” On this panel, John and Alex talked about the state of the Star Wars franchise and fielded questions from the audience. The two were able to offer a wide variety of perspectives as John is heavily involved in the franchise and Alex has covered it extensively for years. They also talked in great detail about the recent retooling of the Star Wars Expanded Universe.

Both Alex Rybak and John Miller were also panelists on a variety of other panels outside the realm of Star Wars that covered topics such the history of comic books, podcasting, Star Trek, and creating alien societies. In addition, Alex Rybak got to help John Miller with his merchants booth this year.

In addition to Yoda’s News, the legendary 501st Legion and R2-D2 Builder’s club were present to entertain fans. Yoda’s News also was happy to support Atomacon this year via advertising in the program. We want to thank everyone at Atomacon, John Jackson Miller, and Janet Lannantuono for their hospitality.

Yoda's News advertisement in the Atomacon 2014 program.

Yoda’s News advertisement in the Atomacon 2014 program.

As Alex Rybak was very active during the convention assisting John Jackson Miller and running his own panels, we reached out to others at the convention for more photos to share. Some images above are shared, with permission, by City Light Studios “Section C” and Randy Richards. We appreciate their willingness to share their images here and encourage our audience to follow the links to see more photographs of the event. Check out the official Atomacon website, here, to find out more about Atomacon 2015. Were you at Atomacon this year? Share your experiences and pictures with us on Twitter at @arybak89 (Alex Rybak) and @yodasnews (Yoda’s News).