Author Archives: Chris

Top 5 Lightsaber Battles – Number 4

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We have all loved lightsaber battles since we first saw Ben (Obi-Wan) Kenobi ignite his lightsaber against Darth Vader in Star Wars in 1977. I mean everybody loves the lightsaber battles right? Of course we do. So I am going to do a short series of articles on my Top 5 lightsaber battles from the Star Wars films. I am not going to include the Clone Wars or Star Wars Rebels, just the films. So today we have #4 on my list and why I think this battle is the 4th best lightsaber battle

#4 Yoda vs. Count Dooku

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I put this battle at #4 before the Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan vs. Darth Maul fight because well it’s freaking Yoda. Even though this is a short battle, we get enough of Yoda fighting to digest. They didn’t give us to much or to little.

I love the way Yoda walks into the room slow like Yoda does, groaning as he walks. George Lucas gives us that old western style move with Yoda sliding his cloak back with his hand to reveal his Lightsaber. Then uses the Force to draw it into his hand and gives us a little spin with the saber before striking his pose for battle. Seeing this for the first time was so exciting for me, not knowing how Yoda would fight. I love the fact that they made him jumping around all over the place. This style makes sense for his character. To me Count Dooku is in over his head with Yoda, because he is quickly looking for a way out. He uses the Force to pull down a huge metal structure on top of Obi-Wan and Anakin to force Yoda to make a decision. Yoda decides to help Obi-Wan and Anakin instead of continuing to attack Dooku. Of course Dooku uses this to escape.

Come back Friday to see what #3 is.

Top 5 Lightsaber Battles

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We have all loved lightsaber battles since we first saw Ben (Obi-Wan) Kenobi ignite his lightsaber against Darth Vader in Star Wars in 1977.  I mean everybody loves the lightsaber battles right? Of course we do. So I am going to do a short series of articles on my Top 5 lightsaber battles from the Star Wars films. I am not going to include the Clone Wars or Star Wars Rebels, just the films. So today we are gonna start off with #5 on my list and why I think this battle is the 5th best lightsaber battle

#5  Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon vs. Darth Maul

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I love this battle because this is the first time we get to see more than two characters battling with lightsabers. When The Phantom Menace was released we had only seen the Original Trilogy and all of those battles were simply choreographed with only two characters.  This was the first battle we didn’t get any smack talk before and during the fight. This was the first battle to use more action with flips, leaps and general athletic moves.  The music along with the vocals used for this fight really steps up the action and the emotion of the fight. This starts out with Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan fighting Darth Maul together for part of the battle, but Darth Maul soon knocks Obi-Wan off a level to separate them and give him an advantage with his awesome double-bladed lightsaber. This battle really shows some emotion once Obi-Wan gets caught between the red lighted sections and has to watch Darth Maul stab Qui-Gon through the chest. This moment directly mirrors Obi-Wan’s death by the hands of Darth Vader in A New Hope, that is why we get Obi-Wan screaming NO the same way Luke did. At this point Darth Maul has a lot of confidence in himself and the Dark Side waiting for Obi-Wan to get free from the red lighted sections. Once that field drops we see Obi-Wan come at Darth Maul with such anger and aggression that Darth Maul soon realizes he might be at the disadvantage, but Obi-Wan’s anger almost gets him killed. Hanging for his life I believe in that moment Obi-Wan learns a lesson about controlling your anger. Cutting Darth Maul in half just tops off this great lightsaber battle.

Come back Wednesday to see what #4 is.

ASK JAKKS – May 2015

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Scott Neitlich is the new Director of Action Figure and Collector product at JAKKS Pacific.  Last month, he reached out to select Star Wars sites and gave us the opportunity to participate in an Q&A Monthly session called ASK JAKKS, here is our first segment.  Enjoy, and if you have a question you want us to ask Scott, let us know!

Chris from YN: Do you have any plans for other Star Wars product lines besides the various action figures and flash lights so far?  Anything that you can share with us?

Scott: At this time our Star Wars focus in on our Big Figs lines which includes 20” (18”), 31” and 48” figures as well as the Flashlights. We do have some amazing expansions of our Big Fig lines and you can look for more details at the summer conventions this year!

C: With the various size action figures we are getting the Original Trilogy, Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars Rebels, and the EU so far. With such a variety on so few figures so far, how are you choosing who to make? Do you have a specific focus?

S: For retail releases in Star Wars we tend to focus on the most well known characters that will appeal to moms/dad and their kids, like Scout Troopers, Darth Vader, Ezra, Chewbacca and Boba Fett. For collector specific executions we hope to dig a little deeper in the character selection as well as offer more detail and accessories. We hope to have more news about collector specific Star Wars figures later this year!

C: We know there will be The Force Awakens product coming, can you tell us when we will start seeing those?

S: Sorry but we cannot comment on Episode 7 product at this time.

 

New LEGO Buildable Figures

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LEGO just announced 2 additional LEGO Star Wars large scale Buildable Figures that are launching in September. General Grevious and Obi-Wan Kenobi!

The Battle for the galaxy is going to get bigger! Expanding the way children can build and play within the Star Wars universe, new LEGO® Star Wars™ large scale Buildable Figures are launching in September. The first sets featuring Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker were unveiled at New York Toy Fair in February, with four more being unveiled this week at Star War Celebration.

The six sets are Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker Jedi Knight, General Grevious, Obi-Wan Kenobi Jango Fett and Commander Cody. The last four will be unveiled at Star Wars Celebration and all six models will be on display. Prices range from $19.99 to $34.99 and will be available in September 2015.

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A Long Time Ago in a Galaxy Far, Far Away…

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May 25th, 1977 a movie called ‘Star Wars’ was released and the world as we knew it changed forever.  How ‘Star Wars’ changed a seven year old kid.

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Growing up myself and my sister and two cousins would always spend the night with my Aunt Sue. That night was always a Friday night and then on Saturday she would always take us to a movie. As kids we would all get to stay together with her one weekend during the summer. The other times we would all take turns staying with my Aunt. This particular time it was my turn to spend the night by myself.

It was Friday evening and my Aunt was now home from work and she asked which movie I wanted to see tomorrow. She gave me the newspaper and I started looking at the movie ads. I came across this movie called ‘Star Wars’ and it looked cool. So I said “I want to see ‘Star Wars'”. My Aunt had heard good things about this movie and she also wanted to see it. My Aunt was a big movie buff and I got that from her growing up.

The only problem with me wanting to see ‘Star Wars’ was it was rated PG and me being only seven my mom had already told me I could only see a G rated movie. Well I really wanted to see this movie, especially since my Aunt wanted to as well. My Aunt said I had to call my mom and ask. So I called and asked, who are we kidding, I begged my mom. Well after my mom talked to my Aunt about it, she said yes. BIG mistake mom…lol

Saturday came and I was always excited to go to the movies with my Aunt, this day was no different. We got to the movie theater and I got my drink and popcorn. The movie starts and I see this A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away….. Then BAM, the ‘Star Wars’ logo comes up and starts fading back into the opening crawl. Then this ship comes barreling across the screen as if it is coming from over my head…WOW. Then this other ship even BIGGER than the first comes following it. I was hooked, I didn’t move from my seat the whole movie.

Once I got home I called my mom jacked up with excitement telling her all about it. Then I called my cousins to tell them about it. My Aunt and I were the first ones in the family to see ‘Star Wars’, but that didn’t last for long.

My cousins and myself were all hooked on ‘Star Wars’ for years after that with the toys and going to see the movies over and over again. For years after I loved playing with my ‘Star Wars’ toys alone in my bedroom having adventure after adventure. Anytime I was together with my cousins we did the same thing. Growing up ‘Star Wars’ was completely ingrained in me.

Years later my parents tell me I wouldn’t shut up about this movie until they took all of us back to see this movie again. On that day in May of 1977, I was completely changed by ‘Star Wars’, to say I was obsessed would be an understatement.

Well that is the story of the my first experience with ‘Star Wars’. What was your experience? (share with us on Facebook)

-Chris Hoth Iceplanet