Star Wars May The Force Be With You Button

Star Wars May The Force Be With You Button


Vintage "May the Force be with You" button, 2.5" pin back badge with no copyright or manufacturer info. This is most likely a giveaway promotional item. One source that said this button was handed out to fans at movie theatres, which if true would make it one of the earliest bits of merchandising for Star Wars. It is strange that there's no copyright info on it. Another source claims that this was also manufactured by Factors. Whatever the truth, it is a rare and early piece.

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Yoga for Star Wars Fans

Seen in Sacramento, CA - "Padme Yoga Center."  Admit it, for a second you just got visions of Natalie Portman doing the downward dog, didn't you?

There is actually such a thing as Star Wars Yoga, as seen on the humor blog You Will Not Believe, feature such poses as "Collapsed AT-AT" and "X-Wing Extended."  It's the perfect crossover of Star Wars nerds and Yoga geeks.



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May the Force be with Katie

Katie, photo from ChicagoNow.Com

Here's a sweet and heartwarming story just in time for the holidays... a first grade girl who loves Star Wars gets made fun of by some boy classmates for having a Star Wars water bottle.  Her mom, who has a blog, recounts the story and asks for female fans of Star Wars to chime in via comments.  The story goes viral on Twitter, with people using the hashtag #MayTheForceBeWithKatie to show support.

The response was overwhelming... after 1202 comments on the original post, a second page was set up.  The support even extended to official channels, with The Official Star Wars Blog posting in support of Katie.

Chop Sabers (Chopsticks)

With Star Wars merchandising, it can easily be said, "can you believe they made THAT?!"  And to be fair, there have been times when there simply was way too much crap, such as the 1982-1985 period surrounding Return of the Jedi, and in 1999 when The Phantom Menace brought Star Wars back into movie theatres.

Currently there's an abundance of merchandising, and mostly the licensing people from Lucasfilm are doing a good job approving cool stuff for hardcore and casual fans.  One of the coolest officially licensed items debuted at the 2009 Comic-Con, Star Wars Chop Sabers.

Currently available in the US for $12.99 per pair from ThinkGeek, you can choose from six different styles.  Plus, these make great gifts because who can complain about getting multiples of eating utensils?

R2-D2 Inspired Products

Movie and DVD website NextMovie has a fun blog post about the Strangest R2D2-inspired products:

If only toys were the limit. Nearly every character in the 1977 film has a cottage industry of product surrounding them. But we’ve always been partial to R2D2, the diminutive robotic friend of Luke Skywalker, and the myriad products he’s inspired.

The post has some great pictures of an R2-D2 Soy Sauce Dispenser, Fish Tank, Projection Clock and more.  Check out the post here - you'll be surprised at some of the stuff they made!

Pictured in this post, a UK Star Wars Bath Bubbles from 1977, courtesy of Empirestrikesbath.com.  It is truly amazing how far Star Wars licensing went.  What's the craziest Star Wars Merchandising you've seen?

The Force is Unleashed today.

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II is now out, and the reviews are coming in.  Joystiq gives it just three out of five stars, calling it "a desperate cash grab" (ouch!).  Games Radar is more generous, giving it eight out of ten and giving the game credit for fixing a lot of problems that were in the original.

I still haven't played through the demo, but will probably get this game.  How about you?  Did you get it?  Will you?  What's your review?

The Guardian visits

In conjunction with the release of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II today, UK newspaper The Guardian is launching a multi-part behind the scenes report of a visit to Lucasarts.  Click on the photo (nice welcoming party!) for part one of the story by Keith Stuart.

Amazing R2-D2 Bathing Suit

 

From Black Milk, available for $85

The Force Unleashed II Coming Next Week

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II comes to PCs, Xbox, Playstation 3 and Wii next week.  I just downloaded the demo on Xbox and it's pretty cool.  The original Force Unleashed was a huge hit.  The official release from LucasArts says of the sequel:

"With Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II, the epic story continues as players once again assume the role of the devastatingly powerful Starkiller - Darth Vader's secret apprentice set during the largely unexplored era between Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith and Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope."

The demo is pretty cool.. the gameplay is great and the environments look incredible.  Even the cutscenes and voice acting will please even the most die hard fans, though I did chuckle at one of the Stormtroopers yelling "Man down!" after I shot the trooper next to him.  I wonder how many times in the original movies that would have been yelled!

Somewhat related, I'm auctioning off a few Xbox 360 games on eBay:

*NEW SEALED* Final Fantasy XIII  (Xbox 360, 2010) 
Halo 3 ODST & Forza 3 Game Pack Xbox 360 -- USED ONCE

Dark Forces Promo Poster and CD-ROM 1995

Star Wars Dark Forces Promo Poster and CD-ROM 1995

Star Wars is huge now, with Star Wars: The Clone Wars bringing a whole new generation to the franchise, and the upcoming Star Wars: The Old Republic MMO bound to attract new gamers to Star Wars too.  It's interesting to look back at Dark Forces, one of the early big video game hits from Lucasfilm/Lucasarts.  If you're unfamiliar with the game from 1995, there's a great wikipedia entry about Dark Forces:

Dark Forces is a first-person shooter (FPS). The player controls protagonist Kyle Katarn from a first-person perspective, with a focus on combat against various creatures and characters from the Star Wars universe, though the game also includes environmental puzzles and hazards. Dark Forces follows a central storyline outlined in mission briefings and cut scenes. Each mission includes specific objectives which are related to the story. The missions take place in a variety of environments across the Star Wars universe, including a Star Destroyer interior, Jabba the Hutt's space yacht, and the planet Coruscant where the player must infiltrate a computer vault.

It was a great game on the PC and Mac, unfortunately the ports to the Playstation didn't turn out very well.  Before the prequels came out, Hasbro even made some figures from it.  Pictured are a promotional giveaway poster and demo disc from the game now available for auction on eBay: Star Wars Dark Forces Promo Poster and CD-ROM.

Old Catalog Pages from Plaid Stallions

Plaid Stallions is a website and blog that chronicles the 70's through the pages of old catalog pages.  Of course, there are some great Star Wars catalogs showcased there... here's a nice page from Kenner's Catalog debuting the original Star Wars Action Figures:

If you were a kid under ten in the late seventies you were witness to one of the biggest phenoms the toy industry had seen, the Kenner Star Wars line. Even though it was late for Christmas, Kenner came out with both barrels the following year utilizing their master toy license to the maximum with pages of product that made my eight year old heart flutter.

via Plaid Stallions

A Cool Star Wars Cake

When it comes to cakes, we've all seen a flower birthday cake, custom cake designs, and cake toppers in all styles and characters. What about Star Wars cakes?

Custom cake made by Donna Makes Cakes

Found this via a cool blog called Cake Wrecks:

John and I are having a blast at the Star Wars Celebration here in Orlando this weekend, so I figured I'd keep the theme going with today's Sweets. (Although I'll try to keep the Admiral Ackbar jokes to a minimum.)

Cool stuff in that blog entry about some amazing Star Wars custom cakes. Anyone seen custom wedding cake toppers that were Star Wars themed?

Star Wars Oral-B Toothbrushes

Star Wars Oral-B Toothbrushes, Loose
Originally uploaded by briankameoka

In 1983, the Oral-B company went to down with the Star Wars license, creating toothbrushes from Return of the Jedi. In addition to being sold in retail stores, in carded and boxed versions, these were marketed to pediatric dentists. Dental practices could order toothbrushes, a "Dental Health Adventure book" (small comic featuring Star Wars characters), reminder postcards with movie stills, and a Star Wars plaque fighter membership card.

These days the Star Wars toothbrushes are readiliy available via eBay, though interestingly, they are actually harder to find in loose condition, making it that much harder to equip your Snowspeeder Toothbrush Holder.

via EmpireStrikesBath

Cool T-Shirt on Sale

LightSaver by Matthijs Smit

Threadless, the cool online T-Shirt store I blogged about before has this cool design, called "LightSaver" on sale for just $12.

Jeremy Bulloch tells Vanity Fair that Boba Fett opened a Hooters in the Sarlacc Pit

Jeremy Bulloch
Originally uploaded by Official Star Wars Blog

Vanity Fair has an interview with Jeremy Bulloch, the actor who played Boba Fett. Vanity Fair is doing a series of interviews and stories online in conjunction with the release of the new book, The Making of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back.

He talks a bit about the popularity of the character with fans, and about the many questions he gets asked. One of the common ones is what does he think of Boba Fett falling into the Sarlacc Pit in ROTJ:

“I stay down in the pit as long as I want. There are bounty hunters falling down there every day of the week and I’ve now opened a bar. I’ve opened a Hooters.” 

Read the entire Vanity Fair article here. 

Interview with the Emperor

"Lord Palpatine: you know him as the benevolent ruler of the Galactic Empire, a man who works tirelessly for the happiness and security of every citizen. Death Star PR goes behind the Force lightning in an exclusive one-on-one interview with the charismatic leader, visionary and self-made Galaxy-trotting playboy trillionaire."


via Death Star PR

Jed Eye Chart by David Schwen

Jed Eye Chart
Originally uploaded by David Schwen

Before you head out for the Lasik eye clinic, summon a little help from the Force to test yourself.  Use this original trilogy inspired chart and you wont have to squint when watching your Star Wars Clone Wars DVD.  This cool "Jed Eye" (get it) design is by David Schwen, and is currently up for voting at T-Shirt site Threadless, which means if it gets a high score from the votes, it may get made into a shirt and/or print.

"But with the blast shield down, I can't see a thing!"

Star Wars Stuff: What Halloween Costume is For You?

It's Star Wars Costume time!  The big trick-or-treat day is just weeks away and so your Halloween costumes better be shaping up.  I previously blogged about the Star Wars Yoda Fleece Toddler Costume, but here are some more options.  First, how much do you want to spend?  If you're ready to drop big bucks for an awesome costume (and don't mind taking out a second mortgage!), spring for this deluxe Boba Fett costume which will run you about a grand (yes, a thousand dollars):

Star Wars Supreme Edition Boba Fett Adult Costume Boba Fett is a clone of bounty hunter Jango Fett and is hired by Darth Vader to track down the Millennium Falcon. He is the personification of danger and mystery and appears to be of human male

If that's a bit out of your price range, for under $100 you can get a decent Darth Vader:

Star Wars Deluxe Darth Vader Adult Costume He is evil personified, Darth Vader, the Star Wars anti-hero we love to hate and hate to love. Feel the power in this awe-inspiring deluxe Darth Vader adult costume with the iconic mask. Let the

And for the kids' Halloween Star Wars costumes, there are many ready-made, affordable options:

Star Wars Deluxe Jedi Knight Child Costume (pictured) Star Wars Ahsoka Child Costume Star Wars Darth Maul Child Costume Star Wars Deluxe Padme Child Costume

Star Wars Stuff: Jeremy Messersmith song gets cool music video

Filmmaker Eric Power made an incredible paper craft music video for Jeremy Messersmith's song 'Tattooine.' Really cool.

Darth Vader Galactic Body Wash, two variations

Darth Vader Galactic Body Wash, two variations
Originally uploaded by briankameoka
Variations are a big deal to hardcore collectors... I discovered a variation in the 1999 Star Wars Body Wash. The Darth Vader Body Wash come with artwork featuring a TIE Fighter on one version, and the Death Star on the other.

This photo is also available on Empire Strikes Bath, a Tumblr blog dedicated to my Star Wars bath collection.