Vader Versus Kenobi Re-imagined

if Star Wars has taught us anything, it's that it's unwise to mess around with the old ways and you always stay true to your fan base.

Taking on something milllions of people love and hold dear with a flippant "I can update this with something better' is usually a good way of destroying any semblance of credibility you might of have before people laugh you out of town.

However, when someone comes along and honors the traditions laid down before it, understands the nuances of what made it all so appealing and thoroughly understands the narrative then, and only then can you breath a sigh of relief.

Enter Star Wars SC 38 (the SC stands for 'scene') the pinnacle moment when Darth Vader and Obi Wan Kenobi clash sabres in Episode IV, Star Wars A New Hope on the Death Star.

This re-imagined masterpiece of VFX and live action stunt work is creating a ton of buzz online and rightly so, it takes the original concept of Vader and Kenobis showdown up to another level entirely. Face tracking, sound, Video effects and camera angles are all brought together to amazing effect to deliver the fight that should have been.

Why is is so good? - First off it understands the relationship between Vader and Kenobi, after Anakin's humiliating and excruciatingly painful defeat by Kenobi on Mustafar, Anakin becomes Vader. His only way to survive the crippling injuries and pain is to be forever entombed in a suit that delivers constant life support, his missing limbs replaced by advanced mechanical prosthetics. The pent up rage and anger that Vader has for Kenobi is interpreted beautifully and honors the fighting styles of Shien and Djem So or 'form V' as Star Wars purists would know it as, a combination of double handed gripped sabre combat with powerful attack and defensive parry's.

many would argue that Vader has always fought two handed, true, in the origianl trilogy he did, but Rogue One also hinted at a single handed style that combined force attacks with his left hand as it does in this latest SC 38 re-imagined clip. Since Anakins twizzle twirling showboating and brash open form of combat is clearly evident in the prequels it would be safe to assume that the raw angr that Vader exudes in this clip would see him revert back to an aggressive fighting style that brings a combination of single and double handed sabre moves to bear. 

The clip was created by FXitinPost. be sure to check out ihis YouTube channel dedicated to creating unique story-driven visual effects and action short films. Check out www.fxitinpost.com for more information.

 

You Won't Believe How Much Sir Alec Guiness Made From Star Wars as Obi Wan Kenobi

                          Art By Ryan Valle: https://rvalleart.myportfolio.com/

One of the most lucrative Hollywood deals ever made by an actor was the one Sir Alec Guiness penned on a contract with his agent Dennis Van Thal which stated that in waving a fee for the role as the wise old Jedi Knight Obi Wan Kenobi he would take a 2% cut of the gross royalties. These royalties would also be in place on the sequels, The Empire Strikes Back, released in 1980, and Return of the Jedi, in 1983 as well as royalties from video sales.

However, Sir Alec could have earned himself even more money had George Lucas kept the verbal agreement he had mentioned to the late actor in a phone call the night before Star Wars was released back in 1977, so confident was Lucas that the film would be a success due to the positive test audience screenings, and so appreciative as Lucas was from the script changes and suggestions from a seasoned actor like Guiness that Lucas called the actor to offer him a raise which would  mean his royalty rate would instead be %2.5. But as everyone knows, unless you have it in writing a deal isn’t a deal until it’s in black and white, unfortunately that extra percentage never materialized.

Star Wars of course went on to be a monster hit at the box office globally and by 2009, nine years after the actors passing it was reported that the films had earned Sir Alec in the region of £56million, with royalty cheques continuing to roll in.

When the Star Wars movies were re-released in 1997 the late actor said “I still have a contract which says that I earn a percentage cut from the film and, of course, I’m very pleased about it.”

It’s no secret that George Lucas was on a small budget when he made Star Wars but was equally looking for actors who could carry scenes and add gravitas to their given roles, Peter Cushing was an experienced actor of stage and screen and commanded a daily fee of £2,000, which at the time was more than Mark Hamills daily fee of £1,000 and Harrison Ford who was earning around £750 per day. James Earl Jones who voiced Darth Vader had been advised by his agent at the time that Star Wars probably wouldn’t amount to much and to “just take the money and run”. It’s also been hinted that technicians who worked on the film turned down opportunities for gross royalties too.

The royalties for just the original Star Wars movies will have made Sir Alec Guiness more than his combined earnings from 40 other film roles over a career of sixty years. This included The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), for which he won an Oscar, not to mention other notable films such as David leans Lawrence of Arabia as well as A Passage to India, The Man in The White Suit and Oliver Twist. 
Eighteen years on and his presence in the original trilogy is as as strong now as it ever was.

The New Stormtrooper Helmet Star Wars fans Are Crazy For

Star Wars Black Series Full Size Stormtrooper Helmet

If you’re a regular reader of my blog you may recall I took the plunge on purchasing a life size replica of a Stormtrooper helmet last year. Overall I was pretty happy with it, close inspection of it highlights the fact it’s a home based kit made to order, the biggest giveaway of that being I have to turn the helmet sideways to get it over my head because the mould was probably squashed somehow and the painted on elements are okay..ish - but it’s functional in that it sits on my desk as an ornament and that is the only reason I bought it.

I have an absolute obsession with the original Stormtroopers – I even have a Pinterest page dedicated to them here

Last year HASBO released the Kylo Ren cosplay replica helmet as part of its Black Series, an impressive mould and likeness from the movie, it gave cosplayers the leg up they needed when looking to recreate the Force Awakens ultimate villain.

Now on the horizon (launching just in time for Halloween 2016) Hasbro have followed up the impressive Kylo Ren mask with the Imperial Stormtrooper full 1:1 scale helmet.

Now  the armour purists out there who know the sculpt differences in the helmets between ANH, ESB and ROTJ helmets (add to that now Rogue One sculpts) and the arguments for and against Andrew Ainsworth moulds it will be interesting to see how these are received – early indications from looking at the Replica Prop Forum comments suggest that this one for the price and accuracy is a winner. For many collectors the EFX version is the holy grail for costumers and collectors.

One of the standout differences with the Black Series version to all that have gone before it and are approved by the current 501^st costuming ‘rules’ is the indents along the sides, in the original trilogy of films these hash / chevron lines are always represented by decals (see, we’re in real nerd country now) , however in Rogue One these are clearly indented...and straight not curved (see photo from Rogue One costume display below) and painted like the Black Series version which does suggest that this is a Rogue One Stormtrooper lid.

 Above: Rogue One Stormtrooper costume, note indents along side of helmet

The other difference is that the right hand eye socket doesn’t have the bump on the lower eye lid, the small movie imperfection that was in the original mould when the Stormtrooper helmets were created, collectors and 501^st troopers swear by the eye bump ( see below) as an indication of movie authenticity. See I told you it was the small things. Anyway, this is completely absent on the new Hasbro Black series lid but 90% of the collectors who are going to grab this probably don’t really care.

Throw into that a half decent voice changer this is perhaps as close as anyone is going to get to an affordable and movie accurate Stormtrooper lid.

Above: ABS plastic, sharp detail and and a movie accurate sculpt, what's not to like!?

Amazon is listing the helmets now with a launch date of 28th Oct.

A $4 Batman toy Made me $109 in one click

While rescuing my beloved comic book collection from the ravages of hungry mice in my garage I happened to come across an old box I'd long since forgotten about.
When  I moved house 11 years ago I just packed up all my stuff, comics and toy crap and stored it in the loft and garage, totally forgot I had most of it.

A TV program came on the TV one night called Toy Hunter, the one with that enthusiastic American toy nut Jordan Hembrough, you know the guy, he's a walking toy encyclopedia but probably the last person you want diving through all your loft stuff just in case he finds that 1989 porn stash you have hidden under your Bionic Man figurine (yeah I had that too, the one with the roll up flesh sleeve).

Jordan Toy Hunter Man goes rooting through this guys garage and plucks out a Combat Belt Batman with this, " I just found gold" look all over his face. This particular Batman toy he found was from the animated series. 

The Batman animated series aired back in the early 90's, produced by Warner Bros the show ran for 85 episodes from 1992 to 1995, Kevin Conroy voiced Batman and Bruce Wayne and Mark Hamill (yes, Luke Skywalker himself) voiced Jack Napier and the Joker. As with most WB licences at that time toys were a big part of the shows merchandising.

Batman figurines have been around for decades, ever since Bob Kane first drafted his character and the demand for toys and merchandise grew as the evolution of comic book culture.

 Batman comes in all different guises, even if he never wore any of the different outfits licensors and toy manufacturers always look at ways to squeeze the dollar as far as it'll go - some are actually pretty cool ideas, others are, well, not so cool. (Infrared Batman came in a red suit...a red one!) Ninja Power Pack Batman came with Robin and the black and gold garb was just as weird as it probably sounds.Ground Assault Batman had a Green Goblin inspired foot glider thingy or “Motorized Turbo-Powered Ground Jet!” as its officially called.Then there was SkyDive Batman but last but not least was the little gem called "Combat Belt Batman".

Combat Belt Batman had a grappling hook, far more sensible if you ask me, I mean the man climbs all over peoples houses and places of business at night dressed as a Bat..man. of course he's going to need a grappling hook. Anyway, at the time this figure sold for around $4, or at least, that's the dollar equivalent of what the price label I had on mine was when I pulled it from the box in my garage.

Mr walking toy encyclopedia Toy Hunter man says "do you know how much this is worth?", garage man shrugs, adjusts his thick frame glasses and stands there mouth agape waiting for the punchline.

"This is a Combat Belt Batman and worth over $100 in this condition" says Toy Hunter  Man - two parts of that description went in an nestled their way in the back of my mind, "Combat Belt Batman" and "$100". I knew I had one and set about raiding the garage the following day.

Long story short I posted that little guy in mint condition up on Ebay for $104 and within 3 days sold him to a buyer in Devon, England. The best single click that earned me $104.

Ok so you got this far, there has to be a morale of the storty, well sort of, if like me you have no real attachment to some of the crap in your garage, primarily toys -  do yourself a massive favor and see what you have lying around, I know the Star Wars stuff has always had a collectors price tag attached to most of it, especially the 1976 Kenner stuff but I had absolutely no idea I had $104 sitting in a box in the shape of Batman with a grappling hook. no wonder for years the Chinese economy was booming these guys probably churned out thousands of these figures yet an internet search now will show you now that these as pretty rare to come by.

See, now tell your wife sitting around watching TV is a good way to earn money and don't let her touch your toys!

Collectors Resources

https://www.collectors-club-of-great-britain.co.uk/

Toy Collectors Price Guide 2016 via Amazon

Toy Collector Network 

27 Toys you threw out that are now worth a fortune via Buzzfeed