Iconic creator of Darth Vader’s helmet available for a comment? Yes please!

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Your  opportunity to meet one of the most humble, sweet and talented men (along with his lovely wife) is available this weekend at Visioncon in Branson. Of course I am referring to Mr. Brian Muir who is the reason my childhood and most of yours too, and today’s pop culture has the iconic Darth Vader Helmet as well as the Stormtrooper, and many other facets of the Star Wars Universe… and still so much more. From Harry Potter to Guardians of the Galaxy to Little Shop of Horrors, Mr.Muir absolutely has earned the respect and title of “Living Legend”. Again I will stress to all of you within driving distance to take advantage of this possibly once in a lifetime opportunity to chat with him. This opportunity is so unique for our area folks, don’t miss it. Believe me when I say, you will be forever glad you did. I know I am. – Jim 02/26/17

P.S. I’ll be sharing more of my chat with Mr.Muir in a few days but for now please be a pal and help spread the word. This event is over Sunday February 27, 2017.

http://visioncon.net/content/guests/guests.php https://www.facebook.com/events/1836791509943697/ https://www.facebook.com/brian.muir.94 #visionconmo #visioncon #brianmuir #bransonmo #DarthVader #StarWars #LivingLegend

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Star Wars: Rebels Season 2 Returns – THIS is the Star Wars you’ve really been waiting for!

logoStar Wars: Rebels on Disney XD returns Wednesday night and is getting ever closer to becoming my most favorite outreach from the galaxy far, far away. If you haven’t seen the new trailer take a moment and marvel in all of its awesomeness…

Princess Leia? Yoda? The showdown between Ahsoka and Darth Vader? Yes, please! My mind is truly blown with the potential of these stories. And considering what the writers of the series have brought fourth so far, I feel really confident in their ability to continue bringing it. Same is true with Disney in their making the fan experience even more fantastic.

rexTo date, we already have an impressive collection of action figures and ships available, and thanks to a post from the Star Wars Rebels page on Facebook, there appears to be NEW figures coming as well. A giant smile crossed my face when I saw this new Captain Rex figure. Now I wonder who’s next in the line up? I hear Yoda whispering in my ear now; “Patience. It is time for the Jedi to chill as well.”

The pacification process is made easier by Disney by way of their Rebels website. Lots of fun to be hand with videos and games but also if you haven’t discovered the Rebel Resistance Kit, you are missing out.

be24fc2e0245cbd9a2d25e7527c3a68cce0f7c1dSo much fun stuff is waiting for you or the Rebels fan in your hidden Rebel base. I know I simply LOVE printable’s and the site teases a lot to play with: postcards, stickers, and a Ghost crew ID badge, BUT it appears there’s some sort of snafu in the system as of this posting and many of the promised pages aren’t available yet. I was really bummed that the Chopper papercraft is also on the fritz. (Step it up Disney, I’m talking really good about you. Walt old buddy, don’t let me down!)

I’m sure all will be well soon at the sight and regardless the series will be back up and running tomorrow night at 9:30 Eastern on Disney XD. Until then, I’ve got stuff to print, er I mean “work to do”. May the Force be with you!

Now, Go Play!

Jim 01/19/16

And check out these incredibly cool Maquette Statues that you can PRE-ORDER now from Entertainment Earth. Talk about POP! value. Love ’em if they do just “stand there” 😉 – Jim

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Solitaire with a Sith? Oh yeah!

Really cool dollar store find: Story of Darth Vader playing cards. This deck of 55 cards starts with Anakin and his creation, C3PO to the final “Ghost shot”. Really neat and really cheap. To note: there’s 3 Jokers, power of the Dark Side I guess and I just realized this, little whiny Anakin programmed 3PO… explains a lot when you think about it. Anyway, great distraction for $1. Now, Go Play! – Jim 12/07/15

Cool box art...
Cool box art…
It really does tell the full story of the rise and fall and redemption.
It really does tell the full story of the rise and fall and redemption.
Again, great artwork!
Again, great artwork!
 I'd take pictures of all of 'em but I really do have a life ;)
I’d take pictures of all of ’em but I really do have a life 😉
Never play poker with a Sith. The deck is stacked against you, kids!
Never play poker with a Sith. The deck is stacked against you, kids!

It’s May… Star Wars is the only reason this month exists, so…..

Star Wars Darth Vader Life-Size Kenner Action FigureTo celebrate the original Holy Trilogy for the month of May the Toy Box is going to turn the Today in History bit into a Star Wars Celebration bit. We’ll start today and the weekend by sharing with everyone first off the life size vintage Kenner style Darth Vader action figure. It’s crazy cool but equally crazy expensive. But if you’ve got $2,500 to plunk down I say go for it. But if your like me and don’t just enjoy this video 🙂

Take your action figure to work day; like that’s a switch.

I don’t know who came up with this novel idea but “Bravo!” to whoever you are! Being a firm believer in the power of play I whole heartedly endorse this concept. Actually I think everyday should be bring an action figure to work day. You never know who in your office could use the light hearted boost. Who knows you may even unleash a little magic.

In the spirit of the event I took some time to play a little myself. Hearkening back to the early days of the Toy Box and its “Saturday Morning Funnies” photo comics, I now present to you this fun little layout that made my day a little brighter. Plus it gave me a reason to play with my recently reviewed Darth Vader and Figures Toy Company reproduction Robin the Boy Wonder Mego. (click the pic to see the full size strip)

Power of the Dark Side

He’s basic, he’s black and let me say he’s bad @$$! (Shut yo mouth!)

Image6The 12 inch Darth Vader from Hasbro is one bad, straight armed dude! Being that I’m a retro kind of guy this figure really POP’s for me. No frills just a Darth Vader toy to be played with. The simplicity in the design (7 points of articulation) in my opinion lead to three strong points for me:

1. Durability – less parts = less potential for breakage,

ARTICULATION

2. Price Point – a much more reasonable MSRP than most other toy fare on the racks these days and the most important one is point

pricepoint

3. Imagination – Sure it can be frustrating that the Dark Lord of the Sith can’t bend at the knees or elbows but that doesn’t take away from the overall fun and play-ability of the toy. You have to use your imagination.

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Image5With the price point I am admittedly more forgiving on some of the details in design. Some things such as the molded plastic tunic looks clunky as part of the legs and the cloth cape could stand to be wider and cover the shoulders. Neither however are a deal breaker for me.

Image8The packaging is also impressive to me. Not so much in its graphics but in the boxes design. It’s one large sheet of cardboard that is folded. Simple and efficient. This can lead to damaging the package as far as collectors may note but at it’s core this is a toy to be played with. If you want a high end collectible this is not the toy for you. But if you want a toy that is meant to be just that then here you go.

Image4In the end I call this one a win. Mind you I’m not a big fan of the other selections from this line (Anakin, Obi Wan and a Clone Trooper) but that’s just me. If they released more of the original characters in this format I would pick them up though. Also to note, for me this is a very nice alternative to the Jumbo Vintage figures by Gentle Giant. I do like those and would like to pick up a Lando Calrissian as a novelty item to add to my collection but the price point is a killer for me in regards to collecting them all.

One final point that I like about this particular figure and line is that he and his other Star Wars Universe pals can play in scale with heroes from the Marvel Universe. The Titan Series featuring Thor, Captain America, Wolverine, Spider Man, Iron Man and a big honkin’ Hulk all feature the same limitations in design but who cares? They are in scale toys from various licenses and they match, just like my beloved Mego’s of old and the new Re-Mego’s from Bif Bang Pow and Figures Toy Company.

Maybe it’s OCD but I’ve always liked things to match. Even as a kid the style difference between Kenner’s Star Wars and Hasbro’s G.I. Joe Real American Hero figures may have been 3 & ¾ but were night and day in their make up. As far as the debate over the play-ability and which is better of those all I can say to that is… what style is the hottest pre sale item around? That’s right the Retro Kenner, baby!

Now Jules and Vader can team up for the most bad ass Blaxploitation flick in the history of awesome! Say “You don’t know the power of the dark side” again, mo$&*@%$^! I dare you, I double dog dare you mo$&*@%$^!”

Dark Side Pimps

Now, Go Play! (and May the Force be with You!)

Jim -02/28/14

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