Toy photography: one way to keep me busy/distracted.
Solo Friday
The Funkos I did manage to find…
Han and Chewie
Hey, how they get in here?I Don’t Want To Grow Up…
What can I say about Toys R Us closing that hasn’t already been said?
Like many folks, it’s a place where I grew up.
It’s the place where I grew up.
The Colma location was where my parents took us for birthday and Christmas gifts, and the occasional time for doing a good thing.
It’s where my friends and I would stop on road trips, in our 20s and 30s, and for me, through my 50s.
It’s where I think we got our first home computer, the ViC-20.
The big Space: 1999 Eagle One Transport, a Christmas gift.
Micronauts.
Most of the Star Wars toys that I ever owned, including the Millennium Falcon that my parents bought for me after telling me they would if I cleaned the house, which I did from top to bottom, to their shock, er, surprise that same day when they got home from work.
Great Mazinga, a birthday purchase after my godmother gave me money in my birthday card. I saw a $20 bill held by a paper clip attached to the card, and when I handed the clipped money to the cashier, she handed a second $20 bill back to me, along with the rest of my change. Talk about surprised, that was more money than I ever had, prior to getting and saving allowance from my parents.
The first Jeff Gordon die cast car that I owned, still sitting in my workstation at the office.
Midnight release of toys for the Star Wars prequels, I think I went to all three of those. They had them for the last three recent Star Wars films.
G.i. Joes and other action figures, from Megos to Marvel Legends.
Fisher-Price Little People.
Plastic model kits.
Estes Rockets, which my Dad was reluctant to let me get into, until he saw a launch at Candlestick Park when my brother was learning how to drive and park. Dad took me to Toys R Us to pick up the Estes Rockets X-15 starter kit, later that day.
I’m not 100% sure it’s where I got the Six Million Dollar Man, or the first Battlestar Galactica toys, or even various early Star Trek toys.
I do recall getting the 12″ Indiana Jones figure there in 1981, but never seeing the original 3.75″ Indy figures.
And the last thing I got from Toys R Us?
The Infinity Gauntlet.
With time I could go on and on about other items acquired from TRU over the years, but I won’t.
I’ll just say that I’ll be sad when the stores close. But the memories will stay with me.
I’m a Toys R Us kid. And I always will be.
Flashback: 1978
7 (ABC) STAR WARS – Drama
R2 is re-captured by the Jawas. Luke and the gang plot to rescue him.
When I was 11 years old, I imagined that instead of another Star Wars movie, we would get a Star Wars television series. This was around the time that we had had both a Logan’s Run TV series, and a Planet of the Apes TV series, so it made perfect sense, to me. I even came up with possible TV Guide listings, like the one above.
I was more than excited when we got a second movie, a couple of years later.
More time passed, and we got more movies, and finally some animated TV series.
But I had always hoped that a live-action series would happen one day.
And now it looks like it’s happening.
I know a lot of folks, including some friends, and of course the toxic fanbois, are decrying this, claiming that Disney is milking the franchise.
Fair enough.
But when George Lucas stated that he was leaving Lucasfilm in the best hands when he sold his company to Disney, what the hell did you think was going to happen? More periods of no movies? More books and comics that not everyone reads?
Movies and television are the most accessible form of entertainment. Lucas himself was too busy running the rest of his company to focus on Star Wars or even Indiana Jones, for that matter. So why not hand the reins over to a company that could commit the time and resources to create new Star Wars?
And for those who claim that Star Wars isn’t special anymore because of this ‘over exposure’: it was never special to you in the first place. Not in the way you think it should be.
All those years of nothing but the Expanded Universe, which was consumed by the most diehard fans, but not to the average MOVIEGOER, made for great discussion at conventions or the comic shop or online, but not over casual parties or dinner gatherings. And if you did find folks talking about Star Wars outside of ‘typical’ venues, they were sometimes in hushed tones, and possibly mocked by others present.
Disney has made Star Wars accessible to everyone. The jocks who would tease me back in the day are now sporting First Order t-shirts. The girls who would point and giggle at me and my friends when we were younger are sporting BB-8 purses and Rebel infinity scarves.
This is progress. Progress that I never thought I would see.
This is my own ‘It Gets Better’ moment.
So when the announcement came this morning that Jon Freaking Favreau was signed on to produce and write a live-action Star Wars TV series, I cried.
Cried because another dream from childhood was coming alive. And this one is a doozy.
I can’t make anyone change how they feel about anything, particularly Star Wars in this case, but I can sure as hell bask in the joy of this.
STAR WARS TV IS HAPPENING
I had to double check to see if I typed that right. Damn these tears in my eyes.
Imperial Assault
This is one of those games that I rarely played because it didn’t have a solo player option. There have been homebrew instructions for it, but I never got around to trying them.
Recently Fantasy Flight Games released a mobile app for this game that allows for 1-4 players to run a campaign. I downloaded it and finally got a chance to play with it.
I played the tutorial, and learned that I needed a refresher in the basic rules.
We’ll see how often I get around to this game.
Maybe they’ll add porgs.
Still Quiet
A Reminder
Book Review: Chewie and the Porgs
Third: Time for Criticism
My first thought after watching the The Last Jedi on Thursday night was “what a mess”.
Seriously.
But I didn’t dwell on that.
My second thought was that it’s the 21st century, I’m 50 years old, and Star Wars films are still a thing. This cornerstone from my childhood is still here.
The film is a mess, but I can’t explain why without spoilers. The most I can say, after seeing it for a third time, is that certain story elements… failed.
There were a few visual continuity problems (mostly body positioning). There were questionable casting/character decisions.
And then there’s the whole subplot that some say should not be dismissed, but I felt it could have been.
It’s not a better film than Episode V, but for some reason I like it more than Empire, warts and all.
It’s an enjoyable mess, and very emotional to me.
I should take the lead of others and simply say that I like the Original Trilogy, the Disney movies, and some of Revenge of the Sith. With no ranking of the films themselves.
Though the original Star Wars is still my all-time favorite.
Rogue One is a VERY close second.
Second Viewing
After a second watch of The Last Jedi, one change to the rankings:
- IV
- R1
- VIII
- V
- VII
- VI
- III
- I
- II
The Last Jedi is my 3rd favorite Star Wars film. The second viewing was much more of an emotional experience than the first time, probably because I knew what was coming this time around. It’s a roller coaster, with a few ‘WTH?’ moments, unlike Rogue One, which had none, IMHO.
Episode IV remains my favorite Star Wars film, because without that one, NONE of the rest exist.
Also, PORGS ARE STILL AWESOME.
