Sexy Jedi Bubblebath! Saber 2: Return of the Body Wash

The second in the Saber Series has been released, and included is one very lucky Wookiee! I gotta give love to the furballs out there. Now only if I could get the Galactic Groomers to come over and wash up the Wampa.... hmmmm!

 

The Return of Darth Maul! In More ways than one.

Since Phantom Menace, the fans have been asking for more Darth Maul, a character that had a huge impact for someone who had so few actual lines on screen. On top of that Lucasfilm Re-Released Phantom Menace in 3D and teasing us all year with commercials like the one above. Well this week we finally get to see him return on Clone Wars this week. Personally I can't wait, because over the past in comics we have seen Maul resurrected to fight Darth Vader, and with the cybernetic legs to hunt down Obi Wan. But now, it looks like that what if style comic book has grown some legs.... the robot kind.

But if you can't get enough then I would HIGHLY suggest picking up a copy of Darth Plagueis. For Die Hard Star Wars fans, this is a MUST READ. It could be considered Episode 0.5, because if you had any questions about Phantom Menace, everything is answered. Plus it tells a great back story on Darth Maul and Palpatine, how they met and began training. There is even a new book for kids out there by DK books, Darth Maul Sith Apprentice, so new media isn't focused solely on the dark stories for adults.

New on RedBubble.com - Really? Troopers

Not everybody has a spouse/girlfriend that quite gets why we pay top dollar to play dress up in plastic armor and run around with toy guns at events. My Wife is one of those types. She is the first one to mutter NERDS under her breath anytime she sees a convention on TV or photos of the 501st. But in her own way she asked me to design her a shirt that she could wear at events.. so here it is the Really? shirts.

The first one was a Stormtrooper, which is one of my costumes I wear. The next two are by request by other 501st members, and there are many more costumes being requested. From Tusken's to Clones and even Rebel Pilots, Vader and Boba. I got a feeling I will be busy making these for a while. Keep watching for more updates.

http://www.redbubble.com/people/wampadude

Ever wonder what a Wampa skeleton looks like?

Check out ILM's halloween party invitation with the skeletons of many of our Star Wars favorites.

Wampa Sighting: Star Wars Artist Katie Cook's Wampa Sketch Card

While in college I was a charicature artist, so understandably I am a sucker for stylized cartoons. So when I stumbled upon Katie Cook's stylization of classic Star Wars characters, I was instantly hooked. She makes the most vile and retched creatures of the galaxy so damn cute and cuddly that you can't help yourself from saying AWWWW! She really hit home with this site when she immortalized the famous cut wampa scene in the drawing above for a Topps Star Wars Galaxy 5 sketch card.

"I'm a huge fan of the creatures of Star Wars and the Wampa is right at the top of my list of favorite SW critters. In a deleted scene from Empire, Han wants to take a shortcut through a room in Empire and Leia tells him 'that's where they keep those creatures'. C-3P0 does something totally out of character and takes the warning sign down, hoping to trick the troopers into going in there. I've ALWAYS wanted to see the scene where the stormtroopers are being attacked by the wampas trapped in this room. I imagine it to be a furry, frantic battle where, of course, the wampas win."

Katie has done work with Marvel, Lord of the Rings, DC, The Muppets and has her own web comic Gronk. Katie also has her "Daddy's Little Girl" Leia and Darth shirt available at the new HerUniverse.com, Ashley Eckstein's (Ahsoka Tano) Star Wars clothing line for girls. She will also have 200 prints of her Acme Star Wars print available at Celebration but if you are unable to make it, she said they will be available on StarWars.com. Katie along with Bonnie Burton also just finished up a panel at San Diego Comic Con to teach kids how to draw Star Wars.

Check out more about Katie Cook @ KatieCanDraw.com

Adywans Empire Strikes Back Revisited - (First Two Minutes.)

This is the first 2 minutes including the Wampa Attack in a fan made revision of the Empire Strikes Back. We can only hope this is possibly a sign of things to come with the upcoming BluRay edition. Adywan, who in 2004 revised A New Hope, will be releasing his ESB edition next year including enhanced graphics and color correction it really brings new life and detail into the old films. I hope that Lucasfilm Ltd. has taken notes from these. Check out the full trailer below.

Check out these links to see all the enhanced scenes.
Adywan's Star Wars: A New Hope Revisited

Adywan's Empire Striked Back Revisited

Becoming a Wampa - How to put on the costume.

Here is the first video of the complete suit. We put together the traditional "How to put it on" tutorial. Yeah it does kill the illusion, but it helps show the scale of the costume and the range of motion. See you at Star Wars Celebration V!

Yoda recording for TomTom GPS - behind the scenes

Sounds like Tom Kane. I love how he has brought back the fun playful Yoda from ESB that was missing in the prequels!

The Smoothest Christmas Tree Ornament you will ever see!

Announced for 2010, Hallmark Ornament Premiere Limited Quantity Ornaments will include this Lando Calrissian By Robert Hurlburt to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Empire Strikes Back. What makes it great is the emphasis on what was Billy Dee's has told us was his favorite part of the costume. "I get to wear a cape." One of these will definitely be on the Wampa's Christmas tree this year.

Trying the full costume on... for the FIRST TIME!

Here are some complete costume pics with me in it. Yesterday, I put the complete costume on for the first time. Mobility of the body is pretty easy though the arms don't have the full range of motion I had hoped for. They are heavy and even with the weight being distributed through the backpack, you still have to make a dead lift to raise them while hoping to keep your balance.

The head on the body looks better than I thought it would, there was a moment when I thought it looked too small. But being my own worst critic, I still think the arms are too thick. But can't change that now. But there is one big benefit of having the arms this size. As you can see below, I can slip my arms out of the "pits" and be able to adjust the head, or take a drink. My last costume I had to remove the arms all together to do this, now they stay in place and keep the illusion alive. This is also great when i want to take a break from holding them, I can just rest my arms inside.



Here are some more pics of the costume



And testing the range of motion ....


And here is a pic while getting dressed, you can see how it goes together.

Star Wars: The Old Republic E3 2010 Trailer

Oh how much i wish this could be a full length movie or a television series. Sometimes you got to wonder if Lucasfilm has milked the original trilogy and now the prequel timeline to the point that it is getting stale. Now here is a chance for an entirely new timeline to be created.


I was a big fan of the previous Knights of the Old Republic games, but it looks like this one will be only for the PC and set up like an MMO. Because of this I will never get the chance to play this, I hope they release it to PS3. Besides like typical LucasArts games they give us this great rendered trailer, it is a shame the gameplay is not the same quality.

Pre-Order Now - Zombie Stormtrooper Bust

Entertainment Earth is now taking pre-orders for the Zombie Stormtrooper from Deathtroopers. This thing is awesome, I want one!

Original Full Size Wampa - Rare Behind the Scenes Footage!

Check out this amazing fan made documentary Building Empire by Jambe Davdar. at the 4:21 mark it shows clips from the movie as well as behind the scenes of their attempt of a full size Wampa suit. Sadly it did not work and get the on screen impact that they intended. Watching them attempt to walk through the snow in stilts and falling over is somewhat comical but at the same time I wish worked and made it in the film.

Because of the failure of the suit an entire Wampa attack subplot inside the rebel base was cut from the movie (see below). Who knows maybe we will see these scenes digitally remastered in the upcoming Blu-Ray release. They have teased us that some highly anticipated deleted scenes will see the light of day.