To celebrate our reaching 5,000 followers on Twitter, A Geek Daddy is giving away one of my favorite movies courtesy of Disney Movies Anywhere. One of our lucky social media followers will win Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back via a Digital HD download code. To be eligible for this giveaways you must be over 18 years old, reside within the United States, follow
@Geekdad248 on Twitter and retweet our original contest tweet which is
embedded below before February 11, 2016 at 11:59 pm EST. Simple as that!
Each RT will be assigned a number based on the order it was received
and random.org shall select our winner.
Congrats to Mandi from Tampa, Florida who won the giveaway
Encourage your friends and family to follow A Geek Daddy on Twitter and Facebook because the more people that are connected to us the more opportunities arise for this blog to be able to host great giveaways to share with you. Thank you to all our blog readers and social media followers who have made our blog a success by joining this dad in his adventure in parenting and who also appreciate enjoying the geeky side of life.
GIVEAWAY DISCLAIMER/RULES: Disney / Disney Movies Anywhere is not a sponsor or affiliated with this giveaway in any way. A Geek Daddy received a complimentary digital movie download code for Star Wars: Empire Strikes Back from representatives of Walt Disney Studios at Blogger Bash 2015 which is being used as this giveaway prize. It is A Geek Daddy blogs best understanding that this is a valid code being provided in this giveaway but unfortunately if the code does not work the winner is out of luck and there is no substitute prize. There is no cash value for the prize being awarded. The provided code for a digital movie download expires on April 10, 2016. Winner must be following @Geekdad248 at the time of drawing and will be contacted by DM. Winner must reply within 48 hours with an email address in which the prize can be sent or an alternate winner will be selected. Digital Download code can only be redeemed from a computer network account registered within the United States. A Geek Daddy will email the digital download code to winner. Winner must create a FREE Disney Movies Anywhere account to access the movie.By participating in this contest you waive any liability towards A Geek
Daddy Blog or its publisher that may arise from your involvement with
this promotion. A Geek Daddy Blog is hosting this contest as a benefit to our
readers. Any opinions in this post are my own.
This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias and its
advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #AwakenYourTastebuds #CollectiveBias
Who isn't excited about the new Star Wars™ movie that will be hitting theaters in December?! I've been a fan of these movies since I was six and am so excited to share the experience of enjoying a brand new film together with my six year old twins. To get them up to speed on all the characters and canon from past films, we devoted a weekend for a movie marathon viewing the original trilogy. Of course if you're going to be having a movie marathon you need something fun to snack on so we made an out-of-this-world treat to enjoy.
Cereal doesn't need to just be for breakfast! We combined General Mills Star Wars™ Darth Vader Cereal with Yoplait Star Wars™ Strawberry Smoothie Go-Gurt® to create futuristic looking popsicle treats. Throw in some blue milk to drink along with it and you have a great snack that looks like it could have been served in a scene from a sci-fi movie.
We made a quick visit over to our local Walmart to pickup all the supplies we needed including Star Wars™ Darth Vader Cereal, Star Wars™ Go-Gurt®, popsicle molds, and wooden sticks so as my daughter would say making these treats ourselves was "easy peasy." Not only did my kids really find these snacks to be a tasty treat but they had a blast helping out in the kitchen making them which was an activity that really enhanced our movie marathon experience.
Here are some simple DIY instructions for these out-of-this-world snacks:
Cereal Freezes
The Cereal Freezes are a great mixture of the smooth strawberry taste of Yoplait Go-Gurt® blended with fruity flavored cereal and marshmallows from General Mills Star Wars™ Darth Vader Cereal to provide a crunchy texture.
Ingredients:
1 Large Banana;
1 Cup of Yoplait StrawBerry Smoothie Go-Gurt®;
1/2 Cup of Milk;
1/2 Cup of General Mills Star Wars™ Darth Vader Cereal.
Directions:
In a bowl mix up the banana until mashed and smooth;
Slowly add in the Go-Gurt® and milk to the ball. Mix until blended with the banana mash;
Add Star Wars™ Darth Vader Cereal to the mixture. Make sure to stir by hand at this point to avoid crushing the marshmallows and cereal;
Pour the mix into popsicle molds. Insert a wooden popsicle stick as a handle. Freeze for 8 hours until solid;
Once frozen, place the popsicle molds under the kitchen faucet and spray with warm water. Gently pull the Cereal Freezes from their popsicle molds.
Blue Milk
Feel like a hero from Star Wars™ by enjoying some Blue Milk along with your Cereal Freeze.
Ingredients:
1 Cup of Milk;
1/2 teaspoon of unsweetened blue fruit punch mix;
1/2 teaspoon of sugar.
Directions:
Pour the milk into a tall glass and gently stir in the blue fruit punch mix;
The drink should initially be lightly tinted blue. Add more of the fruit punch mix to get a darker color if you desire;
Add sugar to sweeten the taste.
Voila! There you have it some delicious and simple to make snacks that can provide some out-of-this-world flair for a party, family game night, or a movie watching marathon. My kids really love this snack and I'm sure yours will too!
Do you have any favorite snacks you like to make for Family Movie Nights? Find more #AwakenYourTastebuds inspiration here.
It's an exciting time to be a Star Wars fan! A hit television series, Rebels, just kicked off its second season, brand new Star Wars video games are hitting store shelves (Disney Infinity 3.0 Star Wars Saga & Electronic Arts' Battlefront) and of course a new movie, The Force Awakens, premieres in theaters across the United States on December 18, 2015. While there has been a lot of buzz about the trailers for the movie, I have to say that this television advertisement for Sony's PlayStation really has been the most impressive marketing piece I've seen so far as it really captures the nostalgia that fans have for Star Wars which really is "The Force" behind the ongoing success of the brand. If you haven't seen this ad yet, check it out!
That orange '70/'80s era carpeting so hits home for me in the scene with the kids playing with their Kenner Star Wars action figures. These new additions to the Star Wars saga are arriving at a great time for my family as my kids are just at the right age for me to share my passion for these characters and stories with them. Things are a bit different now though as when I was their age I had pretend lightsaber duels with my friends using flash lights like in the PlayStation advertisement but now my kids have high tech light up light saber recreations that make sound effects when you joust them together. Some things don't change though as just like his dad who took a Empire Strikes Back lunchbox to school my son carts a Star Wars: Rebels one to first grade with him every morning. My daughter opted for a FROZEN lunch box but she does have a cute Chopper plush she hangs from her school backpack.
I've been a fan of the comic books, novels, toys and movies revolving around George Lucas' original trilogy of films since watching them as a kid when they originally came out. My kids aren't as much into those characters but love the new generation of characters in the Star Wars: Rebels animated shows. We really are looking forward to watching The Force Awakens when it arrives at theaters and sharing in enjoying it for the first time together as a family. Who knows maybe The Force Awakens will become the favorite part of the Star Wars saga for all of us?!
So what are you looking forward to the most in the upcoming Star Wars film? For my kids it is getting a better peek at BB-8.
While for me it is seeing the return of "old friends" on the silver screen.
Oh yes and I'll admit we've purchased the Disney Infinity 3.0 Star Wars video game and pre-ordered Battlefront for our PlayStation4 so we will definitely be in a Star Wars frame of mind when the movie opens!
Disney officially kicked off the countdown to the highly anticipated December theatrical release of the Star Wars movie sequel, The Force Awakens, by having the apparel, books, novelties, toys and other merchandise tied to the film released to the public at the stroke of midnight on Friday, September 4, 2015 as part of a marketing promotion dubbed FORCE FRIDAY. This was an opportunity for kids and kids-at-heart to have some fun celebrating their enjoyment of all things Star Wars as fans young and old are all eagerly awaiting the next installment of the Star Wars saga. My kids are so excited that we'll be able to go together in December to see a brand new Star Wars movie for the first time together at a theater. Since enjoying Star Wars stories and toys together have provided so many memorable bonding opportunities, I decided to make sure my children and I had some fun together on FORCE FRIDAY.
So at 11pm on Thursday evening my daughter and I headed over to a nearby Toys-R-Us to be there for the store's special FORCE FRIDAY midnight opening. I tried to get my son to join us but even the "force" wouldn't have awakened him from his slumber that night. Unfortunately, I knew the moment we got out of the car in the Toys-R-Us parking lot that we probably wouldn't be seeing many of the new toys that night. You see the first twenty or so people waiting in the line that was forming outside the store were single adult men that appeared to range from the mid-thirties to fifties in age. We got in line behind them and were quickly joined by several other groups of parents who had also brought kids along which made our wait for the store doors to open fly by as everyone in our cluster of families shared stories about their favorite Star Wars moments. My daughter had everyone chuckling as she described scenes from the Star Wars: Rebels animated television show while doing an impersonation of Yoda's voice. "Powerful in the force you have become Ezra but foresee Vader cut off your head I do." Hmmm....maybe she's seen that show's Season 2 Teaser Trailer a few too many times.
So at the tick of Midnight, FORCE FRIDAY had arrived and the line began moving into the building. From outside looking in through the store's windows, we witnessed the men at the front of the line grabbing shopping carts and running as fast as they could out of our field of view. As our group of parents and children made our way back to the designated toy aisle we were passed by these grown men who had filled their carts to the brink of overflowing and were heading to the cashiers. They had swiped up almost everything and left a bunch of empty shelves for everyone else. Looking at the despair in some of the kids eyes around me in not being able to grab action figures and other toys they had looked forward to staying up late to get I was really embarrassed to be standing there as a forty year old Star Wars fan. With this story in mind, if you see Star Wars toys for sale on eBay please don't buy them because it only fuels this kind of sad behavior.
While these "collectors" behavior put a damper on the start of FORCE FRIDAY, our time at Toys-R-Us wasn't entirely ruined. We had great conversations with some wonderful families in line, met Geoffrey the Giraffe, and picked up some free Star Wars posters and LEGO bricks for my son and daughter. Best of all my daughter told me on the way home that she wasn't bummed about not getting any new toys because she had a fun and exciting late night adventure with her daddy. That my friends is what FORCE FRIDAY is all about!
After getting some sleep, I took my son and daughter on some back-to-school errands later in the morning. As we were out and about, we stopped by the Disney Store to check out what they had going on for FORCE FRIDAY. Amazingly, we had the store all to ourselves. There was an interactive activity set up and the whole store staff joined my kids in acting out a Star Wars adventure.
It started off with Imperial stormtroopers approaching and saying my children were "the kids they were looking for." Using a Jedi Mind Trick though my son and daughter were able to get the troopers to say "These aren't the kids we are looking for" and let them move on.
Next they had to use the Force to raise Luke Skywalker's X-wing fighter out of the swamp of Dagobah. No sweat they got that done with a wave of their hands.
The adventure wrapped up with having to pretend you were an X-wing fighter with the mission of blowing up the Death Star. Upon completing the mission, my children were awarded a cardboard cutout medal of honor like the ones Luke Skywalker and Han Solo received after blowing up the Death Star in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. Plus they were given some inflatable light sabers, Topps trading cards, and stickers to take home with them. I have to say the giggles I heard while they were going on their Star Wars adventure at the Disney Store and the smiles on their faces as we left with a bunch of free swag really made my day and wiped that nonsense that occurred at Toys R Us from my mind.
We stopped by the LEGO Store which is next door to the Disney Store to check out the new Star Wars themed LEGO sets which had just been released. Wow! the new Millennium Falcon LEGO set is impressive, most impressive! While we were window shopping, the staff came up to my children and provided them with some cardboard X-wing fighter pilot helmets and stickers to decorate them with. Plus my son was given a Darth Vader LEGO mini-figure key chain and my daughter got a Princess Leia version. We also left the store with some posters promoting the animated mini-series on the Disney XD cable channel called LEGO Star Wars: Droid Tales. As my kids raced out of the store wearing their X-wing fighter helmets and battling each other with light sabers, I knew the Force was with us that morning.
You could look at FORCE FRIDAY as a marketing gimmick or an opportunity to buy some stuff, but I used it as a chance to have a memorable moment spending some time with my kids. There are only so many times you can run around a mall waving a light saber around care free in life. FORCE FRIDAY was one of those times.
Our FORCE FRIDAY experience didn't completely wrap up just yet though. While on our Saturday morning grocery trip we stopped by Target and my kids had a chance to try out some of the new Star Wars toys that were put out on display. We had a chance to get a photo op with Chewbacca which totally caught my son off guard when the cutout figure roared at him. You have to check that out if you stop by the store! On the way out, the kids got one last freebie as they were handed free Star Wars #ShareTheForce lunchboxes from some nice Target staff members.
That was our FORCE FRIDAY experience. Did you participate in any of the FORCE FRIDAY events or promotions? So who is ready now for The Force Awakens?! You know my family is going to be counting down the days until December 18th!
Chicago-based free lance artist and illustrator Daniel Warren Johnson took some time away from his popular sci-fi webcomic SPACE-MULLET to pay tribute to a favorite scene of his from Return of the Jedi by sketching out an impressive story that gives some life to the pilot that crashed his A-Wing fighter into the bridge of a Star Destroyer during the Battle of Endor. "For some reason, this A wing pilot MOVED me," noted Johnson. "Everything about this part
of Return of the Jedi made me want to DRAW and CREATE. This is a fan
fiction comic I made ... because I love this scene and I love
comics." His work GREEN LEADER provides an excellent portrayal of the human element of a character who had only a brief few seconds of screen time in the movie but obviously made a memorable impact on the artist.
Enjoy a few panels from GREEN LEADER:
CLICK HERE to view the GREEN LEADER comic in its entirety on Daniel Warren Johnson's SPACE-MULLET website. If you enjoy Johnson's work, check out Space-Mullet which is an episodic style online digital comic about a washed up, Ex-Space
Marine trucker named Jonah, and his alien co-pilot, Alphius. Together
they do their best (and usually fail) to do good throughout the galaxy. The Space-Mullet web comic is updated on Mondays and Thursdays each week.
Short films running before the feature presentation at movie theaters have been a marketing niche for Disney & Pixar films in recent years so it is an interesting tie-in that as Star Wars joins the Walt Disney Studios family that a short tied to that franchise which was though lost has just recently been found and restored. While filming scenes for Empire Strikes Back in England, the movie's art director Roger Christian pitched a script he had written to George Lucas. Lucas was impressed enough with the script that he provided a budget for Christian to produce a 25 minute short film called Black Angel and committed to have it play in select European movie theaters (including 400 theaters in the United Kingdom) in front of the Empire Strikes Back. Black Angel accompanied the original release of Empire Strikes Back and then it disappeared not to be seen again for nearly 35 years when the original production audio and video were recently discovered in storage at Universal Studios and restored. For years because the short was never seen in U.S. theaters or re-released many Star Wars fans though Black Angel was just a legend or hoax.
It's real though and here is Roger Christian telling the story about the short film followed by Black Angel in its entirety:
At the time it was created Black Angel received kudos from the movie making community with director John Boorman motivating the cast and crew of his 1981 movie Excalibur by having them watch Black Angel and people who saw the short in theaters keeping its memory alive over the years until it was rediscovered. Roger Christian also notes that George Lucas after watching Black Angel modified the light saber duel between Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader on Dagobah in Empire Strikes Back to be in slow motion because he was impressed by a similar style used during a fight scene in the short film.
Christian is now attempting to create a film based upon the full script he originally presented to George Lucas to review and has launched an Indiegogo campaign to get production off the ground which has already raised more than $100,000. CLICK HERE if you are interested in contributing or for more information on the Black Angel feature film.
This last weekend there was a huge gathering of fans at the convention center in Anaheim California celebrating all things Star Wars. If you were like me and wanted to go but just didn't have the extra time and money for a trip to CA, here's a roundup of many of the exciting announcements and previews that came out of STAR WARS CELEBRATION 2015. The rest of this year and into next year is going to be full of Star Wars thrills!
MOVIES
Disney's first feature film since acquiring the Star Wars franchise hits theaters on December 18, 2018. THE FORCE AWAKENS is set in a time of the Star Wars continuum approximately 30 years after the events that transpired in the movie RETURN OF THE JEDI uniting George Lucas' original trilogy of movies with a new era of story telling under Disney's stewardship. A new trailer for the film was released at Star Wars Celebration and it really has given me a lot of encouragement that Disney is getting this film right producing something that old school fans like myself will love and a new generation of movie watchers will adore. Check it out!
Disney also hosted a panel discussion at Star Wars Celebration about another new Star Wars movie it is producing called ROGUE ONE that will be hitting theaters during the 2016 Christmas season. The film's director Gareth Edwards presented the official plot for the movie: A rogue band of resistance fighters unite for a daring mission to steal the Death Star plans. Edwards noted that the film which will take place between Episodes III and IV of the Star Wars movie timeline will have a focus on the WAR aspect of Star WARS. "It is called Star WARS" he joked to the panel audience. To add some grit and realism to ROGUE ONE's portrayal of warfare, Edwards has enlisted members of his production team that have worked on war movies such as Zero Dark Thirty, Saving Private Ryan and Black Hawk Down.
Filming for ROGUE ONE will take place this summer. While the film hasn't been shot yet, Edwards did provide a glimpse at some concept art prepared for the movie and a teaser video of computer generated imagery to give people a sense of the vibe he wants for the Star Wars: Rogue One. As the first stand alone movie, though it is somewhat tied to the others through the Death Star connection, this film really will have a big impact on Disney's long term viability for making more and more Star Wars movies. Disney can't afford to have this movie be a JOHN CARTER type bust and it appears they are taking its production very seriously. Just from the limited information I have on this movie already though I'm already excited about it and looking forward to learning more in the coming months ahead.
courtesy of StarWars.com
TELEVISION
DisneyXD's Star Wars: Rebels animated television series is returning this Fall for a second season. When my 6 year old son thinks of Star Wars this TV series has really been his first exposure to these tales from a long time ago in a galaxy far far away. This is a show that is very suitable for him to watch yet I also find very entertaining and interesting to watch as well. The two of us have really enjoyed some bonding time together watching this show. The trailer released at Star Wars Celebration shows that DisneyXD may be expanding upon a great first season with an even more incredible second season.
I really don't like the prequel movie trilogy -- it just stripped away too much of the magic and mystery of the original movies -- but found the Clone Wars animated television shows to be a decent program. One of my favorite all time Star Wars characters actually is from the Clone Wars series, Cad Bane, a deadly bounty hunter that would give the legendary Boba Fett a run for his money. For my own personal viewing enjoyment, I just wipe out the prequel trilogies and the Star Wars timeline currently is made up of the Clone Wars and Rebels television shows, the original movies (Star Wars, Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi) and the upcoming Disney movies. Because there is a large viewing audience that is younger than me that grew up watching Clone Wars on the Cartoon Network and a more "mature" group of fans like myself, Rebels is bringing some of these characters back. Check out the trailer to see for yourself!
I'm really looking forward to watching with my son the showdown between his favorite Star Wars character, Ezra, and one of my favorite childhood villains Darth Vader.
VIDEO GAMES
Electronic Arts showed off their first collaboration with Star Wars in its BattleFront video game. I can't wait until November to load this game up on my Playstation4 and immerse myself in tackling the Empire from a speeder bike or x-wing.
COMIC BOOKS
I have to give kudos to Marvel because since taking over the brand they haven't just used it to cash in on the name, they've been publishing a great product. I've read every issue they've published of their new series STAR WARS and DARTH VADER and have enjoyed every one of them. Lando Calrissian will be joining these titles with his own mini-series STAR WARS: LANDO beginning in July which will feature a story that takes place between the events in A New Hope and Empire Strikes Back. Also coming in September will be a mini-series titled SHATTERED EMPIRE that will share what happened after the Battle of Endor in Return of the Jedi and bridge some of the gap between the movies Episode VI and the upcoming Episode VII.
The current story arc in Marvel's STAR WARS will wrap up in issue #6 this summer and a new arc will begin with issue #8. Star Wars #7 will be a stand alone story featuring Obi-Wan Kenobi during his exile on Tatooine.
So there you have it! It looks like there are going to be a lot of thrills for Star Wars fans throughout the rest of the year and into next. I for one am really going to be enjoying it!
I recently read Star Wars: Heir to the Jedi by Kevin Hearne which was an ok read probably more suited for teens and young adults than 40 something adults like me; but still worth flipping through by "more mature" readers looking for a book to amuse themselves with on a plane ride, while being lazy on a vacation or maybe stuck in bed after a medical procedure. It's not that it is a bad book just that the main character is a wild and bit reckless teen who tells his story in first person perspective which is probably much more relatable to people closer to the age of the nineteen year old hero - Luke Skywalker - portrayed in it than me.
Heir to the Jedi is an adventure novel that takes place in the Star Wars timeline between the movies Episode IVA New Hope ( aka "Original Star Wars" ) and Episode V The Empire Strikes Back ( aka the best of the Star Wars movies made so far - we'll see how Episode VII The Force Awakens pans out in December ). The premise of this story is that a brilliant cryptographer named Drusil who is renowned for her ability to breach advanced communications and security systems is being detained by the Empire and it is up to the Rebel Alliance's number one asset to come to the rescue before her skills can be corrupted by Imperial agents. Luke Skywalker races to Drusil's aid with the help of a team that consists of his ever-resourceful droid R2-D2 and a new Rebel recruit named Nakari Kelen, who has a personal score to settle with the Empire after Darth Vader killed her mother for writing and performing a hit song that mocked him to a galactic audience of music lovers. Nakari, with the support of her biotech mogul father who found his riches couldn't save his wife from the power of the Empire, provide much needed assistance to the Rebellion and a really nice space yacht which transports the team on their mission to rescue Drusil.
What really stands out in this novel is just how alone Luke Skywalker is after the Battle of Yavin. In A New Hope, his only family that he knows of Aunt Beru and Uncle Owen Lars were murdered by Imperial storm troopers on Tatooine; Ben Kenobi was cut down by the light saber blade of Darth Vader, and childhood best buddy Biggs Darklighter was shot down attacking the Death Star. As Heir to the Jedi begins Luke finds himself known by everyone as the hero who destroyed the Death Star but himself hardly knowing anyone. In this novel, Princess Leia, Han Solo, Chewbacca, and even C3P0, are off on other assignments leaving Luke with just R2D2 to keep him company and watch out for him. Nakari steps in to fill that void and we see both characters develop and grow throughout the story as they work together to rescue Drusil from the clutches of the Empire.
With having seen Return of the Jedi and taking consideration all of the Expanded Universe materials that have been published it can be easy to skip over the fact that Ben Kenobi really abandoned Luke Skywalker at the end of A New Hope with no understanding or training on how to be a Jedi. Without any knowledge of Yoda or any other Jedi to teach him, Luke finds himself frustrated in Heir to the Jedi as to whether or not he'll ever be able to master the Force. He ponders if destroying the Death Star may have been his one and only encounter with utilizing the Force. Having this book written in first person narrative really highlights the frustration of this young adult who has accomplished a great feat but now finds himself alone and unsure of himself.
Heir to the Jedi also shows off the young and reckless side of Luke Skywalker similar to the scene in A New Hope where the teen arrogantly challenges Han Solo about the quality of the Millennium Falcon and pilot's skills as they attempt to escape the Imperial blockade over Tatooine. In this new adventure you witness Luke as the 19 year old kid who sometimes doesn't really think out things as much as he could or should. During his escapades in Heir to the Jedi, Skywalker finds the tomb of a Jedi that was killed in Order 66 and is able to recover a light saber. Curious about how light sabers work, he takes it apart to "study it" and accidentally breaks it which shows how the character can be impulsive and further highlights his lack of knowledge when it comes to the ways of the Force. In another scene, Luke puts his mission at risk when he engages Imperial war ships that don't have any obvious connection to his assigned goals and objectives because he's in the mood to pick a fight. As you read through this book, you join Luke Skywalker in wondering if maybe there won't be any heir to the Jedi after all. And that's the rub...this story really delves into whether or not Ben Kenobi was the last of the Jedi or if Luke Skywalker is the heir to the Jedi. Of course any Star Wars fan knows the answer to that, but this story is told from Luke's perspective and he has no clue what the future holds for him. Joining him on this journey is what makes this novel an interesting read.
If you are looking for a literary masterpiece this isn't the book you are looking for; but if you are just searching for an amusing way to pass the time I believe readers (especially teens and young adults) will like Heir to the Jedi as an easy to flip through, fast paced SciFi adventure that takes place a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.
DISCLAIMER: I received limited access to a digital edition of HEIR TO THE JEDI for this review from its publisher. The views and opinions in this review
are my own. I was not required to post a positive review for access to
this book.
For those folks who would enjoy the fun of collecting Star Wars themed trading cards without the hassle of having them pile up around the house, Topps recently introduced STAR WARS: CARD TRADER on the Apple App Store for iPhones, iPads, and Ipod touch which it bills as the "official Star Wars trading card app." Star Wars: Card Trader provides the opportunity to collect digital reproductions of the physical Topps card board collectibles that have been produced for the upcoming The Force Awakens movie as well as those previously distributed from the original and prequel Star Wars films. There will also be cards featuring characters, scenes and vehicles from the animated television shows Star Wars: Rebels and Clone Wars. This Star Wars effort ties into fan enthusiasm for the December film premiere of Episode VII and follows the company's success with a similar app for baseball cards for iOS devices BUNT: The MLB Digital Baseball Card Trading Game.
Star Wars: Card Trader can be downloaded for free. One free pack of trading cards can also be opened every day once the app is downloaded. For those who want to build larger collections credits can be purchased ranging from .99 cents for 3,000 credits to $100 for 900,000 credits. What you can purchase with credits in the "Cantina" will vary from a basic pack of trading cards to unique exclusives. Plus collections can be built by trading cards with other app users from across the country and around the world with a feature called "Trading Like a Jawa."
“In the same way that digital media is transforming reading books,
listening to music and watching television, Card Trader is
revolutionizing Star Wars collecting,” said Michael Bramlage,
VicePresident of Digital at Topps in a press release to A Geek Daddy blog. “Your favorite characters, vehicles
and locations from the Star Wars universe can be collected and traded on your iOS device, from anywhere at any time.”
Here are a few of the features of the app #Topps promoted in its press release launching Star Wars: Card Trader:
The First Cards From Star Wars: The Force Awakens: BB-8, Poe Dameron, Kylo Ren, Rey and other recently announced new characters from Star Wars:The Force Awakens are here! Go to the Cantina and blast open packs to try to find these exciting new cards, all released in vintage-inspired “Star Wars‘ 77” blue and red border designs.
Trading Like A Jawa: The Star Wars: Card Trader app is like a 24/7 Star Wars
card convention that you can take with you anywhere you go. Meet real
people, make friends, complete trades and build your collection with
confidence using features like 9-for-9 trading and Trader Ratings to
highlight your trading partner’s trustworthiness.
Classic Re-Releases: Only Topps brings you over 30 years of official-licensed Star Wars
trading cards in new, high-definition digital format, from the vintage
era to today.Haven’t collected cards in a while? Check out Topps’
state-of-the-art Parallax and Motion cards, innovations that could never
have existed in cardboard!
The App Store description notes that there will be more than 1,000 officially-licensed Star Wars digital cards featured with some including futuristic special effects and enhancements. CLICK HERE to download Star Wars: Card Trader.
This seems like a nice app to have some fun and goof around with, especially for casual collectors. I'd recommend if you are having your kids play with it that you make sure your parental control features are turned on and in-app purchases turned off though. You'll probably want to stick with physical trading cards though if you are looking to pick up movie mementos, a long term collectible, or want some items you can use as potential financial investments.
So while this app obviously isn't for the serious collector it does bring back trading cards to the attention of today's kids who are more interested in flipping through their tablets and smart phones than grabbing a piece of gum and some trading cards from a grocery or toy store checkout lane. From a nostalgic perspective, as a kid myself that had shoe boxes full of Topps' Star Wars and baseball trading cards, it is nice to see the tradition of children and teens collecting trading cards for fun continue into future generations through the products changing with the times. Most young people aren't collecting these things to try and make a profit off them someday and this digital app caters to those fans.
My daughter likes to add buttons, charms and patches to her backpack throughout the school year to personalize and make it her own unique thing. One of the neat things we've discovered to add to it are Star Wars inspired patches of a little pink droid called R2-KT that come out around holidays and special events meant to keep a little girl's memory alive and support various charities. The most recent patch features artwork by Dave Lieu illustrating R2-KT wearing bunny ears and all proceeds support Easter Seals. Each patch is $7.00 and includes free shipping. You can order patches and pay for them via paypal to r2kt@r2kt.com
There is a special story behind R2-KT.
In 2005 a little girl named Katie was diagnosed with terminal
brain cancer. Katie loved Star Wars (like her father Ablin - the founder
of the 501st Legion Star Wars fan club) and loved the color pink. When her
health declined to the point she couldn't get out of bed, she said she
wished she had a droid to watch over her like R2-D2 watched over a
sleeping Padme in the Star Wars movie Attack of the Clones. Word
of Katie's illness spread throughout the Star Wars fan community and
another club of fans that makes authentic recreations of droids from the
Star Wars movies called The R2 Builders knew this was a job for them,
and in mere
months they constructed a custom R2 unit all painted in pink and dubbed it R2-KT. It rolled, it
blinked, it even talked: Katie had a droid to
watch over her! And she kept KT by her bedside through her final days.
Katie passed away peacefully in her sleep on August 9, 2005.
Katie's legacy lives on in her pink companion. R2-KT now tours
the world, spreading the joy to Star Wars fans and a message of hope for
kids who suffer childhood illnesses. R2-KT attends fan conventions,
visits sick children in hospitals, appears in parades, inspires young
girls that Star Wars has a place for them, and helps raise funds for a
wide range of charities. In 2007 Hasbro produced an R2-KT action figure,
which raised $100,000 for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. In 2008 Dave
Filoni of Lucasfilm featured the droid in a cameo role in the Clone Wars
animated feature film, making her a canon member of the Star Wars
universe! In 2013 KT appeared in the Star Wars Weekends parade in Disney
World, then traveled to be a guest of honor at Celebration Europe II in
Germany. R2-KT has become a symbol of everything Star Wars fandom has
come to represent: spreading the magic of hope.
For more information about R2-KT visit www.r2kt.com
My son spends hours playing with his Marvel Super Hero Mashers toys from Hasbro. These action figures let kids take their favorite super heroes and mix and match body parts and accessories to create their own unique characters. Create Spider Hulk wielding the power of Mjölnir, Iron Wolvernine carrying Captain America's shield or a variety of other mash-ups based upon the action figures you collect.
Based upon the popularity of these toys, Hasbro is adding Star Wars to its lineup of Mashers toys in the Fall of 2015. The Star Wars Mashers will include characters from the original and prequel movies like Anakin Skywalker, Boba Fett, Darth Vader, and General Grevious plus a few from the new animated television show Rebels such as Kanan and Zeb. Just think of the possible variations: an android General Fett wielding a variety of light sabers, a Zeb trooper wearing imperial battle armor, or dare I say it Darth Jar Jar.
I have a feeling that my son is going to be finding some Star Wars Mashers under the Christmas Tree this year.
