Earn a medal from Toys R Us by participating in Star Wars EPIC BATTLES Challenge

We stopped by our local Toys R Us store this weekend so my kids could be awarded their medals for completing the online Star Wars EPIC BATTLES Challenge.  Go to the STAR WARS: EPIC BATTLES website and you'll find four picture puzzles featuring key locations from the original movie trilogy to complete.  Each location, Hoth, Yavin, Endor, or Tatooine has its own "Where's Waldo" style picture puzzle filled with popular Star Wars characters and vehicles plus some humorous illustrations thrown in to make the game extra fun.  Your mission is to find 5 hidden pictures in each EPIC BATTLE depiction. 

You can zoom in and out plus scroll up, down and side to side to assist you in accomplishing your mission.  Where is that Furbacca?!  Wow is that Indiana Jones swinging through the forests of Endor?!

Once you've found all five of your targets, the website will generate a Certificate of Accomplishment to print out.  You could frame it to display or you could take your certificate to Toys R Us to redeem for an exclusive Star Wars EPIC BATTLES medal.  Players can earn a unique medal for each of the four picture puzzles.  Between now and January 30, 2016 while supplies last you can swing by a Toy R Us retail location and redeem your online certificate for an absolutely FREE Star Wars medal.  Chewbacca may not have received a medal for the Battle of Yavin but my son sure did!

There is no age limit for participating but medals are limited to one per certificate per person per visit.  My son and daughter completed all four puzzles online so they picked the three medals they liked best and I turned in their third certificate for them.  We brought home Darth Vader (Yavin), Ewok (Endor) and (C3PO / R2D2).  The medals are made out of quality materials and have pin fasteners so kids can attach them to clothing, backpacks, or other things that may suite their fancy.  My 7 year old twins had a lot of fun completing the online picture puzzles and were really excited to get some cool Star Wars swag. HINT: We've gone to Toys R Us promos before, especially LEGO ones, where they've run out of giveaway items and my kids have left disappointed so you may want to call your local store before going to pickup medals to make sure they haven't run out of their allocation.  They still had a lot of medals available at the Toys R Us we visited but I'm sure that will vary from store to store.

Whether you are interested in the medals or not, if you are a Star Wars fan make sure to check out these picture puzzle maps while they are online because they are as Darth Vader would say "impressive, most impressive."  Playing the Star Wars EPIC BATTLES Challenge though is a nice way to spend some time having fun with your children doing something they may find a bit adventurous on a Winter day.  For those of you taking on this challenge, good luck and may the Force be with you!

Star Wars Command: The Battle of Hoth

Just before the first snow storm of this winter hit our town, A Geek Daddy Blog received a surprise box of goodies from our friends at Hasbro filled with the company's newest line of toys called Star Wars Command for us to play with and test out.  These Star Wars Command toys are like the little green plastic army men of my youth but instead of pretending to fight in World War II you are transported to the Star Wars Universe to play out  your favorite scenes from the franchise's movies or television episodes.  They have themed toy sets ranging from the brand new animated series Star Wars: Rebels (which is my son's favorite tv show) to Empire Strikes Back (which is my favorite movie).

So as the snow started coming down you know my five year old son and I couldn't resist going out in the backyard and recreating the Battle of Hoth.  My son's rebel troopers put up a valiant fight led by Chewbacca and Han Solo but they just were no match against Dad's powerful legion of AT-ATs and snow troopers.  In the end though a mysterious snow ball from outer space knocked out the approaching Geek Daddy armada allowing the rebels to slip away to battle another day.

My son had a blast playing with these toys and I was whisked back to acting like a kid myself for a few moments while we enjoyed playing Star Wars in the snow.  Then it was time for dinner and a return to the real world; but as we were packing up I took a moment to appreciate this moment of father-son fun and bonding that we often don't get enough time for in the everyday hustle and bustle of life.  Next I realized it probably wasn't the best move to play with white colored toys in the snow...we'll be finding a few of these figures after the snow melts.  Fortunately, a number of the rebels including Han Solo, Chewbacca and R2D2 were made of blue, brown and orange colored plastic and easily stood out in the frozen tundra of our patio.

For being small injected plastic molded figurines these Star Wars Command toys have some nice sculpts and detail to them.  Recommended age for these micro-figure battle sets are for children 4 years old and up.

#CommandtheForce with the Star Wars Command battle packs. They come in a variety of sizes ranging in price from $4.99 for a play set that includes 9 figures to $59.99 for the Star Destroyer set that includes a gigantic vehicle that shoots out energy blast balls to devastate your opponent's army.

While we had a great time playing out the Battle of Hoth together, the toy set that my son really wants to get his hands on is the Star Wars: Rebels - Jedi Duel battle pack.  This includes all his favorite characters from the tv show: Ezra Bridger, Kanan Jarrus, Sabine Wren, Zeb Orrelios, and C1-1OP "Chopper" plus bad guy The Inquisitor and a few stormtroopers to boot.  Plus it has two vehicles included the PHANTOM space ship and an AT-DP armored walker.  We've decided to hold this battle pack aside for a little while though because it is just too valuable to use as a reward, or bribe, when the need may arise.  My son doesn't know we have this in hand so he'll be thrilled when we eventually give it to him.

For more information about the Star Wars Command toys visit starwars.hasbro.com

DISCLAIMER:  Hasbro provided A GEEK DADDY Blog with complimentary Star Wars Command toys with an approximate retail value of $50.  These toys were provided with no obligation to provide a positive review regarding them.  The views and opinions in this post are my own.

Star Wars Battle Pod Video Game Flies Into Arcades January 2015

With the proliferation of home video game consoles and the fact that most phones probably have at least one game loaded on them (I happen to have Angry Birds: Star Wars and Star Wars Pinball on my iPhone) you wouldn't consider there to be much of a market for manufacturers to be creating new video arcade games.   Bandai Namco Games Inc. is betting that arcades aren't dead just yet though and has invested in a brand new video game titled Star Wars: Battle Pod.  It allows players to take command of vehicles from the original trilogy of films such as X-wings, the Millennium Falcon, snowspeeders, and speederbikes and race through digitally reproduced scenes from the movies in arcade-exclusive game play beginning in January 2015 within the United States and a global release will follow later in the year.   The Battle Pod features a unique dome screen enveloping a player's entire area of sight that leaving him or her with a sense of actually piloting and taking part in scenes from the film.

"The Star Wars universe is a vast galaxy of memorable experiences and epic storylines and we intend to put that level of fun and control in the hands of fans with Star Wars: Battle Pod," said Satoshi Oshita, president and CEO of Namdai Namco Game Inc., in the announcement release promoting this new video game. "Players can jump right in to true-to-film battles on Endor, Hoth, Death Star II, Yavin, and more."

Today's arcades are different than the ones I went to as a kid.  They are much more focused on providing "experiences" rather than actual game play because it is too easy to play games at home or on the go now.  But you currently can't replicate racing on a mechanical jetski or motorcycle (which seem to be some of the more popular games when my kids and I go to the arcade) in your living room or on a phone.  So in that same light this new Star Wars video game provides a visual experience with its multi-dimensional screen that can't currently be replicated outside of the arcade.  From the video previews it appears this game really lets players become immersed in the Star Wars scenario they select and live out a scene from the movies rather than trying to "win" a game or beat levels.  It appears for a set amount of money you are guaranteed to complete your selected mission in  one take versus having to spends lots of hours and tons of quarters trying to get from one level to the next.

In an interview about Star Wars Battle Pods with John McKenzie, president of Bandai Namco Amusement America and Europe by Polygon.com it was noted by the gaming company executive that there would be five levels to the game that each are designed to be accomplished in one sitting so players can enjoy it within a set amount of time for a set amount of money.  "When you go into an arcade you need something that delivers an experience you can't get at home," McKenzie said. "That typically means these much bigger, experiential titles. Games that feel almost like a theater experience or augmented reality, rather than simply something you play for fun. The added benefit of a game like Battle Pod is that it delivers a set experience, typically three to four minutes long, for a set price."



The Battle Pod game will feature five separate scenes to select from key moments in the original trilogy of Star Wars movies and each featuring a different memorable vehicle relevant to that scenario.  In Endor, players race through the forest moon on speeder bikes.  There is a Death Star II scene where you race around and through the space station in the Millennium Falcon.  You try to repel the Imperial attack of the Rebel base on Hoth in a snow speeder.  You can also pick from either Darth Vader's TIE fighter or Luke Skywalker's X-wing to reenact the famous Deathstar space battle from the original Star Wars movie.

So keep an eye out at places like Dave & Busters or Chuck E Cheese for this new video game. It looks pretty darn cool!  I know for sure my kids and I will be on the look out for it.