Boing Boing » star wars

Luke Skywalker's pants sold for $36,000

David Pescovitz — Thu, 23 May 2013 20:32:28 +0000

Luke Skywaler's filthy Levi's worn in the original Star Wars just sold at auction for $36,100. The "sand-colored 'cotton drill'" Levi's were customized by famed London costume-maker Bermans & Nathans. "Lot #555: Mark Hamill's Screen-Worn Hero Pants in the Original 1977 ''Star Wars'' as Luke Skywalker" (via New York)

Boba Fett mixer

Cory Doctorow — Wed, 22 May 2013 02:15:29 +0000

DeviantArt's TommyFilth modded a KitchenAid mixer and gave it a perfect Boba Fett makeover: "I asked for a Kitchenaid mixer for Christmas, I pointed my wife toward a broken one on eBay so that I could refurbish it, as I was taking it apart I got some inspiration for the paint job and this is what came out of it, still needs a phase board for speed control and two decals to be applied to the sides but I couldn't wait to share."

Boba Fett Mixer (Thanks, Fipi Lele!)

Vader's Little Princess: Excerpt

Mark Frauenfelder — Tue, 21 May 2013 00:36:04 +0000

Here's a excerpt from Jeffrey Brown's latest book, Vader's Little Princess.

In this irresistibly funny follow-up to the breakout bestseller Darth Vader and Son, Vader—Sith Lord and leader of the Galactic Empire—now faces the trials, joys, and mood swings of raising his daughter Leia as she grows from a sweet little girl into a rebellious teenager. Smart and funny illustrations by artist Jeffrey Brown give classic Star Wars moments a twist by bringing these iconic family relations together under one roof. From tea parties to teaching Leia how to fly a TIE fighter, regulating the time she spends talking with friends via R2-D2's hologram, and making sure Leia doesn't leave the house wearing only the a skirted metal bikini, Vader's parenting skills are put hilariously to the test.

Also, check out Chronicle Books editor Steve Mockus' post about the creation of the Vader's Little Princess cover:

Vader's Little Princess

Sheet-metal Millennium Falcon model

Cory Doctorow — Wed, 15 May 2013 16:50:56 +0000

The Millennium Falcon Metallic Nano Puzzle looks like a delight. It's one of those puzzle/models that you punch out of thin, laser-cut pieces of sheet metal and assemble with tweezers and pliers, and the finished model is quite a beauty. It's $15.30 plus shipping from Japan. It looks more complex than the models I've done to date (most took less than an hour to complete), so be prepared to spend some time on it.

Star Wars Metallic Nano Puzzle (Millennium Falcon) (via Geekologie)

Get yourself 3D scanned and printed out as a Stormtrooper figurine or trapped in carbonite at Disney World

Cory Doctorow — Fri, 10 May 2013 18:00:25 +0000

Starting May 17, Disney World is running a "D-Tech" event at Disney Hollywood Studios wherein you can get your head scanned and 3D printed on a Stormtrooper figurine, or trapped in carbonite:

The 10-minute experience uses the world’s highest-resolution, single-shot 3D face scanner created by our Imagineering scientists with Disney Research labs. That captured image is later sent to a high resolution 3D printer to create the figurine. The completed figurine will arrive within 7-8 weeks after the experience if shipping domestically (it takes a little longer if shipping internationally). Guests will also receive either a Carbon-Freeze Me light-up band or a collector button depending upon which option they choose. The Star Wars – D-Tech Me experience is $99.95, plus shipping and applicable sales tax.

Star Wars – D-Tech Me Experience Returns to Star Wars Weekends at Disney’s Hollywood Studios Starting May 17, 2013 (via CNet)

Japanese Star Wars poster dresses

Cory Doctorow — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 15:55:40 +0000

These Star Wars dresses are apparently coming to Hot Topic at some unspecified time in the future.

Her Universe Teases Star Wars Dresses, Makes Us Drool

Sexy Star Wars costumes

Cory Doctorow — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 19:12:51 +0000

From the people who brought you the hairless Chewbacca costume, a line of "sexy Star Wars" costumes that showcase the broadmindedness and dubious taste of Disney/Lucas licensing department.

Sexy Star Wars (via IO9)

Hairless Chewbacca costume

Cory Doctorow — Sat, 20 Apr 2013 13:07:51 +0000

Costume Craze's sold-out "Chewbacca Second Skin Star Wars Costume" is a great choice for cosplayers who don't like their wookiee suits too hairy. It's the sexy catsuit of the 21st century!

Chewbacca Second Skin Star Wars Costume (via Kottke)

Harrison Ford doesn't answer Star Wars questions on Kimmel

Cory Doctorow — Sat, 20 Apr 2013 02:40:50 +0000

When Harrison Ford's appearance on Jimmy Kimmel switched to Q&A with the audience, Ford said that no Star Wars questions would be allowed. Whereupon Kimmel began (apparently) to troll Harrison rather hard. While it's clear that Harrison was in on the joke, it's got a pretty great finale.

Harrison Ford Meets an Old Friend and it Doesn’t Go Well on Kimmel

C3PO junkbot

Cory Doctorow — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 15:34:22 +0000

This spectacular C3PO junkbot assemblage was made by junk artist Gabriel Dishaw, and sells for $800. Worth every penny, too. Mr Dishaw's got plenty of other wonderful pieces for sale, too.

C3PO "Woody" (via Neatorama)

Watch all six Star Wars movies at once

David Pescovitz — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 17:53:51 +0000

In the interest of time, you can view all six Star Wars films at once. (via Dangerous Minds)

Jawa birthday cake made from a teddy-bear cake mold

Cory Doctorow — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 15:00:43 +0000

This wonderful Jawa birthday cake was made by adapting a teddy-bear cake mold, garnishing it with chocolate fondant and adding mini-party-light LEDs from a craft store. It was created by the wife of Flickr user Fat Tony 1138 for their daughter's fifth birthday. Lucky kid!

Jawa Birthday Cake (via Geeks are Sexy)

Death Star was an inside job: a Loose Change parody

Cory Doctorow — Sun, 17 Mar 2013 18:39:16 +0000

` Spocko sez, "Brilliant, and well made parody of the 9/11 video 'Loose Change.' It points out all the 'coincidences' in the destruction of the Death Star. Was it an inside job?"

An examination of some questionable events and circumstances leading up to the destruction of the Death Star, through the eyes of an amateur investigative journalist within the Star Wars galaxy. The focus is mainly on the connections between the people who created and operated the Death Star and those responsible for destroying it.

Luke's Change: an Inside Job (Thanks, Spocko!)

Best of Etsy Star Wars posters

Cory Doctorow — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 20:33:08 +0000

On Wonderland, Alice has had a deep trawl through the world of Etsy Star Wars posters and rounded up a collection of top choices, including the Space Cowboy by CONCEPCIONSTUDIOS (top) and Vintage Pop Art set from Posterinspired (right).

Beautiful Etsy Star Wars posters

Carrie Fisher reportedly confirms reprise of Princess Leia

David Pescovitz — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 17:35:45 +0000

Carrie Fisher interviewed in Palm Beach Illustrated:

Disney is going to continue the Star Wars saga, producing movies set to hit theaters starting in 2015. Can you confirm whether you’ll reprise the role of Princess Leia?
Yes.

Great moments in pedantry: Actually, there is a Jedi mind meld

Maggie Koerth-Baker — Sun, 03 Mar 2013 02:04:14 +0000

It's right there in the Expanded Universe book series, says Chris Peterson, a research assistant in MIT's Center for Civic Media. It's a form of group communication. What's more, Peterson writes, if you follow the theories of anthropologist and sociologist of science Bruno Latour, the Jedi meld might actually be the most useful tool for Obama to employ. (Thanks Ryan!)

Custom felted Star Wars spaceship mobile

Cory Doctorow — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 20:05:14 +0000

Etsy seller sheepcreeknc makes major deluxe-o custom Star Wars felted mobiles to order. At $380, they're not cheap, but if you owe someone a major baby gift, this might be just the thing.

The pictured mobile is a piece I recently made as a custom order. It features a Naboo Starfighter, Tie Fighter, X-Wing, Millenium Falcon, Star Destroyer, Republic Attack Gunship, 8 orange and white planets and 1 Death Star.
This listing is for a Star Wars mobile with the same basic structure as the mobile pictured (choose up to 6 Star Wars figures or ships and 9 planets/balls). For additional figures/ships/planets please contact me for a price quote.

STAR WARS 6 Ships Baby Mobile, Customizable Star Wars Mobile, Made to Order (via Neatorama)

Star Wars jewelry

Cory Doctorow — Sat, 23 Feb 2013 02:10:35 +0000

Etsy seller Rockets and Rainbows makes clever jewelry out of Star Wars and My Little Pony toys, including the Snow Speeder ring shown here. But you can't buy that one, because I just bought it as a surprise for my wife. Don't tell her, OK?

RocketsandRainbows (via The Mary Sue)

C3PO dress

Cory Doctorow — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 20:05:13 +0000

The "Gold Metal Man Dress" by Etsy seller GeekyU1 is a pretty good stab at a C3PO frock. Made to order for $200.

Gold Metal Man Dress (via Neatorama)

Tickle Me Elmo frozen in carbonite

Cory Doctorow — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 00:31:01 +0000

Todd Blatt and the fun-loving weirdos at the Baltimore Node hackerspace froze a Tickle-Me-Elmo in carbonite because of (awesome) reasons:

I was at my hackerspace one evening and we got to talking about crazy ideas, like normal. We have a full size Han Solo in Carbonite at the space, and someone mentioned that it'd be funny to encase old toys in a smaller carbonite box. So I did. I used the ShopBot CNC router at the MIT FablLab at CCBC in Catonsville, MD to cut the box, an arduino to copy code to an attiny85 to run the randomization script for the LED lights, and my MakerBot to 3d print the side panels I'd previously designed for a different project. The side panels are posted here on Thingiverse and I just drilled out holes for the lights.

Tickle-Me-Elmo in Carbonite (Thanks, Todd)

A Long Time Ago, sweet memoir of growing up Star Warsish

Cory Doctorow — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 15:34:09 +0000

A Long Time Ago, Gib Van Ert's memoir about growing up with Star Wars became news last Christmas, when it disappeared from Amazon following a bogus trademark question. It's been back for months now, and has been in my to-read pile for much longer, and I've finally had the pure pleasure of reading it.

A Long Time Ago is a thoughtful, funny, and beautifully written story of the role that Star Wars played in Van Ert's life, shaping his destiny as he was raised by a USMC-deserting draft dodger and a runaway Texas beauty queen in small town British Colombia. Like me, Van Ert saw the first movie as a small boy, and thereafter principally experienced it through toys, records and merchandising tie-ins. His critiques of the Kenner action figures are both scathingly hilarious and bang on, and that's pretty much a microcosm for the whole book.

By Van Ert's own admission, he's not the biggest Star Wars fan that ever lived. But Star Wars was a gateway into other nerdy pastimes -- comic collecting, Atari home systems, coin-op video games, Dungeons and Dragons -- and he does an excellent job of tracing the curious ways that the specific nerdiness of his (and my generation) shaped his intellectual and personal pursuits.

He explains how he fell away from Star Wars fandom after the third movie, forgot about it until the "special editions," and experienced his first rumblings of anxiety about the destiny of his nearly forgotten but warmly remembered passion. He nails the prequels -- fish in a barrel, but still -- and then ties it all into a story of personal development that's sweet, hopeful and wistful.

It's a short book and a quick read, and it rewards the reader with an echo of the excitement, disappointment, anger, delight, and, ultimately, love, that Van Ert feels for the franchise.

A Long Time Ago

Millennium Falcon toilet seat: why isn't this real?

Cory Doctorow — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 20:22:45 +0000

Back in 2005, High Admiral Enchurito posted this great shoop to the Rebelscum forum depicting a Millennium Falcon toilet lid and a lightsaber plunger-handle. The fact that 7 years have gone by without this becoming reality is a sad comment on the state of our society.

Master replicas Sent ME the new falcon prototype! (via Neatorama)

Patent drawing for an X-Wing

Cory Doctorow — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 01:53:21 +0000

Avi Solomon popped this patent-drawing for a hypothetical X-Wing fighter patent into the Boing Boing Flickr pool.

If Star Wars was a patent: X-Wing Fighter

J.J. Abrams to direct new Star Wars movie

Rob Beschizza — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 23:07:04 +0000

The Wrap: "J.J. Abrams will direct the next "Star Wars" film for Disney, taking stewardship of one of Hollywood's most iconic and lucrative film franchises, an individual with knowledge of the production told TheWrap."

Star Wars titles evoked 1974 fabric ad in Vogue

Rob Beschizza — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 14:45:57 +0000

Virginia Postrel reports finding this ad in a 1974 issue of Vogue, three years before George Lucas's Star Wars was first released to theaters. Inspiration ... or common descent from a shared ancestor? [Dynamist]

R2D2 and Walking Dead surfboards spotted at Surf Expo

Xeni Jardin — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 23:07:58 +0000

My 17yo niece Katie Graef cruised the halls of the 2013 Surf Expo in Florida this week, and spotted two particularly Boing-y items: Above and below, boards shaped by Ricky Carroll and airbrushed by Josh DelRocco, of rickycarrollsurfboards.com. R2D2 and The Walking Dead.

Oh, and Katie also spotted a bulldog on a skateboard.

Photos: Katie Graef.

Darth Vader can't hear very well

David Pescovitz — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 19:05:29 +0000

What?!

Kid in an R2D2 hat

Cory Doctorow — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 00:34:13 +0000

Marlene sez, "I have knit my son a tres chic R2D2 hat. It is based on a pattern I found on the Ravelry website by Carissa Browning. I'm very pleased with how it has turned out."

Ravelry: marlene-duck's R2D2 Hat

If Star Wars creatures were taxidermied

Cory Doctorow — Mon, 07 Jan 2013 22:48:40 +0000

Tauntr's "Star Wars Taxidermy" is inspired photoshoppery, but it'd be even better as a series of physical installations. I would hang these guys in my office in a SECOND.

Star Wars Taxidermy (via Neatorama)

Star Wars and Indiana Jones plot maps as fine art

David Pescovitz — Mon, 07 Jan 2013 20:23:18 +0000

Andrew DeGraff created a series of excellent story maps for the Star Wars and Indiana Jones films. Above, "Paths of Hope." The work is currently hanging at Gallery1988: Melrose in Los Angeles and viewable online and available for purchase (originals and limited prints). "Gallery1988: Andrew DeGraff & Bennett Slater"