A Certain Point of View: Writing, Film and Stuff

Hasbro's Black Series Emperor Palpatine 6-in. scale action figure depicts the Sith Lord known as Darth Sidious as he was seen in 1983's Star Wars: Return of the Jedi.   Photo Credit: Hasbro, Inc. via Amazon  © 2019 Hasbro, Inc. and Lucasfilm Ltd. (LFL) In the fall of 2019, Hasbro's Star Wars: The Black Series collection released its Emperor Palpatine and Throne action figure set as an Amazon exclusive. The ultimate villain in the nine-part Star Wars  Skywalker Saga, Emperor Sheev Palpatine is depicted as he appeared at the conclusion of Star Wars: Return of the Jedi in the throne room of the Empire's second (and more powerful) Death Star battle station. Ensconced in Hasbro's black-red-and-silver Black Series, the 6-in. scale Emperor Palpatine and Throne set comes with several accessories, including a replica of the Emperor's sinister-looking throne, Palpatine's gnarled black cane,  an extra set of hands that "unleash" bolts of deadly Force

Photo Credit: PicClick.com Part One: The first TIE Fighter versions: Good but flawed...   Ever since 1978, the year Kenner Toys (now Hasbro) started the Star Wars action figure collection and its assortment of vehicles and playsets, one of the mainstays has always been the Empire's Twin Ion Engine (TIE) fighter. Unlike the first production version of its Rebel counterparts (the X-Wing and Millennium Falcon ), it has always been proportionate in scale to the 3.75-inch figures, mainly because of its layout -- ball-shaped cockpit connected to two hexagonal solar panels that give the TIE its distinctive H-shape -- is simple and efficient. It could hold one figure -- at first, collectors had no choice but to use either Darth Vader (until he got his own TIE-Advanced X-1 fighter) or a stormtrooper until l

© 2017 Hasbro, Inc. and Lucasfilm Ltd. (LFL)  Photo Credit: Gamestop In the fall of 2017, two months before the release of Rian Johnson's Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Hasbro began sending shipments of The Black Series: Supreme Leader Snoke (Throne Room) to Gamestop and EB Games stores in the U.S. and Canada. Intended for sale to the public on November 10 of that year as Gamestop/EB Games exclusives, the deluxe 6-inch scale figure of the First Order's mysterious overlord hit shelves in October. © 2017 Hasbro, Inc. and Lucasfilm Ltd. (LFL)  Photo Credit: Gamestop The shadowy commander of the First Order, Supreme Leader Snoke prefers to operate from a distance, looming over his underlings in the form of an immense hologram. As the First Order rallies, this master of the Dark Side emerges from the shadows to seize victory.  Introduced in 2015's Star Wars: The Force Awakens, the mysterious villain who commands the evil First Order was mainly seen as a hologram in the

© 2018 Hasbro, Inc. and Lucasfilm Ltd. (LFL) Six years ago, Pawtucket, RI-based Hasbro introduced its ongoing Black Series of licensed Star Wars- related action figures, vehicles, games, and other toys and collectibles that celebrate the characters and situations from Lucasfilm's space-fantasy saga set "a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away." Although the Black Series has followed Kenner and Hasbro's 41-year-old tradition of producing the 3.75-inch action figures that revolutionized movie-based merchandise for kids and adult collectors alike back in 1978, it also introduced larger and more detailed 6-inch scale action figures that feature more articulation points, accurate detailing, and photorealistic sculpts that make them resemble their onscreen counterparts more closely than ever. Since 2017, I've acquired a modest number of these larger figures. I don't plan to go out and collect them all; I don't have unlimited amounts of either display/s

General Grievous is one of the several villainous "tools" used by Darth Sidious in his quest to destroy the Jedi Order in the waning days of the Republic. Photo Credit: © 2018 Hasbro, Inc. and Lucasfilm Ltd.. (LFL)  The Black Series When Hasbro introduced its ongoing The Black Series  (TBS)  collection of Star Wars toys in 2013, I was up to my forehead in the duties of being a caregiver to my ill parent. Even though I shopped online for new books, home media editions of movies I'd missed during their theatrical runs, music, and the occasional computer game, I didn't look for Star Wars collectibles of any sort. I had to choose my purchases carefully, and at the time I thought that spending $15 or more on Star Wars figures, vehicles, and other Hasbro products was a bit unseemly given my circumstances. I found out about the TBS line roughly around the time that Lucasfilm was getting ready to release Star Wars: The Force Awakens in 2015. I saw some of the 3.75-in

Photo credit and © 2017 Hasbro, Inc. and Lucasfilm Ltd. (LFL) Well, Dear Reader , it's Tuesday, March 26, 2018, and I'm back with another Star Wars Black Series action figure review. This time around I'll be talking about another figure I received for my recent birthday: Hasbro's Star Wars Black Series: Maz Kanata from director J.J. Abrams' 2015 film, Star Wars - Episode VII: The Force Awakens.  Hasbro released its 49th Star Wars Black Series on September 1, 2017 in the same "wave" or shipment that included the following figures:  #50: Elite Praetorian Guard #51: Finn (First Order Disguise) #52: General Leia Organa #53: Captain Poe Dameron #31: AT-AT Driver #35: Snowtrooper #45: Kylo Ren Of the eight figures in this consignment, five (49-53) were new releases, while the other three were re-releases, as you can see from their ordinal number identifiers.  The destruction of her castle has forced Maz to become more mobile and take a

Photo Credit and © 2017 Hasbro, Inc. and Lucasfilm Ltd. (LFL)  On September 1, 2017 , Hasbro released a "wave" of nine six-inch Black Series Star Wars action figures that included several characters as seen in the then-upcoming Star Wars - Episode VIII: The Last Jedi, as well as a few re-issues ( AT-AT Driver, Snowtrooper, and Kylo Ren ) from The Empire Strikes Back and The Force Awakens. This collection consists of: #49: Maz Kanata #50: Elite Praetorian Guard #51:  Finn (First Order Disguise) #52: General Leia Organa #53: Captain Poe Dameron #31: AT-AT Driver #35: Snowtrooper #45: Kylo Ren These figures were released in various regions of the U.S. as part of Lucasfilm's International Force Friday II event; however, I acquired two figures from this consignment (#49 Maz Kanata and #51 Finn (First Order Disguise) only recently as part of my birthday present from my sweetheart.  Both of these figures portray characters that were introduced in 2015'

© 1999 Beckett Publications In April of 1999, during the media blitz that preceded the premiere of George Lucas's Star Wars - Episode I: The Phantom Menace, sports card, and memorabilia-related Beckett Publications published A Movie Fan's Extreme Guide to Collectibles From a Galaxy Far, Far Away, a 256-page guide devoted - naturally - to toys, books, trading cards, posters, comics, and other collectibles from the first four Star Wars films, including the upcoming Episode I. Written by Steve Fritz, Matt Brady, and James Beckett, Collectibles From a Galaxy Far, Far Away gives readers and Star Wars collectors an overview of some of the vast numbers of collectible items in the market, as well as a price guide that reveals how much a 1978 Luke Skywalker 3.75-inch figure in an unopened package was worth in 1999, just to name one of many examples. The book, which is not a licensed publication vetted by Lucasfilm, consists of four main sections, the third of which is divided into