In honor of Valentine’s Day, here’s a sampling of homemade (i.e., Photoshopped) Valentines with a Star Wars theme. I must admit, most of them are pretty lame (although these aren’t any lamer than the professionally made SW Valentines you can buy at your favorite Mart-type store), but there are some genuinely funny ones to be found. For instance, you’ve got Luke pledging to give his right hand for you, followed by the return of FrankenVader (Robert, that one’s for you). You’ve got a funny but disturbingly kinky one involving Leia and Jabba. And then there’s my favorite, for those who have a very high sense of devotion to the cause…

Happy V-Day, everyone.

In case anyone’s curious, the final bid on that Lego attack cruiser was a mere $31,602.00.

Still haven’t found that perfect gift for your favorite Simple Trick and Nonsense blogger? Might I suggest a one-of-a-kind eight-foot replica of a Republic attack cruiser (as seen in Revenge of the Sith) made entirely out of Legos?

This astounding model was created with some 35,000 Lego bricks by a “Lego Master Builder” — what a job title, eh? — named Erik Varszegi. It has appeared at a number of large geek-gatherings, including Star Wars Celebration III and the legendary San Diego Comic-Con, and it’s currently up for auction on eBay. Last time I checked, the bid price was a mere $24,006.99. All of the money from the final bid will go to Habitat for Humanity’s hurricane relief project, so come on, make a gesture of friendship to yours truly and contribute to a good cause. Maybe I’ll even let you come over and admire it sometime…

All kidding aside, this thing fascinates me. I am simply astounded by the accuracy of this model; I had no idea you could build something so “realistic” out of Legos. Everything I ever attempted to build with them as a kid inevitably ended up as a cube, or a rectangular obelisk or something, so I can’t help but be impressed by any Lego sculpture that actually looks like something.

In case you didn’t know, you can click on the photo above to see a larger version. You might also want to check out this interview with Varszegi, which includes lots more photos along with the details of how this model was constructed. It’s almost as complex as the special-effects miniatures built for the original trilogy!

If you’ll recall, I wrote a week or so back that I’d like to add several Star Wars prop replicas to my collections. Just for kicks, I’ve put together a wish list of these items, complete with linked photos so you can see what I’m talking about as well as some commentary for those new to this corner of SW fandom. These replicas are all fairly expensive, limited-edition items, most of which long ago sold out from their respective manufacturers, so it’s doubtful that I’ll ever get around to buying them for myself. But who knows? One of my Three Loyal Readers may get an inheritance and kindly decide to reward me for all the entertainment this blog has provided them.

(To be honest, I probably could buy at least some of these for myself, but it’s hard to justify the expense for something that doesn’t do anything except sit on a shelf and warm the hearts of any fanboy friends who may drop by the house. Still, it’s fun to dream…)

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I’ve seen several tongue-in-cheek Star Wars photos floating around the Web the last couple of weeks. For your rainy-day amusement, here are three that I especially like:

Chewie throws out the first pitch;

Chewie’s impression of John Bonham;

And my personal favorite, Lord Vader deals with Grover’s Bane.

[Ed. note: If you missed the reference in item #2, John Bonham was Led Zeppelin’s drummer. Read more here.]

If you enjoyed yesterday’s lighthearted peek into the personal lives of your favorite Star Wars heroes, then you’re going to love today’s head-first dive into the dank underbelly of vaguely creepy foreign marketing materials:

I mean, come on… do you really think the Dark Lord of the Sith is all that interested in text messaging?

I thought I’d seen pretty much every photo there is relating to the original Star Wars trilogy. However, it appears that the Lucasfilm Archive may contain mysteries than even I, in my fanboy arrogance, have never imagined. Behold this image, brought to my attention by the wonderful folks at Boing Boing:

Is it real or is it Photoshopped? I have no idea, but to my eye it looks like it could be real. I have seen other Empire-era publicity stills taken in front of this same backdrop. Besides, I’ve always suspected there was something going on between Leia and the Wook. That whole “walking carpet” thing? Tell me you didn’t detect the sexual tension boiling underneath that remark…

Responding to a sudden whim this afternoon, I walked over to Night Flight Comics on my lunch hour. It’s been a while since I’ve hung out at a comic shop, longer, perhaps, than I’d realized. Browsing the new issues, knowing that I’d be coming into the middle of all those stories with no idea of what was happening, seeing new titles I didn’t recognize at all — not to mention how damn young the store’s employees seemed relative to myself — it all made me feel something like a college student who has returned to his old high school for one last, sentimental look around. It hasn’t been that long ago that this place was home, but it’s been just long enough. Things are different now.

I ultimately selected a book I’ve had my eye on for a couple of years, a nifty trade paperback collection of the ’70s-vintage Star Wars comics that I loved as a child. When I laid it on the counter along with my debit card, the shaggy-haired clerk in the Green Lantern shirt noticed the familiar logo and asked a sadly predictable question: “What did you think of Episode III?”

I had to hold my breath to keep from sighing. I wasn’t in the mood to have this debate, not today, not again.

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Lileks has finally seen Sith, and, in my humble estimation, his review is well worth your reading time. It’s frequently on the snarky side, as Lileks is wont to be, but he’s a very effective writer and his affection for the Star Wars movies is clear, even as he’s blasting some aspect or other of them:

2:45 PM, Southdale AMC theater #4, center row, unobstructed view. Star Wars.

 

If you’re my age, you probably saw the first one in theater. If you share my infantile interests, you probably saw it five times. (Saw it 12 times myself.) So the blue words, the invocation if you will, bring many strange and fleeting emotion[s]. You can’t help thinking who you were then, where you were, what it was like, how little has changed, how much. It wipes the slate clean, those words. Then the CRASH of the brass – that famous chord you could play for a hundred people and they’d never remember the top note that really makes it work – and you’re back where you have been five times before: listening to the stirring theme, reading bad prose. WAR! The crawl begins, helpfully noting that ‘Evil is everywhere.’ Yes, well, that’ll happen.

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