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SWTNZ News - Peter Diamond Tribute and Auction Details.. |
Above, Peter on the set of Highlander
Peter's career spans fifty years with more than a thousand film and television
credits, he worked as a Choreographer, Sword master, stunt double, Director
and Actor. Peter was choreographer for original trilogy action sequences and
appeared on screen in various disguises such as the stick wielding Tusken
Raider in Ep4. He was Stunt coordinator on Raiders of the lost Ark, Who
framed Roger Rabbit, Princess Bride and the very first Highlander film.
Above, Peter on the set of Princess Bride and in a fight scene, "Highlander"
Many people have seen him at festivals around the world, signing autographs
and engaged in discussion about his life and work. Peter was involved in
twenty plus Hammer horror films, The Fifth Musketeer, One of our Dinosaurs
are Missing, Candleshoe, Kidnapped, Alfie and many many more. His television
work included Dr Who, Ivanhoe, The Saint, The Prisoner, The Avengers, Last
Of The Mohicans, Dick Turpin, Minder, Jeeves And Wooster, Highlander Series,
Jonathan Creek, One Foot In The Grave, Heartbeat and the list goes on...
Click the link below to visit Peter's official Site..
http://www.peterdiamond.co.uk
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SWTNZ psychological Profiling - C.C.D, "Compulsive Collector Disorder" |
Are you a compulsive collector?, how can you tell or what are the signs?..
Lets take a journey into our Star Wars obsessed minds and try to understand
ourselves a little more, when does it become too much and should it be cured.
C.C.D or "Compulsive Collector Disorder" is a term i use to describe the
behaviors of everyday collectors male and female and it doesn't stop at just
Star Wars toys.. Oh no this is a very deep and truly disturbing trend that has
expanded across the shores to every little town and big city around the world..
Symptom Number #1 - Rekindling those Memories
First, try to think back to your childhood.. Now think about it, do you have more
toys now as an adult? and if so what time in your life did you suddenly decide
you wanted to collect Star Wars toys. For me it wasn't until my 30's when i
discovered something interesting about certain toys, basically they helped me
to remember, the toy connects us to good memories and sometimes even bad
and because most of us had toys as a small child those memories are from
this time in our past. For some people toys are able to rekindle those lost
thoughts and feelings we abandoned as adults and many adults who are
unable to connect to this feeling are left confused as to why people have
toys. They may even think that its childish to do so, but don't let that bother
you, there are countless millions of collectors in the world affected by the
toy in one form or another and this is just the beginning.
Symptom Number #2 - Making up for that loss
Not everyone in the world had toys as a child, maybe they came from a family
that did not believe in such things or perhaps they just simply could not
afford them. In either case a collector can be born from that need to have
what they couldn't before and so begins an ambition to make up for that loss.
They may feel an emptiness as many collectors do and for a moment when
they acquire that toy the emptiness feels a little more filled, this feeling is
fleeting because the need to have more toys grows and grows and this is
when you need to re-evaluate your driving needs. You will never feel full,
you can never remove the void because your toys are in the physical world
and your emptiness is apart of you, so to overcome it you have to understand
what you are trying to replace, the mind works in mysterious ways..
Symptom Number #3 - Extreme Collecting
The third addiction is one of the more disturbing since the Star Wars trilogy
began back in 1977, now if i told you there was a brand new clone trooper
for sale in a particular store and there were only 50,000 of them made would
you run like a mad person in a desperate attempt to get one. If you are one
of these collectors then you are in need of some serious help..lol :)
Lucas has put no limit on the number of toys and replica items that can
entice you and even compel you to buy anything and everything put before
you. If there is a special addition wookie soldier out there with a variant blue
bandolier you will make all efforts to acquire one, even if it means spending
outrageous amounts of money when you cant afford to. Many of these
collectors convince themselves that they are priceless collectibles keeping
them unopened and hanging on the walls like some kind of trophy.. :) Now you
have to blame the toy company's for taking advantage of people in such a way,
the process works both ways, these company's get richer because you aren't
prepared to say enough is enough..
Symptom Number #4 - Slap on the Name
The most compulsive of all collecting has to be those collectors who keep
anything and everything with the name "Star Wars" printed on it. Do you have
a tshirt baring the Star Wars logo?, perhaps a scrapbook containing hundreds
of magazine and newspaper clippings. An empty Pepsi bottle sits on the shelf
simply because it has those two compelling words printed on it, cans, bottles,
containers, bags, cups, glasses, stickers, cards.. you name it, someone's got it.
Before to long the room looks more like a super market and amongst the piles
of paper and plastic you can see an R2D2 toy of some type or maybe a Pez
display stand you somehow managed to get from a shop down the road, the
number of items available to these collectors are infinite. You can literally
eat, wear and sleep on Star Wars related merchandise, everything from your
cutlery to your bed sheets and pajamas. Little billy finishes his MacDonalds Star
Wars meal, brushes his teeth with his Darth Vader tooth brush, combs his hair
with C3PO puts on his R2D2 pajama's and climbing into his Revenge of the Sith
bed sheets says to his mother, "Can you turn of my Queen Amidala Lamp"..
In Conclusion, what can we do to help the disorder
You might laugh at some of the symptoms listed above, but that's probably
because you can associate yourself with what's being described, CCD is
very real and effects all collectors in one form or another. In fact you could
say that you rely on the disorder itself to keep you going, otherwise why
bother collecting anything. But there comes a time in your life when you
have to ask yourself why, for myself i prefer vintage collectibles because
this was a time in my life i like to remember, I associate fond memories of
the Star Wars phenomenon to the toys i collect. For many people it is very
difficult to understand why they collect but if you see it as a problem then
you can change your habits if you really want to, its an addiction like any
other addiction and it can be treated in the same manner. First you need to
cut down, reduce your collecting habits to one category of collectible and
then say to yourself do i really need two or more of everything, don't be a
greedy collector by setting yourself a fixed budget and don't let scalpers
take advantage of you because they know your addiction works in their
favor. Understanding your addiction can not only help you control it
but you will enjoy your collection more than you thought possible..
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SWTNZ Creative Review - The FemTrooper Phenomenon |
If you didn't know already the FemTrooper is a new female addition to
the imperial forces, as the patch may suggest above "Vaders Vixens" is a
fitting title to these clad or not so clad seductive lady soldiers of the empire.
Do not resist an arrest by the Femtrooper, because although they might look
sweet and innocent, they can open a can of wipp@ss on you like you wont
believe. Yes every once and awhile their charm will persuade the most
stubborn of rebels to surrender, some say it is the way they smile and others
say its they way all those belly buttons stare back at you, what ever it is we
can only hope and pray that the emperor decides to hire many, many more...
For sometime now FemTroopers have been making appearances at various
events around the globe such as the Star Wars Celebrations and DragonCon
festivals. The costumes attributes can only be outdone by the Slave Girl
costumes that have also become very popular amongst the fans..
The FemTroopers armour is a modified variation of the standard Storm
Trooper costume with (for lack of a better description), an added chest
support and high heeled trooper boots. There are two basic variations, one
has a covered belly and one is uncovered, the favored look being the last.
"Aren't you a little short to be a Storm Trooper?", those famous words
would have been a little redundant if Luke Skywalker had put on the wrong
uniform.. I will leave the rest up to your imagination and who knows..maybe
sideshow collectibles might one day create the 12 inch FemTrooper figure..
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SWTNZ Actor Review - A Moment to Remember, Alec Guinness |
Born April 2nd 1914, Alec Guinness was one of the greatest actors who
ever adorned the silver screen, but it was his portrayal of Obi-Wan Kenobi
in the Star Wars trilogy that introduced him to a new generation of fans.
A legend in his own right long before the saga had even been written,
he turned to acting in the 1930's and spent several years performing on
the London stage. After the war (WWII) he took up the roles in such classic
films as "Great Expectations", "Oliver Twist" and captured the attention of
critics by playing an astounding eight different roles, including a female
character in the film "Kind Hearts and Coronets" made in 1949. He received
his first Academy nomination for his performance as Henry Holland in
"The Lavender Hill Mob", then a second nomination for "Bridge on the
River Kwai" in 1957. He then went on to star in such memorable films as
"Lawrence of Arabia" ,"Doctor Zhivago" and lets not forget our favorite
of them all, "Star Wars" in 1977.
Aside from acting, Alec also possessed remarkable skills as a writer and
received an Academy nomination for his screenplay "The Horse's Mouth",
in which he also starred and penned three best-selling autobiographies.
In 1959 he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth the 2nd, awarding him the title
of "Sir Alec Guinness" and In 1980 he was given an Academy Award for his
life long cinematic achievements.
Here's to you Alec, Cheers..
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SWTNZ Creative Review - Build yourself a life size "JAWA", Tutorial |
Click To Go There
Are you a big "Jawa" fan?, would you like to have a full size replica for your
room?, check out this tutorial which shows you how to create a Jawa out of
common materials. The construction is broken up into pages for each body
part such as the hands, eyes, head and cloak etc. The author claims that you
can build his design for around $120us dollars using retail materials, but I
think with a little ingenuity you could cut costs down considerably..
Click the picture above or the link below to visit..
http://www.angelfire.com/il2/TB312/Jawa/welcome.html
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SWTNZ Creative Review - Homemade Full Size Landspeeder |
Click To Go There
I recently found this website featuring images of a custom made full size
Landspeeder, its built on the frame of a car chassis so it can actually be
driven. Pretty clever, could you imaging driving that down the street,
"I'm just going down town to pick up some power converters!"..
http://www.kustom-built.com/Landspeeder
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SWTNZ Creative Review - Full Size R2D2 built entirely from LEGO |
Click To Visit
Professional LEGO Sculptor Eric Harshbarger has created an awesome number
of pieces including this full size R2D2, the model uses thousands of blocks,
weighs more than 20 pounds and stands around three feet tall. It balances nicely
on his LEGO legs which are even movable, the center foot has still yet to be
completed. After 6 years of professional LEGO building, Eric now limits himself
to commissioned projects, but only if it truly spark his interest. You can check
out his very impressive portfolio of LEGO pieces at the link below.
http://www.ericharshbarger.org/lego/portfolio.html
Click The Link Below or the Picture above to see more of the LEGO-R2D2
http://www.ericharshbarger.org/lego/r2d2.html
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SWTNZ Creative Review - Stuart's Custom Lego, Han Solos Blaster - fbtb.net |
There are many more possibilities to LEGO than just what you see on the
box cover, the above custom creation is a good example of just how much
detail can be achieved with plastic bricks. Stuart has made this reproduction
Han Solo Blaster and it simply looks awesome, this would look brilliant on
display, just build an additional LEGO rack to rest it on..
See Stuart's page or visit "From Bricks to Bothans" at the addresses below..
http://www.fbtb.net
http://www.fbtb.net/index.asp?feature=stuart
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SWTNZ Creative Review - Matt O'Connor's AT-ST - TheCustomAlliance.com |
There's more to customizations than just modified 3 3/4 inch figures, check
out Matt O'Connor's page at the Custom Alliance website, how incredible is
that!. A massive replica model of an AT-ST Walker as seen in "Return of the
Jedi", that is one awesome collectible, imagine having that in your living room!..
You can see Matt's page or visit the Custom Alliance at the addresses below..
http://www.thecustomalliance.com
http://www.thecustomalliance.com/oconnor/default.asp#rotj
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SWTNZ Outlook Review - Star Wars - Predictions, Toys, Television & Film |
Are you beginning to wonder,
"What does the Star Wars saga have in store for us now?"..
ON SCREEN AND DVD
Lets make some fairly easy predictions for the future, a lot of us have already
seen the last installment of Star Wars "Revenge of the Sith" and some are on there
way to watching it a second, third or even a forth time before the cinema's stop
showing it all together. The next step is to wait for it to come out on video because
the DVD version will have all the little bits and pieces we never saw on the silver
screen, all the missing or deleted scenes, the behind the screen footage and
documentary's etc. But not only that you can be sure that a special box set of all
six films will become available before to long which would be worth waiting for.
We already have word from Lucas that 3D versions of all six films will be made for
cinema's within the next 3 years or so.
THE TELEVISION SERIES & NEW TOYS
No doubt the Star Wars Television series will be happening within the next few
years, Producer Rick McCallum has already revealed some details at a Japanese
press conference, the story will take place within a 20 year span which resides
somewhere between Episodes 3 and 4 and shows how Luke grows up on his
home planet of tatooine. We can expect to see this show generate more
characters, ships and creatures, so that means a whole new line of toys from
hasbro and other company's. Following the release of such a show depending
on its popularity i would not be surprised to see a follow up cartoon series like
they did for "Droids" and "Clone Wars", this would mean even more toys..
COLLECTING, NEW AND OLD
With each film released since 1977 a new breed of collector has been created,
its like having 6 generations of collectors in one big package. But to simplify
things a little its broken up into more or less two groups. The Trilogy group
which incorporates ep4 to 6 and the next generation of collectors which
have been influenced mostly by ep1 to 3. Those collectors who were old
enough to see and remember "A New Hope" tend to lean more towards
collecting vintage toys, as these have more sentimental value on top of the
intrinsic value. Now that we have a whole new generation of collectors
influenced by "Revenge of the Sith", we could imagine seeing a shift in the
prices of toys, especially vintage toys. The market price depends on supply
and demand, if there are more people taking an interest in collecting the
demand and price for vintage toys is sure to rise also. And remember with
each passing year vintage toys become more degraded so eventually they
will cease to exist.. The process is slow of course and professional collectors
are well aware how important it is to protect there toys from degrading any
faster than they should.
THE OUTLOOK
So the outlook goes something like this, expect to see many more toys to
come for at least another decade based on upcoming television and animated
programs, this would also include lots of new games. Keep your eyes open for
DVD movie boxed sets and special 3D films coming to theaters within the next
3 years. And finally keep your eyes on vintage toy prices..
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SWTNZ Creative Review - The DeathStar "Sub Woofer" - www.Ebay.com |
Here is a very interesting idea that was up for sale on ebay recently, a working
sub woofer in the form of the "DeathStar", not known for their engineering skills
two young men began with a skeleton made from 18mm MDF with curved ribs, the
basic spherical shape measured somewhere between 30-40mm thick, It was made
airtight from the inside using fibre glass matting and the gaps between the ribs
were filled with chopped glass fibre's and resin. A skin was made from plywood
and covered in fibre glass, the surface was then coated in car body filler and
sanded. Next the trench was cut out using a router and finally painted with two
shades of grey, with the trench in black and white dots over the surface
representing the lights, the speaker surround is a piece of polished aluminum.
The speaker is a 12 inch Alpine sub woofer and there are two 4mm binding posts
at the back for connection to a an amplifier, the output is close to 300W and In
all the DeathStar-Sub measures 36 inches in Diameter, 44 inches tall
(with stand) and 65 Kg in weight..
You can checkout the original Auction Below..
http://www.ebay.com - Item 5789263206
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SWTNZ Character Review - Peter Mayhew, The Actor, The Man & The Wookie |
Peter Mayhew, who stands a whopping 7 foot '3 inches was born in Barnes,
England. He spent a short time in the field of engineering before working
as a hospital orderly at London's King's College Hospital, it was then he was
featured in a newspaper article about men with large feet. By chance, his
photograph was noticed by the producers of Sinbad's "The Eye of the Tiger"
made in 1977 and was cast to play the role of the Minotaur. When George
Lucas began searching for an actor who could portray Chewbacca, he
initially turned to David Prowse. But David opted for the part of Vader,
leaving Mayhew the role of the Wookiee.
Above, Mr & Mrs. Mayhew's Wedding Day
Peter would visit a zoo where he studied the movement of bears, monkeys,
gorillas etc with traits reminiscent of a Wookiee. Once inside the costume,
Mayhew brought the character of Chewbacca to life. Although the vocalizations
were later dubbed, Mayhew simulated the character's dialogue and was known
to growl and grunt on set. During the filming of "Empire Strikes Back", he took
ill and was out for a day, when director Irvin Kershner substituted Peter for
another extremely tall actor this proved to be bad mistake as Peter had
created Chewbacca's walk and mannerisms. The substitute was unable to
accurately portray the Wookiee and Kershner was forced to discard all of
the footage and re-shoot once he Peter had regained his health.
Joining his colleagues on the set of Episode 6, "Return of the Jedi" was the
one film Peter remembers most fondly. It was during ROTJ that Mayhew used
his stunt double for the first and only time. It was the scene when the desert
skiff was hit by a blaster and tips over leaving Chewie to pull Han and Lando
back onboard. In 1997 Peter accepted the lifetime MTV Movie achievement
award and is often seen attending conventions and visiting less fortunate
Children in Homes and Hospitals.
Pictures (Above) are courtesy of petermayhew.com
You can visit Peter Mayhews Official site at the link below.
http://www.petermayhew.com
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SWTNZ Creative Review - Star Wars TIE-Fighter Computer Desk |
Computer Case Modification Winner, 23 year old David Barry of Brooklyn
New York, created this amazing computer desk from scratch with the center
piece of the fighter (Cockpit) used to house the computers main CPU etc..
A die hard Star Wars fan he couldn't think of nothing cooler than a TIE Fighter
to base his design on, so after downloading blueprints from the internet he
went to work. First he started with the wings which were cut from plywood,
the cockpit of the TIE Fighter was made from a Jolly Ball which is a pet shop
item. A plywood cutout was installed inside the ball to hold all the computer
components and PVC piping was used to connect the cockpit to the wings.
The smaller detailing was made using wood filler, wood strips, glues, paints,
and caulking. It was then painted, and a Plexiglas desktop surface was added.
The cockpit was divided into two chambers, the front holds the motherboard
and the back chamber hold's an 80GB hard drive, the power supply and a CD
ROM drive that pops out the bottom. The green laser canons on the front of
the cockpit are the power on and drive activity LEDs. The power and reset
buttons are built into a side panel with red LED's lighting up the interior of the
case and a 12cm fan cools both chambers, the project took four months to
finally complete.. Simply Awesome!.
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SWTNZ Character Review - Kenny Baker "is" R2D2 |
Kenny Baker was born on the 24th August 1934 in Birmingham England, upon
overcoming height difficulties with help from the Shaftesbury Society of
London, he soon become a show biz name across the UK and then the world.
Kenny started performing in the 50's at the early age of 16 and went on to
spend many years touring the country doing panto, ice shows and forming a
musical comedy act called the "The Mini Tones". He later went on to
become a nightclub performer and then hit it big time in 1976 when he got
the part as R2D2 in the first Star Wars film, being only 3ft 8inches tall Kenny
was destined to fit inside the specially designed astromech suit that would
soon become one of the most loved characters by Star Wars Fans young
and old. Kenny brought the character of R2D2 to life with the many
awkward movements and gestures that Kenny worked hard to create
throughout all six films. R2D2 and C3PO are the only actors to perform in
all the Classic Trilogy films and prequel films.
Baker has played characters in many films such as U.F.O, Sleeping Beauty,
Labyrinth, Amadeus, Time Bandits, The Elephant Man, Flash Gordon, The
Goodies and The Hunchback of Notre Dame. In 1978, as R2-D2, Baker put
his footprints in the cement outside Mann's Chinese Theater in Hollywood.
In 1997 he toured Britain as a one man comedy tour simply called 'Kenny
Baker', he is frequently asked questions about being R2D2 and attends many
Star Wars conventions signing autographs and meeting many happy fans..
You can watch a very good 19min interview Video in "Real Media" format at the
BBC news website below, Kenny talks about his work as R2D2 and describes
in detail how he operated the 80 pound suit throughout all 6 films..
http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/chat/hotseat/newsid_1639000/1639810.stm
You can visit Kenny Baker's official website at the address below.
http://www.kennybaker.co.uk
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SWTNZ Looking Back - Pre-Design, The Original Star Wars Logo - 1976 |
When we think of the original Star Wars art work from 1977 we usually remember
various images and fonts that set the tone for the advertising of the time, most
of us don't think about the art work that may have pre dated an existing design.
But here it is, if you have never seen it before then this is a special moment for
you. Above is the pre-release symbol for episode four "A new Hope"...
This triangular form containing a representation of Luke Skywalker wielding his
lightsaber was created by Ralph McQuarrie to produce an icon for the pre-
production in early 1976. The symbol can be seen in many behind the scenes
shots, most notably on the Panavision magazines in which the film was featured.
Notice that the wording is "The Star Wars", as this was the original title before
its current form, within the same lines Skywalker's original surname was
"Starkiller". So i guess you could say that this symbol is a representation of that
character as he was perceived by George Lucas, "Luke Starkiller"..
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"The Jedi Code" - An analysis by Peter ( Editor of SWTNZ ) |
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The following text is commonly referred to as,
"The Jedi Code"
There is no Emotion, there is Peace.
There is no Ignorance, there is Knowledge.
There is no Passion, there is Serenity.
There is no Death, there is the Force.
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This is what the code means to me in a loosely translated sense..
1. "There is no Emotion" - A jedi must control his/her emotions in order to have
control of the energy (Force) that flows through them, once they attain control
"There is Peace", or in other words their mind is clear and ready.
2. "There is no Ignorance" - Accept all and choose best, the Jedi must have an
open mind and be ready to understand the hearts and minds of others, so
"There is Knowledge" and with knowledge there is compassion.
3. "There is no Passion" - The Jedi has no need for anything, they have no
possessions and therefore they carry with them no passion or interest other
than that of learning the ways of the force, so "There is Serenity" , they
want for nothing because they already have that which they need.
4. "There is no Death" - The force is life and omnipresent, meaning it is
everywhere and everything. The jedi believe that their true self is neither the
body or the flesh, instead it is the spirit that is the true self. It is part of the
living force and always will be even after the body has gone, so "There is
the Force", "it surrounds us, penetrates us, it binds the galaxy together"..
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Star Wars Trader - New Zealand , � 2005-2008 Copyright SWTNZ
Original photographs, graphics & text etc is the property of SWTNZ unless
otherwise stated, "Star Wars" related media including images, video and characters
etc are copyright to and owned by Lucasfilm Ltd. SWTNZ is neither sponsored or
endorsed by Lucasfilm nor does it affiliate with any other division thereof.
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