Source: Star Wars Minute Podcast

I’ve recently picked up a few new Star Wars podcasts and one of my current favourites is Star Wars minute. At the moment they are deep diving each minute of Rogue One, which is one of my favourite bits of Disney era content. It’s fascinating, especially the most recent where they have the screenwriter himself talking insights and thoughts behind filming decisions.

If you’re into film at all I think it’s worth a listen, but even more if like me you’re obsessed with Star Wars.

I’ve been playing Battlefront 2 for ages now but only just discovered the best mode to use to level up quickly and also get in some practise.

This is coop, a 4 player online team vs the AI. You join a team from any of the eras you select and then go up against wave after wave of computer controlled opponents. I’m seeing that on average in galactic assault I’ll maybe average 6000 points per game, with coop I’ll get on average 20,000. I’ll also get a lot more hits so levelling up weapons and gaining challenges is a lot easier.

It’s also quite a lot of fun, especially levelling up the Ewoks and your hero or villain of choice.

If you’ve been following me for a bit you’ll know I’m a massive Star Wars fan. I grew up in the 80’s with the original trilogy but I’ve come to appreciate the prequels and like the sequels but more recently I’ve come to the conclusion Star Wars might be better sticking to the small screen.

The Mandalorian was some of my favourite Star Wars and now I’m a few seasons into The Clone Wars I’m absolutely loving it. Having more time to develop characters and bring us new places is absolutely what Star Wars needs right now.

I think Disney have taken the right approach with slowing down the theatrical releases and concentrating on TV.

I think The Mandalorian proves people like familiar settings but new characters. I know a few people I wouldn’t consider hardcore fans getting well into it after watching The Mandalorian. It also gives more space to develop existing ones that people would like to know more about.

Seeing a Rogue One era series and obviously Obi-Wan is exciting and The Mandalorian Season 2 coming it’s looking great for the future of Star Wars.

Watching The Clone Wars with my daughter I’m also seeing a few new favourites such as Ahsoka and Cad Bane. I’d like to see a prequel era live action series added to the mix. Ahsoka has become a fan favourite in our house so I’d love to see her in some capacity.

What do you think, is Star Wars better on TV now the saga is finished?

(Also can we get Boba Fett back please…)

So I’m off season 1 and onto Season 2 and wow does it start darker straight away. Some new characters that I’ve heard about in the past including bounty hunter Cad Bane coming on board and some deeper story lines. Really enjoying this season.

Spoilers for The Rise of Skywalker ahead….

Chewie will always be my favourite character in the Star Wars universe, as a kid to now I always love seeing him. Joonus Suotamo has done a great job picking up for the late Peter Meyhew and I felt in Solo he came into his own as I believed it was the Chewie I grew up with.

Thankfully Chewie got through Rise of Skywalker but we didn’t get a resolution of where he ended up. The medal for me was a great nod to him having something to remember Han and Leia by, this isn’t him finally getting a medal and isn’t fan service as some would lead you to believe. I like to think that he went back to his home planet of Kashyyyk with his family (yes, that holiday special is unfortunately Canon) but I would have liked to have seen it. Rey ends up with the Falcon but where’s Chewie? I’m hoping this either gets explained somewhere officially or we get Chewie in another movie or Disney+ show.

Personally I’d love to see him popping up in a series!

Appreciate I’m late to the game here but over the last month I’ve picked up Star Wars: The Clone Wars and have to say with exception of a few episodes I’m enjoying it. Having grown to appreciate what the prequels were going for I’ve found a new appreciation for this era and the Clone Wars has some great story telling. I’m almost done with season 1 and the rich amount of detail is really something to dig into.

If you have Disney+ or see it discounted then I’d definitely recommend giving it a go.

So I’ve been back and watched it for a second time with my family and I have to say I still massively enjoyed it. Still got glassy eyes at the same points and knowing the story going in I was able to relax a bit more. I still enjoy how they tied it all together and when I’m comfortable writing spoilers I’ll share all of my thoughts.

Still coming to terms with this being the last of the Skywalker Saga and the last John Williams scored Star Wars movie. I shed some tears, had some laughs and enjoyed the ride - everything a Star Wars movie should be.

I’m not writing up my thoughts yet given it’s only just come out but as someone who grew up with the original trilogy, I’m very happy with what we got.

It’s not out in the UK for another 4 months but with the BBC ruining it with spoilers for me I’ve given up waiting to watch it and just going to accept I’ll know what happens. It does sour Disney+ for me a little and I doubt I’ll sign up now until Falcon and The Winter Soldier or Obi Wan Kenobi comes out.

I’ve no idea why Disney can’t release a smaller amount of content here in the UK or release on iTunes for us Star Wars super fans.

Of course there are alternative ways to watch, which I’m sure most of the UK fan base are already doing and will continue to do so even with the official launch here.

Living in a country with so many close ties to the franchise it’s weird to be left out.

Sigh, I’ve done my best to avoid spoilers for The Mandalorian but now BBC continues it’s trend of turning into Buzzfeed by putting spoilers on the main page.

The site has been getting worse for years but this is a little ridiculous, they may as well run adverts on the site now and give me some of my license money back.

I’m not going to ruin it but if you want to be as spoiler free as possible you need to disconnect from the internet completely.

I loved the new trailer but there’s an absence that fills me with a little dread for one of my favourite characters in the franchise - Where’s Artoo?

The only thing that I can think of is that after Luke’s passing in The Last Jedi he shut down (or worse), which I’m hoping isn’t true as he is such a classic character that has had little to no screen time in the sequels. Although his interaction with Luke in The Last Jedi is one of my favourites and the only time I see the old Luke back in the sequels.

On the plus side with the gang together in this one a lot more we’ll see lots of Chewbacca and Threepio.

A main character and one of my favourites in the Star Wars series, the Millennium Falcon looks to be going back old school with it’s look in Episode IX.

You can see the larger circular radar dish last seen in The Return of the Jedi is back and with Lando back at the controls in the trailer I can’t wait to see this scene on screen.

As you know I share my passions on the blog, one of these and a massive influence on me is Star Wars. I wanted to highlight a few things I noticed in the new trailer for Episode IX, well the stuff I think is interesting anyways.

First up is looking at Rey’s lightsaber, which we know from the events of The Last Jedi was broken in half and needed to be repaired.

Well in the first teaser we can see the repair and it looks like it’s pretty much intact, which is great as someone that wanted to see that one last until the end of the saga.

You can see here that although blurry the grip is maintained but there is a repair as shown above that is keeping it together.

You can also see the repair in this shot, which is a little more covered but shows a repair where it got broken in the last film.

It’s going to be interesting to see how it actually gets repaired but for now we know what it’s going to look like in Episode IX.

This week marks the start of Star Wars Celebration in Chicago, something definitely on my bucket list but not this year unfortunately. There’ll be some big announcements and panels for this one and here’s how I’m keeping up to date.

First off you can check the official site. This’ll show key timings and events. The key ones for me are

• Episode IX panel + trailer: Friday 12th @ 11am-12pm (Chicago time)
• Galaxy's Edge theme park updates: Saturday 13th @ 11am-12:30pm (Chicago time)
• Jedi: Fallen Order Game: Saturday 13th @ 13:30-14:30 (Chicago time)
• The Mandalorian: Sunday 14th @ 11am-12pm (Chicago time)

Events and a live stream of the show (hosted by the Star Wars show) will be on their YouTube channel.

If you follow me on Twitter then you’ll know I love Star Wars and growing up in the 80’s I had my fair share of Kenner figures and vehicles.

I recently found a load of my old stuff but I lost quite a few figures and also some I never had bought for me. Thanks to eBay and local antique shops I’ve started to pick up some vintage figures.

Now I’m a lot older and have an income I can get the ones I missed as a kid. I’ve got a wish list but am very aware of a lack of storage space.

Are you picking up old toys you missed as a kid?

It’s 20 years ago this year that we saw the first of the prequels and as time has gone on I’ve come to appreciate what George Lucas was trying to achieve even the execution wasn’t all to my liking.

When I saw them originally I was in University, an original trilogy fan and had high expectations. The special editions had launched a year earlier in the cinema and fever pitch for a new set of Star Wars movies was at peak level.

On the first viewing I left somewhat confused. I didn’t think I liked it. This was a new experience for me. Loving the franchise and it being such a big part of my growing up I suddenly had some disappointment with my favourite movie series of all time. Even though I loved Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan I didn’t particular like all of Anakin’s back story (I was also confused why he created threepio) and it felt somewhat silly in places. But as the years have gone on I’ve seen it in a new light. This particularly changed when watching them with my daughter who for the first time sat down and watched Episode I completely engrossed. Then it hit me to relax and enjoy it for what it was - a film for a younger age group that takes you away to a different galaxy. I love Return of the Jedi and as a 7 year old watching it in the cinema completely engrossed I’m sure there were older generation rolling their eyes at Ewoks (I love them BTW).

Doing a rewatch of the series this year with my family before EP 9 I’m reminded how much I enjoy the last 45 mins of Episode I. Dual of the fates is one of my favourite music pieces and the fight between Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan and Darth Maul remains one of the best lightsaber battles in the series. It’s also the first time in years that a Jedi and Sith had encountered each other.

I have to admit that Episode II is my most disliked Star Wars movie and I struggle to get through it but I appreciate the story Lucas is telling, just the execution doesn’t land with me.

I had high hopes for Episode III back in the day and it somewhat delivers. I like Palpatine and he really does shine throughout the prequels but this appearance is one of my favourites. I’m not a huge fan of the ‘noooooooooo’ moment at the end and still confused as to the end of Padmé but I can let them go. Shoehorning in Chewie also feels a bit off but seeing one of my favourite characters in the franchise again is ok with me.

So, now I’m older and (supposedly wiser) I can sit down and just enjoy them.

Came across this great fan edit video today and it gave me chills. It’s one of the best videos I’ve seen showing all timelines and bringing on a central theme of the force in this case.

If I didn’t know it was a fan edit I’d swear it was from Lucasfilm to be shown as Celebration in a couple of months.

I’m hoping that Disney take note of this.

I imported this model a while ago and it’s taken me at least 8 months to get around to it but thanks to being off work I managed to complete it finally.

It’s all snap together and took me about 2 hours all in all.

Next up I’ll be trying my hand at painting before getting a few decals applied.

Done with my painting now, I’m happy with it.

Wow, came across this video showing every Lego Star Wars set in the archives. As a fan it’s amazing to see how they have changed over time.

The Mandalorian Disney+ series has announced Ludwig Göransson as its composer, if you’re not familiar with his work check out the soundtrack for Black Panther.

Sadly when I read the following I dreaded thinking about what might happen for us in the UK.

Notice launch in the US.

For a Star Wars fan looking forward to The Mandalorian it’s got me worried.

I’m thinking that Disney will instead push TV onto their SKY channels as they did for Rebels, alienating an entire audience who doesn’t want to pay for subscription TV.

I’m really hoping I’m wrong.

I’ve never been a fan of big cases and to be honest never really looked at an Otterbox but when I saw the Star Wars edition whilst searching on Amazon I was intrigued. I read up, watched a few videos and decided to give one a go. They looked to be more minimal than their usual heavy duty cases so as a day to day case looked doable for me.

The presentation is good and all materials appear to be recyclable, which is great to see.

The case itself has a large outer shell with a impact protected inner one that is a softer rubber. The case is quite stiff when you first use it but once I’d taken it on and off a few times seemed easier. Oh quick word of warning, if you’re looking for an included screen protector then it doesn’t have one. This isn’t a knock on the case but just be aware.

The design I went for was R2 and Leia but there are other designs available including Vader and BB-8.

Although a bit thicker than the Apple silicone case it’s not too bad for a protective case. I find the Apple silicone case texture to be horrible to hold after a while, no such problems here. It’s a softer material so won’t get that sticky feeling I hate so much. It also doesn’t collected lint and slips easily into your pocket. There’s enough grip to let is sit on sofa cushions etc. This is one of the reasons I’m not using my XS ‘naked’ it feels great in the hand but not for sitting down places.

All the buttons are easily pressed and have a satisfying click to them.

Ports are all accessible and wireless charging is fine.

Value for money wise it’s around £35, which is on the expensive side but a lot better value than the official Apple ones. I noticed though that the Star Wars ones are more expensive so if that’s not your bag just pick up a standard Symmetry one. They do them in loads of different colours.

So overall I didn’t think I’d like a more heavy duty case but otterbox have really done a great job of balancing protection with a more minimal design and come up with a good compromise.

Amazon Link. (All associate revenue goes towards the purchase of stuff to review for the site).

Myself and my daughter sat down to watch Star Wars Galaxy of Adventures on YouTube only to be presented with this.

I tweeted out to a few of my favourite Star Wars Podcasters and the social media team (thanks to Michelle Buchman) at Star Wars got back to me.

Turns out if you’re outside of the US and Canada you will need to use Star Wars Kids.

Source: Star Wars

The new streaming series from Jon Favreau just keeps on looking more positive. Aside from the bad ass looking Mandalorian in the image below the list of directors and creatives at Lucasfilm is top notch. Having Dave Filoni on board is a very positive step, having George Lucas’s padawan involved in live action is great. He’s long been doing great things on the animation front with clone wars and rebels and having him on live action in some capacity is only good.

I also can’t believe I’m seeing Taika Waititi (Thor Ragnorok, Hunt for the Wilderpeople) directing an episode.

Can’t wait for this.

Solo has just come out in the U.K. and I’ve managed to see it twice. For films I’m into I try to see them as soon as possible so to avoid spoilers. I won’t spoil Solo for you here so don’t worry about reading on.

My overall impression of Solo is a positive one. It has a few plot points that are obvious or head scratching but like I said overall I enjoyed it.

Here are my takeaways

• Han and Chewie's relationship is well done and in keeping with the original trilogy
• I forgot that Chewie is no longer being played by Peter Mayhew
• Han is portrayed very well, not an impression of Harrison Ford but in keeping with my understanding of the character
• There's a lot of good stuff for you Falcon fans
• It's a fun adventure

Don’t take it too seriously sit back and take it in.

I’ve started to get into building and painting and after watching many videos on weathering I decided to give it a go.

Here's what you need

• Black acrylic paint
• Small pot of water, about 10 tablespoons
• Brush
• Tissue

Technique

Put a couple of pea sized amounts of paint into the pot of water and mix. Apply the paint mixture liberally to the area you want to weather. Once you’ve done this step use the tissue to wipe away the excess you don’t want to dry. I find it’s also good to use some neat acrylic paint in things like knee and elbow joints.

One of the highlights for me in the new trilogy is a character that has had hardly any screen time - Captain Phasma. She is such a cool character looks and story wise and I was disappointed that we didn’t see more of her in The Last Jedi.

SPOILERS AHEAD

So as you can tell from the headline it looks like we saw the last of her in The Last Jedi, the last time we saw her it was engulfed in flames. This wasn’t the ending I wanted for one of the coolest characters since Boba Fett. So, could she have survived and be used in Episode IX?

My head tells me no, it’s the last we will see of her in this new trilogy.

My gut tells me yes, she survived and will be back.

To me the story arc that was used for her in The Last Jedi wasn’t compelling, yes there is a cool fight scene with Finn but I was hoping for an alternative story line.

I was hoping that she would have left the first order and become more of a bounty hunter.

I’m also considering the possibility of an origin story instead of an appearance in episode IX. I have a feeling that would go down well but not sure if it would be in movie or TV format.

What do you think?

I’ve been a fan of rebels since its launch, its in its final season and no word on the iTunes release. Last year I picked up the season pass and watched episodes as they were coming out in the states but this year it’s not available.

It’s not a great move from Disney for us non satellite owning U.K. fans. We are going to know the end before the season airs.

I’m eagerly awaiting some news but the silence makes me think we’ll get it after the season finishes. Meaning you are going to have to avoid the internet not to spoil the entire series.

I’m disappointed at Disney on this one.

Whilst looking at my list of films for 2018 it got me thinking, why aren’t we seeing anything Solo related? We are only 4 or 5 months out and we haven’t even seen a teaser. All we have is photos from Ron Howard on set.

I’m thinking one thing, there is a delay.

With The Last Jedi just out and a change of director it makes sense to me that they delay by a few months. I’m thinking it gets shifted to September, just makes the end of the summer.

If there isn’t a trailer by the end of January it’s getting delayed.

I tend to get a couple of Lego Star Wars kits a year, when I saw the BB-8 larger model it had to go on my wish list. Well I must have been good because Santa brought me one this year.

This kit is one of the more tricky I’ve done and requires a bit of forcing! The main body is held together by an elastic band until you get all of the sides on so be prepared for some swearing.

Assembly took about 4 hours at a relaxed pace and aside from the above it’s a pretty easy one.

I’d guess that anyone over the age of 10 will be ok with this but might need a hand with the centre section of the body.

Once assembled it had a moving head and lighter opening. You control these via either side, spinning the disc on each side will move the mechanism inside to make the magic happen.

This is the first Lego I’ve had with a display stand. It’s actually pretty great and comes with a mini fig you can put just in front of your full sized model.

So overall if you are any kind of Star Wars fan then this is a must buy. As a Lego collector it’s not a complicated build so best if you are a fan of BB-8.

I’ve had about 2 hours with the Sphero R2-D2 so wanted to share a few of my thoughts on using it so far. (For context I already own the Sphero BB-8 and am using on iOS).

• The box is beautifully made and the unboxing experience is a step up from BB-8
• Couldn't see any instructions in my box
• Comes with micro USB to charge
• Has a charge indicator on the droid, this is great
• Having sounds coming from Artoo is great, BB-8 doesn't
• On board LED lights are great and he looks just like the movies
• Easier to control than BB-8
• More predefined actions at the tap of a single button

In short, I love this new Sphero. It’s a must for any Star Wars fan if you can get it under £100.

I love Lego, especially Star Wars ones and I was so pleased to receive the new BB-8. These come with the minifig and a stand to display it all.

I’m looking forward to the build and I’ll report back on it with a full review.

I saw my second viewing of The Last Jedi yesterday, this time with my daughter. It felt even more like a Star Wars film to me this time.

I enjoyed it first time around but was conflicted about a few parts. Having had this second viewing, taking more in and seeing my daughters reaction I have to admit that it’s it up there with my favourites in the franchise.

I watched Return of the Jedi in the cinema when I was a kid and this feels a lot like that. Cool planets, space battles, creatures and a couple of good baddies.

I think some people are picking apart the mythology a little too much. I just sat back and enjoyed it for what it is - a Star Wars movie.

I should preface this to say I’m a massive geek for Star Wars but I do like what Rian Johnson has done with the storyline, breaking away from the Skywalker family.

I love this movie.

It’s a not so well kept secret that Puzzlewood in the Forest of Dean here in the U.K. was used in The Force Awakens. At the time it was obviously hush hush but now it’s been out for a while it’s common knowledge that it was shot there.

It’s also rumoured to be one of the places Tolkien took inspiration from for middle earth.

Specifically Maz’s home planet of Takodana.

I live about an hour away and visit there a few times a year, it’s such a magical place to visit and like nowhere else you’ll visit.

It’ll take a few hours to get in there and wander around, remembering to take in the food at the cafe.

If you’re visiting the U.K. (and a Star Wars and Lord of the Rings) fan check it out.

I have to admit, when I saw the second Star Wars: The Last Jedi trailer I got worried. It was for one reason, The Porg.

What changed my mind though was seeing my daughters reaction to it, she was laughing out loud. That made me sit back and enjoy it along with her. I have to not look at them from my older perspective but the joy I got from seeing characters at Jabba’s palace when I was the same age watching Return of the Jedi at the cinema.

That’s a major lesson I’ve taken from The Last Jedi, I really enjoyed it and it let me be a kid again like when I saw the originals.

There are some great scenes with the Porg, I’m especially fond of Chewbacca (my favourite character) having a BBQ outside of the Falcon. I won’t ruin the scene for you but it’s one of my favourites in the franchise.

I know the bulk of people will believe that Disney forced Rian Johnson’s hand in making something marketable but I read that he himself created them after seeing the puffin on the Island whilst shooting. I want to be optimistic and believe that this is in fact true.

So, some people are going to hate them and others love them. I love them and am glad that they were included in this movie.

With every new Star Wars movie I’ve gotten into the habit of buying two books

• The visual dictionary
• The art of Star Wars

I enjoyed both books for The Force Awakens so picked up The Visual Dictionary on Amazon for £11.99.

These books are a great reference if you want to know a bit more about the characters, vehicles, weapons and worlds. The great part about them is that they show characters that appeared in the background and smaller parts. One that I was keen on was the commander of the dreadnought at the beginning of the movie.

They are full of rich images showing costume design and details that you just can’t get from watching the movie alone. For each of the images you’ll find accompanying text descriptions showing details of a costume or item in a scene.

One difference with TLJ (The Last Jedi) vs TFA (The Force Awakens) is it doesn’t seem so rich, it’s also thinner. I’m not sure if that’s because we know more of the characters or there’s less background stuff going on.

A larger portion of the book is around the casino based planet, a lower point of the movie for me. So, apart from reading about a few characters flipped straight past (it’s a bit prequel for me).

So, at £11.99 it’s on the expensive side. Wait until after Christmas and pick up when it gets to £5.99 or less.