Star Wars Weekends Episode I: The Humidity Menace

Posted on May 19, 2015 by Nanci

May 15-17 marked the first weekend of Walt Disney World’s annual Star Wars Weekends, held during five weekends in May and June at Disney’s Hollywood Studios theme park. Given our love of both Star Wars and Disney World, our close proximity to the parks (about 10 minutes from our garage to the DHS parking lot), and our status as annual passholders, it’s a no-brainer that we spend at least some part of every weekend at the park.

This year Brian and I decided to take off work on Day 1 in order to kick off the festivities with a bang. Week 1 also marked the first ever appearance of Ian McDiarmid at Star Wars Weekends!

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Review: Darth Vader #5

Posted on May 13, 2015 by Bria

The owner(s) of the lightsabers on the cover of this issue has been the subject of conversation for weeks and now the time has finally come for all to be revealed. Darth Vader #5 by Kieron Gillen and Salvador Larroca arrives in comic stores today with the definitive answer to that debate.

Vader has an army. And two murderous droids. And the assistance of Doctor Aphra. And the location of this facility where he suspects Palpatine is training his replacement. It’s not difficult to predict his next course of action. But when Vader arrives, lightsaber blazing, not everything is quite what it seems…

Darth Vader #5 has the distinct honor of being the first issue of the new Marvel comics to leave me going “Wait what?” and scratching my head while I try and figure out what’s going on. Palpatine quietly training a new apprentice definitely seems logical and quite frankly, easy enough to hide in plain sight given that Inquisitors are a part of canon. Without going into spoilers, the last half dozen pages or so has definitely left me not quite tracking Gillen’s plan here. That said, this isn’t a black mark against the book. I have no doubt that more will be revealed in the coming issues and quite frankly if I could predict everything that happens in this book, I’d get bored rather fast.

We don’t get to see as much from Aphra or our murder bots this issue (although Triple Zero does have a few great lines) but given that this a book about Vader, I’m content to see him be the star for an issue. There’s actually not tons else to say about this latest issue though. Darth Vader continues to be an enjoyable book with great art by Larroca who’s the perfect fit for this series. Again, those final few pages left me both on the edge of my seat and scratching my head with confusion. The next issue’s going to be an interesting for sure!

In the mean time, go pick up a copy of Darth Vader #5 as this book continues to get my stamp of approval!

Tosche Station Radio #116: One Celebration Ends, Another Begins

Posted on May 12, 2015 by admin

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Savanna Kiefer of The Dorky Diva joins us for one last look back at Celebration Anaheim. We also look ahead to the upcoming Star Wars Weekends at Disney’s Hollywood Studios!

Tosche Station Radio is the official podcast of Tosche-Station.net and a part of Majestic Giraffe Productions. If you like what you hear, please leave a review on the iTunes Music Store. We can also be found on Facebook and Twitter.

Nanci and Brian are the co-founders and writers of Tosche-Station.net. You can find Nanci on Twitter with the handle @Nancipants and you can find Brian with @LaneWinree.

This podcast has been brought to you in part by Her Universe and Audible.com.

Tosche Station Radio #115: Bad Batch

Posted on May 8, 2015 by admin

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Johnamarie Macias from The Wookiee Gunner joins is to continue our ongoing Celebration recap! Today we discuss The Clone Wars news out of the convention. Do be sure to watch the Bad Batch arc on the official site!

Nanci and Brian are the co-founders and writers of Tosche-Station.net. You can find Nanci on Twitter with the handle @Nancipants and you can find Brian with @LaneWinree.

This podcast has been brought to you in part by Her Universe and Audible.com.

Moff Mors and the Importance of First Impressions

Posted on May 8, 2015 by Shoshana

April 28 saw the release of Paul S. Kemp’s Lords of the Sith, the fourth novel in the new story-group approved canon, of which you can read our spoiler-free reviews here and Brian’s more in-depth review here. Along with being the first of the new books to focus on Darth Vader, Lords of the Sith holds the distinction of introducing the new canon’s first LGBTQIA+ character, Moff Delian Mors.

I found Moff Mors to be an interesting character and a welcome addition to the Galaxy Far, Far Away. Unfortunately, her introduction is handled with far less care than one would hope. Continue reading →

J.J. Abrams Interview in Vanity Fair

Posted on May 7, 2015 by Nanci

As part of the June cover story, Vanity Fair sat down with director J.J. Abrams to talk about his work on The Force Awakens. Topics of conversation include how he and the rest of the creative team went about setting the tone and referencing the other films, and what it was like working on Star Wars as a lifelong fan.

On the podcast we’ve speculated a lot about the state of the GFFA 30 years after Endor, and Abrams discusses the appeal of dropping in the audience into the middle of the action with little explanation.

What was incredible about Star Wars, among other things, was that in that first movie Vader could’ve been his father, but he wasn’t, you know. Leia could’ve been his sister, but she wasn’t. You didn’t really know what the Empire was up to exactly. You didn’t really understand what it meant that there was a Senate or the Dark Times or any of the references, and yet you felt the presence of all these things and you understood because it was all being referenced in a way that allowed you to fill in the blanks, and that’s a very powerful thing.

I’m not sure about anyone else, but lately I feel very comforted reading and listening to interviews with Abrams. There’s no doubt he understands the importance of Star Wars, and knows that getting the feel right is just as important as the story itself. Combine that with the amazing new teaser and set pictures, and I absolutely cannot wait until December 18.

Review: Kanan #2

Posted on May 6, 2015 by Bria

This is it. This is the issue we’ve been dreading since this time last month. Kanan: The Last Padawan #2 by Greg Weisman and Pepe Larraz hits comic stores today. It’s the follow up to an issue that had all of us still talking at Celebration so how does this latest issue hold up?

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Tosche Station Radio #114: Publishing Madness

Posted on May 4, 2015 by admin

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Our Celebration recap continues with Megan from Blog Full of Words joins us to recap the publishing news from Celebration. We highlight the announcements and highlights from Del Rey and Marvel’s panels.

Nanci and Brian are the co-founders and writers of Tosche-Station.net. You can find Nanci on Twitter with the handle @Nancipants and you can find Brian with @LaneWinree.

This podcast has been brought to you in part by Her Universe and Audible.com.

Happy May the 4th: Vanity Fair reveals more character photos, names

Posted on May 4, 2015 by Nanci

Right after midnight, Vanity Fair posted their cover article for the June The Force Awakens issue, complete with a video and picture of Kylo Ren sans mask.

More photos were revealed this morning, including one of Poe Dameron looking super dashing next to his X-wing.

Also revealed was that Lupita Nyongo’s CGI character, Maz Kanata, is a pirate. A PIRATE!

~~Vanity Fair will be revealing one final photo tomorrow via their newsletter.~~

Update 12:05PM – Gwendoline Christie IS Captain Phasma/the chrometrooper

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Get Ready for Force Friday on September 4

Posted on May 3, 2015 by Nanci

Prepare to be very, very tired on September 4.

Starwars.com has announced that all The Force Awakens merchandise — including apparel, toys, books, comics — will go on sale at 12:01 am on Friday, September 4. Retailers will participate in Midnight Madness events, just like during the prequel era. The mysterious villain Kylo Ren will feature on packaging.

Planning to purchase your haul on September 4? Be sure to document your experience using the hashtags #ForceFriday and #MidnightMadness.

Brian and I won’t be there, because September 4 is the first day of Dragon Con. I feel very bad for Brandy, the rest of the SWatDC volunteers, and all of the bloggers and podcasters who are going to have to read very, very fast when they get home.

Anyone know of good toy stores near Downtown Atlanta?