Columbia’s Echo Base Collection Launches Splendidly in Seattle

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This was the scene as we waited for the doors to open at the Columbia Sportswear Seattle store on Friday morning.

The first person in line when I arrived at the Columbia Sportswear store in Seattle on Friday morning was well into his twenty-second hour in line. He knew what he had come for and he wasn’t about to risk losing out. HIs prize: one of the three limited-edition Columbia Echo Base Han Solo Archive Edition parkas (his choice: the size large) only available at select Columbia Sportswear retail locations. Continue reading →

The Untitled Patreon Backer Mini Podcast #1

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Welcome to the untitled Patreon (likely soon to be D.rip) backer mini-podcast, where our $5 Patrons get to tell us what to talk about and ask us questions. Nanci and Brian rant about Patreon’s new fee scheme before answering questions from listeners at the $5 backer level. Stay tuned to find out who wins this month’s Tosche Station Swag Bag. 

Nanci’s Top 10 Luke Skywalker Appearances

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I am known around these parts as the Luke Skywalker fan. He was my favorite Star Wars character when I first started liking Star Wars, and that distinction has never changed. In anticipation of The Last Jedi, I thought it would be fun to rank the ten greatest Luke Skywalker appearances, from both Canon and Legends. My criteria are threefold: characterization and agency, appropriate use of the Force for the time period, and impact on other characters. Note that I am not including live action appearances, because it’s almost impossible to rank Luke in the Original Trilogy and his cameo in The Force Awakens, while wonderful, isn’t enough to judge his character in the Sequel Trilogy. Without further adieu…

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Tosche Station Book Club #17: Barbury Station by R.E. Stearns

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This month on the Tosche Station Book Club, Nanci is joined by Bria to discuss Barbary Station by R.E. Stearns.

Next month’s pick is Cobalt Squadron by Elizabeth Wein.

This podcast has been brought to you in part by your support on Patreon!  If you like what you hear, you can subscribe to the Tosche Station Book Club on iTunes or you can subscribe to the Tosche Station Radio Megafeed for all of our great Star Wars and geek culture content. We can also be found on Facebook and Twitter.

Book Wars Pod, Episode 28: Beat That Dead Bantha

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It’s Star Wars month! We’re going back in time and starting FROM A CERTAIN POINT OF VIEW, a collection of 40 stories related to A New Hope. This week, we discuss the first ten stories, “Raymus” through “The Luckless Rodian,” as we ponder: Why short stories? Whose tales did A New Hope leave behind? What would have happened if Qui-Gon had lived?!

This podcast is NOT spoiler-free!

Book Wars Pod explores the Star Wars universe through the franchise’s non-screen media: the canon novels, comics, and video games. Check out our guide to past episodes, and subscribe on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, Spotify, and wherever else you cast your pods. You can also subscribe to the Tosche Station Radio Mega Feed on iTunes or Google Play for more great shows from our podcast network.

Follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Tumblr for episode updates! Hosted by Kristen Sereci, Chris Sedor, and Kate Sedor. Art by Joe Butera. Music by Podington Bear.

This podcast has been brought to you in part by your support on Patreon!

Review: Barbary Station

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When someone pitches a book to you as “lesbian pirates in space,” it’s hard not to be interested especially when you’re talking to someone who writes for Tosche Station. (We have a type here and we’re not sorry.) That’s how Barbary Station by R.E. Stearns was pitched to me: lesbian space pirates along with a side of Firefly. Who wouldn’t be intrigued? If only the book itself had caught me as fast as the premise.

Stearns’ debut novel, Barbary Station, is about two engineers who decide that their best way forward in life is to hijack a spaceship and join a pirate crew. One problem: they don’t know that the pirate crew is stuck on a space station that’s controlled completely by a rogue AI and won’t let anyone leave. That makes it a little tricky for a pirate group to successfully lead a life of crime and profit and it especially makes it hard when the Pirate Captain won’t accept you into as a part of their crew until after you beat the AI thereby freeing them from the station. What could possibly go wrong? (A lot. A lot of things are going to go wrong.) Continue reading →

Holonet Blast #37

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More news in the lead up to The Last Jedi? YOU DON”T SAY.

Let’s start with something that isn’t news but will make your life better: Kelly Marie Tran and Veronica Ngo promoted The Last Jedi in traditional Vietnamese attire and her Instagram post about it made me want to cry happy tears a little because REPRESENTATION MATTERS.

Entertainment Weekly kept having more fun with their Secrets of The Last Jedi pieces including this one on Kylo’s TIE fighter. EW also has a nice recap of the press conference from over the weekend. Hold on to your butts, folks, because it’s going to be nothing but nonstop press from here on out. Breath… just breath…

Google Home now has a Star Wars Trivia contest which is actually hosted by Andi and Anthony from the Star Wars Show. Also that linked video includes the cutest interview with Kelly Marie Tran ever and are you sensing a pattern here yet?

Finally, the Star Wars Databank added in entries related to Battlefront II and Inferno Squad. I’m going to link you to Del Meeko’s for no particular reason that definitely has nothing to do with the last line. Or the fact that he’s a perfect angel. Okay I think I better end this news post here. Until next week!

Review: Poe Dameron #21

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Congratulations to Charles Soule and Angel Unzueta for creating a comic page that made me audibly gasp really, really loudly.

It’s a relatively quiet issue for Black Squadron. They’re present, of course, and Poe, Snap, and Jess all have some nice moments but the real focus this month is on Leia Organa and Lor San Tekka. Poor Lor is imprisoned thanks to breaking and entering in search of knowledge and while Leia might be looking to find adequate storage and protection for her birth mother’s gowns, she definitely has an alternative agenda going on. Come on, it’s General Organa. She’s leading the Resistance. You don’t really think she’s just there to store dresses, do you?

This is actually something that I really like about this book. While Poe’s obviously the focus, Soule isn’t afraid to pull back and let other characters take and/or share the spotlight at times. It worked really well in the arc where the guys and girls split up and it works rather well in this issue too. Also, it certainly doesn’t hurt that this arc has thus far been a stellar example of how to incorporate Prequel elements in the Sequel era. After all, it’s one big galaxy.

Assorted Thoughts:

  • Jess’s trouble with droids has shifted from being a funny joke to a genuine thing that makes me want to hug her
  • I just don’t care about Snap/Karé and their troubles
  • That lake gown. THAT LAKE GOWN
  • Phil Noto’s cover is drop dead gorgeous

Poe Dameron #21 keeps doing a lot of things right and I can’t wait to see where this arc goes.

Poe Dameron #21: Charles Soule/Writer, Angel Unzueta/Artist, Arif Prianto/Colorist, Joe Caramagna/Letterer, Jordan White/Editor, Heather Antos/Assistant Editor