DJ Mauls Ultimate Star Wars Toy Room Tour, Part 27


Welcome to part 27 of "DJ Mauls Ultimate Toy Room Tour Extravaganza Polooza-Fest: 2007 Edition!"...Now featuring for the first time EVER a video webcam segment!!!

BUT before we get to that, let's check out the new editions in the old fashioned form.

It's been a GREAT time for Titanium Vehicle collectors such as myself with several new waves recently released. I added a few more to the ever growing collection including:

General Grievous Starfighter

The Endor variant AT - AT

Anakin's Modified Jedi Fighter - Ep. II

And one of the only NON Star Wars one's I have purchased:

Original Viper Model from Battlestar Galactica Series.

If I wasn't imagining myself zipping around the galaxy in the Millennium Falcon or an X-Wing, I was imagining launching that Viper out of those cool tubes and into the stars...!

I mentioned last chapter about finding two of the three new Marvel Comics sets; at the time I was still missing the Han & Chewie set.

With a little help from fellow GHG member "M68" I got that third Marvel set and she even was cool enough to throw in a nice GIFT for me to contribute to the Toy Room:

This VERY COOL two Sided Darth Vader Puzzle that comes in a really cool tin box!

Thanks Michelle, you so totally ROCK!

Another GHG GET was from my buddy Darth T-Bone, who was part of the actual crew that worked on the Star Wars Rose Parade floats and who managed to score me this beautiful set of Exclusive Rose Parade Star Wars Pins!

VERY SHINY of him!

From SW Shop, my Republic Commando Delta Squad set came in the other week!

Now I COULD have left this unopened, or even partially opened with the display in the back and that would have looked OK too.

BUT you know I have a Clone Army shelf, and so I just had to set them up THERE!


So now added to the Army are:

Fixer

Sev

And Delta Three - Eight, aka "Boss."

Since I already had one Scorch figure, I decided the new one from this set would look way cool IN FLIGHT above the rest of the Army.

Also, since they had WINGS I figured the Geonosian Warriors figures both ONE and TWO along with their Commander Sun Fac should be in flight as well!

One more item to discuss today; an item I scored from eBay for a very decent price.

From the Episode I era I picked this awesome Darth Maul Rubiks Cube!

I loved Rubiks Cube as a kid and somehow I missed this when it first came out during Ep. I. A friend of mine spotted it on eBay and sent me the link, and I scored it for only $1.99 plus shipping.

Now, you may notice it's not OPENED yet.

"Why not?" you may ask...well, I saved that for you.

Want to WATCH me actually open a toy?

Of COURSE you do!!!

I realize the sound is still a bit choppy on this, but I did manage to get the focus a bit better.

I only had ONE shot at opening the toy ON CAM so forgive me if it's a bit off, LOL.

As I do more of these I'm sure I'll get better at it!

Thanks as always for tagging along, hope you enjoyed and I will see you all again soon...or perhaps at the very least, YOU will be seeing ME!

DJ Mauls Ultimate Star Wars Toy Room Tour, Part 26

The very first day of 2007 and what do I spend it doing?

Why, taking you all through yet another leg of my seemingly never ending "Virtual Tour!"

So, let's go over the last of my "gets" for the year 2006!

Let's begin at the Titanium Vehicle collection, which is still going strong.

Several new releases hit the shelves the past few weeks, and some really great ones; so let's check them out:

Amidala's Star Skiff (from Ep. III)

Rebel Blockade Runner (Tantive IV, EP.V)

Obi Wan Ep. II Style Jedi Fighter that comes with a separate, attachable Hyperspace Docking Ring!

Endor AT-ST

Darth Maul Sith Speeder Bike

And last but not least, the Darth Vader Starfighter which obviously was NOT in the films and is an EU ship but is a really beautiful ship, nicely detailed.

Oh, and I had need of a stand for one of my Titanium Vehicles elsewhere, and I had two TIE fighters, so I borrowed the stand for a TIE and then decided to take that TIE and fly it with fishing string just for fun.

Another item that got "flown" was this C3PO in Ewok Throne figure...I figured since I do not have The Force to make him float, fishing string would once again have to do.

Back to the Titanium line for a moment...I thought I was done with these but after seeing it on the shelf and deciding there just wasn't enough IG-88 stuff out there I decided to go ahead and pick up the IG-88 Titanium Figure.

Another I wasn't sure I would buy until I wound up finding it was the Darth Vader TIE Ultra Titanium Vehicle. This will probably be the last of this series released, as all info points to this line being discontinued.

Every once in awhile, I still buy a regular action figure, just for fun, especially if it's a character I don't already have in any other version, so that's why I wound up grabbing this Kit Fisto Action Figure to go with the rest of my Jedi collection.

Two more new action figure sets have just recently been added: The new Marvel Comics Two packs!

I found two out of the three in this series:

Darth Vader & Rebel Soldier

Tarkin & Stormtrooper.

Each of these sets also comes with a reprint comic book of the original Marvel comics adaptations!

I think I will be leaving these IN the packages however; they are simply too beautiful to rip open and will display far better as is, IMO.

The third in this series is Han & Chewbacca, which my friend and fellow GHG Member Michelle aka M68 has already found for me and will be sending my way shortly! Thanks Michelle!

Speaking of "Thank You's" I have a very special one to send out at this point, to our friend and fellow blogger Jedi Melinda Wolf!

As some of you may know already, she recently conducted a raffle giveaway of stuff for the holidays and I was one of the last winners, and just a few days ago received her package of goodies, and boy was I thrilled!

Check out the awesome stuff she sent me:

Lego Magnets Set


Lego Red Guard Key Chain.

Star Wars: Revenge of The Sith Sticker Book.

Star Wars Saga 2007 Calendar that has some amazing picture inside, perhaps I will show one a month through the year as I blog.

And lastly, an item that technically is NOT Star Wars and yet IS:

a "Dagoba" organic chocolate bar!

I can't decide if I'm going to eventually eat this or not, LOL...

Thanks again Melinda, for your wonderful generosity and for making this Star Wars geeks collection just that much more special! You are now an official contributor to the web-famous "Maul Cantina" collection!

A few more items still to cover, so let's move on next to some holiday items I found at discount the day after:

Star Wars 2 pack ornaments sets!

I got these at half price, and at this point can't decide whether to open them and hang them around the room or leave them in the package along with the Display Box I also managed to score with them!

I scored another display box as well, this one for the Star Wars Dashboard Drivers which I stuck in the box there for fun. Again I haven't quite decided the final display for it yet.

Hey, remember way back in the tour when I showed you that Darth Vader EVA Lamp? Remember how I complained that they stuck the wrong colored bulb in there? No? Well anyway...with Christmas bulbs everywhere this time of year I finally found a RED bulb and put it in there and NOW check it out! ...Looks MUCH cooler don't you think?

One last item to cover for this chapter and it's a great one:

12" Boba Fett trilogy Collection Figure

I found this just a few days ago at a Target, on a clearance rack, mixed in with a bunch of assorted crap far away from the regular Star Wars displays.

Upon picking it up, I discovered why it was on the discount rack: The back of the box was ripped to shreds!

"Well, so what? " I said to myself, "I wind up opening most of my stuff anyway!"

So I flipped it over to search out the price, and imagine my surprise when I saw THIS!

If you can't quite make that out, or think you're eyes are deceiving you, it reads "$1.86."

Yep. ONE DOLLAR, 86 CENTS!

Unbelievable! I couldn't believe my luck, but when the cashier rung it up and it still scanned at that price I almost flipped!

I tossed the shredded part of the box when I got home, but managed to keep the rest of the package in decent enough shape that it makes for a great display along with the opened figure!

My LAST score for the year 2006, and it was a doozy!

2007 is already shaping up to be an exciting year, what with the 30th Anniversary to celebrate, C4 coming in May, new TV shows in the works and the start of filming the next Indiana Jones movie officially announced!

This will make it an AWESOME year for us Star Wars fans and especially us COLLECTORS as I'm sure there will be a TON of new, exciting stuff to hunt for this year!

Bring it on! Happy 30th Anniversary everybody, let the celebrations begin!

DJ Mauls Ultimate Star Wars Toy Room Tour, Part 25


Well here we are at a milestone: The 25th chapter in my virtual toy room tour of "The Maul Cantina!"

Bet none of you knew I could milk a concept this long...except maybe Stooge...

Anyway, as with the last chapter, this one will feature lots of new stuff but also show a few more changes that have happened over the weeks and months since the last time something was featured in the tour.

For instance, when I first featured my new set of M-Pire toys, they were displayed on this shelf here.

Once I got the new display shelves for the Titanium Vehicles and moved things around, I wound up using the old display stand for the M-Pire figs, and they are now displayed here instead.

Another change; when I put up some new shelves, I wound up moving many of my pictures to the wall located behind my desk.

This allowed me to put up new shelves on the other wall, as I didn't want shelves behind my desk on the chance that I would knock things over when I got up out of the chair.

Some pictures are also there that you haven't seen yet, mainly because they weren't Star Wars related, but I show them now simply for fun:

An autographed picture of Lou Farrigno, the original "Incredible Hulk" from the TV show that I loved as a kid. He appeared at a comic convention I attended in Philly a few years back, very nice guy.

Another cherished autograph, the late great James Doohan, aka "Scotty" from Star Trek.

While I am not a hard core "Trekkie" I like the show, and attended a Trek Con many years ago and met him there, and even got to chat with him a little. It was strange to hear him talk without the Scottish accent though!

While I didn't get to meet this next crew personally, I am still thrilled to have their autographed pictures in my room: The cast of Mystery Science Theater 3000, one of my favorite TV shows ever!

I sent away for and received two signed photos: One of Joel and The Bots, and the other of "the Mads" Dr. Forrester & TV's Frank!

Ok, let's get back to Star Wars, and since we're looking at pictures let's show my newest Acme Archives key Cel, just arrived last week: Shaak Ti.

She is of course hung with the rest of the key cels which are taking up more and more wall space with each new one.

Some more brand new items, just purchased last week, are the latest Clone Wars Series of Bust Ups.

There were six in this series and I grabbed all in one shot:

Anakin & Obi-Wan

Yoda & Clone Trooper

Snowbunny Padme and Grievous

Since I got MORE of these Bust Ups, I figured it was time to move things again and now they all reside here along with my stuffed items that have also been moved here.

A real bargain I found last week was this Darth Vader Breathing Sound Effects Box that was made to put inside a Halloween mask and make the infamous "Vader breathe" sounds. Originally tagged at $3.99, I got it for 70 CENTS.

I plan to try and rig it to the door of the room somehow, so that when you walk in you will hear Vader breathing. I will let you know if I get that to work.

I found a nice surprise the other day while cleaning out a few things down there.

Shoved aside in a small box that I hadn't gone through in awhile were some items I had all but forgotten about.

I told you how my wife had given me her original vintage figure collection. What I had forgotten about was this stack of original, vintage 1983 Return Of The Jedi collectors' cards!

They aren't in perfect shape but not too bad. They were in storage for a LONG time and got a bit musty, but I have now put them in some nice plastic protector's pages and they should be fine. There are about 50 or so all together, not a complete set but a nice addition to my vintage stuff anyway.

A few last items to close out this chapter are some items that while technically are part of the collection, are the FEW items that aren't actually stored IN the toy room.

First, an item I've had hanging in the car window for several years now:

My Millennium Falcon Window Hanger.

This is attached by a suction cup and hangs just under the rear view mirror. The picture was taken at night, looks kind of cool, doesn't it?

As for the last item: I just recently upgraded and got a new cell phone, the new "Chocolate" phone from Verizon....a great phone, but it needed...well, a little something EXTRA.

So, I went hunting and sure enough, I found an awesome Star Wars Darth Vader Phone Skin for it at Verizon's website.

The skin covers the back as well, and you may have also noticed the screen wallpaper is of course my new "DJ Maul" artwork provided by nob01, which was discussed in more detail here.

My ring tone is, of course, "The Imperial March."

Thus we bring part 25 to a close. As the new waves of stuff arrive in time for the holidays, expect to see me updating again soon as I keep the collection growing.

Until next time, my loyal readers. Thanks, as always, for the support.

DJ Mauls Ultimate Star Wars Toy Room Tour, Part 24

Here we go again..." - C-3PO


As always, I welcome you back to my virtual tour of the "Maul Cantina," a toy room that is always in flux...new stuff being added, old stuff being moved around, new displays being put in.

Before I get to the NEW stuff, I just figured I'd show you a FEW (not all) of the changes since the beginning of the tour, and compare the old to the new to give you an idea of what's been altered.

For instance, let's take a look at my OLD display of my Burger King Ep. III Toys.

I was never happy with how this shelf turned out; oh sure they all fit nicely there on one shelf, but I didn't like that you couldn't really see them all that well.

I found this really awesome display seller on eBay and purchased these two clear plastic display risers that fit perfectly and the toys display much better don't you think?

I also picked up a few of these in a slightly different size to turn my Old Titanium Vehicles Display Shelf into a much better New Version that makes them stand out more I think.

There have been plenty MORE changes, but let's get to some NEW stuff now, shall we?

Since I was on the Titanium Vehicles, let's start with the new additions there:

I must be getting weak minded in my old age as I am starting to buy variants of vehicles I already have, which I always said I would not do...variants such as this Wedge Antilles X-Wing Titanium Vehicle that is pretty much identical to the other versions with minor paint color variations and some "battle damage."

Still, it makes a nice addition to this reworked display shelf that now features several Titanium X-Wings.

A more noticeable variant is this New Republic Gunship Titanium Vehicle which is now the third version of this ship along with the other two seen there.

That of course makes a nice addition to THIS reworked display shelf that now features several Republic Gunship Titanium Vehicles.

We also now have a BLUE Naboo Starfighter to go with the original yellow version, but my favorite repaint has to be this new Clone Wars ARC Fighter variant that is really beautiful close up.

Two more Titanium's to cover is this Gold Painted TIE Fighter and also a Gold Millennium Falcon!

Where, you may ask, did THESE come from???

Yep, I found the new Millennium Falcon Transformers Set with the two "Special Bonus" Gold Titanium Vehicles packed in!!!

I had major reservations about buying this, even WITH two cool TV's inside, as I'm not a big Transformers fan, but I must say this thing is pretty dang cool. Lights, sound effects, fun to play with...and it's the Falcon for crying out loud!

It of course starts out as two "robots: The Chewie 'Bot and of course The Han Solo 'Bot.

After of course transforming both sections they snap together and, after a few final parts added, become The Millennium Falcon.

The cockpit even opens to reveal a tiny Han & Chewie inside!

So what else is new in the collection? How about some more Unleashed figs!

Took me forever, but I finally found the two new Walmart Exclusive Unleashed figures:

Luke Skywalker Unleashed

And of course Darth Vader Unleashed (ESB version)

Also just added is another Titanium Figure to the shelf, this time the Clone Trooper Titanium Figure.

I passed on the Grievous and C-3PO ones, at least for now.

I FINALLY got a Clone figure that I have been hunting literally MONTHS for, the RED Clone Commander who now finally joins his green and yellow cousins thanks to the efforts of my buddy Darth T-Bone, who if we are lucky will soon be starting a toy tour all his own...trust me, you think MY collection is impressive? Wait to you get a load of HIS!

T-Bone also thought of me when he recently visited Vegas and sent me this way cool Darth Maul M-Pire Pin as a GIFT! Thanks again T-Bone, have I mentioned lately that you ROCK...?

As I write this I'm just NOW realizing that I should have updated the tour weeks ago, as apparently I have TOO much material for just ONE chapter!

So instead of making this any longer winded, I will close for now but leave you with the promise that there will be a new chapter VERY soon, as I've already done all the photo work so I just need to WRITE it!

So until we meet again in chapter 25, May The Force, as always, Be With You.

DJ Mauls Ultimate Star Wars Toy Room Tour, Part 23

Welcome back my friends, to the tour that never ends, we're so glad you could attend, come inside, come inside... (All apologies to Emerson, Lake & Palmer there.)

So, what's new in the Maul Cantina since last we met?

Well...LOTS.

So, let's get right to it shall we?

Last chapter I showed you this Darth Vader Dashboard Driver and mentioned I was looking for two more that were out.

Well, I eventually found them, and here they are:

Yoda Dashboard Driver

C-3PO Dashboard Driver

Now that they are a complete set, I found a home for them HERE on this shelf.

Many of the items behind them have already been featured on the tour, but there are two new items there, cheap but cute:


These Liquid Candy Lightsabers I found at Toys R Us. There's a Vader and an Obi Wan saber, and the plastic blades themselves were full of a sweet, syrupy concoction that frankly made me nauseous after I ate them...

We also covered my new M-Pire figures last chapter, and at that point I still needed these two, which I now have:

Darth Vader & Clone Trooper M-Pire figures.

I couldn't find them on shelves anywhere, but got them from eBay for a fair price. Yes, eBay isn't ALWAYS evil...

I've added four new Titanium Vehicles recently; first up is the Leia Speeder Bike, which has now officially joined the chase.

Next is the Swampspeeder Muddy Repaint Version ... you can see the original version just behind it for comparison.

Also added is another Y-Wing Paint Variant from the new waves. The newest one is on the far left; the other two are the older variants.

Lastly in the TV's we have the Mace Windu Jedi Starfighter which is pretty much like all the other Jedi Starfighters, except of course it's PURPLE!

Besides the SMALL Titaniums, I have also added a few more of the larger, Ultra Titanium Vehicles.

I found the AT-AT Ultra Titanium on the shelf, again at TRU.

This one is now part of a totally NEW shelf I put up JUST for these larger sized vehicles.

The other new Ultra I acquired was a bit harder to find in stores, so I wound up ordering her from Hasbro's website.

I am of course talking about Millennium Falcon Ultra Titanium Vehicle, which if you remember way back in the tour I had high hopes of them making...somebody listened to me I guess...

Speaking of new Falcon items, another cool find was this Japanese import Millennium Falcon Georama which I found online.

It's very similar to the Gentle Giant Bust Ups; it's plastic and comes in small pieces that need to be assembled...in this case, pretty much just the landing gear. It's next to one of the Falcon TV's to show scale.

Once I got these two new Falcons, I decided it was time to dedicate a whole shelf to her!

As you see, I moved over all my Titanium Falcons and the Action Fleet Falcon as well, and put them all next to my Code 3 Falcon...sort of a Falcon shrine if you will.

Speaking of shrines...last tour I showed you my new Boba Fett Unleashed figure.

Well, I also just added this new Boba Fett Action Figure with way cool Jet Pack Flames display stand to the mix, and so also decided that the notorious Bounty Hunter needed HIS own shelf as well, so I moved over the Titanium versions of Slave I, the Titanium Boba Fett Figure and also my Applause Fett to the shelf...all items featured in past chapters if you missed them.

I keep saying I'm DONE collecting Action Figures and yet somehow still keep BUYING them, like this Hologram Darth Maul figure, or this cute R5-D4 figure...and of course my Wal-Mart Early Bird Figures Set finally came in!

I do still like to also go back and add some vintage figures when I can, and I just recently found this really nice vintage 1980 Lando Calrissian figure that still has his weapon and the plastic cape intact!

I mentioned the Gentle Giants Bust Ups earlier; I got a few more GG items, this time from their Mini Helmet Collection. You have to buy them randomly, so you don't know which one you have until you OPEN it, which I do NOT like, but I took a shot and got 3PO there and a Rebel Helmet...I REALLY want a Vader one, of course.

Speaking of Vader, I tend to avoid any ¡"Holiday" type SW items, but I couldn't resist this cute Darth Vader Snow Globe that I found at Target. Wind it up and it plays "Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!"


WOW, this has been a LONG chapter, but it's almost over, promise. Just a few last items to cover, really.

As you may remember I also collect the Code 3 3D posters, and managed to get the 2006 Comic Con Exclusive Howard Chaykin Promotional Poster mini 3D poster when it was also available for a limited time online. This is a faithful 3D recreation of the original 1976 promotional poster, released at Comic Con a full year BEFORE Star Wars actually hit the theaters.

Also recently added two new Acme Archives Clone Wars Key Cels to the room, the Count Dooku Cel and the Asajj Ventress Key Cel which I JUST got two days ago!

And lastly: Who here DOESN"T love "The King???"

I am speaking about the one and ONLY Elvis Trooper!!! ... who was kind enough to send me his very own trading card! I LOVE unique items for the collection and this one certainly qualifies!

Well, that wraps it up for this chapter. To all my loyal readers, as well as to any new ones, I say: "Thank yew, thank yew ver'mush..."

DJ Mauls Ultimate Star Wars Toy Room Tour, Part 22

Your ol' pal DJ has been busy the past few weeks, working mainly but still chasing down toys when and wherever I can.

I figured I'd start this chapter by delving into some items I've actually had for quite some time, but that only got a quick mention in one of the earliest chapters.

So let's take a look at this reorganized shelf of action figures.

When I initially showed these figs they were in the wall display case (except for the "Anakin To Vader" fig in the background there ) and I only showed the one picture of it because it was impossible to get a good shot due to the mirrored backing in the display, which reflected the flash of the camera.

Later, I moved these figs OUT of the display case to make room for additions to my vintage figure collection, and I moved them to the shelf that USED to house my Clone Army collection ...things are ALWAYS moving around in The Maul Cantina!

Most of these figs come from the mid 90's lines, which is when I really started getting back into collecting on a regular basis.

So finally let's get a closer look at them:

First, several figs: Chief Chirpa, Wicket ,Lando & Chewie.

The Ewoks came together in a two pack much like the pair of Jawas & Ugnaughts I featured earlier.

Next, two older & two newer figs:

Grand Moff Tarkin & Emperor Palpatine / General Grievous & Obi Wan. ...Grievous is from the ROTS line, Obi Wan from The Saga line

Next we have the three stages of C-3PO , the golden version actually being the OLDEST fig of the three. The grey patchwork version is of course from Ep. II and the "naked" 3PO from the Ep. I line.

Judge NOT by their size these next two figs:

R2-D2 and Yoda.

This R2 was one of the first (if not THE first) of the 3 & ¾ inch figs that was electronically rigged to beep & flash, much like some of the newer versions in The Saga line do now. It originally came with a Tatooine stand that has disappeared in storage somehow.

Next is one of my fave's and a very RARE fig to find: IG-88.

He came as part of a two figure pack that also featured Boba Fett (who appeared earlier on the Clone Army shelf) and also came with a cool Shadows of The Empire comic (also featured earlier in the tour.)

I don't think I have EVER seen an IG-88 figure released since then, at least as far as I know anyway.

Back a little further we find several versions of Luke Skywalker including the "Luke in Stormtrooper disguise' fig and another favorite of mine, "Jedi Luke" from ROTJ.

Since I somehow had an extra Yoda, I decided of course to put him in the backpack of the Dagobah Luke figure. ...he fits in there really well actually.

Next to the Luke's are, of course, several various Leia figures including the fan boy fave Slave Leia. The "Leia in Boushh disguise" figure is from the new Saga line, the rest are again older figs from the 90's lines.

Next to Leia is her man Han Solo.

I'm not sure how I wound up with two of the same versions of Han there but that's how collecting goes sometimes.

Lastly, in the corner there we can find Admiral Akbar and some Rebel Soldiers figs


Now that I finally have THOSE covered, let's move on to some NEW additions to the collection.

As you should be more than aware of by now, I am an avid collector of the Titanium Vehicle line, and recently have acquired three more from the latest waves coming out:

The B-Wing Fighter shown along with its smaller Micro Vehicles cousin.

The Executor which features a little tiny Star Destroyer alongside it for "scale" and is again displayed next to it's smaller, plastic Micro Machine version.

Here's one I've been waiting literally YEARS for them to come out with:

The TIE Interceptor! ...I was thrilled to death when I saw they were finally putting this one out to complete my TIE fleet collection!

I am also a huge fan of the 12" Unleashed line and Hasbro has recently wised up and re-released two classics:

Boba Fett at The Sarlaac Pit ...

...and General Grievous.

These are new Target Exclusives releases, but are actually repacks of the originals from a few years back. I put the Boba Fett next to my Vader Unleashed, just because.

The only new addition to the Clone Army so far has been a new Shocktrooper fig from the new releases...I think it's GREAT that Hasbro is re-packing lots of the Trooper figs although many collectors I know are upset because they spent way too much on eBay for them thinking they'd never see them again!

Patience is a virtue, kids.

This next addition is kind of odd but very cool:

A Darth Vader Dashboard Driver from Wal-Mart

He can be attached by velcro strips to your car dashboard and "speaks" several classic phrases when you push the button, stuff like "Don't make me DESTROY you!" or "The Force is STRONG with this one" or "I have you now!"

The sound is VERY LOUD for such a little item, with very clear digital samples. There are also Yoda and C-3PO versions I am still hunting for.

We all know by now that the individual OT DVD's are now out, featuring the UNALTERED versions of the films on bonus discs. The versions here from Wal-Mart feature these great Graphic Novel reprints of the original Marvel Comics adaptations.

Reading these comics truly brings back some great memories from when I was a kid. It's a treat to have them back in the collection even in this reprinted form.

The last few items we will explore today have a bit of a story:

Just a few days ago I cam home to find my wife had bought me some presents...three packs of the M&M "M-Pire" figures!

Now I had passed on these for quite some time as I thought they were cute but over-priced. But recently KB Toys has had them marked down at a "buy 3 for $10" deal. I'm assuming that's where she got them. She was nervous about buying them as she figured I'd probably already had them, not knowing that I had seen them all the time but decided to pass on them in my efforts to curtail my collecting habits...she always says I buy too much stuff, lol.

Anyway, after she got me the set of three, I decided to go back and get a few more, just for the heck of it.

So I went from having NONE of these to a small shelf full of them!

The three my wife bought me were:

Anakin & Palpatine

Chewie & Mace Windu

and Grievous & Obi Wan

I bought four more sets later on:

Boba Fett & Han Solo

Luke & Leia

Darth Maul & Count Dooku

And Amidala, C-3PO & R2-D2 ...this was the only one that came with THREE figs instead of just two. I guess they figured R2 was too small to count as one fig.

There's only ONE more set of these I REALLY want at this point and of course can't find: The Darth Vader & Stormtrooper set. (Now you know why I chose the picture I did for this blog, don't you...?)

I suppose I'll find them eventually...

Well, that wraps it up for now. Thanks as always for tagging along; I hope I wasn't too long winded this time but it HAS been awhile since the last tour.

Until I spend enough money to warrant yet another tour blog...May The Force Be With You.

DJ Mauls Ultimate Star Wars Toy Room Tour, Part 21

Hey teen gang, I'm back!

Yes, the return of DJ Mauls Ultimate Star Wars Toy Room Tour Extravaganza Polooza Fest-arama Jumbo Jamboree!!!


Today's edition of the tour features the most recent additions to the collection since the last chapter.

Let's start with one of the most anticipated items for most collectors:

The George Lucas In Storm Trooper Disguise Figure!

For all of the aggravation I went through in getting this one and for all of my complaints on how Hasbro handled the promotion, I'm VERY satisfied with the figure itself and am happy I sent for it.

I displayed him with the five other UGH figs and will keep him in the box along with the rest of them.

Another new figure that I had on pre-order for months finally arrived:

The Star Wars Shop Exclusive Shadow Stormtrooper.

He has been displayed near next to my Clone Army shelf (covered last chapter) and I haven't decided yet if he remains in the box of if I open him at some point.

Speaking of new Troopers, a very special addition to the Clone Army is also here:

The 06 Comic Con Exclusive 501st. Stormtrooper!

Now you may be asking "Deej, how the heck did you get that figure? You didn't actually GO to the Con did you?"

NO, I wasn't at the Con, nor did I manage to score him in the very brief online sale.

BUT, it helps to have a FRIEND who DID go to the Con and offered to help me out....a very special THANKS goes out to Darth T-Bone for getting not only this figure for me, but for grabbing several other items for me at the Con as well!

What other items?

Well, how about the 06 Comic Con Gold Darth Vader TIE Titanium Vehicle which looks MUCH better in person than this picture shows...very shiny indeed.

He also managed to grab me the two new Acme Archives Clone Wars Cartoon Key Cells:

The Anakin Skywalker Key Cell which is a limited edition of 1000, and...

The Darth Sideous Key Cell which is the most limited edition yet, with only 500 made!

I missed out on the VERY limited online sale of these so there is NO WAY I would have gotten this one without T-Bone's help!

You so totally ROCK, dude.

I have a total of six of these key Cells now, and just to give you an idea of how they look together here is a picture of all six Key Cells on display.


Not only did T-Bone grab me those items I asked for but he also threw in a few Con Freebie items in my package, including:

Han Shoots First Button promoting the upcoming OT DVD release.

Hasbro Saga Collection Poster with all the figs from the Saga line.

A very cool Master Replicas Promotional Poster featuring some of their current and upcoming SW items.

Also this Gentle Giant Star Wars Bust Ups Poster which I still have to find a spot on the wall for.

Speaking of Bust Ups, I finally picked up a couple of these very cool little models. I found my local comic book shop sells them and so grabbed two of my faves:

Darth Vader & Clone Trooper Bust Ups.

I may grab a few more in the future as funds allow, although I doubt I'll try for a complete collection as there are far too many to keep up with.

This next addition to the collection was a find by another friend of mine, Oocleenee:

The Wal-Mart Exclusive Early Bird Figure Mail Away Package.

When this first came out back in 2005 I had passed on it, as I thought it far too expensive for figures I'd have to mail away and wait for, especially when there was so much other stuff I wanted ON THE SHELF and ready to take home.

Well, here we are almost a year later and my buddy Oocleenee finds them at his local Wal-Mart on clearance for just 10 bucks!

That was a far better deal and I was happy to grab one too! I still haven't gotten the figures in yet but when I do I will of course feature them in a chapter.

In the last chapter I showed a few Shocktroopers from the Target Exclusive "Skirmish In The Senate" set and mentioned there were also Yoda & Sideous figures with a Senate Pod in that set.

Well, it took me awhile to get it just right but I of course HAD to hang it on fishing line for a cool scene recreation. It's hanging just above my Titanium Vehicles shelf.

Speaking of TV's, only one new addition to that collection so far, the new Blue A-Wing Titanium Vehicle to go along with its older red version.

There are more new Titanium Vehicles coming this fall that I will be on the hunt for, these are some of my most favorite collectibles.

A couple of last items to round out this chapter...this next item I found in a discount bin at a food store for a buck:

Revenge of The Sith Pencil Set ....yea, I know, they wrote that $1.00 price in black marker on it which sucks but what the heck...

The last item today is an item I've wanted to add back into my collection for a very, VERY long time:

Marvel Comics Star Wars #1 comic book first print edition from 1977!

I got this one from eBay for a pretty fair price. It's not in MINT condition but is in overall pretty good shape for an almost 30 year old book!

As a self respecting Star Wars collector AND a comic book fan, I don't know how I managed to wait this long to add this piece to the collection.

Well that concludes this chapter of the tour, and as always I thank you all for following along and for your support.


Until next time!

DJ Mauls Ultimate Star Wars Toy Room Tour, Part 20

Welcome back yet again, to DJ Mauls Ultimate Toy Room Tour Extravaganza Part 20!


I mentioned in the last chapter that I've been revamping my Clone Army shelf, and it's finally done...or at least done enough to give you all an update.

Some of these figs you've seen before in the past tour, but there are a LOT of new additions as well. So let's get right to it.

I moved the Clone army from its original shelf for several reasons. The first being I was running out of room there and also wanted to just expand it out for better viewing.

So I set up a brand new shelf, and here it is!

Obviously, the major NEW addition (and another reason I moved the army) is the TRU Clone Wars Republic Gunship which of course I hung from some fishing line for display purposes.

I usually do NOT buy these large ships, in fact this is my first, but after MUCH debate I went for it as I thought it a must have for my Army.

Manning it of course are clones from the TRU Hunt For Grievous Battle pack that I found just last week. Four of them visible here, the fifth one better viewed from the other side.

I like these figs but wish they were more posable, they are hard to get into any real "action" poses. I will keep tinkering with them when I have time...I JUST set them up in the ship yesterday in fact.

I LOVE the grappling lines that hang down from the back, so I of course HAD to hang a a Utapau Trooper and Battle Damaged Trooper from them for cool effect.

Another major addition is the Execute Order 66 Lithograph from Official Pix, a Comic Con "Exclusive" that was also available on line, which is how I scored it.

I tried to set up the clone figs I have right under their pictures in the lithograph but I don't have ALL of them...yet.

Again, some of these figs have been featured before but let's run through them again:

Commander Bacara

Commander Gree

another Utapau Trooper (one of my few doubles)

Commander Bly

Green Clone Commander (does this guy have a name? I'm sure you Clone Army aficionados can help me out there. )

Commander Cody, an NEW addition and a LONG time in the hunt, but I finally found him!

the AT-RT Driver

Vader's Legion Trooper

Two Red Shock Troopers from the "Skirmish In The Senate" Battle pack. The Yoda & Sideous figs from that set will show up later in the tour...

Cruising across the rest of the shelf we can find:

The White Clone Pilot, AT-AT Driver, Imperial Snow Trooper and Biker Scout figs.

Three different Sandtroopers

Republic Commando Scorch which I know many have had trouble finding, but he's coming out again as part of a SW Shop set so look that up if you still need him.

Jango & Boba Fett, plus one of those little blue Boba Fett Holograph figs.

the AT-TE Tank Gunner

A Red Clone Trooper with Gun from the Ep. II figure line and another blue holo fig, a Stormtrooper.

Three Imperial Guards the red one on the right from the older POTF2 line I think.

the Black Clone Pilot, flanked by two TIE Fighter Pilots & the Firespeeder Pilot and in the background there, a brand NEW addition (just two days ago in fact):

The Death Star Gunner!

A couple of last items:

Remember awhile back I asked you all whether or not I should open a few of those "exclusive" troopers?

Well after much debate, I decided screw it, and OPENED them!

BUT I didn't want to totally destroy the packaging, so with a little creative cutting I managed to get the figures out but keep the packaging nice enough for display purposes.

So, here they are in their OPENED glory:

the Target Exclusive Utapau Clone Trooper,

And the Star Wars Shop Exclusive Covert Ops Trooper!

Did I probably destroy any resale value on them? Sure, but who cares? They look way too cool to leave all packaged up like that.

I also decided to open the Ep. III DVD Collection Box Set of Clone Troopers. I found they come out of the package quite easily without damaging it at all, so I removed them and set them up on display with the rest of the army. The box itself is still intact on the same shelf with the others in that series.

This will be a constantly growing display...Hasbro has a LOT of new clones coming up in 2007, and I will of course be on the hunt for them along with many of you.

If this keeps up I may need to add yet ANOTHER shelf just for clones!

That will do for today, but I am working on yet another chapter or two in the near future, as there are several new items I haven't yet covered here.

They will have to wait for next time.

Thanks as always for tagging along.

DJ Mauls Ultimate Star Wars Toy Room Tour, Part 19

Hey all. Welcome to Part 19 of DJ Mauls Ultimate Toy Room Tour, a continuing journey through "The Maul Cantina," my basement room dedicated to all things Star Wars!

Yes, I "borrowed" this idea from Steve Sansweet...

It's been a busy few weeks for your old pal DJ, but after a short break I'm back with yet another chapter,. However, don't feel obligated to go read all the other parts first. You don't have to have read any of them to follow this one, so don't panic new tourists!

OK, so what's new you in the collection this time around?

Well a few interesting items, let's start with one of the most recent additions and one of the best:

The Gentle Giant Darth Vader/Anakin Reveal Bust.

An Entertainment Earth Exclusive, it's my very first Gentle Giant piece, and I truly think it's a work of art.

The detail on this is amazing, especially in the eyes which seem almost alive and in the detailed scarring around the head area.

It took awhile to decide where to put it but I finally decided it looked best on this shelf here along with my MR Mini Sabers etc.

Oh, I almost forgot, the Certificate of Authenticity that comes with it is in the form of a beautiful trading card with the edition number on the back. I put it in the plastic case to keep it in top shape.

Along with the Vader bust, Entertainment Earth also sent me my free Clone Troopers Mouse Pad, a neat little promo give away that now decorates my office desk.

I also just recently added another Acme Archive Clone Wars Key Cell; this one is the ARC Captain Clone.

I was very happy to get this one, especially when I found out I almost screwed up my pre-order and was afraid for a moment that I had missed out. Fortunately the site took care of my mistake and made sure I got it! Whew...

This next item is one I was searching for what seemed like forever:

The Unleashed Shocktrooper Figure.

I was hunting every single Wal-Mart I could find for this one, with no luck.

Then I had an online friend here help me out. He found one in his area, knew I was still looking for it, and picked it up and sent it to me. All he charged was sticker price plus shipping.

Thanks Oocleenee, you ROCK.

I added a couple more vintage OT figures into the collection as well.

Another stop at my local comics shop and I grabbed these three:

a 1983 TIE Fighter Pilot, a 1984 Emperor, and a 1978 Death Star Droid that is more than a bit worn but it was the only one in the box and for two bucks I decided it deserved a nicer home.

Picked up two new Titanium Vehicles since the last update, the Republic Cruiser, which I've been waiting a LONG time for them to re-release, and the Luke Skywalker Speeder Bike, ...there is a Leia version coming soon, which I of course will add to the chase.

Two relatively cheap but fun additions to the collection are these Darth Vader and Chewbacca Spin Pops.

They are both battery operated. Along with spinning the pops of course, the Vader waves his saber up & down and Chewie waves his bowcaster. I found them both at a local TRU, and passed on them several times before finally picking them up. My buddy Oocleenee needed the Chewie pop so I got one for him, then decided to grab both myself just for fun.

That's it for today.

I'm hoping to have my next one ready soon. I'm still working on reorganizing my Clone Army shelf and waiting for a few more items to come in for that as well, and I'm also reorganizing another shelf of action figures.

When they are where I want them to be I'll add them to the tour.

DJ Mauls Ultimate Star Wars Toy Room Tour, Part 18

I told you it wouldn't be long before I was back with another installment of DJ Maul's Ultimate Toy Room Tour Of Tours Festapalooza Extravaganza!!!! Now with only HALF the fat!

I'm not going to link to all 17 other chapters at this point. If you are new to the tour and wish to check it out, you can start at part one and then follow the link provided at the end to the next chapter, and so on.

When I wound up the last chapter, I mentioned that there were several things that I had only kind of touched on in the course of the tour that I could come back to in more detail later, and this chapter will do just that by covering my collection of Star Wars comic books.

A bit of a sad story though first.

When I was a kid, I was VERY into comic books and of course that included the original Marvel Comics Star Wars series. I had most of the original Marvel run from ANH up through and after ROTJ.

The problems started when my mother went on an anti comic book kick. She was...well...a bit TOO zealous in her religious beliefs, and decided comic books were sinful.

So, I would come home at times to find many of my cherished books simply disappeared. We fought long and hard about it for awhile, but eventually I was told to either sell them or they would be thrown out.

So, one day, I reluctantly carted almost all of my old comics down to my local comic book dealer, who proceeded to rob me blind for them.

I did manage to save SOME by hiding them at my cousin's house. Sadly, the Star Wars collection was not part of that.

The sad part is, many years later and my mother admits NOW she "may have been too strict" about that....gee, thanks mom.

Still, I love her....she IS my mom.

I have more or less drifted AWAY from comic books in the past few years, but I still pick up some here and there to read, just for fun.

Anyway, after the Marvel Comics line died out, Star Wars was missing from the comics world for several years, until the license was picked up by newcomer at the time Dark Horse Comics.

Their very first Star Wars series (if I am not mistaken) was the now classic Star Wars: Dark Empire #1 - 6 that came out in 1991.

It was followed by a sequel, Dark Empire II in 1994. I think both of these series are still being reprinted in trade paperback form.

This was all right around the same time (give or take a few years) that the EU was really starting to take off, what with novels like Shadows Of The Empire (also a fantastic video game!) and the Timothy Zahn series which was eventually adapted into comic book form by Dark Horse, of which I only have the first two issues (1995) for some reason.

Dark Horse also created some of their own, original additions to the EU, with stories like Tales Of The Jedi (1993) and it's follow up Tales of The Jedi: The Freedon Nadd Uprising (1994)

When the prequels came along, of course Dark Horse was there, not only adapting Episode I (1999) as a comic series but adding four solo character issues featuring stories that took place OUTSIDE of events from the film.

Episode also gave Dark Horse the chance to focus stories on new characters, such as Darth Maul, who got his own mini series, of which I have issue one and issue four (2000) ...I don't know why I'm missing the two in the middle, I may have to fix that soon.

When Episode II came out, again Dark Horse made a four issue film adaptation (2002) and again a few solo stories of some new characters, Jango Fett & Zam Wessell.

And of course, more recently, we have the Episode III adaptation, (2005) this version the trade paperback edition, which I purchased while at CIII and had signed by the writer Miles Lane & artist Doug Wheatley at the Dark Horse Comics booth!

Of course, there have been lots of great comics featuring characters old and in some cases brand new but all of which feature some fun, amazing Star Wars Tales.

While I haven't been able to keep up with ALL of the various series, I still enjoy them here and there, and recently I just started getting back into the comics with the release of the new series Star Wars: Legacy which so far I've been impressed with and will probably try and keep up with each issue.

Besides the comic books, there are also a few books I've collected along the way, only some of which I showed in an earlier chapter.

The rest of my book collection includes the three Prequel novels, and also a few more EU books like Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter and the two "bookends" to Episode III, Labyrinth Of Evil & Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader, both by James Luceno.

Also, I have the Han Solo Trilogy of novels by A.C. Crispin, that feature Han's origin as a child right up to where he meets Luke & Ben at the Cantina.

Just recently added to the collection is Betrayal, the first in the "Legacy Of The Force" series that again, I just may keep up with as it's a great read.

Besides the EU stories & novels, I also have two Star Wars technical books each of which feature various blue prints of the ships & other technology from the films, and also The Star Wars Cookbook that was another gift from my wife. It's got some cute recipes for "Wookiee Cookies" and lots of other stuff.

There's even this cute little Ep. I "Who's Who Pocket Book that's a tiny little book that tells about each character from TPM, that was a gift from a friend.

Lastly, let's look at a few more magazines I've collected over the years that got missed the last time.

There's a couple of Episode I covers from Rolling Stone Magazine and also this one from Premiere Magazine, and of course Ep. I made the cover of TV Guide as well.

And when Episode II came out, Vanity Fair featured this great cover of Hayden & Natalie in character.

I think that's all of them at this point, unless I again somehow missed something, in which case I'm sure you'll see it eventually.