This past summer I read a "wanted" add for short-stories set in the Star Wars Universe to be included in a new fan-based anthology. I've never written any real "fan-fiction" (an oxymoron, perhaps?) but something about this idea struck me, so I put together a story about a frustrated Sullustan and sent it off.

What do you know--they accepted it!

So, the first issue of The Rancor's Tooth arrived in my mailbox yesterday, featuring my story (top billing on the cover too!). It's still a pretty simple, homemade-looking fanzine, but I'm happy to have a bona-fie published Star Wars story to my credit. It was a lot of fun, and if you happen to have the chance, check it out.

(And if you're really interested, you can contact the magazine at atrivisundergroundpress@yahoo.com.)

Out of pure chance I stopped by my local Target this morning and took a look around for some new figures. Walked straight past the always-cramped VOTCs because a General Lando had caught my eye. Never saw him in Saga, so I grabbed it and quickly plied through the pegs looking for Madine and Han.

Nada. I was happy with finding Lando though, and as I turned to walk away, I realized a VOTC Chewbacca was staring me in the face. And above him was a Boba Fett...

I searched and found Stormtroopers and R2s as well. I wound up buying Chewie and Stormtrooper...(as well as that General Lando and a spare Cloud Car Pilot.

The VOTC pegs were filled with all of the figures!! If I had never seen a VOTC before today, I could've walked into that store and bought all 12 and thought nothing of it. I hope this is the trend for the holiday season. (Not that I need to shop anymore, but, you know, out of compassion for my fellow collectors.)

Chewie's bandolier is NOT[/b] removable. Though it is a separately sculpted piece, it is pegged and glued into his shoulder. A little customizing will take care of that, of course (much easier than grinding down the whole piece like you used to) but it was so close to removable that it hurts. Still, he's a great figure. Main problem is the paint on the "blond" fur highlights tends to go a little overboard, resulting in Chewies that look like they just finished a tub of vanialla pudding. His head is not as movable as the CCCapture version, a disapointment as well. Other than that, everything is perfect. His waist works great--think the Wampa, but more solid. I have a Wookiee that can lean through 360 degrees! I'm really happy with him.

The Stormtrooper, on the other hand, is flawless. I was afraid of the working holster, especially after the Concept trooper from last year, but Hasbro nailed it with a new design I haven't heard mentioned before--the gun fits through a "keyhole" slot in the flat holster piece, rather than plugging into a big square cup. It really works and looks right when empty. These will make excellent bases for customized Han and Luke Troopers, too--the head pops of nice to give you a practically-empty helmet already, all the work will come in getting the big white neck ball down to the size of the other headholes. He looks good mixed in with my CT Troopers,even if he makes them look a little tall and lanky. I think I'm gonna have to stop back on my way to work and pick up a second...it's just that good.

I passed on Boba in the end. His head is too big for my taste, and his gauntlets are really bulky, even in person. The rubber cape sealed the deal--the 300th version looks better to me, so I'll keep the 10 bucks.

Artoo would've had a time convincing me. He looks like Artoo, all right, but the chrome dome is a minus to me, and the tools just aren't worth the ten bucks. So it didn't happen today.

GH is reporting the Cantina Wave will also include a Scout Trooper, Stormtrooper, Sandtrooper, Han Solo, Chewbacca, and Yoda.

If this pans out, it'll be the first reissue of that Sandtrooper (I'm assuming these others will all be the OTC versions) and will pretty much guarantee the Cantina guys as 2-pers.

Looks like they're trying to get in the swing of releasing army builders, but someone needs to tell them no one is building an army of Cantina Hans (though you certainly could at this point).

I spent the last two days combing the area to a depth I've avoided for a long while. But they were beautiful days, so why not enjoy the road and some new figures to boot?!

Dagobah wave is really starting to clog up the local Wal*Marts, hopefully the DVDs will coax some more of those out. They had been dead for nearly a year, until August when they actually received some new OTC--I found my Bespin Luke there (much to my surprise.) Now they're overloaded with Yodas, Swamp R2s, Hans, Pilot Lukes, and Spirit Obi-Wans. Not to mention the display shelves full of ANH VOTCs. Oh well, guess I'll check back with them next August...

TRU was where I origianlly found my Luke and Vader VOTCs, but other than that one time they're just crammed with Saga stuff from late 2002. Oh, and OTC Buddies...

KMart has been the only local place I've seen a hint of the Bespin Wave. I finally found a Bespin Leia there today, if I could just find one more CCPilot I'd be a happy man.

Target seems to be the happening place in my area. Not only did I actually find all 8 VOTCs there (at the same time--in multiples!!), but they also had the newest OTCs, including my beloved Jawas! A nice set, indeed, as far as repaints of old figures go, and some of my favorite figures ever anyway. Also picked up a TIE Pilot, since I never saw the Saga version on the shelf around here.

Based on all the great things I've read I picked up a Lando. Threepio I left behind, his head is simply weird-looking to the point of distraction. That brings my VOTC tally up to five-of-eight...actually a couple more than I thought it'd be, so I guess they're a surprise hit at my house.

So not a bad couple of days. Five new figures to show for it, and I'm really done hunting until the OTC Generals show up (which I've yet to see in their Saga versions).

Word on the street is that these sets are gonna be ten bucks or so...that casts them in a different light in my eyes.

Now I'm thinking I might pick up the TESB and ROTJ sets after all.

Does the price of these affect anyone else's view of them?

My dollars went to a second OTC Yoda rather than the OTC one. The faces of the ones I saw were just way too off for me, plus the cloak did little to impress. I like the snake, but not 10-bucks like.

The second OTC Yoda I have (actually, the fiance found it at the store) has a paintjob like I never beleived I'd see, and really makes the figure one of the best looking Star Wars toys I own, period. Add in the extremely posable arms, and I have no need for another Yoda in the foreseeable future.

So, when are we due for some more updates here?  Don't leave us hanging like this Muftak!  Hopefully you're settled into your new place by now and you've delved back into your Cloud City project.  Your fans await!   

My fans...

My toys are still not settled to satisfaction at the new place. Way less room than I had before (on account of the fiance moving in and all, but don't tell her I said that!) so I no longer have both a workroom and a display room. It took forever just to get the Death Star back out and situated.

And so much to do while there is still some summer in the air..! Cloud City hasn't even been unpacked yet, but I am hoping to get to some of that stuff in the next couple weeks. Plus I finally found a Cloud Car Pilot at the store, so my motivation is coming back to me.

In the meantime, here's a Cloud City Prequel to enjoy instead...my first diorama from two years ago, which I built to gear up for the Death Star.

I remember seeing the Toy Fair image of the first bunch of POTF2 figures in a Wizard Magazine sometime in the spring or summer of 95 and feeling my heart skip a beat.

They were real...modern...Star Wars figures!!

At the time I was collecting odds and ends of toys: Aliens stuff and X-Men stuff are what I remember mostly. Sometime that September I was at the local TRU and saw a handful of the new Star Wars toys on the pegs. My first grab consisted of Luke, Han, Chewie, Ben, Artoo, and Vader. They were all that was there. A few weeks later I found a couple of Stormtroopers and a Leia. Then a Landspeeder and an AT-ST.

I skipped out on the X-Wing and Falcon ,but eventually picked up a TIE. I liked the toys a lot...even the big EU extra weapons everyone came with. The lightsabers seemed a little long, but they were see-through colored plastic so I forgave them.

And those bios on the back of the cards...what an extra! I had been playing the RPG for a few years prior, and it was neat to see all the info from the Sourcebooks carried over to the new toys.

My Mom actually found C-3PO and Boba Fett for me not long after (half-circle Fett, that I proudly opened up and stuck on my shelf with all the others.) I had seen pictures of the New Fett on a Toy collecting magazine (no idea which one anymore) and thought--Wow!! It looks like a model or something! I had no idea it would be out so quickly. In the comic magazines they touted the return of Star Wars toys, and I learned what would be coming next.

It wasn't long before I had that next batch of figures,  Yoda, Lando, Luke Pilot, TIE Pilot (the hardest one for me to find back then!) Hoth Han and Dagobah Luke all hit here that same winter. Then it was a long wait, eight months or so, till Shadows toys hit.

I collected the entire POTF2 line steadily and displayed it all, until I moved into my own place in Summer '98 and had to pack everything away. Most of that old stuff still hasn't come back out. I "took off" from collecting for a couple years then, until 2001 or so when POTJ started to heat my enthusiasm back up. By then I was online alot of the time, and found the RS/CSW communities just before the big merge. And I've been with it ever since.