Posts from the 'Return of the Jedi' Category

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The Dark Proceeds.

The Dark Proceeds. (Vintage Imperial Shuttle, Vintage Emperor, Vintage Emperor's Royal Guards, Vintage Stormtroopers)

The Dark Proceeds. (Vintage Imperial Shuttle, Vintage Emperor, Vintage Emperor's Royal Guards, Vintage Stormtroopers)

This post marks a potential sea change in this blog.

See, about 9 months ago I was given an extraordinary camera for my 40th birthday. The Lumix DMC-LX5 captures our toddler’s every movement with piercing clarity and speed. But I’ve been reluctant to introduce it into these pages of action figure photography for fear that the results would be at odds with the existing body of work. The older camera with it’s inferior performance somehow seems the appropriate match for these ancient toys.

But lately I’ve been tempted to experiment and compare results. There’ve been tight races, but today for the first time I felt that the Lumix just couldn’t be denied. Mind you the old Panasonic came close. Really close. If you want to check out that image, you can have a peek right here.

What I like about the older Panasonic in this case is that it has a more narrow lens that shows exactly what’s in front of the camera, as it appears. That Imperial Shuttle really looks like the Imperial Shuttle. The Lumix on the other hand has a much wider lens, so imagery quickly becomes distorted, especially towards the edges of the frame. In this situation the shuttle has a distorted and dramatic perspective that unfortunately takes away it’s immediate toyness.

So what do you think? With me or against me?

j j j
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Trouble Bound.

Trouble Bound. (Vintage R2-D2, Vintage EV-9D9, Vintage C-3PO)

Trouble Bound. (Vintage R2-D2, Vintage EV-9D9, Vintage C-3PO)

Hard to imagine, but this photo represents the first proper portrait I’ve taken of the vintage R2-D2 and C-3PO action figures together. With chrome paint these two can be particularly hard to light. Worth the effort though as the results are spectacular when the stars finally do align.

Attention sports fans! If you want to dig deeper into the story of ‘Star Wars Action Figures Doing What They Do Best’, an interview has been published at the excellent Galactic Awesome blog. That blog has a terrific companion as well.

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Two Years!

Rather Childish / Two Years Retrospective Poster

Rather Childish / Two Years Retrospective Poster

What better way to celebrate my first two years of obsessively lighting and photographing vintage Star Wars action figures than a greatest hits poster!

Need a print? Snap it up here.

Profound thanks to everyone that’s helped smooth the road: my wife, my daughter, my friends on tumblr (notably darthambiguous, samuraifrog, retrostarwars, geeklitist, and dbsw), my friends at Rebel Scum, and my friends at The Imperial Gunnery.

Thanks to Mike D as well for encouraging me to get printed works out there.

Enjoy! And here’s to the next two years…

-Pete

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This is Weequay.

This is Weequay. (Vintage Gamorrean Guards, Vintage Weequay, Vintage Jabba the Hutt)

This is Weequay. (Vintage Gamorrean Guards, Vintage Weequay, Vintage Jabba the Hutt)

It’s Weequay’s world. We only live in it. You got that?

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Imperial Gunner Redux.

Imperial Gunner Redux. (Vintage Imperial Gunner, Vintage Emperor's Royal Guards)

Imperial Gunner Redux. (Vintage Imperial Gunner, Vintage Emperor's Royal Guards)

Every so often the urge to do some housekeeping kicks in and I focus on re-shooting an earlier photo that doesn’t quite stack up. This is a good example of that. The version I did of these figures last November started rubbing me the wrong way from day one. This version I can finally say makes me happy.

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Rebel Scum.

Rebel Scum. (Vintage General Lando Calrissian, Vintage C-3PO, Vintage Leia Organa (Bespin Gown))

Rebel Scum. (Vintage General Lando Calrissian, Vintage C-3PO, Vintage Leia Organa (Bespin Gown))

j j j
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The Blue Moods of Max Rebo.

The Blue Moods of Max Rebo. (Vintage Max Rebo, Vintage Sy Snootles, Vintage Droopy McCool)

The Blue Moods of Max Rebo. (Vintage Max Rebo, Vintage Sy Snootles, Vintage Droopy McCool)

It had been a long time since I’d seen the theatrical release version of Return of the Jedi. So I was shocked recently when a video of the original Max Rebo band song was brought to my attention (thanks retrostarwars). The truth of it is that ‘Lapti Nek’ by John Williams, with it’s unapologetic 80’s dance groove, is just face-melting hot. But sadly, after 10 years of Special Editions, this footage had all but faded from memory.

And what about the Special Edition “Jedi Rocks” that replaced ‘Lapti Nek’? Yeah, don’t make me go there. I beg of you, don’t make me go there. At the end of the day, it’s all just further support for that ol’ golden nugget: if it ain’t broke, consider drinking a beer or something.

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