star wars

Rare Darth Vader Costume Going Up for Auction

Filed under: Auctions

A very rare and original Darth Vader costume, created for the epic Star Wars movie franchise, is going up on the auction block next month. The costume includes the iconic helmet, mask, and shoulder armor that helped make the character one of the most infamous and recognizable in movie history. It's thought to have been created for the second Star Wars film, "The Empire Strikes Back," in 1980 and is expected to sell for as much as $365,000. The current owner, a private American collector, obtained the costume back in 2003 and it will soon change hands again.

The costume will lead off Christie's pop culture auction in London on November 25th and represents the first complete costume to ever be offered at auction.

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Tags: costumes, darth vader, movies, star wars

Smell Like Princess Leia With New Scent

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Cosmetics and Fragrance

Just when I think I've seen it all in the "celebrity" fragrance world there's something new. Now Smell This alerted me to the Star Wars Slave Leia perfume, one of two limited edition fragrances introduced at Star Wars Celebration V earlier this month. The Slave Leia is described as having notes of white peach, lily, bergamot, heliotrope, jasmine and musk. The bottle is adorned with a chain reminiscent of the ones Carrie Fisher wore (along with her metal bikini) when she was imprisoned by Jabba the Hutt. The other scent, for men, is Eau Lando, a tribute to the Lando Calrissian character played by Billy Dee Williams. It includes mandarin, incense, lotus flower, violet and musk. The scents sell for $39.99 each.

Tags: Princess Leia, Star Wars, Star Wars Celebration V

The Vader Project Auctions Off Darth Vader Helmets

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Auctions

Is the Force with you? You can embrace the dark side by bidding on one of the 100 helmets of the Vader project, a collection of 100 Darth Vader helmets re-imagined by artists including Peter Kuper, Jermaine Rogers, Gary Baseman, Paul Frank, Ron English, Jeff Soto, Michelle Valigura, Frank Kozik, Plasticgod, Simone Legno - Tokidoki, Alex Pardee, Suckadelic, Cameron Tiede, Mister Cartoon, Marc Ecko, and Amanda Visell.

Since its premiere in 2007, The Vader Project has been exhibited around the world including a trip to Europe in July 2007 and Japan in July 2008. It was on display last year at the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Now all 100 helmets are on display at Freeman's Auctioneers and Appraisers in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania through July 9 for the final opportunity to view the helmets in person before they are sold at auction on July 10. Most bidding will begin at $1,500 some helmets are set to bring in a bit more depending on the artist and the intricacy of the design. The bullet-spiked Vader helmet from Plasticgod is estimated at $10,000-$15,000. You can view the catalog at Freeman's and a 200-plus page, full-color, limited edition catalog featuring 100 helmets, artist bios and some history on the project is available.

Tags: darth vader, darth vader auction, darth vader helmet, Star Wars, the vader project

BeaValdes for CoutureLab Jet Stefani Evening Bag, Handbag of the Day

by Annie Scott (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Handbags

The BeaValdes for CoutureLab Jet Stefani Evening Bag is a breathtaking take on the small black clutch.

Part goth and part Star Wars, we can't help but think that if Darth Vader had a purse, this would be it. That's not to say we don't like it; we absolutely love the BeaValdes shape, the enormous black crystals set in psychedelic circles of cut beads and the delicate size -- about 7" x 4" x 4 1/4". Even the base is covered in overlapping crystals and black and gold beads.

This bag comes with a dark metal chain so that you don't dull the crystals with your hand, and would be an amazing, noteworthy accessory for your very finest occasion.

The BeaValdes for CoutureLab Jet Stefani Evening Bag is available from CoutureLab; price available upon request.

Tags: Bea Valdes, BeaValdes, clutch, CoutureLab, handbag of the day, HandbagOfTheDay, purse, Star Wars, StarWars

Darth Vader Bronze Statue For Serious Star Wars Fans

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Art

For true Star Wars fans with deep pockets there is this item. The bronze Darth Vader statue stands four feet tall and weighs over 150 lbs. There are just 30 numbered statues worldwide. Each one has an individualized patina that makes them unique. The statue by Lawrence Noble was modeled after Darth Vader as he appears in The Empire Strikes Back but also as a statue of Lord Vader might appear on the planet of Coruscant. Each piece was forged and assembled at a foundry close to Lucasfilm's Presidio campus and sells for $18,000.

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Tags: bronze, darth vader, DarthVader, star wars, StarWars, statue

Tom Spina Designs Han Solo Desk

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Decor

A post on The Stylephile led me to this amazing desk, an absolute dream piece for the Star Wars aficionado, it features the iconic image of Hans Solo trapped in carbonite from The Empire Strikes Back. The desk is made mainly from steel and was created by Tom Spina Designs for for one of the members of Christian rock band, Casting Crowns.

Tom Spina Designs accepts private commissions from a wide range of individuals and companies, they specialize in functional art, pieces that are furniture but also unique pieces of art. They also do custom sculpture including busts and masks, theme props and lifesized characters. There are a few pieces available in their shop including latex masks and mannequins. For $625 plus $75 shipping you can get a Skull throne that is made of fiberglass but looks like carved stone.

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Tags: desk, han solo, star wars, tom spina designs, TomSpinaDesigns

Biggest Celebrity Paydays of 2007

by Sandy Maple (RSS feed) —

Being a celebrity has its perks, not the least of which is pulling in a ton of cash on a regular basis. You do your job, you get paid, and your bank account grows steadily larger. But sometimes celebrities have extra-special paydays where their net worth increases dramatically from one day to the next. Not taking into account taxes and any future payouts, Forbes has crunched the numbers and figured out which celebrities had the biggest paydays in 2007 and what they did to earn all that money.

Topping the list is George Lucas. What did he do in 2007 to earn the top payday? His windfall actually was set in motion in 1997, when Hasbro awarded him $170 million in stock as part of a licensing deal for his Star Wars toys. This year, he sold it back to them for $200 million.

The list includes some other surprising names as well. Who knew aging rocker Sammy Hagar was raking it in? And the fact that Oprah Winfrey had an exceptional payday isn't all that surprising, but the fact that is was the result of one her less successful ventures is. Quite a few made a killing in real estate and others made big bucks just doing their jobs.

These celebrities might not have made the most money this year, but they beat everyone else when it came to earning the most cash in one fell swoop.

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Tags: celebrity earnings, CelebrityEarnings, earnings, forbes list, ForbesList, george lucas, GeorgeLucas, star wars, StarWars, top celebrity paydays, TopCelebrityPaydays

R2-D2 Home Theater System

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Gadgets

About a year ago, Hammacher Schlemmer debuted an R2-D2 robot. But while cute and responsive to all sorts of commands, he wasn't much more than a novelty. Their latest R2-D2 is a lot more functional. His head holds a DLP projection system that can project movies, TV shows, images, and video games from his radar eye at 1024 x 768 resolution. One of his mechanical arm housings in the front of his body has a DVD/CD player and his anterior vents rotate to reveal a docking station that fits most iPods so you can play music or videos through his two 20-watt built-in speakers. He has a variety of other audio and video related functions and comes with a mounted model of the Millennium Falcon that conceals a remote. He sells for $2,799.95.

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Tags: gadget, home theater, r2-d2, star wars

Limited Edition Steinbach 'Star Wars' Nutcrackers

by Nicole Weston (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Decor

The number of people who collect both nutcrackers and 'Star Wars' things is probably relatively small, but there must be some demand for things that fit into both categories because Steinbach of Germany has come out with two limited edition 'Star Wars' Nutcrackers for Christmas. Darth Vader stands 18 1/2 inches high and is draped in a vinyl cloak, while Yoda is just 9 1/2 inches high and is armed with his walking staff. They're not exactly seasonal, but that doesn't mean that they wouldn't make a fine gift for a fan, anyway. Darth Vader is $350, while Yoda is only $250.

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Tags: darth vader, germany, nutcracker, nutcrackers, star wars, steinback, yoda

Your Own R2-D2

by Anne Metz (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Decor, Gadgets

First there was the Japanese robot dog. Then there was the robot cat. Now there is a voice-activated robot R2-D2, the lovable little droid from Star Wars.

R2-D2 is a motorized replica of the original spirited bot, which can respond to more than 40 voice-activated commands. Using an infra-red sensor, 'D2 can roll around your house, search for intruders, play tag, answer simple 'yes' or 'no' questions, and dance to the famous cantina music from Star Wars. He may not be able to help save the universe, but he can still blink his lights, swivel his dome top and blast those memorable happy robot sounds. Standing 15 inches tall, R2-D2 weighs in at 6 pounds.

Now that popular culture's most beloved android friend has been memorialized in the form of a workable replica, I have to wonder which robot will come next? Personally, I'm hoping for Rosie -- the Jetson's helpful maid robot, the perfectly-programmed-hausfrau who leglessly rolled about, dusting and tidying wherever she went. Ah, dare to dream, I guess. Price: $119.95.

Tags: andoids, Jetsons, R2-D2, robots, Star Wars, StarWars