This Isn’t The President You’re Looking For…

The Hollywood Reporter recently revealed that Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy has extender her contract to run the company and the future of Star Wars for an additional 3 years. This puts her in charge of our favorite galaxy until 2021 and possibly beyond, despite of the feeling of many fans.

Is this the right call for the future of the franchise? Right away, I personally feel that it is. Kathleen is the spark that lit the fire for many fans to rediscover their love of Star Wars, but most importantly she's able to attain new viewers and fans. Many fans believe that other than ticket sales, proving the popularity of a franchise is difficult. Currently younger audiences move away from merchandise and toys at an earlier and earlier age, but if you look around, the signs are there.

Trinkets or keychains on backpacks, disposable coloring books, and looking up specific scenes over and over again on YouTube or other media platforms is more than enough to keep a child thinking about a franchise, but we need to stay on target.

So what does 2021 mean for the fandom? You may think it's just Episode 9 and another Story type film, but Lucasfilm (like many other companies) try and map out their game plans far in advance. Kennedy will have producing credits in the upcoming Star Wars Resistance cartoon and in 2021 it might be in its 3rd or 4th season. Star Wars: The Clone Wars season 7 will have Kathleen to thank for bringing the show back to finish the fight. Rian Johnson still has his saga (no longer being classified as a trilogy) in the works as well as the saga coming from David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, the TV adaptors for Game of Thrones.

Recently, Disney CEO Bob Iger took full responsibility for pushing Solo: A Star Wars Story to premier only 5 months after Episode 8. This was possibly to gauge interest in multiple films a year similar to the way Marvel did it early on with Iron-Man 1 and The Incredible Hulk (both premiering in 2008). His taking the hit for Kennedy now gives her a continual success rate with moving stories forward going into episode 9!

So what happens if some fans get their wish and Kathleen Kennedy steps down as President today? Who comes in and takes her mantle? Name someone who you want at the helm of Lucasfilm. Is it some random “Suit” that isn't a fan of any franchise like at Sony? Is it a board of directors pushing sequel material and multiple characters into one film like at Warner Brothers? Is it maybe an entire company forcing directors to include vehicles, weapons and items that can be marketed and sold in stores like at Hasbro?

The only person that comes to mind that is both well-known and could possibly do the job is currently working under Kennedy; he’s writing for the films, games, fan experiences and much more: Jon Kasdan, the co-writer of Solo: a Star Wars Story and son of Lawrence Kasdan the film writer for Empire Strikes Back. Jon has the potential and the pedigree to someday run Lucasfilm. This is all speculation on my part, but from watching premier events and press junkets, Jon is there close to Kathleen and it is possible that she is grooming him for the position.

This kind of speculative thinking can't happen if the people in charge fall to the whims of the fandom. There is always a system to take feedback or course-correct and I believe Lucasfilm knows how to do it, but how they move forward after the outcome of Episode 9 is entirely up to the movie attendance and the final confrontation between Rey and Kylo.

Esteban Romo

IG: @Danttebay0

Old, Not Obsolete!

Ok, so wtf is the German going to ramble about today, hmm?!

Well, first of all let me apologize to a personal friend of mine from the UK, Dan. Dude, I gave you shit for this, but it was TOO fitting for this to pass up on.  So: sorry, dude. ;)

Now, what I mean by this is simply that I was VERY disappointed over this year’s announcements/teases at SDCC2018. Many people know me, I´m approaching 37 and I´m pretty old school. Many people over here collect S.H. Figuarts stuff, SW Black Series, Mythic Legions and not many seem to share my love for Robocop and Terminator to only name a few, but don´t get me wrong: sure respect it.

With that being said: Hot Toys is slacking big. fuckin. time.

We only see Star Wars, DC, or Marvel, with the 3 exceptions, of which, 2 were surprises:

-          John Wick (Surprise)

-          Fugitive Predator

-          Battle Angel Alita (Surprise)

I have zero interest in of those (good on the wallet), but it pains me to see that old franchises won´t get any love anymore. Call it whining, it doesn´t matter to me, I just need to vent and hope someone gets me. Because I know PLENTY of people which are also enjoying these franchises (maybe not in the Realm, but still) and they ache for a “The Terminator” Kyle Reese and Sarah Connor, “Robocop” Clarence Boddicker and Dick Jones, “Aliens” Ripley and Dwayne Hicks, Hudson, Drake, Vasquez…you name it. And I honestly believe Hot Toys drops the ball BIG TIME when it comes to delivering characters to collection that fill them and somehow complete them too. Especially so on the villain side, sometimes also cult characters, modern, or old school, but I´m doing an overall list. I hope you bear with me.

Just a few examples:

We´ve gotten Ant-Man, yet no Yellow Jacket. The Guardians were done, but no Ronan. Thor, no Malekith, but multiple Lokis. No Grandmaster or Valkyrie. Iron Man´s Mark 1 – 1 Trillion, but how about Happy Hogan or Aldrich Killian? Two City Hunter Predators, but was there no Mike Harrigan (Danny Glover) and especially since I started with them: 2 Terminator 1 T-800s (Tech Noir and Police Shootout), which were able to double as Arm & Eye Surgery and Tanker Accident T-800, but a non-fitting and INCORRECTLY outfitted Terminator 1 ¼-scale T-800 Endoskeleton, with a base with “lava” (still a big WTF?!) and phased pulse rifle (belongs to T2), yet Endo for T1, or a 2-pack with Kyle, Sarah and a blasted in half T-800 (which would work), cause let´s be clear:

RoboCop showed us that it can work. The battle-damaged Robocop with human Alex Murphy was a hit. It sold out everywhere, presented us with Hot Toys’ BEST head sculpt to date, and aftermarket prices for this set is crazy.  And with current sculpters and the sculpt work, amazing sculpts could be done of Michael Biehn (which sure can be used for Dwayne Hicks too. One sculpt, two uses), Linda Hamilton, Kurtwood Smith, and all those cult characters.

So I get it why Hot Toys only delivers pieces for DC, Marvel and Star Wars: Because the licenses are expensive and they milk the cow, because they need to get their costs back. But with half- (or let´s just say “unfinished”) collections of Terminator 1, 2 and RoboCop, Hot Toys wouldn´t lose money. People want Clarence, Dick, Sarah, John and the old T-800. Fans would eat that up in a heartbeat. They pay VERY good and also big custom money for Legio7 custom figures of Clarence, Emil Antonovsky´s molten appearance from the end, Nash, Joe and there´s also a Dick Jones custom out there. 1984 Kyle too, but its sculpt is lacking.

The money is there, Hot Toys just needs to grab it and also would sure get fan/customer support big time, because that´s where they can improve too: Listening to fans, which would help them in the long run.

I hope I caught an ear or two. Would be glad if you sound of in the comments below, or leave a like. Find me in the Facebook groups as “Tim Kay” and on IG and FB as @figurephotographycrate, or on Youtube @timkaysnerdcrate. Hit me up, always happy to chop it up with the ROC fam.

‘Til next time

The Mad German

Disney Has No Clue What They Have

Upon the purchase of the Star Wars franchise, Disney acquired another princess. The only thing is that this princess is a badass chick who is fighting for what she believes in. She is a do it herself diplomat that isn't afraid of negotiations with a blaster. She is what I love about the franchise.  She definitely doesn't need a prince charming.  

Who is this awesome new princess you ask?  Why, of course, it is the one and only Princess Leia.  This princess is, in my completely biased opinion, the best of all the princesses in the Disney lineup.  Only Leia could overcome the hurdles she was born with to become one of the greatest leaders of the ragtag rebellion that ultimately overthrew the Empire.  She is the ultimate politician combined with warrior.  She is compassionate as well as fierce. A true force to be reckoned with.

The first words that come to mind when I think of Princess Leia (the character not Carrie Fisher, the actress) are fierce, unafraid, determined.  I also see her as beautiful, compassionate and loving.  There are so many facets to this character that her appearances in film have not done her justice.  In the EU (Expanded Universe), she shows her true grit.  She battles a Jedi trained Hutt and succeeds for goodness sake!  

Even in canon, she shows her ability to hold her head high no matter what by facing the criticism and outright anger when it is revealed that she is the daughter of Darth Vader.  She deals with the entire ordeal of (for lack of a better definition) leaving politics to pursue the battle against the First Order.

We are first introduced to Princess Leia as a figure in a long flowing white gown addressing an R2 unit.  She is a distance away so we do not hear her voice or know what she is instructing the little droid to do.  As the droid approaches, she steps back into the doorway, out of site.  That little droid won’t tell a soul (save for Mr. Obi-Wan Kenobi) what he carries or what that mysterious lady in white told him.

I think “spy” should be added to the list of accolades for this princess.  She has been working on the inside of the Imperial senate for years, working her contacts to aid the growing rebellion.  She was key in obtaining food, weapons, and most importantly, information.  When the Emperor dissolved the senate, Leia still had the ability to reach out to those contacts and bring those worlds into the rebellion.  Yeah, “bad ass spy with an awesome gift for political wooing.”

When Darth Vader captured her, he tortured her.  He brought her to Moff Tarkin to see her home planet and everyone on it destroyed.  She stayed strong.  She never lost her hope that the rebellion would succeed.  She cried, yes, but she never lost her faith in the cause.  

The poor woman was then rescued by 2 men who were never in possession of an exit strategy.  She grabbed a blaster, fired a shot, and voila, exit strategy.  We are gonna forget that they ended up in a garbage compactor and that Luke almost got eaten.  We are also gonna forget that they all almost got killed when they fired a blaster and it ricocheted, bouncing off of every wall.  She did it all without fussing over a broken nail or crying over a bruised knee.

We have all, for the most part, watched the films.  Many of us have read the books, both canon and EU.  We all have our opinion of this character, and all of our opinions are valid.  As a young girl, I wanted to be Princess Leia.  As a grown woman, I still want to be Princess Leia.  She has many qualities that I aspire to have and a strength that I always want.

Disney princesses, as a whole, are strong characters.  The problem is that they all have the gender-typical hang ups. Cinderella is trapped in an abusive home situation and has to have a man basically save her from it.  Snow White was in a similar situation only her stepmother wanted her dead.  Ariel is very self-centered, like a teenager, and it takes a man to ground her.  Belle needed the Beast.  They all have that one thing. I bear those other princesses no ill will but I am a bit on the biased side.  

The Star Wars story is built on the strength of the Skywalker family.  Leia is the Princess of Alderaan and the daughter of Anakin.  She has the fire and fury of her father.  She has the cultured diplomacy of her mother.  She has The Force to help lead her.  She is the one princess in Disney’s lineup that is truly a Princess.

Long live the best, most awesome princess.

Long live Princess Leia.

Anna D

First Lady of the ROC