Australia's Retro Gaming and Pinball E-Zine
Social media scrolling at 4am is usually fraught with danger as you flick your finger up the screen. We are happy to report that on this occasion, it wasn’t all doom and gloom!
We stumbled upon these very cool Star Wars inspired bookends, which are quite clever in capturing the spirit and theme of Star Wars.
Which one is your favourite?
This Star Wars fan desperately needs some of these bookends 😉
source: Star Wars always via Facebook
When it comes to villains, we reckon no one tops Darth Vader. He has been our fave antagonist from the first time we saw him wield his lightsaber and force choke his underlings.
The story of Darth Vader has evolved since we were kids in the late 70s and early 80s, but that doesn’t diminish our love for the character, on the contrary, the latest Obi-Wan Kenobi Disney+ series cemented Lord Vader as our favourite villain of all time.
With that said, here are some awesome Lord Vader artwork!
image source: Star Wars Always (Facebook) – Stern Pinball Inc.- Fine Art America – Pinterest – myhotposters – comicbookmovie – Artsper – disneyartonmain – Robert Voisenni
There is no shortage of awesome and talented artists in this world. The latest artist to capture our attention is Johan Karlgren, aka: Pappas Pärlor.
Johan’s creations are unique as they are refashioned framed art pieces injected with very clever pop culture themes and franchises, including popular Star Wars and video gaming characters.
Check out all Johan’s art works here. Here are our favourites:
source: Pappas Pärlor
It may have closed a long, long time ago in our current galaxy, but the Star Wars: The Magic of Myth museum still lives on in cyberspace!
Thanks to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum (NASM), the Star Wars: The Magic of Myth exhibition has been saved for posterity via an online tour as it was originally displayed at the NASM. Just think about this, the Star Wars: The Magic of Myth was on display at the National Air and Space Museum from October 31, 1997 to January 31, 1999 – that was a long time ago indeed and before the prequels started!
Speaking of Star Wars exhibitions, Ms. ausretrogamer and I were lucky to visit the Star Wars Costumes exhibition at the EMP Museum (now called MoPOP) in Seattle back in 2015, which we will publish our photos from that exhibition in a future post – so keep an eye out for it!
No, I am not your father, but from one Star Wars geek to another, May the 4th be with you!
When it comes to pop culture franchises, none are bigger than Star Wars. As a kid, I was consumed by it – Masters Of the Universe was a close second though 😉
I was lucky enough to be there when the original trilogy was playing in cinemas (late 70s to early 80s) and following on from that, begging my parents for anything Star Wars related, from the Kenner action figures to Return of the Jedi t-shirts to wear to school.
As an adult, the love of Star Wars has not diminished one bit, but my tastes for Star Wars related collectable content has definitely expanded. The pick of my current fave Star Wars related memorabilia is our Stern Star Wars Comic Art Premium pinball machine.
This year’s highlight for me was being honoured on a Walter Day’s Video Game & Pinball Trading Card with our beloved Star Wars pinball machine – check it out below!
If you have any favourite Star Wars items, please share them with us all either via Twitter or Facebook!
Now this is the kind of Star Wars Christmas Special we can get behind and actually enjoy – no cheesiness added 😉
Here are some of our favourites from the ‘Celebrate the holidays in a galaxy far far away‘ Lego Ideas contest – there’s heaps more if you click on the link.
May the X-mas Force be with you!
source: Lego Ideas – Celebrate the Holidays in a Galaxy Far Far Away
You guys know that we are huge STAR WARS fans yeah? And we hope you know by now that we are also massive PINBALL fans, be it the real or virtual kind.
With the news that Zen Studios’ Pinball FX3 will add The Mandalorian pinball machine to the platform is darn awesome news! The Mandalorian will be their 20th Star Wars themed pinball machine, featuring story-based missions following events of the first season from the hit Disney+ series.
Before you ask (or if you’ve already seen the above pic), of course cute baby Yoda will be featured! Now roll on Spring (aka: Autumn for us!) 2021!
As the great Kuiil said, “I have spoken”!
source: Zen Studios
Listen up Star Wars fans and stamp collectors, Australia Post has something really cool for you all!
Celebrating the 40th anniversary of the theatrical release of Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, Australia Post has a released a commemorative (licensed) The Empire Strike Back 40 Years stamp pack! This awesome stamp pack contains 20 $1.10 Map of Australia stamps from their Joyful Occasions stamp issue, as well as action-packed The Empire Strike Back graphics in the stamp tabs!
Oh yeah, they also have the Rise of Skywalker stamp pack too!
image source: Australia Post
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far too close to home, I was excited when Stern Pinball announced their Star Wars pinball machine. I was so excited by this news, I almost bought one without playing it!
But there was a disturbance in the (pinball) FORCE in mid 2017! Bear with me here, as this story delves into the depths of the dark side before I see the light.
Cooler heads prevailed and I took Ms. ausretrogamer’s advice to play the pinball machine before making a decision to buy it or not. Well, on that fateful day in mid 2017, my initial impression of Stern’s Star Wars pinball wasn’t at all positive. I played the Pro model of the game, and let’s just say that it didn’t inspire me to press the start button to play it again. The FORCE just wasn’t strong enough to engage me. I was gutted! I felt that the machine did not capture the theme and universe of my all-time favourite movie franchise. I buried my disappointment and forgot about the machine. As the great Jedi Master, Yoda once said, “Disappointment is the path to the dark side. Disappointment leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.” Welllll, he didn’t say that exactly, but you get my drift.
Luckily I did not give in to the disappointment, no matter how tempting the dark side of the force was. At the time, I found solace in another pinball machine, Chicago Gaming Company’s Attack From Mars Remake. My pinball mojo was back to peak level and the disappointment of the Star Wars pinball machine was all but a distant memory.
source: Stern Pinball Inc.
Then in mid 2019, there was a flicker in the FORCE. My brother-in-law, who got the silverball bug after playing our machines, went hunting for his first pinball game and settled for a Stern Star Wars Premium pinball machine. I remember thinking to myself, I hope he loves the game. Well, to my surprise, he did. What surprised me even more was my reaction to the game – once I pressed the start button and started flipping, I was immediately grabbed by the FORCE, just like Darth Vader’s force choke. Taking Yoda’s advice to heart, we had to unlearn what we learned about this game.
Wow, what a difference two years had made! The updated code and of course, this being the Premium model of the game, it felt like I was in the middle of the (original) Star Wars universe! I found that my excitement for the machine was at the same level as when Stern first announced that they were making a Star Wars pinball game. I knew then that I had to hunt down a machine to fulfil my wish of owning my pinball dream theme.
Dum, Dum, Dum, Dum-te-dum, Dum-te-dum#StarWars #pinball #SternPinball pic.twitter.com/rqht7UaPKT
— ausretrogamer (@ausretrogamer) May 9, 2020
Just like all Star Wars stories, starting with a struggle and then ending on a positive note, so has this musing. I finally saw the light side of the FORCE and procured my pinball dream theme, a Stern Star Wars Comic Art Premium machine, beautifully presented by Star Wars comic artist, Randy Martinez – it’s so eye-poppingly beautiful. It was a long time coming to get to this point, but I am glad I went on this journey and reached my destination. The moral of my story is, never judge a book by its cover and always come back to a pinball game you haven’t played in a while, it may surprise you.
Thanks to the folks at Zax Amusements for fulfilling my wish – they made this Padawan very happy. May the FORCE be with you!
A lightsaber is required to bust open this beauty!
The Ausretrogamer Fun Factory is READY!
The machine is (almost) in its position – love the right side cabinet art!
Love the left side art cabinet too!
And we are upright!
We have the keys to the Millennium Falcon
Time to play and defeat the evil Empire!
Always Use The Force!
Love the LCD – it integrates the theme with visual Star Wars eye-candy
The comic art is eye-poppingly gorgeous on this machine
Taking in the comic art with the glass off!
Randy Martinez should be commended for his brilliant art work on this machine
Let’s blow up the Death Star
Making the Kessel Run in less than twelve parsecs
The magnets on this machine whiz the balls around on the hyperspace loop at breakneck speeds!
And we are on, like Donkey K… Ah, never mind!
Who doesn’t like seeing their name on the high score table
Just enjoying the view
A handsome threesome in the Fun Factory
Judging by our PAX Aus Classic Gaming highlights feature, you would have been forgiven in thinking that there was nothing else to see at this year’s PAX Aus.
Well, we are here to tell you that there was stacks to see and experience, from great panels, awesome cosplay, pin and badge hunts to booth raids to check out the latest games and wares from indie devs and the big AAA studios and gaming companies.
There was so much to see, so we hope this Rest of PAX Aus 2019 Highlights photo package can make you feel like you were there!
The calm before the storm! The crowds waits patiently for the start of PAX AUS 2019!
