Starlog's Mark Hamill Interviews (1982/83)

I've gone a bit off topic a few times the past year, and this is another time as this post is not about games or toys. However, it is related to Star Wars, which always gets an exception. Of course, I always try to post something about Star Wars on May 4th because it's Star Wars Day. As I mentioned in February, I now own a variety of Starlog issues, most from the early 1980s, when Return of the Jedi was in production and subsequently released. Within the copies I have, there are a lot of Star Wars articles, and with this post I opted to focus on the Mark Hamill interviews since Starlog interviewed him three times in less than a year, including in back-to-back issues.

Starlog #65 - December 1982

Starlog #72 - July 1983

Starlog #73 - August 1983

May the 4th be with you!

Gaming Ads: Backfilling #23

Before now, I had posted nine game ads for Parker Brothers, and today I have 16 more! I found Parker Brothers liked to advertise in comic books, possibly more than any other game publisher. Four of the ads feature Star Wars, which is why I chose to post these now with another Star Wars Day tomorrow. One of the ads is for the Death Star Battle Home Video Game Sweepstakes, a game based on Return of the Jedi. Something quite interesting about the sweepstakes is that third prize is the unreleased game Ewok Adventure. Developed by Atari Games, it was completed and a prototype exists, but marketing thought the controls were too difficult, so they chose not to release it. In the game players control an Ewok glider while dodging and dropping rocks in an effort to destroy a shield generator. It's likely anyone that won third prize received another Star Wars game in its place, probably Death Star Battle, though Parker Brothers had also already released The Empire Strikes Back and Jedi Arena.

Year 10: February Update

The blog reached its 10th year! I don't update often, but I'll try to keep it going for as long as I can. Since my last update I built a new computer, as my video card was more than seven years old and I think the rest of my PC was at least 12 years old. Unfortunately, RAM prices took off just as I was beginning my parts research, so it wasn't a great time to build a new one, but necessary. Although I'm not doing too many videos here of late, the upgrades will definitely help with the speed of video and photo editing. Now I have this great computer for games and instead of putting it to the test, the first gaming I did was stream Indiana Jones and the Great Circle through Amazon Prime. I don't normally subscribe to anything, but I had an offer for a year of Amazon Prime and signed up primarily for TV streaming without even realizing it included games. The only graphics option when streaming Indiana Jones was 720p or 1080p, and I expect the game would look better if played locally. Still, it was more or less free, and it ran well, only freezing one time. Most of the levels are open areas to explore, and I enjoyed the story, as well as playing as Indiana Jones. Surprisingly, the puzzles are all rather simple, especially compared to the Uncharted and Tomb Raider games. It's not as action-oriented as those games either; Indy can whip, shoot, and use his fists, but he can also wear disguises to avoid conflict and most of the game plays like a first-person adventure.

One game I was hoping to play on this new PC eventually was Ghost of Yōtei. Now I'm uncertain that will ever happen, as recent news reports have stated that Sony is moving away from porting its PlayStation exclusives to PC and I don't want to purchase a PlayStation 5. Maybe Sony will change its mind when console sales slow due to the higher hardware costs, a result of the data centers buying up electronics parts and driving up prices, like the aforementioned RAM. In other gaming news, Sonic the Hedgehog turns 35 this year, a new C64 system is on the way, new Star Wars games were unveiled in December, and a new Masters of the Universe game is coming soon. The $349.99 (more for Starlight and Founders editions) Commodore 64 Ultimate is like an original C64 rebuilt and can connect to old C64 hardware, while running games from a USB drive. 

At The Game Awards back in December we got a look at Star Wars: Galactic Racer and Fate of the Old Republic. From developer Fuse Games, Galactic Racer features pod racing and speeder bikes. Fate of the Old Republic is a spiritual successor to Knights of the Old Republic in development at Arcanaut Studios. He-Man and the Masters of the Universe: Dragon Pearl of Destruction is a side-scrolling combat game coming April 28, 2026 from Bitmap Bureau and Limited Run Games.

Of course, I cannot write a blog update without LEGO news. In January, LEGO unveiled its SMART Play System, which adds technology to bricks and minifigures to create sound effects when users move objects. Star Wars sets featuring SMART Play actually release tomorrow and because you are paying for the tech, you get less pieces than traditional LEGO sets at a higher price. Thus far seven sets have been announced, ranging from $39.99 for Luke's Landspeeder to $159.99 for Throne Room Duel & A-wing.

Thanks for visiting,

Jonathan

FAO Schwarz: The Holiday Book 1999

I typically scan an old video game holiday catalog near the end of each year but this time I'm going with a toy catalog from FAO Schwarz. This 1999 holiday book features Stuart Little on the cover and is just over 100 pages when counting the front cover and foldout. However, I only scanned 39 pages, focusing mostly on holiday items, electronics, and popular brands, such as G.I. Joe, Star Wars, and Barbie. Skipped items primarily include toddler toys and plush. Also, one page is out of order as I placed page 50 at the end because it helped make the side-by-side pages match better and it made more sense to have the Furby product scans next to one another. If you're not familiar with FAO Schwarz, it is a toy store founded in 1862 with a flagship store in New York City, which can be seen in the film "Big," where Tom Hanks dances on the floor piano. It sells a variety of toys, some on the pricey side, and numerous exclusives with many marketed as limited edition collectibles.