|
Worldwide Collectibles Forum
|
Enter the message board here:-
Star Wars Message Board
|
|
Star Wars
is a science fantasy saga and fictional galaxy created by writer /
producer / director George Lucas during the 1970s. The saga began with
the film Star Wars (later retitled Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope),
which was released on May 25, 1977, by 20th Century Fox. The film became
a worldwide pop culture phenomenon - spawning five more feature films,
three spin-off films, five television series and an extensive collection
of licensed books, comics, video games, action figures, trading cards,
card games, and other products - all of which are set within a fictional
"galaxy far, far away."
Books
Star Wars-based fiction predates the release of the first movie, with
the 1976
novelization of "A New Hope" (ghost-written by Alan Dean Foster and
credited to George Lucas). Foster's 1978 novel, Splinter of the Mind's
Eye, was very nearly the first Expanded Universe work to be released. In
addition to filling in the time between the movies, this additional
content greatly expanded the Star Wars timeline before and after the
film series.
Star Wars fiction flourished during the time of the original series
(1977-1983) but slowed to a trickle afterwards. In 1991, however,
Timothy Zahn's celebrated Thrawn Trilogy debuted, sparking a new
interest in the Star Wars universe. Since then, several hundred tie-in
novels have been published by Bantam and Del Rey. A similar resurgence
in the Expanded Universe occurred in 1996 with the Steve Perry novel
Shadows of the Empire, Bantam set between Episodes V and VI, and
accompanying video game and comic book series.
LucasBooks radically changed the face of the Star Wars universe with the
introduction of the New Jedi Order series, which takes place some 20
years after Return of the Jedi and stars a host of new characters
alongside series originals. However, several significant events which
occur during the course of this series (such as the death of a major
film character) have sparked much fan criticism.
Comics
Marvel Comics published Star Wars comic book series and adaptations from
1977 to
 1986.
A wide variety of creators worked on this series, including Roy Thomas,
Archie Goodwin, Howard Chaykin, Al Williamson, Carmine Infantino, Gene
Day, Walt Simonson, Michael Golden, Chris Claremont, Whilce Portacio, Jo
Duffy, and Ron Frenz. In the late 1980s, Marvel announced it would
publish a new Star Wars comic by Tom Veitch and Cam Kennedy. However, in
December 1991, Dark Horse Comics acquired the Star Wars license and used
it to launch a number of ambitious sequels to the original trilogy
instead, including the very popular Dark Empire stories. They have since
gone on to publish a large number of original adventures set in the Star
Wars universe.
Games
Since 1983, over 120 video games have been published bearing the Star
Wars name, beginning with Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back published
for the Atari 2600 by Parker Brothers. Since then, Star Wars has opened
the way to a myriad of space-flight simulation games, first-person
shooter games, roleplaying games, RTS games, and others.
Two different official tabletop role-playing games have been developed
for the Star Wars universe– a version by West End Games in the 1980s and
1990s, and one by Wizards of the Coast in the 2000s. In the Lego Star
Wars: The Video Game and Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy the
movies are played in a different way. And in Empire at war, players can
take control of either the empire or the rebellion and fight for control
of the galaxy.
Trading cards
Star Wars trading cards have been published since the first 'blue'
series, by Topps, in
1977. Dozens of series have been produced, with Topps being the licensed
creator in the United States. Some of the card series are of movie
stills, while others are original art. Many of the cards have become
highly collectible with some very rare 'promos', such as the 1993 Galaxy
Series II 'floating Yoda' P3 card often commanding US$1000 or more.
While most 'base' or 'common card' sets are plentiful, many 'insert' or
'chase cards' are very rare. Star Wars card game cards are different
from the trading cards.
|
|
|
|
