Here’s a look at some of the new movie, tv, comics, video game and sci-fi merchandise due to be shipped in October. There’s some incredible new stuff coming from fan favourite franchises, so lets see what’s in store, or rather, what will be later this year…

STAR WARS: ¼ SCALE DARTH MAUL
The infamous red-and-black Sith apprentice is back in a new quarter scale Star Wars Collectible piece from Diamond Select. Due to stand over 19 inches tall, this is set to be one hell of an imposing piece for all Star Wars fans’ collections. Darth Maul will come with an excellent facial sculpt, layered cloth costume, interchangeable hands and movie authentic accessories.

BATTLESTAR GALACTICA RAZOR: CYLON RAIDER STATUE
(Shipping in December) Gentle Giant have really outdone themselves with this high quality eight-inch replica of the Cylon’s notorious craft. Set on a numbered BSG themed base, this classic-themed Cylon Raider is to be limited to just 2,007 pieces.

GEARS OF WAR SERIES 2 BOX SET
The complete box set of all four figures from the second series of GEARS OF WAR merchandise! The next wave of these hugely popular figures is set to contain characters Dominik Santiago, Damon Baird, Theron Guard and Locust with ‘Exploding head’ variant extremity.

STAR WARS: CLONE WARS EVOLUTIONS ACTION FIGURES
A new set of Star Wars action figures showing the evolution of three separate parts of the Star Wars saga! The three triple packs of action figures include the Padme Amidala Legacy, The Imperial Pilots Legacy and The Rebellion Pilots Legacy sets.

RAMBO STATUE
A 1/6 scale statue of John Rambo himself is set to be released in late October. This one is due to be limited to just 500 pieces, and thus will be highly sought after by collectors.

Stay tuned for more news on forthcoming attractions!

Then again, maybe the reviewers that are giving out so much negativity to the project are missing the point a bit and trying to watch it as a standalone feature film instead of the first three episodes of a series. On the other hand, maybe it just isn’t very good. If anything I am looking forward to seeing it for myself even more now, if only to see what all the hoo-ha is about, and to see if the reviews I’ve been reading are anywhere near the truth.

Granted, the review Harry Knowles posted over at AICN was cutting and very clear about the contents of the film being rather substandard, and it is with the elements of the film he hated that I think I am going to take issue with too. It’s the little things like the baby Hutt, for example, or even Anakin’s Padawan, Ahsoka. The Star Wars Universe is already far too cluttered with expanded universe characters as it is- do we really need more of them? The galaxy far, far away has been heavily populated for decades now, and it would have been much cooler to see the Jedi kicking some ass a bit more, y’know, like Plo Koon, Kit Fisto, Ayla Secura and so on. In the prequels they didn’t really get much of an airing seeing as they were the last of the Jedi, so it’s a sad thing they aren’t taking centre stage here.

There are some elements I’m hearintg about that are just inexcusable- no opening crawl? Huh?! This is a Star Wars project isn’t it? ISN’T IT? How can one of the main conventions of the whole series be ignored for this one? You’d think, with this possibly being the last hurrah for Star wars on the big screen (With the Clone Wars series and the live action series coming), that it would go out of its way to please people that may have been turned away by TPM, AOTC and ROTS. From what we’re seeing so far, all it is going to do is turn more fans away.

I look forward to bringing you a full review of the ‘film’ soon.

With the imminent release of THE CLONE WARS in cinemas, it is a marvellous thing that the ongoing Star Wars debates have resurfaced in fandom. They’ve certainly resurfaced right here, and are still amusing and bemusing in equal measure. Fans are once again bringing up the decade-old prequels debate, which, even after almost ten years, is still a great source of disagreement and entertainment. We all have our opinions of the prequels, and thankfully they largely differ, otherwise we’d all get along nicely and the internet wouldn’t be nearly as much fun. I mean, come on, wasn’t the reason forums were made to flame each other about Jar Jar and Midichlorians? Right? No? Ok, well maybe. You have to admit that a chunk of the fun about Star Wars is the scope it gives you for bitching at your fellow geeks.

Personally I thought Episode One was entertaining nonsense, Episode 2 was a flawed classic, and Episode 3 was nigh on perfect apart from the comedy ‘NOOOOOOO’ at the end. Darth Maul was cool. So was Jango. Jar Jar was most certainly not. That about sums up all three films for me Anyway, the new one is on the way out, and despite a mediocre trailer and lacklustre reviews you know you’ll all be checking it out to see Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith get bridged on the big screen with us, an you also know you’ll be checking out the TV show that will follow this big screen outing. Oh, and admit it- you’re as excited about the new Star Wars merchandise just as much as we are

You see, Star Wars has long since become much more than just a bunch of films with lightsabers in. It has become so ingrained in popular culture that it has transcended a mere film, franchise to become an all encompassing legend that everyone knows on some level. You see, along with the iPod, the internet, comic book movies and the resurgence of science fiction as a viable genre, the geeks have indeed taken over the world. This is a good thing, as without us Star Wars geeks, you’d have a hell of a lot less to flame each other about online, and nobody would ever have asked: Who shot first- Greedo or Han?