GalaxysEdge – Page 3 – Living History in the Star Wars Galaxy

Thoughts on ‘The Marshal’

Since The Mandalorian is the hottest thing in the galaxy right now, and with my queue of current projects winding down and no opportunities for public interpretive events in the foreseeable future, I want to share my thoughts on each episode shortly after each airs. Because…I have thoughts! These won’t be general reviews, but I’m going to try and focus on applying the topics of this blog (character design, material culture, issues of in-universe consistency, etc). Additionally, my research tends to uncover random details which enhance our knowledge of the galactic setting, but which aren’t always meaty enough to merit their own essays; I think Mandalorian episode writeups will be the perfect place to sprinkle these in.
I’ll be discussing topics in the order they appear, so let’s get started!

Since S01E06(‘The Prisoner’), the show seems to have a problem with its male Twi’leks. The size, shape, and angle of the head-tails is all wrong—they’re female-style(ish)—and I think it’s a side effect of the show’s relatively small budget. Since the usual male Twi’lek doesn’t wear a headband to hide the transition between actor and prosthetic, the look requires much more time in the makeup chair; the show’s makeup team have apparently decided it’s simply easier to pop a pair of female-style lekku and a headband on and call it good…but it looks hella weird:

This post from DIY the Galaxy gives a good overview of previous lekku depictions.

Staying true to the aesthetic

(I had originally scheduled this to post a few weeks from now, but since writing it the pitfalls described below keep popping up on my feed, so I couldn’t hold my tongue any longer.) After seeing more than my fair share of Star Wars costumers and their outfits online, I’ve noticed a particular trend in the last year or two across various social media platforms, mainly in the case of the Galaxy’s Edge-inspired/Batuu-bounding or OC crowd:

The desire to slap a Rebel Alliance starbird, Jedi crest, Sith symbol, Mickey Mouse, or Aurebesh letters on bloody everything seems very strong with this segment of the fandom, and the big driver of this, I think, is of course the consumer market. As a quick test, let’s do a image search for ‘Star Wars backpack’.

Upgrading the Rebel persona: uniform tunic

Over the years, I’ve acquired a number of different ‘in-universe’ garments. Some are based on examples from film or print sources, some are extrapolations based on planetary styles, some are just attempts to apply the generic ‘galactic aesthetic’ to my everyday wardrobe.

But so far, I haven’t tried to outright copy a specific example…the closest I’d come was the ‘bib’-front shirt I whipped up for the debut of my ‘Citizen Olis’ persona in 2017, meant to be a local take on the style worn by the Rebel ‘fleet troopers’ and Yavin communications officers seen in Episode IV:

Galaxy’s Edge merch: Jedi Field Gear

If you’re tired of having empty resin boxes on your Prequel Jedi utility belt, I guess this is the package for you. This set sells for $30 and contains a Qui-Gon style Imagecaster, Hush 98-style comlink, and Jedi macrobinoculars. Having seen some unboxing reviews, I think 2 of the 3 might make this worth buying. Which ones?
SWGE Jedigear1 Continue reading “Galaxy’s Edge merch: Jedi Field Gear”

Galactic Style Guide – Belts of the Galaxy

Welcome to the first installment of the Galactic Style Guide, a monthly series in which I will be collecting and curating many visual examples of a single type of in-universe item. Why am I doing this, you ask? Besides having a lot of time on my hands in quarantine, too often when we think of ‘Star Wars’, we limit ourselves to thinking only of the main cast of characters, with secondary or background characters falling by the wayside. In this series, I hope to turn an analytical eye towards the incredible variety that collectively creates the larger ‘galactic aesthetic’. To my knowledge, this sort of project has never been done before, and I suspect will likely prove very useful to those of you heading (once they reopen, post-pandemic) to Disney’s Galaxy’s Edge parks, which are becoming very accommodating of GFFA-style outfits (provided they don’t stray too close to those of main characters). By shining a spotlight on previously-overlooked designs, I hope OC cosplayers and potential ‘Batuu bounders’ will see that there are many more options for Star Wars style beyond copying Han, Luke, Leia, Lando, etc.
With that out of the way, for our first installment, we’re looking at BELTS. Let’s get started!

Rectangular plates:Ben Kenobi, Shaak Ti (22 BBY); Luke Skywalker, ‘Galen Erso’; Dannik Jerriko

Galaxy’s Edge merch: Yoda Illuminator

yodas-l400 Disney decided to market this item as Yoda’s illuminator, but it would be more accurately called ‘Luke’s flashlight’, and we can assume that Luke brought his to Dagobah as part of standard-issue Rebel survival gear. While maybe not recognizable to the casual fan, once you know the scene, the item springs to mind pretty easily.
yodalamp5627
It’s not surprising that Disney went to the trouble of producing this lamp, but for $30, is it worth buying? Continue reading “Galaxy’s Edge merch: Yoda Illuminator”

Galaxy’s Edge merch: Jedi & Sith Holocrons

SWGE Holocrons I don’t have a ton to say about the Jedi and Sith holocrons ($50) offered at Galaxy’s Edge, because such items were extremely very rare in the Galaxy, and not something your regular Jedi—let alone average citizen—would ever have access to:

“…the deepest secrets of the great Masters of the Force were stored in restricted holocrons; since the Lorian Nod affair, some seventy standard years before, access to these holocrons was denied to all but Jedi Masters.” (Matthew Stover, Revenge of the Sith, Chapter 10).

While some further research revealed that the Jedi Temple archives probably held more holocrons than I had originally understood, I still don’t think they would be the kind of thing that any random Jedi or citizen could pull out of their backpack. (Disney!Canon has made it pretty clear through their various properties–Galaxy’s Edge, the recent Jedi: Fallen Order game, probably Rebels (I haven’t seen it), likely Marvel comics as well–that in their Canon, holocrons are widespread. I’ll just have to agree to disagree. Continue reading “Galaxy’s Edge merch: Jedi & Sith Holocrons”

Galaxy’s Edge merch: Credit Chip

SWGE ImpCred Unlike the $100 Black Spire Gift Card, this item is simply a $60, heavy lump of metal with a Republic credit symbol (Resh with two strokes) and etched lines on the back side, with only passing resemblance to what has existed for 20+ years: Continue reading “Galaxy’s Edge merch: Credit Chip”

Galaxy’s Edge merch: Jedi Food Capsules

An online friend of mine, whose living history efforts I’ve helped mentor, lives in California and took a trip to the Galaxy’s Edge park recently, and was kind enough to ask if I would be interested in any of their merch.
While I am not really interested in post-Disney Star Wars, I have been using Youtube to vicariously check out the new park since its opening…because as someone (with a minimal budget) and an interest in GFFA full-immersion interactions with the public, I’m always curious to see how things get done with a Disney-sized budget behind them.
Since I was already going to discuss the one item S.K. picked up for me (much appreciated, brother!), I figured I could also springboard and offer a few comments on the other merchandise I’ve seen offered for sale at Galaxy’s Edge, as the various items might pertain to our efforts here.

Let’s start with the Jedi food capsules ($20, set of 6):
Jedi-capsules-SWGE If you’re interested in portraying an Old Republic/Prequel-era Jedi, the Jedi food capsules are a key item to decorate your utility belt; per in-universe lore, these would’ve contained survival rations for Jedi to use on their missions. But are these replicas worth purchasing? Continue reading “Galaxy’s Edge merch: Jedi Food Capsules”

Thoughts on Disney Galaxy’s Edge Cast Costumes

Last week, images were released which revealed the costumes to be worn by ‘cast members’ at the forthcoming ‘Star Wars land’ attractions at Disney parks. I don’t actively follow post-Disney developments, but what I’ve gathered via geek-internet-osmosis is that these cast members will essentially be playing the role of NPCs (non-player characters) who visitors can interact with and who will provide in-universe ‘atmosphere’ for the public, plus manning restaurants (food+beverage) and vending?
While I’m not concerned with ‘NewCanon’, I have spent the last three+ years breaking down the conventions of Galaxy Far Far Away fashion and subtly integrating them into my civilian wardrobe…so when I heard that these Disney park costumes would be ‘everyday’ clothing, I had to see how they lined up with my observations.
Continue reading “Thoughts on Disney Galaxy’s Edge Cast Costumes”