Outpost Productions caters to a wide audience of Geek Pop Culture in Malaysia recognising that geeky fans are often passionate on not just one but multiple fandoms. In our ideal world, Star Wars fans and Trekkies peacefully co-exist. Same with comic book geeks who love both Marvel and DC. We publish geeky content here and support local pop culture events with fan engagements and coverage. MTFBWY and Live Long & Prosper!
Geeks around the world are absolutely excited for Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi this December. Although the movie is still more than three months away, Star Wars fans celebrated early by "poisoning" themselves with new merchandise from this next chapter in the epic saga! At the stroke of midnight on 31st August Merdeka Day, Toys R’ Us in Mid Valley Megamall held a launch event called Force Friday II for these new toys and associated merchandise. Fans of all ages were attended the event to be the first in Malaysia to get their hands on Star Wars The Last Jedi products, some queueing up for 3 hours since 9pm.
Vulcan Jedi Smock reporting from Force Friday II.
Our resident Vulcan Mr. Smock attended this event to gain better cultural understanding on our human devotion to Star Wars and the franchise's place in popular geek pop culture. He also partook in the activity of costuming dressing up as a Jedi to experience human fandom first hand.
The countdown timer to midnight at the entrance of Toys R Us Mid Valley.
A massive Star Wars inspired prop was placed at the entrance of Toys R Us mounting a countdown timer to 12am when doors to the toy store will be opened for fans to get first dibs on the new merchandise. The couple of hours to midnight, fans were already gathering in significant numbers to form a queue along the perimeter of the concourse atrium.
During the lead-up to midnight, the event emcee offered giveaways to the waiting crowd via movie trivia.
Meanwhile Lucasfilm recognised fan communities were out in force costuming as characters from the franchise.
Members of the 501st Legion Malaysia Garrison.
Members of lightsaber performers from Force Arts Stunt Team (FAST) with Kylo Ren from the 501st Legion.
Members of Rebel Legion Malaysia Outpost.
A Jedi and Padme Amidala costumers.
Jedi Smock joins the costumers.
Vulcan opening diplomatic ties with the Jedi and Rebel Alliance.
Costumers comprised representatives from 501st Legion Malaysia Garrison, Rebel Legion Malaysia Outpost, Force Arts Stunt Team (FAST), FightsaberMY, and Star Wars Malaysia Fan Club.
Event attendees and mall shoppers were delighted for the opportunity to snap photos with costumers.
Once the countdown timer reached zero at the stroke of midnight, the shutters of Toys R Us were lifted. Fans prompted marched in to prompted grab their most sought after products.
The store area was quickly filled to capacity once doors were opened.
New Star Wars toys released by Hasbro includes action figures, vehicles & role-play merchandise.
Hasbro 3.75in series action figures from The Last Jedi.
LEGO Star Wars from The Last Jedi.
The opening shelf stock for new LEGO building sets were quickly depleted but refilled shortly after.
There are standees placed in toy stores this weekend offering the opportunity to unlock Augmented Reality (A.R.) Star Wars characters. In order to do so, you need to download the Star Wars app either from IOS store or Google Playstore first. Once you downloaded it, open the app. The go around the shop and find any posters that have signs that say ‘Find the Force’. Use the app to scan it and you will be able to unlock the characters and take pictures with them!
Find this standee to scan and activate Augmented Reality content.
Watch this video for more visual instructions:
"It's a Trap!" LOL!
Listen to what Mr. Smock has to say on Force Friday II plus view the scene at this midnight launch event:
=== / ===
Now the Outpost Movie Recon Team (M.R.T.) will present a closer look at some of the toy products launched during Force Friday available locally in Malaysia; prices shown below at time of publication at retailer sources available.
3.75in series action figures are priced at RM59.90 each.
3.75 inch series action figures & vehicles by Hasbro have always been fan favourites since being introduced from the very first Star Wars movie in 1977 made then by Kenner. As usual, each solo-packed figure comes with accessories and priced at RM59.90.
The Rathtar seems to share rather similar traits as that tentacled creature in the opening scenes of Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. Get a Rathtar for RM139.90 together with someone named Bala-Tik.
3.75in series vehicles released. Expect Kylo Ren's TIE Silencer to be a HOT buy!
Avid fans of the classic Star Wars Trilogy will want to get hold of that Imperial Probe Droid (top right) as seen in EpV The Empire Strikes Back. Priced at RM139.90 together with Darth Vader.
3.75in scale vehicles include action figure of their pilots. Kylo Ren's TIE Silencer (above bottom left) is priced at RM329.90 while Poe Dameon's Ski Speeder (above bottom right) is priced at RM269.90. Great for kids to play and adults to collect!
Listen to dialogue or sound effects from the movie with the Force Link wristband sold for RM169.90.
For readers too young to recall when Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace was released in 1999, Hasbro 3.75in action figures had with a special datachip accessory to use with a communicator device to play the dialogues from the movie; communicator sold separately of course! History repeats again this time, just repackaged like Episode VII The Force Awakens! The new 3.75 inch figures for The Last Jedi as well as vehicles are planted with a concealed microchip to be detected by a Force Link wristband to play special dialogue or sound effects. Wristbands sold seperately of course for RM169.90.
Black Series 6in action figures are all priced at RM139.90 each.
The new characters appear highly sought after by collectors except for classic Darth Vader and to a lesser extent Emo... er, Kylo Ren.
For more adult collectors in mind, Hasbro launched the Black Series 6in action figures a few years back. These come with more detail than their 3.75in counterparts plus better articulation. However only 3 figures released during Force Friday are actually from The Last Jedi, i.e. Rey, Luke Skywalker and Kylo Ren in new movie attire. Other figures comprise classic Darth Vader and Stormtrooper, plus fan favourites Grand Admiral Thrawn (hurrah!) and Hera from Star Wars Rebels. Expect these last 2 to be very hard to find! Each figure is priced at RM139.90.
Samples of Hasbro role-play toys.
Unsure whether your calling is to the Light or Dark? Then get this Bladebuilder to be either Jedi or Sith.
Every Star Wars fan has likely dreamed of becoming a Jedi or a Sith? Fortunately plenty of Role Play toys are being made by Hasbro! The blade building lightsaber (above centre) is where kids (and adults) can choose to be a Jedi or a Sith by inserting the proper hilt. The set is at RM 329.90. There is also Kylo Ren’s new lightsaber (third to the left) and it is priced at RM469.90. Two voice changing masks are available as well for Stormtroopers or Kylo Ren priced at RM199.90.
Feel like a Resistance pilot with this replica helmet by Hasbro.
For fans who instead aspire to be a starfighter pilot, they would really, REALLY want this pilot helmet. Modeled after the one used by Poe Dameron in the Resistance, this electronic 1:1 scale helmet comes with surround sound speakers inside to simulate flying a X-wing. This Black Series replica helmet is priced at RM419.90. Stay tuned for our unboxing and review video with a special guest. Meanwhile watch this below from Hasbro to find out a bit more about this product:
When Star Wars and LEGO teamed up in 1999, it was a perfect match for fans of both franchises. Many years on, Star Wars building sets contribute massive sales for LEGO and thereby offer a huge assortment of character figurines, vehicles and playsets from the saga. The Last Jedi pose-able character figures are priced between RM99.90 to RM199.90 and consist of Rey, Chewbacca, Elite TIE Fighter pilot and Elite Praetorian Guard.
Build a figure sets (top left, clockwise): Elite Praetorian Guard 75529 RM119.90, Chewbacca 75530 RM199.90, Rey 75528 RM119.90, and Elite TIE Fighter Pilot 75526 RM99.90.
For building sets of the First Order, another Star Destroyer is a must-have plus Kylo Ren's TIE Fighter. On the ground, the First Order muscles-up with the "gorilla"-looking Assault Walker supplemented by "crabby"-looking Heavy Scout Walkers.
First Order vehicles: Star Destroyer 75190 RM799.90 (left) and Kylo's TIE Fighter 75179 RM399.90
More First Order war machines: Assault Walker 75189 RM699.90 (left) and Heavy Scout Walker 75177 RM299.90.
For the fledgling Resistance forces, there are only 2 vehicle sets available: a Resistance Bomber which seems to be a labour-intensive set of space wings requiring 5 crew (lots of mini-figs) and a boxy looking Resistance Pod.
Now the good guys: Resistance Bomber 75188 RM549.90 (left) and Resistance Pod 75176, RM199.90.
But everyone's new fav droid since EpVII The Force Awakens receives a collector's series BB-8 building set (below) to be assembled from 1,100 pieces priced at RM499.90.
Finally, a new Star Wars Advent Calendar set (above) is already out priced at RM149.90. Find out more about each of these LEGO sets from the official LEGO website.
Assortments of Star Wars themed vehicles by Hot Wheels priced RM24,90 for solo cars and RM29.90 for starfighters.
Another toys licensee worth mentioning are Hot Wheels by Mattel of cars inspired by Star Wars characters, and toy model starfighters / spacecraft. There are also playsets form by larger scaled toys of the Millennium Falcon (above).
Geeky Star Wars bags ranged in price from RM229.90 (left) to RM139.90 (right).
Apparel such as tshirts and accessories like bags, tumblers, etc. were also launched.
Finally for techies or geek collectors of interactive gadgets, Sphero is releasing the evil BB-9 droid (above right) to no doubt make things difficult for BB-8. BB-9 should be priced the same at BB-8 at RM799. Their older droid "brother" R2-D2 also comes to life from Sphero, scaled accordingly to the smaller droids and priced at RM979.
These are some of the first wave of Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi toys being released at Toys R Us in Malaysia, as well as major retailers and hobby shops. Collectors here may also hope that some of the US retailer exclusive products (Target, Walmart, Amazon, etc.) will be distributed here at a later stage to selective retail channels. So prepare your wallets / credit cards and happy Star Wars shopping. May the Force be with Us!
STAR WARS EPISODE VIII THE LAST JEDI in cinemas 14 December 2017
Disclaimer: Star Wars and other trademarks are copyright to Lucasfilm and/or Disney, referenced here for fan service announcements without intent to infringe.
This year Star Wars celebrated its 40th
Anniversary since release of the first movie Episode IV A New Hope in
1977, launching a new era of science fiction adventure in the
cinemas. All across the world, fans celebrated 4 decades of the
franchise with the largest most prestigious convention taking place
at Star Wars Celebration Orlando (SWCO) in April.
UNITED IN THE FORCE!
Photo credit: John Gullidge.
Not to be left out, Malaysian fans got
together for our very own Star Wars Day 40th Anniversary Celebration
at Sunway Pyramid Shopping Centre from 15 to 21 May 2017. Whilst many
Star Wars Day events around the world take place around 4 May, i.e.
May the 4th, this celebration date is actually closer to the actual
anniversary day of the movie release on 25 May, 1977.
Fans gather at the Blue Concourse for a Lightsaber Flash Mob on Saturday.
Photo credit: John Gullidge.
This fan based event was indeed put
together by fans for fans by 4 local fanboys: Julian, Ng, Daniel and
James. As the Organising Committee, they worked tirelessly since last
year to unite 20 fan communities to celebrate their love for Star
Wars with the support of Disney / Lucasfilm, partner brands, and
Sunway Pyramid, one of our country's premiere malls. These are the
participating fans and communities:
Franchise brands like Hasbro, LEGO, Uniqlo, etc. at the Orange Concourse.
Photo credit: John Gullidge.
These are the franchise brands
represented at the Orange Concourse showcasing and retailing their
products throughout the week:
Hasbro
LEGO
Hot Wheels by Mattel
Funko Pop (by Sheldonet)
Royal Selangor
TGV
Uniqlo
Toys R Us
GL Design
UrbanTee
Hot Toys
Gamer's Hideout
Outpost Productions was glad to have
been invited as one of the fan communities to represent Geek Pop
Culture in Malaysia, of which Star Wars form a huge fan-base. We
setup stall over the weekend of 20-21 May in the Blue Concourse
showcasing Star Wars fandom at events from other parts of the world,
and doing our small bit for charity. We offered a Hasbro AT-ST Walker
toy and LEGO Micro-fighter on raffle with ticket sales donated to the
Spastic Children's Association of Selangor & Federal Territory (SCASFT), the adopted charity for this event.
Our contribution for charity.
Winners of our charity raffle prizes: Tan Kok Hwee (left) and Andrew Mark Fernandez.
Over 2 days we collected RM211 from the
raffle and doubled up this amount to donate RM422 to SCASFT.
Collectively RM7,700 of cash donation was collected from activities
of the various fan communities on the weekend. Together with other donation channels, over RM11,000 is being donated to SCASFT, excluding proceeds from the fan art
paintings now being auctioned (more below).
Children from SCASFT pose with fans.
Here's coverage by the Malaysian
Insight over the weekend:
One of the participation fan clubs,
Star Wars Modellers Malaysia (SWMM) also put together their video of
the event showcasing their fantastic scaled models on display as well
as other fan activities:
Whilst we are unable to give every
participating fan community their due (we were rather occupied
ourselves), we do wish to highlight the very awesome Star Wars
inspired Fashion Show by Venus Lim of Costurera Haberdashery on
Sunday.
The Blue Concourse packed for the Star Wars inspired Fashion Show on Sunday.
The 25 minute show showcased 14 outfits inspired from Star
Wars plus 7 canon costumes in 3 chapters as well as a lightsaber duel
performance by Force Arts Stunt Team (FAST). For those who missed out
being there in person, here is video of this very unique Fashion
Show:
Venus Lim of Costurera Haberdashery with her Star Wars inspired outfits modeled during Fashion Show.
Photo credit: John Gullidge.
Browse these Facebook photo albums
for great shots by John Gullidge. His 6 photo albums from the whole
week provide the most complete record of the whole event. Thank you
John!
John Gullidge Star Wars Day photo albums: Blue Concourse 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and Orange Concourse
Note: Most photos here credit to John Gullidge.
Our Outpost Commander Richard Chua facilitating discussion on the Fan Panels.
Photo credit: John Gullidge.
Outpost also put together a series of
Fan Panels for the event offering fans the chance to share their
personal stories and passion for Star Wars. Moderated by Outpost
Commander Richard Chua, the four panels featured different facets of
Star Wars fandom as follows:
Collectors Fan Panel (left to right): Richard (moderator), Oppie (SWMM), Sanjiv (SWMFC) Bryan (PVM), Chancellor Peter, Ng (LOM). Photo credit: John Gullidge.
Collectors Panel:
Oppie
of Star Wars Modellers Malaysia: A long time ago in a galaxy
far, far away, a small band of model makers formed a group. It was
designed for people with a passion for building and creating. A
group where you can grow and share ideas, while creating your own
style and form. A genuine passion for creativity and a meeting of
the same mindset. The group is designed to help modelers develop and
share their skills. A unique place to learn and perfect your craft.
For those of you who love model making, whether it be scratch build
or working from a kit, this group will provide great deal of input
from fellow modelers, who have experience and talent in the art.
Sanjiv
Indran of Star Wars Malaysia Fan Club (SWMFC): The club was
established in December 2011 by a group of fanboys who shared a
passion for that beloved galaxy far, far away. As a nonprofit
organization registered with the Registrar of Societies Malaysia,
SWMFC aims to promote the timeless space fantasy saga by uniting
fans across the region, as well as organizing Star Wars themed
events for its members and the general public. Community service is
a hallmark of our society, and we strive to bring the joy and
excitement of growing up with Star Wars to the next generation.
Bryan
of Pop Vinyl Malaysia: A group formed to bring collectors of
Funko products together, now 1.5 years old and reaching 600 members.
Peter
Lai, a Vintage Star Wars Collector. Better known as
“Chancellor Peter” in the International Vintage Star Wars
collecting forums and Facebook Vintage Star Wars collecting Groups,
he has been a lifelong collector since getting his first STAR WARS
figure in the Christmas of 1979 and collected well into the Internet
era. Evidently, a completist at heart as he has put on display the
full range of Vehicles, Playsets, Creatures, Display Stands and
Collectors Case released by KENNER PRODUCTS from 1977 to 1979,
complete in their original STAR WARS packaging.
Ng of LEGO User Group of Malaysia (LOM): The group was incepted in 2013 by brick enthusiasts and has
since become the fastest growing LEGO fan club in Malaysia with over
10,000 online members. LOM's vision is to share the love of LEGO to
Malaysians and unite Adult Fans of LEGO. At Star Wars Day, their
members have built scenes from Episodes I to VII including Rogue
One.
Chancellor Peter's collection of vintage Star Wars toys from 1977-79.
Moderator Richard Chua (far left) with the Saber Masters (left to right): Tintoy Chuo, Alan Cheong, Jason Ngiam, Saber Dad / Vincent Wong. Photo credit: John Gullidge.
Lightsaber Panel:
Tintoy Chuo of Lightsaber League Malaysia (LLM): LLM is a gathering of like-minded individuals who
admire the elegant weapon, from a more civilized age. Lightsaber
fans from all over Malaysia to come together to talk, share,
participate, and source stunt sabers.
Alan Cheong of AC Lightsabers (ACL) helps Star Wars fans purchase, modify, customise and upgrade
their lightsabers. Alan himself literally hand crafts lightsabers
right here in Malaysia and therefore can customise hilts to specific
requests for unique designs tailor made for a fan.
Jason Ngaim of Sabertrioprovides
high-grade aluminimum hilt illuminated stunt lightsabers for Star
Wars fans to duel like the movies. Sabertrio's sabers are made
locally as to be much more affordable to Malaysian fans.
Vincent Wong, more commonly known
as Saber Dad in the local lightsaber community, was one of the early
adopters of LED saber technology. Armed with almost a decade of
saber building knowledge, he does servicing, installations,
conversion, and custom builds.
Photo credit: John Gullidge.
Artists Panel (left to right): Richard Chua (moderator), Dave Liew, Bone Alfie, Jon Tham, Michael Chuah, Tintoy Chuo. Photo credit: John Gullidge.
Artists Panel:
Dave Liew the co-founder of
Fearless Ideas & Designs providing art direction while managing
an impressive work flow with a tight turnaround for a wide range of
clients. He is also a stalwart members of the 501st Legion and won
best fan-made Star Wars social poster for the 2011 Japanese Tsunami
Relief Effort.
Dave has littered his art piece with Easter eggs for fans.
Photo credit: John Gullidge.
Bone Alfieis a full-time graffiti
artist. With 16 years experience in the field, he does commission
art for clients such as Petronas. His personal style tends to be
distorted, deformed or monstrous versions of the subject matter.
Bone's distorted art style of a Stormtrooper.
Photo credit: John Gullidge.
Jon Thamis a graphic designer who
infuses manga art into his work, capable of drawing manga style
portraits and caricatures, designing anime characters, conducting
art classes and, on many occasions, raised funds for charity through
his art. He experiments in colour pencil art and produced quite a
number of fan art ranging from Star Wars, Batman and Transformers.
Jon's manga-influenced version of Force twins Luke & Leia.
Photo credit: John Gullidge.
Michael Chuah is a Malaysian comic
artist and well known designer. Over the years, he focuses on the
development of comic art presentation and its contents, as well as
its character and graphic designs. His comic, 《Gengkey》
had a line of vinyl toys and character design collection
artbook 《GENGKEY 100 : The
Character Guide》. His
other notable works are: 《Office
Survival》、《KO
Campus》、《Monster
Chaos》、《Three Hours To
Master》、《Horoscope
Fever》 and many more. He
contributed the Fan Key Art for this event collaterals. Thanks
Michael!
Michael's comic edition of Darth Vader.
Photo credit: John Gullidge.
Tintoy Chuo of Fusion Wayang
Kulit. Founded by Tintoy & Take Huat, Fusion Wayang Kulit teams
up with Mr.Pak Dain, the 13th accredited Tok Dalang ("Master
Puppeteer") of the Kelantan Traditional Malay Shadow Play, to
revive this dying traditional culture by merging it with fusion
element & enhancing it with various multimedia components.
Tintoy with his art piece of the galaxy's most famous smugglers, Han Solo & Chewbacca. Photo credit: John Gullidge.
Each artist contributed a special Fan Art Drawing for the event to be auctions for charity with proceeds donated to SCASFT. The five pieces are exclusive fan art pieces are now up for silent auction starting from RM1,000 per piece. If interested to bid for them, please call Ms. Kimberley of SCASFT at 6016-225 9886 to submit your bid.
Art pieces (left to right) by Bone Alfie, Michael Chuah and Dave Liew are being auctioned for charity.
Photo credit: John Gullidge.
Our 40th Anniversary Fan Panel (left to right): Richard (moderator), Rafie, Nightress, Julian, Allen.
Photo credit: John Gullidge.
The Force is 40 Fan Panel:
Rafie is a familar face in the
local fan community, being the current President of the Star Wars
Malaysia Fan Club (SWMFC). He revels in dabbling in both the Light
and Dark Side of the Force, but committing to neither.
Nightress love for Star Wars comes
from watching A New Hope but delved into costuming during the
Prequel era. She is a member of the Rebel Legion inspired to
recreate screen accurate costumes to support the fan community's
charitable causes.
Julian Kong is the Force behind
this Star Wars Day 40th Anniversary Celebration event. Please thank
him and his comrades in arms, Ng, James & Daniel, for bringing
us together.
Allen Yap is founder of
Cosplay-FUN Malaysia (CFM)with the mission to help Cosplay in
Malaysia gain more positive acceptance & exposure as well as
present cosplay as a healthy interest / craft for all ages, races
and creed. Allen is a Star Wars fan at heart and strives to be a
Jedi Master.
THE FORCE IS 40!
Photo credit: John Gullidge.
Thank you again to everyone contributing their time for the passion of Star Wars.
Disclaimer: Star Wars and other trademarks are copyright to Lucasfilm and/or Disney, referenced here for fan service announcements without intent to infringe.
