Review: Topps Star Wars Power Plates

I heard about these nifty little collectibles and happened to be at Target today, so I thought I would check them out.  The Power Plates are on sale individually wrapped for $1.99 each.

In traditional baseball card fashion, they are a blind package, you cannot see what power plate is inside.  This adds some excitement to the purchase but could likely be rather frustrating to collectors trying to amass the entire line.

What is in the package?  Each Power Plate is a metal novelty vanity licence plate.  Each plate features a character, a background image from the movies and a customized phrase.

The plate has holes in it as an actual license plate does for the screws to be inserted.  The only downside is that the customized phrase for each character isn't embossed.  The only embossed part of the license plate is the Star Wars title on the bottom and the border around the plate.  The fact the text of the vanity plate isn't embossed frustrated me as I was hoping to feel my way into some interesting finds.

The back of the plate has a small but sturdy magnet on it.  The edge of the plate folds over towards the back allowing you to use the magnet to hold papers, lists, notes to your fridge as you would with other magnets.

The plates are a nifty little item and really, they are very inexpensive refrigerator magnets, what are the odds I would get a Nien Nunb collectors item?

All in all, while not extraordinary items, they are well worth the asking price of $1.99 and I am sure I will get a few more to adorn my fridge.

For more info on Topps' Star Wars Power Plates and their other Star Wars licensed products visit Topps.com

My Collection Update: Transformers Exodus by Alex Irvine.

One of the coolest features of following authors and publishers through the use of social media is stumbling upon the occassional contest/giveaway.  I had the good fortune recently of seeing author Alex Irvine, who I began following after learning that he would be penning a Star Wars novel about Nomi Sunrider.  The Nomi Sunrider book, which can't have the main characters name for legal reason is going to be a hardcover, scheduled for release tentatively in September of 2012.

Recently Mr. Irvine held a giveaway in which he gave a couple lucky fans autographed copies of his Transformers novel, Transformers Exodus.  Published in 2010 by Del Rey/Ballantine Books.

Publisher's Summary:

For twenty-five years the colossal battle between Megatron and Optimus Prime has captivated Transformers fans around the world. Yet the full story of the conflict between the two most famous Transformers—everything that happened before Optimus and Megatron arrived on planet Earth—has always been a mystery . . . until now. Here, for the first time told in its entirety, is the thrilling saga of Optimus and Megatron before they were enemies, before they even knew each other.

“Freedom is every Cybertronian’s right!” After Megatron utters these immortal words, the caste-bound planet of Cybertron is rocked to its foundations. Megatron, an undefeated gladiator thug, gives voice to the unspoken longings of the oppressed masses—and opens the mind of an insignificant data clerk to possibilities previously unthinkable.
Long before becoming the honorable Optimus Prime, Orion Pax is a mere office underling, an unlikely candidate to answer an outlaw’s call to revolution. But Orion is determined to meet this defiant enemy of all that Cybertron stands for, no matter what he has to do, or how many laws he has to break.

What happens between Orion Pax and Megatron forever changes the destiny of all Transformers. This gripping, action-packed novel reveals all the loyalties and treacheries, trust and betrayals, deadly violence and shining ideals, as well as the pivotal roles played by other characters, including Starscream, Sentinel Prime, Omega Supreme, and one of the thirteen original Primes, the last link to Cybertron’s glorious Golden Age.

Discover how meek disciple Orion Pax becomes the fearless leader Optimus Prime; follow the tantalizing clues about the lost Matrix of Leadership and the lore surrounding it; find out why the two allies fighting a corrupt regime suddenly turn on each other, and what triggers their epic war. Transformers: Exodus provides everything fans ever wanted to know about one of the fiercest rivalries of all time.

Look for an Off Topic Review of Transformers: Exodus in the coming weeks on LightsaberRattling.com.

You can follow author Alex Irvine on Twitter at:  @alexirvine and on his website . 

You can purchase Transformers: Exodus on Amazon in Hardcover or Paperback.

My Collection Update: Knight Errant #0 Signed by John Jackson Miller

 Look what came in the mail today!  Star Wars Surprise!

Last week I had the good fortune of entering an email contest at Star Wars Books Facebook page, the Facebook page for Star Wars publisher Del Rey.  The contest was giving away signed copies of John Jackson Miller's new novel Knight Errant as well as promotional Issue #0 of the Knight Errant comic. 

Thanks to Erich Shoeneweiss who is the man behind the curtain at the Star Wars Books Facebook page as well as the Non-Fiction Editor for Star Wars at Del Rey for holding the contest, as well as all the good folks at Del Rey and Lucasfilm that do such a tremendous job of fan interaction and promotion. 

Welcome to my collection Kerra Holt! Muahahaha

A peek at my bookcase....

My nearly complete Star Wars Novel collection.