Top Five Star Wars Devices and Gadgets, Part II

BY: COMMANDER ENTERPRISE

In part two of our journey into the deepest realms in space via Star Wars themed devices, we look at five more cool Star Wars money makers that also double as Star Wars merch, but a little more useful than others.

But before that, let us tell you a little about heartless rejection and money driven merchandising and marketing: There were a number of original merch ideas for Star Wars that were rejected by the merchandising companies, most of them can be found by copying “rejected star wars merchandise” onto Google Images for some really cool and also really laughable, pathetic (?) and ridiculous ideas.

Among those posted were Jar Jar and Jabba talking head puppets, Jabba beanbags (nice), Death Star basketballs, Shaped CDs, X Wing pen sets (not bad actually), a Yoda backpack, a Star Destroyer road rage toy (with Stun, Fire, and Tractor Beam sounds, cool if applicable for real road rage), a Landspeeder floating pool drink holder, Vader Lava Lamp (yes), and even a life size replica of Jar Jar that can double as a shooting target or martial arts practice too (yes).

The following other devices listed below however, made it. They were so great (and a little more techie for an easy sell) that Star Wars merchandisers saw the vision behind them perfectly, and realised that they would sell better and make big $$$ bucks, that they ended up being approved and getting mass-produced for commercial consumption.

5. Headphones / Earphones
Sure some more earphones with Star Wars themes, but a few of these are cool and come with familiar motifs such as the Stormtrooper or Vader designs. But reviews are varied, there are some who said it broke within 2 months, others praised it for being better and more comfortable than Samsung earphones, complete with the heads of Vader or one of his Stormtroopers right front center of the cords, and even on the outside tip of the earbuds.

Headphones (around ear) have a little more flat design space though, and there are a number available. SMS Audio are one of the companies that have not only the theme but surface and structural designs incorporating elements from Chewbacca, Vader, R2 and a Tie Fighter perfectly without obvious branding. It’s a clever way of incorporating familiar design without being too obvious, for a change.

4. Death Star Bluetooth Speaker
“Guaranteed to blow up your ears and not your planet!” That seems to be the best tagline for this unique speaker globe made in the image of the planet-destroying star. But it’s definitely not a good gift for Princess Leia for well, you know, because of the planet-blown-up-by-The-Death-Star-thing that happened many years ago. But for everyone else enjoying music on something sinister and cool, this is a perfect must have or gift (brutal evil music, industrial noise, drone ambient sounds, and planet pulverising gigantic laser beams are not included).

3. R2Q5, R2D2 and Darth Vader 4-port USB Hub Stations
“No these are not the droids you’re looking for”. But those Jedi Mind Tricks don’t work here Obi Wan, because these two droids are wanted, and most especially the third one as a standalone epic item. We have two 4-port hub droids that beep and react, and we have one of the most powerful, evil Sith Lords, looking around, replete with the evil drone breathing sounds and waving lightsaber sound effects. Too bad it can’t wield his red lightsaber and destroy.

These USB hubs can service up to four USB ports for charging and data transfers. For the R2D2 and Vader hubs, make sure to choose the Japanese versions, as they have movement and more sounds than the normal and plain US version. The R2D2 Hub Japanese version carries a moving head and beep sounds. The Japanese Vader hub has 4 ports in front and center and can scarily move its head with glowing eyes that seem to mirror the Mustafar planet (or Hell)

2. THE FORCE™ TRAINER II: HOLOGRAM EXPERIENCE
That weird Force Trainer toy gets a much better upgrade on its series II. Instead of just boringly controlling a ball (actually, a “Jedi Training remote”) in a hollow metal tube, this time, the game gets even more interesting and movie-like and will get you more chicks than the first one.

The aspiring Jedi or Sith Lord Jr. controls holograms using a headset that uses “EEG brainwave sensors” to mentally move through these hologram challenges in ten intense levels (whoa dude). And why yes, Yoda appears to introduce the game, just like when he appears in hologram form from the Jedi HQ / Crib / Temple via intergalactic transmission.

Set up the app on a tablet, pop it in the hologram cube, and use The Force to achieve superior mental power while having loads of Star Wars fun.

1. The Millennium Falcon Computer
When one talks about dedication and detail in Star Wars, they mean it. This is a Millennium Falcon Computer, you read that right. It’s not really a massed produced thing, but more of a custom-built gaming computer for sale.

It is housed in the iconic, original 1979 Millennium Falcon toy, and created by Jeff Good of LowGuppyCustoms with the following specs: Intel Core i5 3570K CPU, ASRock z77 Extreme mini-ITX motherboard, PowerColor HD 7750 1GB GDDR5 low-profile video card, 8gb low-profile DDR1600 memory, 240gb Crucial m500 SSD (mSATA), 300w 80+ Bronze Power supply.

Good further mentioned that an upgrade would be done if the item is ordered, and will include: 750ti video card, Skylake CPU and a 480-500gb SSD. If it’s too pricy, you can get the Millennium Falcon Bluetooth Speaker. But if you have more than enough moolah, well you can get both, the other for making deals in outer space, and the other for shooting up Imperial Tie Fighters.