Hello, friends of the universe. I’m J Mac and I am going to be reporting on T-Bone’s site as we all ride this new wave of Star Wars activity.<\/p>\n
First, thanks to T-bone for letting me be a part of his site. Our history goes back all the way to Episode II<\/em> – over 10 years ago! I am thankful to be a part of things and the fact this site has been around for so long is a testament to all his hard work and passion over the years. So a very big thank you to T-Bone!<\/p>\n As an introduction, I thought I would write about Star Wars fandom and how it drives us in this galaxy far, far away.<\/p>\n As for me, I have been around long enough to have seen every Star Wars<\/em> movie during its original release. Back in the 1970’s, when the only way to see a movie after it had left the theater was via reissue, I saw Star Wars<\/em> in the summers of 1977, 1978, and 1979 just to get that crazy rush like millions of others. As a boy, this made a major impact with who I was to become as a person. It introduced me to a love of movies, helped me to dream big, and even now makes me yearn to be that farm boy that blew up the Death Star. I still call my car “Red Five.”<\/p>\n As I grew older and the other films were released, I had all the toys, posters, t-shirts, trading cards, comics, and anything else that happened to have a Star Wars<\/em> logo on it. That was the kid version of me. Once the Original Trilogy was complete, things calmed down but soon enough, more started to happen. Kenner released new figures, Shadows of the Empire<\/em> came out, the Special Editions were released, and then the Prequels were announced.<\/p>\n However, the rules had changed. I was an adult, the Internet was spreading information, and I was only limited by what I wanted to do in my head.<\/p>\n Episode I <\/em>was surrounded by a hype machine that made the film impossible live up to, but I was thankful just to be able to travel back to that universe. I found out about a special preview of the trailer in Boston before\u00a0 The Waterboy<\/em> and I secured tickets to the midnight show that May. I saw Episode I<\/em>\u00a0 more times then I can remember. I was not as disenchanted as others were and I’m still one of the proud few that really love The Prequels.<\/p>\n Over the next six years I was consumed with spoilers, wrote a few articles for an awesome site, and have many great memories. I got to see Episode II<\/em> and Episode III<\/em> early, went to Star Wars weekends, enjoyed each midnight showing with the best of fans, and collected some cool things along the way.<\/p>\n I’ve left out so much about my personal fandom, but I’ll just add that I built a home theater room with a 106 inch projector screen to celebrate the Blu-ray release. Everyone has their own level of fandom. Each one has persona feelings and sentimental attachments different from the next. I think that’s the energy that drives Star Wars <\/em>today. It surrounds us, it penetrates us, and it binds our galaxy together.<\/p>\n Now we look forward to Episode VII<\/em> in 2015 and other spin-off films released each year after, plus whatever else Disney comes up with. For me, there are definitely some bittersweet feelings. Episode VII<\/em> will be the first Star Wars<\/em> movie I did not see in the theater with my dad, but my daughter will be old enough to go for the first time and that’s good news.<\/p>\n One thing is for sure. Whether your fandom means buying everything Star Wars<\/em> or you’re just a fan that likes to watch the movies when possible, I’ll be right here with you and we’ll all enjoy the next run together.<\/p>\n As a reporter on this site, I hope to bring you some great news and announcements, give you some unique insight, and be a part of the excitement as we get closer to 2015 and beyond.<\/p>\n Please leave me some comments below and thanks for reading.<\/p>\n — J Mac<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Hello, friends of the universe. I’m J Mac and I am going to be reporting on T-Bone’s site as we all ride this new wave of Star Wars activity. First, thanks to T-bone for letting me be a part of his site. 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