'STAR WARS' MEMORIES: A BRITISH TOY LEGEND BEGINS...

Star Wars Weekly advert for the newly arrived figures of 1978.

With all the incredible advances in today's toys creation, the Original Trilogy run of action figures from the UK's Palitoy, from 1978 onwards, may seem pretty basic to modern fans eyes, but they'd ultimately give fuel to so much incredible and imaginative playtime for so many children, which in turn would deservedly inspire generations of affectionate tribute and nostalgia by the time they reached their adult years...

CLASSIC IMAGE: WOOKIEE SHARP-SHOOTER!

Peter Mayhew returns as the loveable Chewbacca the Wookiee, and soon proves his worth as a mean bowcaster/crossbow blaster weapon user, in this promotional image for RETURN OF THE JEDI.

Away from the main films, Chewbacca has made many appearances in our world of film and TV, from receiving a well-deserved MTV award from Carrie Fisher, being a recording music star, and testing hairdryers in this fun UK 2010 commercial from the COMET electrical chain stores: Currys PCWorld Official - Chewbacca Makeover - YouTube

STAR WARS AT 35: CANTINA AFTERMATH!

Killing two alien thugs in the blink of an eye with his lightsaber, Obi-Wan Kenobi proves himself as a person not to be trifled with, as he's surveyed with awe and mystery by the numerous astonished onlookers of the Mos Eisley Cantina, in this terrific, and now legendary, scene from STAR WARS.

Darth Vader makes an appearance at the Cantina for the 2012 Volkswagen commercial.

Though there was no sign of the Modal Nodes band, many of the STAR WARS creatures from the original Cantina sequence were lovingly resurrected- some specially recreated, some brought out of mothballs from the LUCASFILM ARCHIVES- for this years Volkswagen 2012 commercial, also starring a cameo from Darth Vader, which premiered with the US Superbowl TV spectacular a few months back. For completeism, here's the link to the commercial and the Making of...

Check out some image grabs from the commercial's filming here: VOLKSWAGEN SUPERBOWL AD 2012 -INSIDE THE CANTINA

And some behind the scenes:  The Making Of: The Dog Strikes Back Commercial - YouTube and The new ‘Star Wars’ themed Volkswagon Superbowl ad - The Movie Blog

CLASSIC IMAGE: MEETING THE EMPEROR AND MOTIVATING THE TROOPS!

The evil stately figures of Lord Darth Vader and Moff Jerjerrod, Commander of the Death Star II, flanked by legions of Imperial officers of all dignitaries and rank (225 extras in total on the Star Wars Stage at Elstree), await the emergence of their supreme leader-The Emperor-in this fun behind the scenes image taken during filming for RETURN OF THE JEDI at ELSTREE, on the legendary STAR WARS STAGE in 1982.

The earlier sequence in the film, where Vader first arrives at the battle station, so as to "motivate" Jerjerrod's men in completing the space station has now been "recreated" and given a new spin for the UK's CURRYS/PC WORLD chain of electrical stores in this fun new commercial, which exclusively aired in the UK this past weekend: Currys PC World 2011 Official Ad - Vader's Visit Director's Cut (Darth Vader Star Wars) - YouTube

And here's the behind the scenes featurette on YouTube: Currys PCWorld Official - Making Of Vader - YouTube

REMEMBERING THE UK "TUNES" VADER ADVERT...

Stephen Calcutt as Vader in the classic nineties advert for TUNES cough lozenges.

One of the best STAR WARS related commercials I've seen on British television was from the late nineties when the cough sweet manufacturer TUNES, deciding that Darth Vader needed some throat lozenges, brilliantly recreated the Motti strangling scenes from the original STAR WARS (right down to the sets and costumed extras), though with a more friendly advice giving Imperial officer going just a little bit too far...

Here's the advert: Star Wars Tunes Advert - YouTube

A terrific recreation of the DEATH STAR briefing room set.

British Classic STAR WARS TRILOGY stand-in/background actor Stephen Calcutt (doubling on set for Peter Mayhew and Dave Prowse) played Vader in the commercial and was very proud of his work in the costume. He recalled to AFICIONADO contributor Ian Trussler a few months back, during a UK convention, that he got paid more money for that one advert than he ever got working on all the original three films combined!

For more on this commercial and some of Vader's greatest film and non-film moments in multi-media, check out the picture/info packed feature here: DARTH VADER LIVES!!

Another Imperial bites the dust!

TOGETHER AGAIN FOR XMAS

Our favourite droids are back together for this terrific UK TV advert, just in time for the Xmas present buying season, that wonderfully captures the spirit of both the characters and STAR WARS.

Here's the link to the full version of the ad: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVjTBHEnj04