Welcome to the Outlander Club!

To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the release of Star Wars: Attack of the Clones a few days ago, we finished up a recover-and-restore project on this Outlander Club bar set piece and moved it from the workshop into our display room. It is from the scene in Episode 2 where Obi-Wan Kenobi turns down the offer of death sticks from Elan Sleazebaggano, and defeats Zam Wesell’s ambush attempt.

This was a large set component that was rescued from the junk pile when the Outlander Club set was broken down after filming in Sydney for Episode 2. We cleaned it up, re-attached some components that had become detached, and build a new support base to keep it off the ground and to bring it up to the correct display height (everything above the metal foot bar is original, except for the internal lighting, which has also been replaced… and will probably get upgraded to something better in the near future).

We have got plans to fill the wall space behind the bar, including some other, related, screen-used Star Wars set pieces, but that’ll take a bit more work. Stay tuned for updates down the line!

The Outlander Club set is reported to have taken a couple of months to build – it was then used for filming for less than a full day, then demolished (mostly) in order for another set to be built in the studio the next day.

This is a rare example of a fully built set on the production, which often relied on partial sets or just expanses of bluescreen for its locations. Every direction one looked within the nightclub set on Stage 3 at Fox Studios Sydney would provide otherworldly scenery. When filled with extras, smoke, and noise, it completed the illusion. But the nightclub only stood half a day, on July 17, 2000. After the club sequence was shot, the crew immediately started tearing it down to build another set needed in production.

Star Wars: Fascinating Facts – Pablo Hidalgo

It was quite the adventure to secure this unique piece for our collection – one that included a two-day road trip across the country. The set piece was located in another city, with a deadline to secure it (the owner was moving house). We hurriedly made a plan that included two important components – a hire van for the journey, and finding a place to stay overnight on the two-day drive there and back.

We picked up our hire van first thing on that Saturday morning, and hit the road out of town. A van isn’t the most comfortable vehicle for such a long road trip, but we knew it was going to be worth it. We took our cameras along for the journey, so we could look back at our adventure with fond memories.

Living in New Zealand, driving literally past Mount Doom (Mount Ngauruhoe), it felt like we were embarking on a epic quest – instead this time we were setting off to rescue an item, not destroy it! We made it as far as the Tongariro National Park for our first leg of the journey, and stayed at Discovery Lodge – a place we have visited before several times on holiday.

Getting up before sunrise the next day, we set off south for our destination. We arrived a few hours later, and finally got our first in-person look at the bar set piece. It was just so exciting! It was big, real, and finally in our hands. Now we just had to get it home.

We had packed blankets, bed covers, sleeping bags, towels, cardboard, rope, and anything else we thought might be useful to help secure the set pieces for the journey home. We used every single thing we had brought to pack it all in securely. Then, we were off!

It was a very long drive home, making only quick stops for food and fuel, so it was late in the evening by the time we pulled into our driveway back home. But that long (uncomfortable) drive was worth it – the bar set was now in its new home, all safe and secure.

We then set about taking our time to carefully clean the components, do some minor repairs and stabilisation, and build a wheeled base for display. And now, finally, it is complete and on display! We celebrated with a toast of blue drinks, just like Obi-Wan Kenobi!

A top-down view of the Outlander Club set during filming of Attack Of The Clones –

The bar as seen behind Obi-Wan Kenobi in Attack Of The Clones –

A great reference shot under natural lighting, from the Star Wars Mythmaking: Behind the Scenes of Attack of the Clones book.

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I’ve been feeling a bit nostalgic lately, and recently did a big sort through of my childhood Lego – I even rebuilt one of my favourite sets. If there’s something I’ve learnt about Lego, is that playing with it makes you want to buy more of it. So, adding this new Lego Star Wars set to my collection should come as no surprise. Introducing Lego Star Wars set #75283 Armored Assault Tank.

This set represents officially dipping my toe back into collecting Star Wars Lego sets. I originally had a lot of the sets from the prequel era, but sold them all to focus on my action figure collection. Nowadays I tend to let my passions direct my collecting, rather than trying to stick to a specific format, so I’m enjoying collecting a wide range of Star Wars items – whatever sparks joy. So, that means that Lego is back on the shopping list! Will I go back and reacquire the sets I sold? Maybe, maybe not, but for now I’m happy to pick up a set or two that feature some of my favourite characters and vehicles – like this set with Ahsoka!

The Lego Star Wars Armored Assault Tank #75283 includes a AAT vehicle, two mini-figures (Ahsoka Tano and Clone Trooper), and two battle droid figures (total count = 286 Pieces).

• You can buy this LEGO set on Amazon (affiliate link): https://amzn.to/3ucgbgl

I had so much fun building this set! I first got into Lego Star Wars around the release of Attack Of The Clones in 2002, so many of my original sets featured clone troopers and battle droids – I even had the fabulous Republic Gunship! This set felt like the perfect way to get back into Lego Star Wars – prequel era, it includes a clone trooper mini-figure, two battle droids, and as an added bonus, a great Ahsoka Tano mini-figure too!

This set is inspired by season 7 of The Clone Wars, so it features Ahsoka Tano in her blue and silver outfit, with blue lightsabers. That was such an epic season, so I’m glad to see some great Lego sets for it. The instructions were easy to follow, and it didn’t take too long to build. I don’t have a specific spot to display Lego in our collection yet, so this will probably go alongside some of my other Ahsoka Tano collectibles for now.

I’m already eyeing up a few other neat Lego Star Wars sets, they are creating some amazing designs these days!

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Winning the Fan’s Choice poll in 2009, Bastila Shan was finally released as an action figure in 2011. As a huge fan of the video game Star Wars: Knights Of the Old Republic (where Bastila first appeared), I was very excited to add to her my collection. My figure is the original ‘Vintage Collection’ version released in 2011 (she was also re-released in the 2014 ‘Black Series’ collection), which includes her distinctive yellow double-bladed lightsaber accessory.

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I’ve already mentioned that I’m a fan of Republic Commandos… both the game and the armour design. This collectible is a fan made Delta Squad Leader Rc-1138 “Boss” patch that was distributed through the 501st Legion forums that happened to be based on a photo that I took of my 1:1 scale Republic Commando helmet.

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The first Star Wars video game I ever played was Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast. It was released in 2002, just as I was starting to collect Star Wars items, and bought it from my local game store out of curiosity. This is my original version of the game, which came with a collectible metal tin, poster and t-shirt (I no longer have the t-shirt). It was my  first real video game, and while it took a while to master gameplay skills required to finish, I loved playing as a jedi character with force powers. This game was the start of my love of Star Wars video games – the sequel game ‘Jedi Academy’ still ranks as one of my all-time favourite games, and I’ve been a SWTOR subscriber since it launched.

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In 2010, Gentle Giant released a collector’s edition set of four Republic Commando mini-busts, with an accompanying art print. The set was limited to only 200, and was available by a lottery system (Premier Guild members could place an order, but only 200 were randomly chosen to have their order fulfilled). We already owned the four mini-busts (having purchased them individually), but some time later, we were able to track down the print for sale on its own. Measuring 15” x 10.5”, the print features artwork by Greg Knight, and comes with a certificate of authenticity from Acme Archives – our print is #192/200.

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Big fan of the Republic Commando game and Republic Commandos in general here. This is my 3.75″ scale Boss (RC-1138) figure from the 2011 Toys’R’Us/SDCC exclusive boxed set, although I purchased him loose via eBay. There are three versions of the Boss action figure to date – first in a larger boxed set in 2006 (Delta Squad with 3 Geonosians), then this 2011 version (Delta Squad with 1 Geonosian), and finally a 2012 Clone Wars version with animated-style armour.

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In 2013, Gentle Giant released this Darth Malak statue as a ‘PBM Express’ exclusive, with limited stock available for Premier Guild members. As a huge fan of the video game Knights Of The Old Republic, I am always excited to add KOTOR related items to our collection. This Darth Malak statue is a ‘mini scale’ statue, standing 7″ tall. Darth Malak is sculpted in an action pose, with a removable cybernetic jaw. The statue is a limited edition item – ours is #69/900.

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