A Very STAR WARS Christmas

EDITOR'S NOTE: UNCLE GEORGE. SANTA CLAUS. THE SAME PERSON? DISCUSS.....

Fabulous Fabriché Figures
For those looking to spice up their holiday décor with some Star Wars flair, Kurt Adler has an all new series of Fabriché figurines inspired by some of our favorite characters from that galaxy far, far away.

Kurt Adler's trademarked Fabriché line, a term which is an amalgam of the words "fabric" and "mache" (as in papier-mache), has traditionally offered classic holiday figures such as Santas, angels, etc. This year, however, the line has expanded to include other properties, including Star Wars.



True to its namesake, the Fabriché figures have a body made of a combination of plastic and hardened paper. The signature Fabriché look, however, is characterized by realistically "wrinkled" fabric, which was actually tweaked a bit for line's new Yoda in Santa outfit figure.



Kurt Adler's Manager of Product Development and Licensing Cyndi Foley explains:

"The outside (clothing and accessories) is fabric usually stiffened (like vacuum-sealed food where it is all wrinkled and stiff), a look which has proven very popular with collectors. In Star Wars' case, the stiffened look didn't look too good on Yoda -- it aged him a lot. So, we decided on softer, less stiffened fabrics and accessories. Hence, the final look of the piece."

While the Yoda and R2-D2 figures were inspired by an early pair of whimsical Lucasfilm holiday cards painted by Ralph McQuarrie, C-3PO was a new design crafted in the same spirit as McQuarrie's originals.

"Initially, it was proposed that C-3PO could be a drummer boy," says Lucasfilm's Manager of Global Product Development Chris Spitale, "but we thought it was more in character for him to be tangled up in Christmas lights (kind of like he was tangled in wires in A New Hope) and holding a wreath."







The Fabriché Star Wars trio has proven very popular with collectors in recent months, with stores unable to keep them on the shelves. "This line has been the most successfully licensed Fabriché item we have ever had in our history, especially Yoda," EDITOR'S NOTE: CAUSE NOTHING SAYS CHRISTMAS LIKE A WHINY MUPPET. says Foley. "Most of our sales staff had placed reorders in October (unheard of) and we are completely sold out until 2006!"

According to Foley, when the figures do appear again next year, they will be accompanied by a new fourth figure in the series: Darth Vader building a Death Star out of snow. EDITOR'S NOTE: GIGGLE. THE DARKSIDE DOES HAVE A SENSE OF HUMOR!

Kurt Adler has also produced the towering 18" Darth Vader nutcracker, which comes from the popular hand-crafted Steinbach line of Germany, an item which Foley also says has far exceeded expectations.

"We are accustomed to selling 100 pieces of any given Steinbach; we have sold nearly 2,000 pieces [of the Darth Vader nutcracker]! We originally had a 150-piece run because we thought it might not be as popular as other licenses, plus it was being presented very late in March or April (our selling season for such items started January 1). Boy, were we wrong!"

EDITOR'S NOTE: LEAVING NO DWEEB UN-CELEBRATED, UNCLE G ALSO HAS SOMETHING FOR THOSE OF US OF A CHANUKAH PERSUASION.....

Droidel, Droidel, Droidel
Make Your Own Droidel Dreidel EDITOR'S NOTE: GIGGLE. (HAVING THAT SILLY DREIDEL SONG STUCK IN MY HEAD FOR THE REST OF THE DAY IS A SMALL PRICE TO PAY FOR A DWEEB SPIN....SNICKER/SPIN?.....ON THE WORLD'S DULLEST HOLIDAY GAME).

It's holiday time which means Jewish fans from around the world are celebrating Chanukah which includes playing the traditional game of dreidel.

The Yiddish word dreidel is derived from the German word drehen meaning "turn." The Hebrew word for dreidel is s'vivon.

A dreidel is a four-sided top with a symbol on each side. Each symbol represents a word which put together say in Hebrew "Nes Gadol Hayah Sham" it translates as "A Great Miracle Happened There." (However, in Israel the letters on a dreidel are changed to stand for "A Great Miracle Happened Here.")

Some religious scholars believe that the dreidel game originated during the times of the Greek-Syrians, and is closely connected to the Chanukah holiday. Because the ruling Greek-Syrians outlawed Jews from learning the Torah, the Jews needed a way to hide their studies. The dreidel became a clever decoy. When Jewish students saw the Greek-Syrians coming, they would hide their books and play with dreidels instead, which tricked the Syrians into thinking they were just playing a harmless game. EDITOR'S NOTE: NOT THE SHARPEST STICKS, THOSE GREEK-SYRIANS, HUH?

In this Star Wars variation, the dreidel and the droid R2-D2 combine to make Droidel!

Print out the PDF and follow these instructions to construct your very own paper Droidel.

How To Make a Paper Droidel:
1. Print out the Droidel PDF and glue it to a thin piece of cardstock or cardboard like from a cereal box

http://www.starwars.com/kids/activity/crafts/f20051216/img/droidel.pdf

2. Once the glue is dry, have an adult carefully cut it out along the edges (including the flaps). Also cut out R2-D2's circle dome. EDITOR'S NOTE: TO FIND AN ADULT, LOOK AROUND YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD FOR A WELL-MANICURED LAWN. KNOCK ON THEIR DOOR. (I'M SURE THEY WON'T MIND). BUT BE CAREFUL NOT TO RUN WITH THE SCISSORS ON THE WAY OVER TO THEIR HOUSE.

3. Carefully cut out the circle. This is where the small pencil or a straw will go -- so you can spin the dreidel like a top.

4. Fold along the lines on the inside, then glue or tape where the flaps tell you. Do the top part last.

5. Fold the top extra R2-D2 circle top into a wide cone and place on top of the dreidel with glue or tape. Make sure the holes line up.

6. Then stick in a small pencil or a straw through the holes you cut at the top.

7. Now you're read to play!

Play the Dreidel Game

How to Play the Dreidel Game:
To begin the game, each player should have 15 objects to use as prize tokens. Players can use nickels, raisins, nuts, or chocolate coins in gold wrappers (Chanukah geltEDITOR'S NOTE: REPUBLIC CREDITS?) as tokens. Each person puts one object in the middle. Then each person takes a turn at spinning the dreidel. What letter is face up when it is finished spinning determines what each person must do.Nun stands for nicht or nothing. If the dreidel lands on nun, you do nothing. And the next person spins the dreidel.

Gimel stands for gantz or all. If the dreidel lands on gimel, take everything in the middle. Everyone adds another coin in the middle to continue the game.And the next person spins the dreidel.

Hey stands for halb or half. If the dreidel lands on hey, take half of what's in the middle.And the next person spins the dreidel.

Shin stands for shtel or put in. If the dreidel lands on shin, put two objects into the middle.And the next person spins the dreidel.

The game ends when one player has all the objects! EDITOR'S NOTE: ZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.

If you would like to learn more about the dreidel game and other Chanukah traditions, please visit your local or school library for more detailed books. Happy Holidays!