Coming this weekend to both Disney Resorts is the long awaited release of Disney Vinylmation Park Starz Series 2.  We didn’t talk much about Series 1 but there’s a certain character in this series you’ll be sure to want to get your hands on: Rex or RX-24!

The Disney Parks Blog has more details on the release of this collectible line-up.  It reveals that “Rex from the original Star Tours attraction was designed for Park Starz 1,” said Casey Jones “I’m glad he finally made it — better late than never!”

The rest of the series includes Orange Bird, It’s A Small World Hippo & Holland Girl, Carnotaurus (Dinosaur), Pirates of the Caribbean Redhead, Maelstrom Troll, Tower of Terror Bellhop, Jungle Cruise Baby Elephant, Tapestry of Nations Puppet, Mark Twain, and Haunted Mansion Gus. There’s a secret chase figure to find and that is Wally Boag from the original Golden Horseshoe Revue.

Happy Hunting!

Never let it be said that a search is hopeless. For several years, our own Brian Curran has been hoping to find an elusive piece of original Star Tours audio… the ‘breakdown spiel’ by Captain REX. We’d known about the existence of this typical Disney every-contingency-covered recording for a long time, as it is mentioned in various sources (like the employee operations manual) and had been corroborated by Park employees, but we were never sure exactly what the line said. We all wanted to hear it, but Brian in particular has been scouring the internet and diligently asking every Disney person he contacts if they could get us a recording. Read the rest of this entry »

Walt Disney’s original Magic Kingdom has turned 57 years old today and what has inspired and delighted back in 1955 has continued to do so in 2012, just as Walt had envisioned.

Instead of doing a retrospective piece, I thought it would be fun to share just a few photographs I took in 2012 because I think the park is as beautiful as ever.

While Disneyland itself didn’t get a big attraction for its 57th, it is getting a little R&R as the massive crowds are now giving its younger sister some attention.  Let’s all wish Disneyland a Happy Birthday and we’ll see ya real soon.

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When the D23 Presents Treasures of the Walt Disney Archives opens its doors to guests on July 6 at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Museum, there will be a treasure trove of Disney artifacts, props, artwork, photographs, costumes… an office… and then some!  We have a lot more from the museum to share with you in the next few days from Walt’s early days all the way to the very modern Marvel, but we wanted to give our faithful readers a little something that they’d appreicate: RX-24 or Captain REX in his original form!  Ain’t it cute? It’s like flying to Endor for the first time all over again.

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Our own Alex Newborn dreamed of owning an action-figure-scaled StarSpeeder toy for over two decades, and in this video glimpse into his Star Tours collection, he takes the viewer on a journey recounting the chronology of a quest that occupied literally half his life.

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As the original Star Tours celebrates it’s 25th anniversary, independent filmmaker Gregory Noacco has recreated Captain REX’ first flight for all to enjoy. Once again board the Starspeeder 3000′s flight to the moon of Endor “where you can spend the day with the lovable ewoks in their charming tribal villages.”

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To commemorate Star Tours 25th anniversary Disneyland is releasing a limited edition pin. The pin is scheduled to be released 1/05/12 is a limited edition of 1000 and will retail for $12.95.

Image © Disney/Lucasfilm

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Since 1987, fans of Disney’s popular STAR TOURS attraction have clamored for a full sized STARSPEEDER for their Hasbro figure’s travel needs.  Unfortunately for them, Hasbro never felt the desire or need to do such an exclusive but with this year’s revamped attraction, STAR TOURS: THE ADVENTURES CONTINUE, Disney has pulled out all the stops and delivered the Starspeeder 1000 VEHICLE PLAYSET available at Disneyland’s StarTrader and Disney’s Hollywood Studios’ Tatooine Traders for $54.95.  (other figures sold separately)

Updated 12-13-11 more photos added

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In celebration of the 40th anniversary of Walt Disney World, D23 talks with the Hollywood stars of the resort’s most beloved attractions. Of course they interviewed Paul Reubens, our own Captain REX. Read the entire interview here.

If you’re like me, up until Star Tours: The Adventures Continue, you believed that the RX pilot droid was a brand-new model shortly after the end of Return of the Jedi.

But now we know that RX’s were actually in existence prior to A New Hope, which led me to reconsider an obscure passage from L. Neil Smith’s 1983 novel Lando Calrissian and the Mindharp of Sharu. And the traits of the 1986 Rex pilot dovetail pretty nicely with the descriptions from the older novel.

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