photo credit: Wesley Fryer

There is, perhaps, no Star Wars character quite as disturbing as General Grievous. Originally a reptilian Kaleesh from the planet Kalee, years of warfare and loss found him embittered and “grievous,” (i.e. the origin of his name.) After getting involved in politics, a plot to permanently employ Grievous in the Confederacy’s service found him surviving a near-fatal plane crash. General Grievous’ brain, eyes and vital organs were transplanted into a droid body, much to his dismay. He was then appointed the cyborg Supreme Commander of the Droid Army of the Confederacy of Independent Systems, a title he maintained throughout most of the Clone Wars. Under the guidance of Count Dooku, he learned the technique of lightsaber dueling, and began a collection of lightsabers accumulated from Jedi’s he had killed.

General Grievous is part living organism, part cyborg- but mainly cyborg. Wearing a skull mask and featuring two cyborg arms which can separate into four, this is one villainous character nobody in their right mind- not even Jedi Knights- wish to contend with! There are two versions of the LEGO General Grievous mini figure. The old figure is white in color and features a cape. The newer Grievous mini figure is tan, and doesn’t include a cape.

General Grievous can be found in three different LEGO Star Wars sets. He first made his appearance as a mini figure in LEGO Star Wars set 7255 General Grievous Chase. Released in 2005, this set also included the mini figure of Obi-wan Kenobi. In 2007 General Grievous made his second appearance, in LEGO Star Wars set 7656 General Grievous Starfighter. Both of these sets featured the old mini figure of Grievous, although the second set didn’t include a cape with the figure. In 2010 set 8095 General Grievous’ Starfighter was released as part of the Clone War line. This set includes the redesigned Grievous, along with mini figures of characters Nahdar Vebb and A4-D. All three sets come with four lightsabers as accessories, which Grievous can hold all at once. His two arms separate to become four, just like the character in the movie. If you or your child is fascinated with General Grievous, these LEGO Star War sets would be a good investment to look into. Imagine the fantastic adventures yet to be created!

photo credit: Homini:)

There are plenty of things that can be added to your antique collections. Some of them may be very odd and there are some people who discreetly collect these other kinds of antiquities for leisure. Here are some antique collectibles that some people may have been collecting for some time already.

Are you a fan of stamps? Then you must have been collecting old stamps from the old mails that your family has accumulated. Plenty of people have been stamp collectors since their childhood, and some of them have made their income from it by conducting exhibits. If you’re interested in more antique stamps, look for them on the Web. You may be looking only at your local antique stores while the Web has plenty of old stamps sold by other people.

If you like sodas, then the consumer rivalry between Pepsi and Coke should be familiar to you. Which side are you on? There are plenty of Pepsi and Coke memorabilia, each outsmarting the other’s ideas. One thing you may like in collecting these antiques is that you get to see how their memorabilia from the past decades are comparable to the present ones.

Most antique collectors express their liking for certain things by posting photographs of it, but some collectors like antique photographs themselves. Looking at black and white or sepia pictures of your ascendants and ancestors may overwhelm you because of their very vivid difference from colored pictures today. You can collect antique photographs and encase them in a classic picture frame that you may also find in antique and vintage stores.

Old media products are other antique items that plenty of people have. From time to time, it’s great to look at the past through big laser discs and Betamax tapes, and then watch their remakes in Blu-Ray discs. You will be amazed and may even have fun observing at how media has evolved after so little time.

Schafer and Vater are known for the giveaway bottles they made and sold to companies and organizations in the US and Great Britain. When times were hard, and people had to be lured to stores or events, the owners or organizers gave away character bottles filled with liquor. These free bottles usually depicted dancers or characters and were meant to bring a little laughter to a time when laughter was hard to come by.

Schafer and Vater also made a poor man’s jasperware much like the expensive Wedgwood product. The finished clay body was smoother, and the white decorations Romantic instead of the Classical ones used by Wedgwood, but the pieces were more in the reach of regular people. Now German antique porcelain, it is highly collectible.

Schafer & Vater wares were imported into the US by Sears, Roebuck and Co., for distribution through their stores, catalogs or both. This started about 1910 and probably ended with the advent of World War I. Between the World Wars, German porcelain production boomed, and S&V (as it is known by its collectors) had a share in that productivity. Many pieces must still exist in the US. Look for their mark, a capital “R” inside a nine-point star with a crown above. Many of S&V’s production was not marked or only has a mold number incised on the bottom, however, so look for the jasperware, figural bottles and other pieces by their style.

Schafer and Vater closed in 1962, and the East German government destroyed the molds and company records in 1972, another representative act of the Twentieth Century and the Communist sytems employed.

Oak sideboard help to keep your collectibles. They protected your collectibles of being lost and stolen. Besides, they also help to keep unwanted stuffs like old newspaper and old magazines. The drawers and compartments of the sideboard also used to keep items like tools, hammers, clothes, napkins and many other items that happened to see everyday in your life.

Antique pine chest of drawers must be maintaining under maximum care. This is because of they are one of the valuable collectible for you. Who knows maybe one day, they might make you earn thousands and millions. As such, make sure you know some basic steps for taking care of pine chest of drawers.

Toddler backpack is designed in simple structure. However they are not easy to built too. Before the bag manufacturer produce the bag, they need to look at different factors to consider the suitability of the bag for the kids. The backpack should be light and easy to carry. This is because of wrong design of bag will stop the process of growing for kids.

Generally corner sofa beds offered with different materials and features. However at this point of time, leather corner sofa bed is the most popular option in the furniture market. They are believed as the hall unit that most durable in use.

Corner sofa bed can be place inside your bedroom too. However you need to make sure the sizes of your bedroom is sufficient enough to fit this large piece of furniture.

Right hand rings like right hand diamond rings and white gold right hand rings always become the favorite collectibles for woman. Woman felt they should own a pair of two of right hand ring as their body accessories. These right hand rings also must match well with their fashion style and preferences. As such, right hand rings like diamond right hand rings always become their favorite addition.