What Do the Numbers on the Force Awakens Topps Cards Mean?

Yesterday, J.J. Abrams and Co. revealed the names of the major characters seen in the Star Wars: The Force Awakes teaser trailer in a cool way: through a series of mock Topps trading cards modeled on those from '77. 

In the big reveal, Abrams mentioned that there was a significance to the numbers on the cards. I did a little digging and I'm wondering if the numbers on the Force Awakens cards correlate to the original cards from 1977 in some way. While I'm sure the answer is probably a little more cryptic and clever, what if the answer is simple and there's a line to be drawn between the numbers?

It should be mentioned that all of my comments are purely speculation and not based in any knowledge, just me trying to draw the lines between 2014 and 1977. (And a special thanks to The Star Wars Trilogy for the quick reference on the Topps line).

Here are my findings:

2014: #11 - B.B. on the Move

1977: #11 - Artoo is imprisoned by the Jawas

This was the first thing that led me to believe there was a relationship between the old and the new numbers. It certainly can't be a coincidence that the BB-8 droid card has the same number as a card that featured R2 "on the move" from a certain point of view as well?

2014: #53 - Poe Dameron in His X-Wing

1977: #53 - Battle in outer space!

Poe in his X-Wing and the 1977 card showing the dramatic Battle of Yavin in an X-Wing can mean only one thing: we can expect some amazing dogfights most likely with Oscar Issac's "Poe" as a key component. 

2014: #67 - Kylo Ren Ignites His Lightsaber

1977: #67 - See-Threepio and Luke

Okay here's where the theory might be a stretch... 3PO and Luke in a shot compared to the new "big bad guy" is a tough one. Is Kylo Ren Luke? A droid Jedi? Not sure theory holds up for this one. Dagnabbit.

2014: #74 - Rey on her Speeder

1977: #74 - Luke Skywalker on Tatooine

Check out Daisy Ridley and a speeder... and Mark Hamill and a speeder. Are all the rumors about "Rey" being a Solo untrue and she's actually a Skywalker living on Tatooine?

2014: #76 - Finn on the Run

1977: #76 - Artoo-Detoo on the rebel starship!

In a sense, this is the moment when R2 is on the run with information that is vital. Could it be that Finn is on the run because he's stolen something that is essential to the Rebellion? 

2014: #81 - Stormtroopers Prepare for Battle

1977: #81 - Weapons of the Death Star

Here we see Stormtroopers in what appears to be a drop ship of some sort in the teaser trailer and then in the 1977 card, those loyal to the Empire manning a super-powered weapon. Is it possible that the scene from The Force Awakens trailer is from the climatic battle?

2014: #88 - X-Wings in Formation

1977: #88 - Stormtroopers guard Solo's ship

Not much here either. But while we're in speculation mode, what if we draw the line between the caption on the 1977 card and the action that we're seeing in 2014 and imagine that the X-Wings are guarding (or flanking) the Falcon in battle perhaps?

2014: #96 - The Millennium Falcon

1977: #96 - The droids on Tatooine

Argh. #97 of the Topps series is the first time we're introduced to the Millennium Falcon at the Mos Eisley Cantina. I don't suppose it was an error that the first time we're seeing the new Falcon was supposed to correlate to the first time it was mentioned on film (and they accidentally put a number one below)? Too much attention to detail for that to have happened. Do you think the droids are inside the Falcon and this battle is taking place about Tatooine, perhaps? #96 in the Empire Strikes Back set is a card relating to Solo being frozen in Carbonite - are we drawing lines to Han being in trouble?

Well, there are my findings. What do you think the numbers on the cards mean and do you think these lines were supposed to be drawn? Are you "seeing something in the cards" that I'm not? 

Sound off in the comments!

Posted on December 12, 2014 by Troy Benjamin and filed under Movies and tagged star wars vii star wars the force awakens topps cards finn rey poe dameron bb-8 kylo ren star wars casting star wars vii news speculation most popular.

Welcome to the Hype?

WE GOT A DOCTOR STRANGE!!! YEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH BOOOOY!

I don't know what's going on lately, but man... every day seems to be an explosion of hype in popular culture.

Let me see if I can recap what happened just this past Thursday (in no particular order of importance):

• The title of the new James Bond film (the 24th in the series) was revealed to be Spectre and the cast was announced to much fanfare.

• Benedict Cumberbatch was confirmed to play Doctor Strange in the next Marvel film of same title.

• Ryan Reynolds was confirmed to play Deadpool in the next Marvel film of same title (but for the Fox branch of the universe).

• Krysten Ritter and Mike Colter are (unconfirmed) to be playing Jessica Jones and Luke Cage for the Marvel Netflix series of same names.

• The writer of the upcoming Pan was announced as the writer of the new Wonder Woman film.

• A new trailer for Terminator: Genisys (I think I spelled it right without looking for the first time just then) came out, and it's not entirely terrible.

• The Magnificent Seven is apparently being remade, and it's apparently starring Denzel Washington and Chris Pratt.

Whew... I think that's it? Maybe? But it's a little nuts that all of this happened in one day. And all of that was hot on the heels of the day previous seeing casting announcements for Suicide Squad (Jared Leto playing The Joker in the new DC Cinematic Universe among others), and of course the new Star Wars: The Force Awakens trailer having blown up the internet this past weekend. And before that, a Jurassic World trailer. And before that...

How is anyone supposed to keep up with it all? And if it's Christmas every single day, are we going to get sensitized against all the gifts and the massive bombshell announcements? Don't get me wrong, I'm eating most of this up like an eight year old kid sitting at the foot of the Christmas tree every time that it's revealed, but I'm starting to worry that it's getting to be overwhelming for people. Go take a spin through any movie blog website like /film or Collider and every day has been major casting announcements, huge trailers, poster reveals, all sorts of things vying for your attention.

It used to be religion in Hollywood, and one of the first things you learn as an intern after how to page-check scripts, that you need to read the trades every day and scan them for each and every detail. But now all of the above information was widespread on blogs and social media instantly accessible. In fact, you'll notice that none of the links in the above are to the traditional Variety or Hollywood Reporter publications. These casting announcements used to be on the front page of trades traditionally and now they're all over your news feeds on a daily basis.

The big wave-making announcements are great, but when they increase in frequency it ends up being a lot like walking outside the San Diego Comic-Con in its present state. Crowds and crowds of people yelling loudly for your attention and your senses are so inundated that you can't process one of them let alone all of them. And I'm worried that the end result will be people tuning out. 

The curious part of this embarrassment of riches is that it seems like a good deal of it is being met with negativity, nitpicking, and in some cases: some baffling backwards thinking. Chris Pratt rides a motorcycle among velociraptors? Nerd rage! A lightsaber that looks like a broadsword? Nerd rage! The more that's being presented, the more opportunities for such fussy complaining seem to arise. And that's not even bringing up the absurd "controversy" around John Boyega appearing in the Star Wars: The Force Awakens teaser as a Stormtrooper. If there aren't nits to pick, let's turn the clock back to the 1960s for some ridiculous comments apparently. LSU professor Isaiah Lavender told The Huffington Post, "Evidently, there are still pockets of people out there in America and across the world that don't believe black people have a future."

Maybe this is all just a primer for the outrageously jam-packed 2015 that's on the horizon. Every studio is now trying to launch brands and franchises. And it's a whole lot of fun to try and keep up with anything and everything, even if it's all a bit intimidating. But you can't help but have that nagging feeling in the back of your mind that the bubble might be about to burst. Is all of the hype taking the fun out of the spontaneity of everything?

Are we losing the surprise and awe that used to be evoked when things were fresh and new because we've been so bombarded with trailers and photos and posters and featurettes and so many other things that have been so highly scrutinized (and, to be completely honest, I'm guilty of it too having frame-by-frame compared the Jurassic Park teaser trailer to the Jurassic World teaser trailer)?

All of that said, this deluge of nerdery in the form of comic books, movies, TV shows, video games, and all sorts of other media sure is a lot of fun and I'm trying to enjoy it while it lasts. But sooner or later the 5 Hour Energy that's powering it all is going to start to fade, right?

Posted on December 5, 2014 by Troy Benjamin and filed under Movies and tagged star wars the force awakens deadpool james bond star wars marvel ryan reynolds bond 24 doctor strange jurassic park terminator genisys hype machine star wars vii spectre terminator jurassic world benedict cumberbatch nerd rage chris pratt casting.

Bits & Bobs - 8th Edition

Bits & Bobs collects some of the cool things around the interwebs that I think are noteworthy and worth your time but don't necessarily fill up a full blog post or news item. On with the show...

THERE HAS BEEN AN AWAKENING, AND YOU PROBABLY FELT IT...

Unless you've been off the grid since Thanksgiving, you probably have already seen and know that a teaser trailer for Star Wars: The Force Awakens was released on Black Friday. The new sequel film takes place thirty years after the events of Return of the Jedi and features all-new characters and some familiar faces including Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, and Princess Leia. The teaser trailer clocks in at a mere 88 seconds but is the first official glimpse of the newcomers John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, and Oscar Issac and is intended as something of an amuse-bouche before bigger trailers are released presumably next spring. Of course, fanboys are nitpicking over tiny details including a brand new lightsaber seen sported by what many assume is the new villain of the film but how can you not like everything you see in this trailer? A panicked hero in Stormtooper armor on the run, a tough female jumping onto a souped-up speeder and racing to (or away from) danger, X-Wings, the Millennium Falcon... I mean, c'mon. If you haven't seen it, check it out here in glorious high definition courtesy of StarWars.com.

HER NAME IS AGENT

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is about to head off into its mid-season hiatus with a blow-out Winter Finale on December 9th, but the good news is that in between episodes Agent Carter is going to help you pass the time starting with a two-hour film airing on ABC January 6, 2015. The latest TV spots and promos really make the film look true to the first Captain America: The First Avenger film (and in-turn, gets me stoked for the show because it also feels a lot like The Rocketeer). The seven episodes will presumably air weekly leading up to Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s return later in 2015, and knowing how everything in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is connected, will most likely have ramifications for all of the Marvel shows and films to come.

Posted on December 3, 2014 by Troy Benjamin and filed under Bits & Bobs and tagged star wars vii the force awakens star wars the force awakens luke skywalker princess leia han solo trailers john boyega daisy ridley oscar issac x-wing millennium falcon stormtrooper agent carter agents of s.h.i.e.l.d. marvel's agents of s.h.i.e.l.d. abc captain america the rocketeer hayley atwell.

Bits & Bobs - 7th Edition

Bits & Bobs collects some of the cool things around the interwebs that I think are noteworthy and worth your time but don't necessarily fill up a full blog post or news item. On with the show...

A LONG TIME AGO, IN A MOVIE THEATER FAR, FAR AWAY...

StarWars.com announced on Monday morning that a new 88-second trailer for the new Star Wars: The Force Awakens will be released in 30 select theaters on the Friday following Thanksgiving. The 88-second teaser trailer will be the first (official) look at the production but has a lot of fans in an uproar that it's such a limited and short-timed release. After weeks of hearing rumors that the teaser trailer would be revealed with something "much bigger than being attached to the new Hobbit film," the confusing marketing and messaging has a lot of Star Wars fans scratching their heads wondering if they'll be able to see the trailer online officially and sadly the overwhelming consensus is that many will most likely be viewing the teaser for the first time as some shaky hand-held iPhone video. Not exactly the ideal viewing conditions for the first live-action Star Wars footage in almost ten years. We'll see what happens later in the week and if the marketing message becomes clearer. Always in motion, the future is (apparently).

HOLD ON, LET ME TAKE A SELFIE

While it wasn't a big surprise, when ABC canceled the much maligned but incredibly misunderstood show Selfie, I'll go ahead and admit it: I was a little bummed. On the surface level, the Karen Gillan and John Cho starring show appeared to be a vapid reflection of Kim Kardashian culture incarnate. I was apprehensive about watching it at first. But sharp writing and a comment on the socially networked culture was to be had and the show actually really grew on me. That and David Harewood's Seinfeldesque boss character really tickled me. The good news is that show runner Emily Kapnek has "unofficially" Tweeted that the remaining episodes of the show will eventually make it to Hulu, where hopefully it will find an audience that will give it a chance.

HE WEARS THE PAN...

Joe Wright, the man behind Atonement, The Soloist, and Hanna has been hard at work on a retelling of the Peter Pan legend simply titled, Pan. The trailer for the film was released amidst the fully of trailers this Thanksgiving week and it's an interesting take on the story. Shades of Spielberg's Hook in there, a little bit of Guillermo del Toro feeling storytelling, and a whole lot of Hugh Jackman in heavy make-up playing Blackbeard. Check out the trailer through YouTube here and let us know what you think in the comments. Have reboots gone too far? Is this a good approach to retelling a classic story? Let us know how you're feeling (even if the answer is "hungry for massive amounts of turkey tomorrow").

Posted on November 26, 2014 by Troy Benjamin and filed under Bits & Bobs and tagged star wars star wars vii star wars the force awakens j.j. abrams episode VII selfie john cho karen gillan social media pan joe wright hugh jackman.