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As recently as '97 we would've crawled through broken glass for a big brand's hookup with George Lucas's intergalactic franchise - remember when a reference to Boba Fett or 4-LOM could light the touch paper for impassioned nerdy conversations? There was a magic to the original trilogy that we don't think George could fully appreciate. That's why he chose to create some CGI-heavy prequels that create a disturbance in the Force, so that after three movies of computer-aided madness, things revert to bowl cuts and lo-fi crowd scenes. Plus Boba loses his entire mystique once you realise he's the wife beater from 'Once Were Warriors.' It's not a strong look, but at least it's not Indy flying through the air in a fridge. That's how we get through the pain of this murdered mythology. 'Caravan Of Courage' is still Kubrick's '2001' by comparison.

On close inspection, adidas's licensed interpretations of the shoes give the movie fanboys what they want in terms of detail - we would've liked to have seen the Micropacer (not pictured) made up like the old Rebel Transport toy or something along those lines, rather than the gaudier collector piece that came out instead, but the other two releases are more interesting.

The Darth Vader ZX 8000 is a fair representation of the big man's outfit, and the quilted leather toebox effect is an interesting addition to a shoe that, like the original movies is something we feel pretty passionate about. It definitely could've been a lot worse - as in the Lord of the Sith's post-burn "NOOOOOOOO!" They're an agreeable interpretation. The same work ethic's been applied to the Superskate too - the debossed 3-Stripes, ridged toe panel and replica of their mean-mugging helmet grill across the rear. They're an appropriate pick of shoes for the cinematic icons in question, and the Kenner-style blister pack homage packaging ups ups the appeal considerably. Look for the first models in the Crooked Store this coming Saturday.

There's more buzz around them than we thought there would be, and stocks are limited, so don't sleep...