The Year in Review by Lord Spiceowan:

Jan/03: The New Year was rang in and usual Sandtrooper fashion we all were searching for more Clone Pilots. Jonathan Frakes was bringing us weekly installments of “Beyond Belief”, the unexplained and strange experiences in the Star Wars Universe. The Wal-Mart Cinema Death Star Scenes were atop every ones list. It also marked the debut of our Extensive Poll, where the Troops voice their opinions and get to see how everyone else feels too. We were also impressed by the unveiling of Boba Fett-Pit of Carkoon, Han Solo-Hoth Rescue and Chewbacca Mynock. It made for a promising year.

Feb/03: Finally the Imperial Shuttles were starting to ship. Jedi Master “C” was among the first to confirm this. After months of endless speculation and anticipation the 130 something dollar plus Shuttles were finally landing.  Too bad most of us were antsy and didn’t foresee the imminent clearance. The Saga line showed Padme Secret Ceremony, Coleman Trebor and Wat Tambor heading to stores in late 2003. This was enough to have any AOTC fan chomping at the bit.  Sandwatch had some “illegally smuggled goods” under the microscope, making Troops wonder if they could own a Clone army.

Mar/03: Steve Hart was checking out Tatooine Ghost and hoping it was worth reading. Remnant was another great hit in the NJO series. Darth Tyranus Geonosian Escape and the awesome Ephant Mon were featured in Sandwatch this month. Jedi Jaybird hosted a “For a Troop by a Troop” contest offering up a prize of the elusive Ephant Mon to a good Troop.  Another big highlight was non-collecting related but of huge significance. The United States invades Iraq for what we thought would be an endless conflict. Although to date there are still problems. The regime of Sadaam and his sons is now over. Sandtroopers.com and all of its Troops firmly stood behind our real Troops! Many readers wrote in their support of our guys. March proved to be a very big month for everyone around Trooper land.

Apr/03: The Clone Phone was unveiled for Troops to use as a chat medium when hanging about the site. Another great collecting site-Galactic Voyage voted Sandtroopers.com “Site of the month” for April 2003! Truly an honor to be chosen, there are many great ones out there to choose from. Droid Factory Padme, Flight R2-D2, Boba Fett (Pit of Carkoon) and Anakin (Secret Ceremony) were under the scope of the Sandwatch Concussion Grenade Cannon.  Aayla Hontas and “Magic” Lama Su were also brutally reviewed and some funny new graphics were the beginning of a great new talent for the Staff at Sandtroopers.  April also marked the one-year anniversary of the feature E-bay column “Force of the Bay”.

    May/03: We started off May by looking forward to the new NJO release Refugee and playing “Maceball” in Sandwatch.  Our friends at R2-Dtoys were kind enough to give away a Saga carded Ashla & Jempa for their birthday celebration. Way to go old chaps! Trooper Larry of Mentor, Ohio was the winner of our Imperial Shuttle Contest. Sandtroopers.com featured the FAO Exclusive (now worth $50.00!) for a mere $3 donation to the Sturge-Weber Foundation. Lord Spiceowan was happy with the results of his mercy mission. I would like to thank every one who helped push the contest and especially those of you who did donate. An old friend resurfaced with some amazing images of the new Star Tours line offered from Disney. Could it be we were going to get two new hands to assist us at Dewback Central? This was great news seeing as pretty much squat was coming in on the pegs.

Jun/03: Dan provided some great shots of his digital diorama wonderland. Proving that there are so many aspects to this hobby one can travel. Being creative and making something interesting are an amazing talent. It was great to get Dan in the fold on a full-time basis. His graphics to the daily news and Sandwatch provided a big lift for the front page. The heat was starting to turn on for the hot Silver Fett! Was there really a big hurry for this? You never know, another intriguing aspect of this great hobby.  The global war on scalpers was beginning and S.C.A.L.P. was born.

Jul/03: After a nasty forum crash, the time came to rebuild what proudly once stood. Independence Day was a little more special because American forces in Iraq killed the brothers Uday and Qusay later in the month. Our third birthday was off the hook with the Sandblast birthday bash in full swing. The Convention Exclusive Boba Fett was starting to filter in to collectors hands’ in Ohio, but we were one of IF NOT the first to offer this figure for free. Thanks to Federation Toys for the prize!  Eight prizes topped off the stash for the Bash with everything from a single figure to a Master Replicas Lightsaber.  With Wizard World Chicago on our back door, could it possibly get any better?

Aug/03: General Jason came up with the phrase S.C.A.L.P. and the Sandtroopers.com Auxiliary Long-range Patrol was born. Troopers that have been loyal vets were bestowed this honor. S.C.A.L.P. Troopers were sworn in and a movement was born. Did you collect the Star Tours series? Our Extensive poll was probing your minds with that question. Dan livened up the party with his digital action scenes, showing a small glimpse of what was to come. General J entertained us with the Sandblast timeline, intriguing us with questions from the history of Sandtroopers.com. Darth Crypt and Count Mattchew flew out to Chicago and met up with Lord Spiceowan for Wizard World. A wonderful three days highlighted by the giving away of our first ever Sandtroopers T-Shirts, and hanging out with Zack and Jesse Jensen (Kit Fisto & Saesee Tiin). It was a wonderful time and truly an honor to be a part of this organization. The Hasbro booth featured “all we got for X-mas”, and Gentle Giant stuck it to collectors with their “exclusive” Blue Clone Trooper bust. Lord Spiceowan tried his best to calm the storm they created with collectors. Our old friend Julian transmitted some awesome pictures along with a wonderful review of the new Saga A-Wing Fighter. Amanaman Dan showed off his diorama of Jabbas Palace. August 2003 was one of the most successful months in Sandtroopers history. So the question was answered, and yes it could get better!

Sept/03: The Wizard World Gallery went live. The “internet exclusive” A-Wing and Leia Speederbike were at Target.com. New figures were slowly beginning to filter back into the marketplace. Geonosian Cinema scenes and Pit of Carcoon Boba Fett really showed promise for the remainder of the year. Wave one of the Clone Wars line was about to warm the pegs as well. Julian provided us with “Everything you wanted to know about Star Tours figures but weren’t told”. With such in-depth photos and concise reporting, Julian indeed told you everything about them. Spiceowan invaded the Midwest Non-Sports Card Expo and met with Dermot Crowley (Gen. Crix Madine) and Eric Walker (Adventure of Ewoks Film). It was really nice to meet Dermot, who offered me a chair and entertained  with stories from his ROTJ experience. What a great way to spend 90 minutes.  I went to this show expecting nothing and walked away with memories to last a lifetime.

Oct/03: The month started off with some controversy, seems the new regime at the Fan Club was terminating memberships early. Sandtroopers own Tyler was the first to voice his opinion on this matter. A problem that really wasn’t resolved as of this day. General J and I began the process of reloading the defunct Images section here at Sandtroopers. It took some time but the ends justified the means. I also flew solo in Sandwatch with the “Jedi with no names”. Sandtrooper Dan showed some more shots of his G.I. Joe diorama; C.O.B.R.A. Chemical Factory and reports were coming in of the Red Arc Trooper, just in time for Halloween.

Nov/ 03: Amazon.com was offering old figures in new wrappers, for ridiculous amounts of money. Our old friend Jonathan Frakes dropped by with “Car Crash Mace Windu”, showing us more of the great shipping and handling we pay so much for. Sandtrooper Dan imagined the “Jedi Club” and made it so. Another creation by Dioramas by us was created to be sold via E-Bay. The Cartoon Network launched the Clone Wars Micro series featuring three-minute installments to just leave you wanting more. The Bail Organa Wave was starting to hit the shelves and the colored Clone Trooper 3-packs was popping up here and there. The double deuce Extensive Poll also came to a close again with enormous response. Spiceowan again saddled his Dewback and sought out Michael Sheard (Admiral Ozzle) at a Chicago land Dr. Who convention. Once again it was nice to chat with someone who helped contribute to perhaps the greatest trilogy in film.

Dec/03: The mad frenzy of the Holiday loomed but did Hasbro let up? They delivered in a wonderful fashion. The MacQuarrie Stormtrooper, Super Articulated Clone Trooper, and the Outlander Nightclub sets all packed a punch. The Unifying Force was worth reading and Steve said so! The Images/figures were coming faster than I could put them into our database. I received some help from Julian with the Holiday Sets.  Again giving it away first we offered the Silver Clone Trooper, and once again our chaps at R2-Dtoys sponsored our cause. The year was the best in site history. It was a wonderful pleasure to serve Sandtroopers.com and kick all forms of a$%. General Jason and the rest of the crew have been hard at work on several new features for the site in 2004. We apologize to our Sandwatch junkies; they’ll be full swing in 04’. Finding a few good Troops to help isn’t as easy as it sounds. We will continue to “fight the good fight” and put out all Star Wars related collecting information and let you decide how you’re going to obtain it. For those of you who are new, we invite you to join us this year and remember if your not getting anything from Sandtroopers.com then you're not using Sandtroopers.com.  We would also again like to thank all of you loyal veteran S.C.A.L.P. Troops. Without you we are nothing, and we’d like to thank each and every one of you for helping each other out with great trades and the solid information that is sent in. United We Find Troops. Thank You for joining the innovators not the replicators. With the ultimate success of 2003, I now ask “Can we top it in 04?” I look forward to staying on point and finding out, Kick A$% and take names Troops! Happy New Year!!!