It doesn't matter if you saw the original Star Wars movies when they first hit theaters or caught them much later. Star Wars has been capturing the minds of folks for generations, thanks in big part to memorable characters like Princess Leia.
Tough, no nonsense Leia is iconic. And so are the outfits she's donned, providing cosplayers with ample fodder, whether that's the ubiquitous metal bikini or the far more sensible Hoth outfit.
The above gallery has a sample of some—not all—of the best (and most interesting!) Princess Leia cosplay there is. Have a look as you try to figure out who pulled off the best Leia.
Click the lower corner of each image to expand to full size.
I don't know how they got this cat to sit still long enough to get the costume on, let alone how many scratches and hisses they took as a result, but it doesn't matter. For their heroics, we get to see a cat dressed as...a catbus.
Every day, I look at the Transformers on my toy shelf, and I think two things. First, I'm glad to be in possession of so many amazing toys. Secondly, I'm glad many of them are just sitting there, and don't actually have to be transformed.
Because transforming some of these things can be murder.
This tweet from MCV's Ben Parfitt earlier today got a few of us talking about our experiences with Transformers, both old and new, and after surprisingly little argument at the end of it I've settled on this list of what we've found to be the most difficult, time-consuming and/or delicate transformation job of all time.
Now, before you complain that something's missing, I might have left out some particular doosies by virtue of never actually laying hands upon them. If you have, let me know below!
The first of the fancy die-cast Binaltech (I imported) line I ever played with, and it instantly became one of the most notorious Transformers figures I'd ever seen. I mean, he looks stunning in both forms, but getting him there requires herculean feats of twisting, cramming and praying to God nothing snaps.
The flip you need to perform at his hips, and cramming his head under the hood, were probably the worst.
RID SIDEBURN
I was asked to transform this a couple of years ago by a friend's kid. Unlike the other figures on this list, this one's a more massmarket piece, and was actually targeted at children. They figured I was the go-to guy for transformers that were too tough for their son. They were wrong.
I had to sit down with this video to help him out, because that much flipping and mechanical contortion can't be deduced by the naked eye. If you think it's rough seeing a grown man struggle with this thing, imagine you're seven and on the playground.
ALTERNATORS GRIMLOCK
Really, I could list half the Alternators line here, so infuriating were they, but I'll stick to just two, the second being Grimlock here. Seeing the guy in the video above struggle to transform him into a car isn't funny, it's agonising.
ROTF OPTIMUS PRIME
Even the basic figures from the Michael Bay trilogy can be tough, owing to their spindly design and tiny waists, but ROTF Optimus Prime throws "tough" out the window then stomps all over it before putting an orange axe between its eyes. He's intricate, delicate and needs a little muscle.
The fact this video goes for 17 minutes should tell you how difficult it is.
MASTERPIECE MEGATRON
OK, this is the worst. Hands down. Just look at that video. Look at it. Look how much work is required just to get his feet out. I know grown men who are actually unable to transform this figure, and having tried my hand at it once I can totally understand their plight.
A.J. Trahan is an artist we've featured here before, at least partially, for his work on Epic Mickey. But the stuff we're going to look at today is a little grander in scale.
Trahan was one of the 117,342 artists who worked on Halo 4, but in addition to his contributions to Microsoft's latest blockbuster, we'll also be looking at his other work, including pieces from the "why the hell isn't it out yet" Panzer 88.
If you want to see more of AJ's work, you should check out his personal site and CGHub page.
Taking the fragile wooden medium of many of the series' crappy first shields and mixing it with the design of later, badass Hylian shields, Brazilian craftsman Paulo VinÃcius D. Horstma has made this beautiful piece of replica Zelda gear.
I don't use the term "craftsman" lightly; Horstma has done some incredible work here, with many of the design's embellishments actually being perfectly-ingrained pieces of wood, rather than paint.
You can see some progress shots of Paulo putting the thing together in the gallery above.
Corvo, the star of Dishonored, is a deft man with a blade. He can leap, and sneak, like a cat. Dude even has magic powers. You'd think, then, he could do anything and everything, but no.
This clip, showing him trying to pour a pint, is heart-breaking. Won't someone just pour it for him?
Perhaps wanting to get out in front of holiday season returns, when Little Johnny furiously explains he wanted a 3DS and not a DS (or your grandmother buys you a game that won't work in your system), Nintendo has—hastily, judging by the sound quality—put together this instructional video outlining the differences between the three handheld systems it currently has on the market.
Collecting nearly 2000 Star Wars action figures the hard way would have taken thousands of dollars and decades of work. The easy way is to let someone else do it, then buy their collection straight off them.
If that's more your style, the Star Wars museum at Rancho Obi-Wan are auctioning off a lot of 1950 figures, a tally that constitutes "nearly every Star Wars action figure ever produced... (100% of the 1978-85 series is here, and nearly every subsequent figure produced to early 2011)".
The market value of such a collection has been valued by an expert at over $8000. If that's not enough to get you bidding, know that the funds will go to help keep Rancho Obi-Wan—a not-for-profit establishment—running. Oh, and that they all used to belong to Fon Davis, a former model-maker at ILM who's worked on six Star Wars movies (the prequels and the original re-releases).
You can see some money shots of some of the figures in the gallery above.
While it seemed unlikely, there was always the chance, however remote, that a battle of patents between Microsoft and Motorola could have seen the Xbox 360 taken off store shelves.
A US judge, however, has ruled that this won't be happening.
The two companies have been fighting for years, with Motorola saying the Xbox 360 infringes upon five patents it holds, mostly related to video codecs.
Saying that the technology was " critical to industry standards", and that Microsoft had agreed to pay for their use (the battle was over how much Microsoft should be paying), Judge James Robart said any financial dispute could be settled at the end of the pair's case, with no Xbox 360 ban necessary.
It's fun enough to walk down the street, but you know what's probably more fun? Walking down the street in a huge animatronic T-Rex costume, as demonstrated in this video from Roman Atwood.
How's everyone out there doing? Having a good week? Anyone pick up Far Cry 3 today? Don't you think this game would be awesome if it had some dinosaurs, Jurassic Park-style?
Feel free to discuss that stuff or whatever else, here or over in the Talk Amongst Yourselves forum. See ya tomorrow.
It doesn't matter if you saw the original Star Wars movies when they first hit theaters or caught them much later. Star Wars has been capturing the minds of folks for generations, thanks in big part to memorable characters like Princess Leia. 
[Benny-Lee]
[EveilleCosplay]
[gbright1]
[HeatherCosplay]
[Ivy95]
[Lola-Gainsborough]
[love-squad]
[lunamaxwell]
[Riddle1]
[RinakinSkywalker]
[saraqael]
[Scruffy Rebel_1]
[sebastiansfangirl]
[shanna-jones]
[Sheikahchica]
[Tatter-Hood]
[thatbloodypirate]
[Vanwolfe]
[Virchan]
Taking the fragile wooden medium of many of the series' crappy first shields and mixing it with the design of later, badass Hylian shields, Brazilian craftsman Paulo VinÃcius D. Horstma has made this beautiful piece of replica Zelda gear.
