MindofModernMan Star Wars Fan Panel – Favorite Star Wars Technology

Welcome to Star Wars Saturdays! Our Star Wars Fan Panel – a group of big time Star Wars fans – has gathered to talk all things from a Galaxy Far Far Away!

On Saturdays we share our thoughts on ranking anything and everything in the Star Wars galaxy! What makes us different? We vote with our hearts. Our lists are our top FAVORITE things about each Star Wars category. We believe there are already too many critical lists, artistry lists, film making lists… yadda yadda… we are simply talking about our FAVORITES – as all fans do.

Our merry band of rebel fans are:
Brer Brooke (@brer.burke)
Chris B (@thedisneynationtm)
Chris R
Evan (@homeawayfromdisney)
Gina
Jason (@fency53)
Jay
Jeremy (@disneyfamilytime)
Joe N (@joseph.nicholas35)
Jon Gus (thejonnygus)
Kevin (@thekevinawakens)
Meaghan (@homeawayfromdisney)
Steph (@saylikeyay)
And yours truly, Keith – founder of @mindofmodernman and @dadventuredisney

You can follow the Star Wars Panel on Instagram for all our updates!

This week – 13 of us take on the task of ranking our favorite technology of the Star Wars universe.

When we talk about Star Wars technology, we’re referring to anything that is created and not an organic person, creature, alien, etc.

So, anything you see on screen in the films and/or television shows that the characters use to drive in, fight with, build with, and so on.

Over all, we submitted 35 different pieces of tech across Star Wars film and tv!! I’d love to have a mechanics garage with all those things in it! And YES – we have another unanimous item in this list! Something made it on to all 13 lists.

After you check out our Top 10, I’ll have a few extra thoughts below. Hopefully, you’ll hit the comments and share YOUR favorites too.

On to the list… Punch it!

Blasters
“Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good blaster at your side.”
Top 10 Score: 2.08. Nominated on 8 ballots.

Stormtroopers have them. Chewbacca‘s is called a bowcaster. Han Solo gifted one to Rey. Mando uses a disrupter rifle. Princess Leia was the best shot with one. Blasters are everywhere in Star Wars and we love them all.

However, there isn’t one more iconic that Han Solo’s own blaster. You KNOW he used it to shoot first, right?

Mandalorian Jetpack
“Don’t ever turn your back to the enemy. ‘Cause that’s where your jetpack is, and you don’t want to take a blaster bolt to that.”
Top 10 Score: 2.31. Nominated on 5 ballots.

From when we first saw Boba Fett take flight, to recently learning more of the honor of wearing a jetpack in Disney+s The Mandalorian, we always thought the Z-6 jetpack was something we all wanted for our birthday!

Just be careful – one little bump in the back and you can be sent flying into the side of a large sail barge.

Darth Vader’s Armor
“He’s more machine now than man; twisted and evil.”
Top 10 Score: 2.38. Nominated on 4 ballots.

The most imposing sight to any Rebel has to be standing across from the vision of evil itself – Darth Vader.

Wookiepedia: Darth Vader’s armor (serial number: E-3778Q-1) was designed to maintain and protect the young Sith apprentice’s charred body while exuding an air of intimidation and control. His suit followed an ancient Sith tradition, in which the warriors of the dark side of the Force would adorn themselves in heavy armor. The suit’s construction incorporated Sith alchemy to augment Vader’s severely diminished physical strength and vitality.

Who else has been Darth Vader for Halloween ever? Anyone? Anyone?

X-Wing Fighter
“Lock S-foils in attack position.”
Top 10 Score: 2.62. Nominated on 5 ballots.

You had the toy. Yoda lifted it from the swamp. Luke Skywalker lifted it from the sea. R2-D2 took care of it. Poe Dameron flew a black one.

X-Wings are fast, shoot on target, and are just cool looking!

Holograms
“Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi. You’re my only hope.”
Top 10 Score: 2.62. Nominated on 7 ballots.

When R2-D2 teased Luke with his first hologram vision of Princess Leia in A New Hope, we knew we had something cool on our hands. A way to transmit messages, mostly live, via a projected image – wow!

Anyone else tear up when R2 did the same hologram trick to Luke during The Last Jedi?

The Clone Wars and Rebels series use holograms ALL the time.

Star Wars created the original Zoom! Imagine if we had hologram communication during social distancing?

Light Speed / Hyperspace Travel
“We’re losing our deflector shield! Go strap yourself in, I’m going to make the jump to light speed.”
Top 10 Score: 2.85. Nominated on 6 ballots. 1 first place vote.

When you’re driving in the evening, and it’s snowing, and you turn on your high beams, have you ever turned to your passenger and said – Punch It? We love light speed.

We’ve seen light speed jumping, light speed tracking and the inability to jump to light speed. All of these have been big plot points in many of the Star Wars films.

Apparently you can’t make the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs if you don’t use it.

Death Star
“That’s no moon…it’s a space station.”
Top 10 Score: 3.08. Nominated on 7 ballots. 1 first place vote.

“Now witness the power of this fully armed and operational battle station. Fire at will, commander.” Now you can absolutely hear that sound can’t you? All those hums and zoom sounds – lots of guys in funny looking helmets running around the Death Star, pushing buttons and pulling levers.

They just needed to find a better contractor who didn’t make the exhaust port directly link to power of the whole thing.

Millennium Falcon
“She may not look like much, but she’s got it where it counts, kid.”
Top 10 Score: 4.62. Nominated on 8 ballots. 1 first place vote.

There is truly no cooler ship in the whole galaxy than the Millennium Falcon. The ship was a character in of itself. I remember the cheers in the theater when it’s first seen in The Force Awakens.

This Corellian YT-1300f light freighter is an icon of the Star Wars universe and the Lego set we all still have on our Christmas lists!

Droids
“Well, if droids could think, there’d be none of us here, would there?”
Top 10 Score: 6.46. Nominated on 10 ballots. 2 first place votes.

R2-D2, C-3PO, BB-8, Chopper, K-2SO, GONK, mouse droids, protocol droids, astromech droids… what would Star Wars be without droids? They are pilots, weapons, ships, mechanics and even bartenders.

Many of them are also some of our favorite characters of all the Star Wars folks.

If you could choose any droid to be your own at home, who would you choose? Have you built one in Disneyland or Walt Disney World yet?

Lightsabers
“This is the weapon of a Jedi Knight. Not as clumsy or random as a blaster; An elegant weapon for a more civilized age.”
Top 10 Score: 8.38. UNANIMOUS CHOICE. 8 first place votes.

There is not a more iconic piece of tech from Star Wars than a lightsaber.

Green, Blue, Red and even Purple. White and Black too? Dual Phase, Lightsaber Pistol, Double-Bladed, Cross Guard, even Double-Bladed Spinning! So many different kinds and each with their own distinct handle.

To many of us they were wrapping paper tubes, broom handles, Wiffle bats – it didn’t matter what the material was – we all knew how to make the sounds!

A few items were VERY close to making our top 10, put simply didn’t have the points. Robotic hands and legs were on 6 ballots. Carbon Freezing and AT-ATs were on 5. Force Fields, Speeders, Dejarik Boards, Bacta Tanks, Pod Racers, and that cool Jedi Training Orb!