Raving Toy Maniac

Star Wars Action Figures and Dominoes Inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame® at The Strong®

November 15, 2012 - ROCHESTER, New York - This year's toy inductees come from a galaxy far, far away - and from a time long, long ago! Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, R2-D2, and all of the intergalactic Star Wars action figures join the centuries-old game of dominoes as honored toys in the National Toy Hall of Fame at The Strong. The honorees were selected from a field of 12 toy finalists, which included Clue, Fisher-Price Corn Popper push toy, Lite-Brite, little green army men, Magic 8 Ball, pogo stick, sidewalk chalk, Simon, tea set, and Twister.

About Star Wars action figures: When 20th Century Fox released the first Star Wars movie in May 1977, no one imagined it would change the toy industry and popular entertainment so dramatically. The film spawned five more episodes of a sprawling space opera that also generated sales of millions of action figures of the saga's characters. The 3.75-inch figures - including Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia Organa, Han Solo, Chewbacca, R2-D2,

STAR WARS BLACK FRIDAY!

DARK HORSE STRIKES BACK!

For 72 hours, Dark Horse Digital will offer 153 single-issue Star Wars comics for $100! A savings of over $370!

November 16, 2012, MILWAUKIE, OR - Dark Horse Comics is rocking Black Friday madness with a very exclusive limited offer to its digital comics readers...

Feast your optic sensors on this year's Black Friday MegaBundle: Next weekend only, you can get over 150 digital Star Wars comics for the crazy-low price of only $100.

Get classics like The Clone Wars, The Old Republic, and all three arcs of Crimson Empire. Your favorite Sith friends are here too, with two different Darth Maul series and two new Darth Vader series, plus the latest Sith adventure, Lost Tribe of the Sith.

All comics starring your favorite bounty hunter, Boba Fett, are included, plus the new Imperial spy comic, Agent of the Empire.

Go back in time to the origins of the Jedi in Dawn of the Jedi, to one hundred years after the films end with Legacy, and more!

LEGO Systems Makes Debut Appearance at New York Comic-Con

NEW YORK, Oct. 11, 2012 -- COMIC-CON -- LEGO Systems, Inc., the world's leading construction toy manufacturer, kicked off its first official presence at New York Comic-Con today by unveiling new sets and exclusive giveaways for fans of all ages. Never-before-seen introductions include LEGO® Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles™, a recently announced play theme slated to launch in January 2013. Two of the sets from the much-anticipated LEGO The Hobbit™ collection, launching this December, will also be unveiled. Also on display are construction sets and new video content from popular LEGO Super Heroes: MARVEL™, LEGO Super Heroes: DC Universe™ and LEGO Star Wars™ properties. Because no LEGO experience is complete without a hands-on building activity, show attendees are invited to help assemble a 7.5 foot-tall mystery mosaic at booth #1538 of the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, October 11-14.

Hasbro Teams Up with Rovio Entertainment and Lucasfilm for New ANGRY BIRDS™ STAR WARS® Line

PAWTUCKET, R.I. - October 8, 2012 - Hasbro, Inc. has announced today it has entered into agreement with LucasFilm to manufacture and globally market a variety of products based on the newly launched STAR WARS edition of the wildly popular ANGRY BIRDS mobile game from Rovio Entertainment. The new ANGRY BIRDS STAR WARS line from Hasbro will launch in the beginning of November 2012.

Hasbro will introduce the line with several new toys based on the ANGRY BIRDS STAR WARS property including the AT-AT ATTACK BATTLE GAME. The line will also feature new products based on a variety of existing Hasbro properties including the popular JENGA brand and the recently re-launched KOOSH brand, to introduce new play experiences featuring iconic STAR WARS characters re-imagined as high-flying ANGRY BIRDS and villainous pigs.

ANGRY BIRDS™ & STAR WARS™ JOIN FORCES

ROVIO ENTERTAINMENT AND LUCASFILM LTD. ANNOUNCE THE LAUNCH OF AN ALL-NEW VERSION OF THE WILDLY POPULAR ANGRY BIRDS CHARACTERS SET AGAINST THE BACKDROP OF 'A GALAXY FAR, FAR AWAY'

Game and Merchandise Available Globally November 8

NEW YORK – (October 8, 2012) – Rovio Entertainment and Lucasfilm Ltd. announced today a new blockbuster entertainment franchise collaboration; Angry Birds Star Wars. Launching worldwide on November 8, the unique partnership will combine all the fun of the classic Angry Birds and Angry Birds Space with the characters, stories and settings of the epic space fantasy, Star Wars.

From the deserts of Tatooine to the depths of the Death Star – the game and merchandise will feature the Angry Birds characters starring as the iconic heroes of the beloved Saga.

August 28, 2012 - Hasbro has sent along press images of their new Star Wars toys unveiled at the Star Wars Celebration VI convention - we've posted all 80 of them in a gallery for your enjoyment.

The new action figures shown were from Build-A-Droid Wave Two, Movie Heroes Wave One, Clone Wars Wave One, and Star Wars Fighter Pods, as well as new vehicles.

Here's the Mara Jade action figure from the second wave of Droid Factory action figures:

ThinkGeek Announces Exclusive Star Wars Merch at Celebration VI!

Brilliant New Products from a Galaxy Far Far Away

FAIRFAX, Va., Aug. 23, 2012 -- ThinkGeek has heard and answered the call of fans and is not only a vendor at Star Wars Celebration VI in Orlando, but is announcing three new products and launching an exclusive item as well.

Visitors to booth #303 will have the opportunity to be the first people in the known galaxy to take a glimpse of these new, officially licensed products. For those unable to make it to Orlando, they are:

Han Solo in Carbonite Business Card Case
Available this fall for $24.99, the Han Solo in Carbonite Business Card Case gives practical application to our favorite rogue. Forged of the same materials that he was frozen in, this incredible piece is the perfect way to carry the business cards that declare your allegiance to the light or dark side of the force.

Wampa Ice Scraper Mitt

SiriusXM Announces the Return of "Star Wars Celebration Radio"

NEW YORK, Aug. 22, 2012 -- SiriusXM today announced the return of Star Wars Celebration Radio - a limited-run channel broadcasting live from Star Wars Celebration VI, the official Lucasfilm event celebrating the award-winning Star Wars™ saga.

Star Wars Celebration Radio will launch Thursday, August 23 at 6:00 pm ET, the day the event kicks off at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, FL. It will air through Monday, August 27 at 3:00 am ET on Sirius channel 123, XM channel 142, and channel 770 online and through the SiriusXM Internet Radio App for smartphones and mobile devices.

Star Wars Celebration Radio will feature interviews with iconic cast members from the Star Wars films, as well as insiders/key players whose behind-the-scenes whose contributions to the series are well known to fans. SiriusXM listeners will be able to listen in on live panel discussions from Star Wars Celebration VI throughout the weekend and hear colorful commentary from celebrity fans and other attendees.

There are two new shows that may be of interest to toy and pop culture collectors this year – Collection Intervention and Toy Hunter. Collection Intervention is on the SyFy Network and Toy Hunter is on the Travel Channel. Today we will take a look at Collector Intervention.

The premise (per SyFy) is a show where Elyse Luray (a collectibles expert) ‘helps couples, families and individuals whose pop-culture memorabilia collections … have become damaging obsessions, creating financial strife and a huge strain on their lives.’

These impressions are from the opening show of the series, and they may change as the show continues.

The format is to introduce a collector, highlight their collection and to highlight the ‘damage’ that their collections inflict on their lives. During the show they will try to find a solution to help with the problems from the collection and the result is (at least so far) to sell off some of the collection. The first show has two subjects, so they split time through the show going from one to the other. Since it is an hour long show, I would expect it will stick with the two subject format for the immediate future.

August 10, 2012 - Hasbro has sent out an update about Star Wars:

Dear Star Wars fans,

We hope everyone is getting geared up for Star Wars Celebration VI next week! In anticipation of the show, the Star Wars team wanted to share two important pieces of information.

Vintage Line News:

The last Vintage wave of 2012 will be released online only. The figures will be available on Amazon, Entertainment Earth, Big Bad Toy Store, Brian's Toys, and other specialty shops. The figures are listed below.

• Ahsoka
• Obi-Wan (Clone Wars)
• Naboo Pilot
• Mawhonic
• Aurra Sing
• Lumat
• Gungan Warrior
• Nien Nunb
• Royal Guard
• Republic Trooper (The Old Republic)
• Orrimaarko (Prune Face)

(RTM note: reader BKP noticed that Episode VI Weequay Hunter was not on this list, but we checked the Big Bad Toy Store listing and they do show him in the case.)

Droid Factory Parts Swap at Celebration VI: "Yes, these are the droid parts you are looking for!"