Club Jade

Since we’ve had every other sort of announcement lately, I suppose some toy news was inevitable.  USA Today got the scoop on Hasbro’s new Black Series, so named because the color somehow inspired their designers.  (It reminds me of Jim Beam bourbon, but to each his own.)  The big change here is that the line will contain a few 6-inch figures, in addition to the traditional 3¾-inchers.  Never before has six inches been considered such an enormous upgrade.

Hasbro hopes the new line will appeal to both new buyers and adult collectors, which makes sense since the larger figs are priced significantly higher than the regular ones.  They’re supposedly quite detailed and articulated, but I remember reading that the original Clone Wars line (based on the Tartakovsky series) didn’t sell because they weren’t the same size as the normal figures.  Have times changed?  Or are the clearance racks about to get a whole lot more crowded?

With the 501st and Rebel Legion in attendance, Star Wars action figures were named as one of the latest inductees into the National Toy Hall of Fame today.

“Their phenomenal popularity with movie fans revolutionized the toy industry,” the Hall of Fame states. “For more than three decades, kids have used Star Wars action figures—plus accessories, vehicles, and play sets—to tell stories of heroes and villains, of empire and rebellion, and of good triumphing over evil. Adults, too, play when they collect Star Wars action figures.”

Dominos were the other inductees this year; they join past honorees as varied as Barbie, marbles, and the cardboard box.

Anti-trust lawyers must be wringing their hands with glee at this one: MTV Geek is saying that after acquiring Lucasfilm (pending approval) Disney will be turning to Hasbro. Or rather, that they’re having “discussions.”

Buying Hasbro would give Disney the rights to Transformers, G.I. Joe, Dungeons and Dragons, and My Little Pony, among others. And by folding in the toys, they’d be getting a bigger share of the Star Wars pie as well.

Last week, Lucasfilm shocked Marin by pulling out of their plan to build a film studio on their Grady Ranch property. The studio project had faced opposition from the nearby Lucas Valley Estates. Others in Marin begged the company to reconsider, but Lucasfilm is standing firm. Lucasfilm is hoping to sell the property for use as low income housing, something I’m sure the Lucas Valley Estate folks will just love. Meanwhile, I’m sure that Lucasfilm will have no trouble finding another Bay Area community to welcome a film studio.

Michael Fassbender loves Star Wars toys. Of course he does. “‘Star Wars’ was really the only sci-fi sort of fascination I had as a youngster,” he told Absolute Radio while doing promotion for Prometheus. “I collected and I’ve still got the AT-AT and the Millennium Falcon and the Ewok village.”

Lucasfilm is among those named in a burgeoning antitrust case that alleges companies stiffed “lucrative job movement in Silicon Valley by agreeing not to raid their rivals for employees.” Apple, Google, Intel, Adobe and Pixar are also named.

Is The Old Republic already losing subscribers? The analysts say TOR has lost about 10% of it’s subscribers in the last month, and they project an average of 1.25M subscribers through the year. (I’m no expert, but isn’t that kind of how an MMO launch works? Not everyone is going to stick around?)

The game has had a good share of controversy – an anti-gay campaign and a free game time giveaway that alienanted some players (Though Bioware did expand upon the giveaway.) Let the course of gaming never go smooth, or something to that effect….

Wired’s Kathy Ceceri and her family got a sneak preview of the Star Wars Identities exhibit in Montréal, and shares quite a bit about what you can see there. It opened on the 19th.

Thinkgeek (who else?) is offering adorable super deformed plush toys of the X-Wing, Millennium Falcon, and AT-AT. Do want.

While at the 30th anniversary screening of Raiders of the Lost Ark, Steven Spielberg talked a bit about the early development of Indiana Jones by him and his friend George Lucas, their friendship, about the restoration of Raiders of the Lost Ark (for eventual Blu-ray release), and being hopeful for Indy V.

When Harrison Ford came out, he said he’s up for a fifth time as Indiana Jones, and thinks the key is expanding the audience’s understanding of the character. Also, Harrison Ford in Jurassic Park? Spielberg offered the role of Alan Grant to him.

Rounding out their coverage, the LA Times also did a retrospective on the Raiders of the Lost Ark toys from the 1980s.

EDIT: While Spielberg commented that the newly cleaned up version of Raiders of the Lost Ark that they were screening was going to be eventually used for the Blu-ray and he noted that that Blu-ray release would not have any changes from the 1981 theatrical release, Spielberg later commented that he regrets making changes to E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial for its 20th Anniversary DVD, saying, “I realized what I had done was I had robbed people who loved E.T. of their memories of E.T.”

He went on to say that the E.T. Blu-ray would be the original 1982 theatrical version, and not contain the unpopular 2002 revisions, such as digitally replacing police guns with walkie-talkies.

Dannu Choo – aka the Tokyo Dance Trooper – got himself cloned! Sort of. On his blog, he documents his visit to the Clone Factory.

It took the artist seven months to paint ‘The Birth of a Jedi,’ but it only takes just under 3 minutes thanks to magic of editing. (via)

(I owe you guys several roundups tonight: Stay tuned.)

Friday seems as good a day as any to check in with Stéfan Le Dû’s Stormtroopers 365 project. Also, for chocolate.

Really, Hasbro? No one objected to this? Yes, we know where the ultimate blame falls, but still. Really?

In less wince-worthy toy stuff, get up close and personal with the repackaged Comic Packs, as well as the news ones such as Darth Krayt & Sigel Dare, Lumiya & Luke, Beefy the Vong & Kyle Katarn and the news-to-me Emperor’s Hand Imperial Shuttle.