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Canon novels will be premium paperbacks

swb-premiumsRemember way back in 2009, when LucasBooks announced that the Fate of the Jedi paperbacks reprints would be in the slightly taller premium paperback format – and then changed their minds? Well, it seems like it’s just as well, because now it gives Del Rey a quick, easy way to make the canon novels stand out among the piles of Legends when they come out in paperback. The A New Dawn paperback, due out late next month, will be the first, but Tarkin and Heir to the Jedi have all been listed with the new format.

Props to Florian of Jedi Bibliothek for bringing it to my attention – though the Star Wars Books header photo in question has been up since January.

The premium paperback issue was rather controversial back in the day, but it seems that EU fans have bigger fish to fry these days. Below, a picture I took in 2009 to show the differences between trade paperback (The Clone Wars: Wild Space,) premium paperback (Stephen King’s Just After Sunset) and mass market paperback (Dark Force Rising.)

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I miss Borders.

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Spoilerphobes beware: A heartbreaking The Force Awakens rumor

spoilers-swirl-bespin2Jason has a lot of trust in his source on this report, but it’s a big one. I don’t think this is the biggest (possible) spoiler out there by any means (though consider how our last ‘big spoiler’ fizzled with additional leaks/information) but it’s still a pretty big thing if it’s true, and extremely probable.

So, consider yourself warned. Still want it? Head to Making Star Wars for even more warnings.

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Rancho Obi-Wan’s first book to highlight fan art and artifacts

Rancho Obi-Wan: Inspired by the Force: Star Wars Fan Artifacts & ArtSteve Sansweet’s Rancho Obi-Wan will highlight fan contributions to Star Wars fandom in their first book, Inspired by the Force: Star Wars Fan Artifacts & Art, which will debut at Celebration Anaheim in April. It’s intended to act as “an exhibit guide,” so the Rancho Celebration exhibit will also be fan-heavy this time:

The Rancho Obi-Wan Experience exhibit will feature fan objects and art starting in the late 1970s through today, from an airbrushed van tire cover and hand-tooled leather backgammon board to a Chewbacca tissue box cover and bird house, from amazing art mash-ups based on a print by Goya and a painting by Picasso to bizarre limited edition figurines made by urban artists.

The Rancho Obi-Wan exhibit at Celebration VI featured several fan creations – including one by a Jader – but this will no doubt be an even greater variety. I just hope they have more floor space this time!

In any case, the book will be $25 and pre-orders for pickup at the con will begin in March.

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Hasbro thinks they’ve released “plenty of female characters” for Star Wars

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“Hasbro feels they have released plenty of female characters in the line.” That’s the money quote, from a Toy Fair Q&A with collector site Jedi Temple Archives. Granted, it doesn’t seem to be an exact quote, but the sentiment is pretty clear in any case. UPDATE: The answer has since been revised, at Hasbro’s request, to namedrop figures released over the past several years – that Mara Jade figure came out in 2013 – but the problem still remains. The Mary Sue has a great response to this:

It’s not that there aren’t any female characters in their line, because of course that would be untrue—it’s that they clearly take a backseat to the male ones which Hasbro thinks will sell better to boys.

Hasbro also said have no more Leia figures planned at the moment. (Though I doubt that includes The Force Awakens, which they are very much not talking about yet. But then again, who knows?) Asajj Ventress is also in the “no current plans” category.

Does our only hope for more than a paltry handful of women figures rest solely in the hands of the new film? We know there are multiple women in the cast, but such is the case with Rebels, and that rollout certainly hasn’t been without issues. (Though the recent issues finding figures – all figures – is likely due to an ongoing labor dispute at west coast seaports.)

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Catching up with The Force Awakens: Greg Grunberg’s role may be more than a cameo

alias-greg-grunbergGreg Grunberg may have more than a mere cameo in The Force Awakens. He told E! that he was in London for six weeks, and from his description it sounds like he was involved with the Greenham Common shoot.

→ Making Star Wars has a costume analysis of the main cast and a big dump of pretty iffy rumors.

→ A speeder similar to the one Rey rides in the trailer was found in the depths of The Old Republic.

→ The president of design at Apple had a conversation with J.J. Abrams about lightsabers that may have influenced the broadsaber.

→ In corporate moves, ILM president and general manager Lynwen Brennan has been promoted to general manager of Lucasfilm itself.

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J.J. Abrams and Kathleen Kennedy to kick off Celebration Anaheim

abrams-kennedyIt sounds like they won’t be beating around the bush at Celebration Anaheim – the first event sounds like it’ll be J.J. Abrams and Kathleen Kennedy themselves, and for some reason I doubt they’ll show up empty-handed. There’s very little doubt that we’re going to get a new The Force Awakens trailer at the con, so just as well get it out of the way ASAP. And having this on Thursday instead of Saturday means it might be a tad easier to get wristbands, right? (Ha.)

Also, if you head to the Art Show page on the Celebration site and click on the artists, you can get a first look at the art that will be on sale, including a Thrawn trilogy-themed piece from Grant Gould!