Need a little pick-me-up this Monday? How about a sneak peek of a new Clone from the upcoming The Clone Wars Season 5?

Take a look at Clone Commander Thorn, brought to us by Dave Filoni on his Facebook page!

On behalf of the Clone Wars crew, we would like to congratulate Marvel Studios and Joss Whedon on the incredible release of The Avengers. We’re also very proud of the team at ILM who made the effects and action scenes beyond spectacular. There are many fans of Marvel comics on the Clone Wars crew, and the biggest fan of all has to be episodic director Steward Lee. Knowing what a fan he is, I sketched up a special Clone Commander for an upcoming episode of Season 5. Clone Commander Thorn is obviously our homage to “Thor, the god of thunder.” Commander Thorn even carries a Z-6 blaster canon named “the Hammer.” Enjoy this sneak peak at a new clone from Season 5.

As of this morning, I'm half way through the first draft for Making of ROTJ. Haven't heard back from George yet...

— J. W. Rinzler (@jwrinzler) May 11, 2012

The book is scheduled to be released in the Fall of 2013.

This is what we call a twofer, a win/win, a double whammy. The geek magnificence of io9 and the queen of geek herself Bonnie Burton, all in one cool show. Enjoy!

There's a new Facebook page in town and you are strongly encouraged to 'like' it. The CurtoBurns page has launched and, in case you hadn't already figured it out, it's there to bring you the latest news from the men who once brought you the late, lamented Forcecast Collectors Edition and the April 1st edition of Star Wars Action News.

Click 'like' to follow Dan and James as they bring you the very latest in Star Wars collectibles and much, much more...

More event news from the team over at Celebration VI regarding the event of the summer in O'Lando.

We were warned that "this place can be a little rough," but Star Wars fans can't help going back to the Mos Eisley Cantina over and over again. Celebration VI offers an in-depth exploration on the infamous watering hole from the original Star Wars, which includes some never before seen behind-the-scenes photos and artifacts from the creature-filled bar.

Professional sculptor and effects artist Tom Spina, who was inspired by the astounding creatures in the film, has made it his mission to uncover and chronicle the history of this beloved scene, its characters and the artists responsible for its creation. Spina has tracked the whereabouts of original cantina props and masks, rare photos, and even notes and illustrations from the production. As a young artist, Spina learned to sculpt by re-creating the Star Wars aliens that inspired him. This year, he and his talented crew at Tom Spina Designs helped recreate the cantina for its memorable appearance in Volkswagen's 2012 Super Bowl Commercial.

Spina will join Star Wars expert Pablo Hidalgo on the Behind-the-Scenes stage to discuss his research, show his creations, and reveal new secrets about the cantina. This panel is a must-see for fans of the original movie, creature effects enthusiasts, as well as those always seeking to learn something new about Star Wars.

Look for more great programming updates for the Celebration VI Behind-the-Scenes Stage, as well as the many other exciting and entertaining stages, on StarWars.com and www.starwarscelebration.com, coming soon!

We are all well aware that Star Wars rocks and over the years there have been plenty of cool representations of our galactic heroes as rock stars.

As good as those images are there can't be many as cool as this foursome of awesomeness, with Threepio, Chewie, Yoda and Luke in the iconic facepaint of KISS.

Even Wookiees celebrate Mothers Day. Yep, you heard, it's not all about Life Day, Mothers Day is a big deal on the Wookiee calendar and courtesy of Jimmy Kimmel we can now see just what Chewie thinks of that special day.

How do you follow up the biggest movie of all time (a question we're sure will soon be on the lips of Joss Whedon)? Back in 1979 George Lucas and the crew of The Empire Strikes Back had the same problem, and The Daily Mail have unearthed this treasure trove of images that highlight the fun and frivolity that was had backstage. Sure, it was hard work, but as these images show it doesn't have to be all sturm and drang.

The cast and crew of The Empire Strikes Back faced a daunting task - how to follow Star Wars, the blockbuster which had reinvented science fiction on the silver screen overnight and instantly become the favourite film of millions of cinemagoers.

By the time it opened in 1980, the pressure was really on director George Lucas and his team of actors to deliver, but as these fantastic pictures illustrate they all found time to enjoy themselves in the process.

Ahead of an upcoming convention in Florida in August, which is expected to attract up to 30,000 buffs, here is a chance to see behind the scenes during the making of the second film.

All the stars, Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher can be seen laughing and joking in and around the many sets and with a lot of the characters in costume.

Just to clarify it's their headline, not ours. On the day of his birthday it's very cool to report that Star Wars supremo George Lucas has absolutely knocked it out of the park with this awesome story. Read on, raise a glass to the great man and smile, smile, smile

So what is George Lucas going to do with his property now that he's tired of his rich neighbors putting up a not-in-my-backyard stink? He wants to transform the property into low-income housing, naturally, ending their official statement with this zinger, "If everyone feels that housing is less impactful on the land, then we are hoping that people who need it the most will benefit."

He's working with the Marin Community Foundation to instead construct affordable housing for either low-income families or seniors living on small, fixed incomes. In order to smooth along the development, he's already given them all of the pricey technical studies and land surveys Lucasfilm spent years conducting. And we think that's just great. Because if there's one thing rich people will hate more than having movie magic made in their backyard, it's poor people moving in.

Mr. Lucas, we may hate you for turning your back on the original trilogy, but our hat is off to you on this one. Well played.

The Star Wars caravan rolls into the aptly named Empire Hall in Southampton on Saturday 6th October. But it's not coming alone. Pam Rose, Alan Flyng, Femi Taylor, Toby Philpott and Femi Taylor will also be there.

Check out their Facebook page for more information on the event and the other cool geek-related guests and highlights on the day.

Today we celebrate the birthday of "The Maker" himself, Mr. George Lucas. And what better way to do so than with an iconic diorama from the great Stephen Hayford.

From everyone here at Jedi News and across the galaxy, Happy Birthday George!

Read on for the latest product updates from Site Sponsor Big Bad Toy Store that features a batch of new arrivals and many more new 'cool' preorders...

In case you hadn't heard, Star Wars Weekends is arriving at Disney's Hollywood Studios. Stay tuned to Jedi News for all the cool news.

Not that we ever doubted it but the Star Wars Trivia World Championship, hosted and overseen by artist Kevin Liell, returns at Celebration VI.

So if you know your bantha's from your Hoojibs, your hydrospanners from your forcepikes and your blue milk from your blue snaggletooth, get on over to their Facebook page and check out the latest news.

Join Jason and Jimmy Mac for the Weekly ForceCast...

Documentarian Cris Macht joins us to talk about production of the follow-up to his acclaimed film The Force Among Us. Plus, the latest Celebration VI news, Jimmy Mac's review of Ian McDiarmid's performance in Timon of Athens, Billy Dee, vintage Star Wars memories and much more.

Attention ForceCast App Users:

Touch EXTRAS on this episode to hear the latest edition of Bedtime Stories with Moral Eval

Show Notes: You can see more information about this episode on its wiki page. We invite you to expand and improve the wiki with your own contributions.

ForceCast Podcast Mobile Apps: Have the entire ForceCast archives at your fingertips, plus bonus shows and exclusive content!

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ForceCast T-shirts: Order yours today!

Jedi News is working with Star Wars Actors Appearances to bring you the very latest in Star Wars actors convention appearances. Here's this weeks updates:

DICKEY BEER

Barada / Boba Fett / Stormtrooper / Biker Scout - ROTJ

Star Wars Celebration VI

Aug. 23-26, 2012

Orange County Convention Center

Orlando, Florida, USA

Star Wars Celebration VI

PAUL BLAKE

Greedo – ANH

MegaCon

Mar. 15-17, 2013

Orange County Convention Center

Orlando, Florida, USA

MegaCon

Our NEW official hashtag is #StarWarsCVI. Share, trend (ESPECIALLY during @StarWars Celebration VI time), use it frequently! :)

— StarWarsCelebration (@SW_Celebration) May 11, 2012

Heads-up Twitter users - the official Celebration VI hashtag has just been changed to #StarWarsCVI.

Be sure to include this new #StarWarsCVI tag in all your CVI-related tweets!

Another guest has just been announced for Celebration VI over on the main site - Visual Effects Supervisor Bill George, who will be making his first appearance at a Celebration.

Visual Effects Supervisor Bill George has a rich history in the Star Wars galaxy, and will be appearing at a Celebration for the first time this coming August in Orlando.

Starting in Star Wars designing spacecraft for Return of the Jedi, George was Production Art Director for the Ewok television movies, and a matte painter for Episode I The Phantom Menace. Most recently he journeyed in the galaxy far, far away as the Visual Effects Supervisor for Star Tours: The Adventures Continue.

Since joining Industrial Light & Magic in 1981, George has worked as model shop supervisor, art director, matte painter, commercial director, and visual effects supervisor. Other highlights of his career include miniature construction and design on Blade Runner, art direction and design for five of the Star Trek films, and overseeing model construction on Ghostbusters 2 and Alive.

Dave over at All The Cool Stuff has dropped us their latest Star Wars sales list, so have a browse and get ordering!

It's been a busy few weeks with so many new figures from The Vintage Collection arriving.  For those that have still yet secure some of these great new figures, there are some still available including the new Darth Vader, Nom Anor, The Clone Wars Anakin Skywalker, Aayla Secura and Luke Skywalker in Hoth Gear - check them out here.

Don't forget there are a few new figures from The Clone Wars still in stock too, including Republic Commando Boss, Rex in his Version 2 Clone Armour and Ahsoka in Scuba Gear - get them here.

New Pre-orders are also live too for The Vintage Collection Tarkin, Oddball, Nikto, Shae Vizla and Galen Merek. The uber popular Darth Malgus will also be back in stock, so get your orders in now.

We will also start work soon listing our vintage toy inventory (1977-1985).  This is going to be an ongoing project as we list all Palitoy and Kenner lines, so if there is anything you are looking for, please don't hesitate to drop me a line and we will do our best to help.

All the best, Dave - All The Cool Stuff - 01425 650696.

Another name has been added to the growing Guest list at Celebration VI - Sculptor & Effects Artist Tom Spina!

Professional sculptor and effects artist Tom Spina, who was inspired by the astounding creatures in the film, has made it his mission to uncover and chronicle the history of this beloved scene, its characters and the artists responsible for its creation. Spina has tracked the whereabouts of original cantina props and masks, rare photos, and even notes and illustrations from the production. As a young artist, Spina learned to sculpt by re-creating the Star Wars aliens that inspired him. This year, he and his talented crew at Tom Spina Designs helped recreate the cantina for its memorable appearance in Volkswagen's 2012 Super Bowl Commercial.

Star Wars Weekends kick off next Friday and it's set to be yet another amazing marriage of Disney and Star wars. Here we see Disneys Event Co-Ordinator Paul Stewart getting the band back together as he calls Yoda, Chewie and Darth Vader about the event.

This just in from my old Lightsabre.co.uk cohort Louis Turfrey regarding his new venture, Computers and Comics.

ComShop – Computers and Comics opens its doors to the public officially on Saturday 12th May, but we are already having customers knocking at the door to buy and place orders.

New in is a range of collectible mugs featuring a mixed batch of Marvel, DC and other comics characters. Look out for the Thundercats one, as it changes depending upon the temperature.

Also Computers and Comics now has a Facebook page and friends of the site get 10p an issue off comics and a 10% reduction on labour rates for computer repairs.

Don’t forget the opening party, from 8pm on Saturday 12th.

If you're in or near Lichfield tomorrow night, get on over there, check out the shop and place your orders!

Ashley Eckstein is a busy lady, not only is she releasing some top-notch merchandise in time for the convention season, she's flirting with Wookiees at Star Wars Weekends. Whatever would her husband say...

Jedi News reader Marron Price sent us a link to this rather awesome example of Jedi vs Sith, with a somewhat unique ending. Check it out.

What self-respecting space princess could possibly resist these fantastic t-shirts via our pals over at Her Universe. Just announced on their Facebook page, these will be rolling out at Disney World during Star Wars Weekends and I'm sure we'll be seeing plenty of these little treasures during Celebration VI.

It's going to be tough not thinking of this image every time we see George and his little green friend in the same place. In fact, I suggest that one of the major licencees should look at this as a Celebration VI exclusive. Imagine this as a bobble head? That would be fabuloso.

This from WeLoveFine.com...

LIZ LEE AND DANIEL LOGAN TO GUEST JUDGE STAR WARS T-SHIRT DESIGN CONTEST - WeLoveFine.com Welcomes 'My Life As Liz' Star and 'Attack of the Clones' Young Boba Fett!

Los Angeles, CA, 05/11/12 - WeLoveFine.com has brought two Force-es to be reckoned with in on the fun of the Star Wars™ T-Shirt Design Contest, in the form of guest judges Liz Lee and Daniel Logan! Liz and Daniel will select their personal favorite designs from among the entries currently being submitted through May 25th; each Judges' prize winner will receive $400 cash and have their design made into an officially licensed Star Wars shirt! Users must register at WeLoveFine.com to submit artwork; the submissions can be entered here.

Liz Lee is the star of My Life As Liz, MTV's mockumentary style series that centers on the life of a "self-proclaimed individualist and geek" high-school senior living in small town Texas. Liz is now elbowing her way through her first year of college at the Pratt Institute, an art school in New York. When she's not taking the wrong subway or dodging renegade cabs, she can be found stressing out about her next art history exam -- or procrastinating it by reading the latest Star Wars Legacy comic book. You can follow Liz on Twitter at @MyLifeAsLiz_Liz.
 
Daniel Logan is best known for his role as the young Boba Fett in Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones and multiple episodes of Star Wars: The Clone Wars. New Zealand-born Daniel broke into acting when his amateur rugby union team was scouted for a TV commercial; picked up by a casting agent, he began to do more commercials and TV appearances, including a recurring role in episodes of the New Zealand-based medical series Shortland Street and a guest appearance in the international series Hercules: The Legendary Journeys. He currently lives in Los Angeles; you can follow him on Twitter at @daniel_logan.

Read on for more...

 Here's the Gentle Giant solicitations for May 2012 that includes four new Star Wars products and two Marvel Mini Busts all of which will be available in Q4 2012.

The three new Star Wars products are Yoda with Orange Snake Kenner Jumbo Figure, Yoda with Brown Snake Premier Guild Exclusive Kenner Jumbo Figure (you need to be logged into your PGM account first!), Ree Yees Deluxe Mini Bust and White Clone Trooper Deluxe Statue; click on the solicitation sheets below for more info on each item.

Read on for more information on all the new products...

More guests have been announced for Celebration VI with the latest headliner being Peter Mayhew!

Also announced today:

• Tim Rose
• Trevor Butterfield
• Nick Maley
• Paul Springer

Head on over to StarWars.com for the full announcement!

Growing up, I was a huge fan of the Garbage Pail Kids series of trading cards/stickers. I cannot begin to imagine how much of my allowance was spent at my local cards & gift store in an attempt to collect 'em all as each new series was released. And the trades that took place on the schoolyard playground each day during recess...well those are just too numerous to even begin to quantify.

So when I received an email from Jedi News reader Nathan S. earlier today containing a pic of this "LOOGIE LEIA" sketch, I just had to share it with you. This whimsical depiction of a Star Wars themed Garbage Pail Kid was created by artist Luis Diaz and is sure to bring back a rush of fond memories to those fans who are old enough to remember the GPK trading cards series.

In addition to "LOOGIE LEIA", Luis also sketched an Indiana Jones themed GPK entitled "INDIANA STONED".

Big thanks to Nathan for the heads up!

Remember this Bat Vader pic we posted last month? Pretty cool huh?

Well how about taking this mash-up design to the next level in say...oh I don't know, action figure form?

The extremely talented customizers at Mint Condition Customs have done just that.

Darth Knight has been created using the body from a Dark Knight Movie Masters Batman figure, and the head, lightsaber, chest plate, and other pieces from a Star Wars Transformers Darth Vader action figure.

I transplanted the ears from the Batman head onto the Darth Vader head, and sculpted over them to blend them in with the sculpt of Vader’s helmet. He features a paint job that really helps him stand out as his own concept, with silver accents, and other various parts painted in flat and gloss black.

He has extra Darth Vader pieces attached to his belt, his chest plate has been implanted into Batman’s torso (and he still retains full ab crunch movement!), and his legs have been sculpted over with rectangular plates. He also features the classic Darth Vader waist cloak made from a sheet of vinyl. He comes with his lightsaber as well (or light baton if you wish for him to be as non-lethal as the real caped crusader). He’s based on the costume design by Malmey Studios, but with my own unique flairs thrown in.

One word: AWESOME

In A New Hope Artoo and Threepio had a torrid time under the Tatooine suns but perhaps if they'd been correctly attired they might have had an easier time of it. Here's a photo showing what our errant droids should have been wearing...

Tim Dry, the actor who portrayed the Whiphid J’Quille and a Mon Calamari officer in Return Of The Jedi has a new book project he wants you to know about. Have a read below to find out more.

Exciting news for ‘Star Wars’ fans! Tim Dry’s memoir ‘CONTINUUM – The Star Wars Phenomenon As Experienced From The Inside’ is now available to buy as an ebook. You can get it from: iBookstore Sony Amazon Kindle Barnes & Noble For only $3.99! Have you ever wondered what it was really like to be a featured artiste in 'Star Wars' Episode VI - 'Return Of The Jedi', one of the biggest grossing movies of all time? Or to be an autograph guest at worldwide fan Conventions? Well, now you can discover it all! This is a 'Star Wars' actors memoirs. Think Bill Bryson meets 'Galaxy Quest' and you're on the right track. This is a must-read for all fans of The Saga. It's honest, funny and surreal. You won't be able to put it down! It has a foreword written by ROBERT WATTS (Producer of 'Star Wars' Episodes IV -VI and the 'Indiana Jones' trilogy). And 10 pages of colour photographs.

With the 2012 Major League Baseball season in full swing, ThinkGeek has released a new Stormtrooper Baseball Jersey to add to your sporting apparel collection. Check out the product details below and then click here to place your order.

After a long discussion, there were several options for the name of the Death Star's official baseball team. The Death Stars, Vader's Fist, Fightin' Helmets, and Droid Destroyers were among the final cut. Which is to say, there really weren't any good ideas. Finally, someone said, "Why don't we just call ourselves the Troopers and go to the canteen for some penne arrabbiata?" And so it was.

This white baseball jersey with black details has Troopers in the swoosh font across the front with the number 77 (Star Wars release date) in black. On the lower right side there's a tone-on-tone Stormtrooper screened on the fabric. The sleeves feature black stripes and the Imperial logo on the left sleeve. The back has the number 77 huge in black. 60% cotton / 40% polyester. Turn inside-out to wash in cold water.

Prefer the hardcourt to the diamond? Don't forget about their Stormtrooper Basketball Jersey we reported on earlier.

It's the burning question that remains on the minds of people across the globe:

Should we build our own Death Star?

(What...you don't think about this on a daily basis?)

At least one site is opposed to it, as this article on Gizmodo breaks down why building such a technological terror might not be worth the $$$.

Our friends over at Sandtroopers.com have been working overtime to bring us the above images which reveal the Target Exclusive Darth Maul Returns Battle Pack which includes three figures.  The first is a new Darth Maul (as seen in The Clone Wars), Savage Opress (the armoured version which is very hard to find figure) and the debut of the Nightsister figure (could this be Mother Talzin?!?).  Discuss on our Facebook page here and take the link below for slightly larger images at Sandtroopers.com.

UPDATE:  Thanks for all the e-mails on this and your concerns that this won't be coming to the UK.  This just in... "Hasbro UK have confirmed that this Battle Pack will be coming to the UK"  ...good news for all!

Its not released in the States until 24th July, early August here in the UK but MTV Geek have been given an exclusive first look at the special alternate cover of Star Wars Insider 135, only available through comic book stores.

The issue celebrates 30 years of Star Wars video games, starting with The Empire Strikes Back on the Atari 2600 back in 1982 and right through to the present day, with some rare images and facts about the franchise in digital.

As you all know, Official Pix has once again been selected to oversee the autograph program at Celebration VI in O-Lando.

The Official Pix CVI Autograph Hall section of their website is up right now in the "Coming Soon" state.

Stay tuned for information on this summer’s STAR WARS Celebration - including attending autograph guests, how to pre-purchase autographs, convention exclusives, and much more!

Just a quick heads-up:

The official Celebration VI site has just been updated to include a section for the Show Store beneath the "What's Happening" heading.

Struggling to get the kids to brush their teeth? Worry no longer, because Gum Brand have released a toothbrush that's so cool you'll have trouble getting your kids away from the sink in the morning.

With different colours to signify Vader, Yoda and Anakin and a cool hilt moulded like a lightsabre, this is the most fun a Star Wars fan has had in the bathroom since Princess Leia bubble bath.

One of the absolute treasures of the UK sci-fi convention calendar is the annual SFBall, an event that is now in it's 19th year.

Held every February in Bournemouth on the south coast it's a three-day celebration of everything geek. In years past Star Wars guests such as Jerome Blake and Richard LeParmentier have graced the Ball and for many years their patron was the much-missed and legendary Michael Sheard, better known as Admiral Ozzel from The Empire Strikes Back.

Since Michael's passing the event has benefitted from the patronage of Boba Fett himself Jeremy Bulloch and we're pleased to confirm that Jeremy will be attending SFBall 19 on the weekend of the 8th to the 10th February 2013.

Jedi News can't recommend this event highly enough. SFBall 19 features some amazing guests to help celebrate the 20th anniversary of Star Trek: Deep Space 9. Armin Shimmerman, Max Grodenchik, Kitty Swink and Lolita Fatjo have been confirmed, with more guests to follow. So, do yourselves a favour and click here to book tickets to one of the warmest, friendliest and fun weekends of the year.

Ever need that kick-start in the morning? The kind that chav and blue milk just won't give you? Well, check out this latest release from Industrial Automaton, an Astromech Coffee Maker that percolates those morning blues away.

Great news from our good friend Consetta Parker at Parker Publicity.

We are thrilled to announce that Catherine Taber (voice of Padme Amidala, “Star Wars: The Clone Wars”, voice of Vette in “Star Wars: The Old Republic”) will be attending Disney Star Wars Weekends 2012!

Catherine will be a celebrity guest the weekend of June 1-3, 2012 at Disney’s Hollywood Studios in Orlando. Fan’s will have a chance to meet Catherine during daily autographs sessions, see her in the galactic daily motorcade for great photo opportunities , as well as, see her as a guest in the “Behind The Force” shows performed daily during Star Wars Weekends!

What did it feel like to be Han Solo, encased in carbonite for a long year between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi? A waking nightmare, his mind alive, breath frozen in his lungs, unable to breath, scream or move and yet fully conscious. No wonder he had hibernation sickness...

Well, the good folks over at the Disney Parks Blog give you the insider track on how to be carbon frozen during this summers Star wars Weekends.

Read on after the break for more information on how you can be immortalised in an eight inch block of carbonite, thankfully without the madness...

Our good buddy Jared Kirby has very kindly sent through this review of Nick Gillards Combat Con event in Las Vegas last summer. It gives a very clear view of what happens at the events, and exactly how much fun is to be had learning the Jedi arts from one of the men who choreographed and designed the moves. Over to participant Clair Miller.

"Last summer my husband and I had the opportunity to attend Combat Con in Las Vegas (Combat Con). There was such a large variety of classes and events going on, but one in particular caught our eye; "Jedi Fighting" with Kyle Rowling and Nick Gillard. Being fans of the lightsaber fights from all of the prequel movies, a chance to take a class with the 'master' behind them all was truly a great opportunity we would not want to miss. We weren't entirely sure what the class was going to entail, but have always been so interested in the behind the scenes development of fight choreography, that whatever we took away from the class would be worth it.

At first we thought we would be able to watch them show some of the moves from the fight scene of 'Revenge of the Sith' but we ended up all being able to pick up practice lightsabers and to learn a bit ourselves! We would learn some moves and have Nick and Kyle call us each up one-on-one to practice the bit of the scene we had learned with them.

Mr. Gillard and Mr. Rowling were wonderful teachers, and incredibly patient with everyone, even those who weren't always picking it up very quickly. If you did it well, they were quick to compliment, and if it wasnt quite right they would easily correct and explain how to improve it. My husband and I would both highly suggest that anyone with an interest in Star Wars or fight choreography in general should come to Combat Con and make this course a priority."

Dunc over at Club Jade has just reported on a brand new entry in the Her Universe clothing line. It is an Ahsoka-inspired hooded costume tunic that is slated to debut at Star Wars Weekends.

Let the countdown to Disney's Star Wars Weekends begin! Here is a sneak peek at one of the NEW items for girls! Now girls can pretend to be Ahsoka with this new costume tunic top! It's lightweight and ultra comfy! I am SO excited to finally be able to show this to you! It will debut at DSWW and it comes in sizes S-XXL for girls.

Tweets by @clubjade and I are on the @SW_Celebration #SWCVI tri-fold @OCCC table display! #StarWars twitter.com/JustinL81/stat…

— Justin LaSalata (@JustinL81) May 5, 2012

Check it out, your friendly neighbourhood LaSalata is featured on some Orange County Convention Centre literature hyping Celebration VI.

That pesky Jedi News, it's like sand. It's course and rough and it gets everywhere...

He failed in keeping the galaxy under the shroud of the dark side, so he clearly needed a change of career. But, agony aunt...?

What's up guys. So you know Return Of The Jedi? Well the Emperor didn't die when Darth threw him into the main reactor but with the Empire lost he was forced to look at an alternative career to ruling the galaxy.

The UK Garrison today remembers their late Commanding Officer, Captain / TK150-7 / VaderMaker Graham Campbell.

Click here for some history on how Graham was instrumental in establishing the UK Garrison before his untimely passing.

Jedi News salutes Graham and the UK Garrison, and in the words of Graham himself "You are the men of the Imperial Army, Let's go to work..."

The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra will be at the Nottingham Royal Concert Hall on Saturday 12th May to play classic themes from the many blockbuster movies that John Williams has scored. Of course, this will include classic themes from the Star Wars saga.

John Williams Blockbusters Concert
City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
Tommy Pearson presenter
Michael Seal conductor

Including music from: Star Wars * Raiders of the Lost Ark and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom * Close Encounters of the Third Kind * Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban * Schindler's List * The Witches of Eastwick * JFK * Jaws * Saving Private Ryan * E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial * The Lost World: Jurassic Park * Superman

No-one writes a big film theme like John Williams - no wonder he's today's most popular living composer. And if you think his music is thrilling on the big screen, just wait until you hear it live at the Royal Concert Hall - as the world-renowned City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra plays a blockbuster concert of John Williams' very greatest themes.

Click here to visit the Nottingham Royal Concert Hall website and book your tickets.

We have one pair of tickets to give away, to enter answer the simple question below and send it along with your name, address and daytime phone number. Please ONLY enter if you are able to attend the concert this Saturday night in Nottingham!

This is a quick competition, and forms part of our 5th birthday celebrations.  The competition closes at 4pm (UK time) tomorrow (10th May) - good luck and MTFBWY!

Here's another new release from the team over at Dark Horse.

Pacifist Jedi Zayne Carrick is both saving and fighting Jedi in this final issue!

Part one of Zayne’s plan to foil the Mandalorian Knights and their misguided leader is complete—but the battle is not yet won. Taking on the Mandalorians face to face is still on the agenda, and Zayne’s questionable team could blow the operation at any moment . . . With everything on the line, all Zayne can do is have faith!

CREATORS

Writer: John Jackson Miller

Penciller: Andrea Mutti

Inker: Gigi Baldassini

Colorist: Michael Atiyeh

Cover Artist: Benjamin Carré

Genre: Star Wars

Publication Date: May 09, 2012

Format: FC, 32 pages

Price: $3.50

UPC: 7 61568 18909 4 00511

Great news, in the week we celebrate our 5th anniversary and the month of the 35th anniversary of Star Wars the Jedi News Facebook page hits 1301 likes, which means we only have 711 likes to go until we reach the golden target of 2012 by 10am on 23rd August, the opening day of Celebration VI.

Can we make that target? If we do, we'll announce something really cool so tell all your GFFA buddies and help us make it happen.

It's time for the inaugural episode of the Star Wars The Old Republic Official Podcast.

Hello everyone! My name is Eric Musco and I, along with Brooks Guthrie are happy to bring you episode one of the official Star Wars: The Old Republic podcast, "Rocket Boots".

In this episode, we sit down with Daniel Erickson and Damion Schubert to talk about what we saw in Game Update 1.2 and what we can expect as we look forward to Game Update 1.3. Also, David Bass stops by to tell us about how things went at PAX East and some of our convention plans for the rest of the year. If you have any questions or comments about the show, feel free to let us know.

"The first exclusive is away!  The first exclusive is away!"

That's right, our first Celebration VI store exclusive has been revealed!

It is the Sideshow Collectibles 12" Clone Commander Ganch Figure.

We've got a guy named Travis.  He's behind all the exclusives at Star Wars Celebration.  Some he makes himself. Some he works with partners on.  We've got some 70 items overall we'll be debuting at the show, and today, we're excited to announce the first exclusive at this year's Star Wars Celebration Store, made in partnership with our friends at Sideshow Collectibles.  Straight from Lucasfilm... The Star Wars Celebration Store will premiere Sideshow's 12" figure of Clone Commander Ganch, available in very limited numbers starting the first day of the show, Thursday, August 23rd.

The exciting one-sixth scale figure boasts a number of exclusive features, including:

- Phase I and II helmets
- Detailed fabric body suit and collar
- Highly detailed full-body armor set
- A variety of interchangeable hands and boots
- BlasTech DC-15A long range blaster rifle
- BlasTech DC-15S blaster carbine
- Two BlasTech DC-17 blaster pistols and holsters
- Armored body with more than thirty points of articulation
- Base with Ganch armor symbol and lower support stand

Hey moms & dads - how does celebrating your child's birthday with 30,000+ fellow Star Wars fans sound to you? It could happen at Celebration VI in O-Lando!

This summer, Star Wars Celebration invites fans everywhere to "Join The Party!"  We're throwing the biggest Star Wars Party on the planet, and beyond the overall festivities, we want to offer some personal parties as well.  We're exploring a limited number of personal birthday celebrations for younglings at Star Wars Celebration VI.

To find out more about this exciting opportunity, click the source link listed below and complete the entry form today!

Joe Madden over at FHM.com brings us the second in a new series series of guides to becoming an alpha geek, this week giving an insight into the Star Wars Expanded Universe.

Click here for the article, where he talks to me about what's good and not so good in the Expanded Universe or check it out after the break.

Our friends over at HothBricks.com has posted a list of sets that will be available in The Sun in two weeks time, from the 19th to 27th May inclusive.  Click on the above image for a closer look that includes two LEGO Star Wars sets.

Here's the list of sets that will be available: -

• 30160 LEGO Batman Jetski
• 30161 LEGO Batman Batmobile
• 30087 LEGO Ninjago Ninja Car
• 30150 LEGO City Race Car
• 30056 LEGO Star Wars Star Destroyer
• 30018 LEGO City Police Plane
• 30010 LEGO City Fire Chief
• 30086 LEGO Ninjago Hidden Sword
• 8028 LEGO Star Wars TIE Fighter

Here's the latest update featuring new in-stock items and pre-orders from our friends at Toy Palace in Germany...

• Hasbro Anakin FX Lightsaber with Removable Blade
• Hasbro The Vintage Collection Figure Asst. 2012 Wave 2 (12 pcs)
• Hasbro Kit Fisto FX Lightsaber with Removable Blade
• Star Wars Porcelain Mug Large - Darth Maul
• Sideshow Sixth Scale Figure - Commander Neyo 30cm
• Sideshow Darth Maul Mythos Statue 46cm

Hmmm, looks like somebody over at Lucasfilm may have spilled the beans a little bit prematurely last week. Remember this story where we were given a glimpse of what appears to be animated Boba Fett armor from The Clone Wars series?

Well, that image has now been replaced, as the SW.com CVI Boba Fett story has been updated with a stock image of Boba from the vintage OT days.

Was this a slip-up on the part of Lucasfilm? Sure appears that way to me. In any event, let's just hope we are in fact treated to some animated Fett action at Celebration VI.

Check out this stunning splatter paint artwork by French artist Arian Noveir over at Behance. The gallery of pieces are insanely gorgeous and innovative.

Lids off to Arian for such an eye-catching display.

Ashley Eckstein and the gang over at Her Universe are working alongside Hot Topic to bring Star Wars and sci-fi fashion to geek girls everywhere. Here's one of the neatest releases so far, a Princess Leia hoodie, replete with buns.

Remember guys, this one's for the ladies. Wear this at Celebration VI and you're likely to be confronted by someone saying "You came in that thing? You're braver than I thought!"

STAR WARS HER UNIVERSE PRINCESS LEIA GIRLS HOODIE

$54.50

This hoodie is inspired by Princess Leia's white dress with her signature buns on the hood.

60% cotton; 40% polyester Wash cold; dry low

Listed in junior sizes

SKU: 132029

In a very brief update to the piece we posted on Sunday about Marvel Avengers Assemble, Box Office Mojo have updated their figures and amazingly the film has taken more than the estimated amount of $200,300,000, raking in $207,438,708 in North America for a worldwide total of $654,838,708 in a mere 12 days.

Surely the film is well on course to smash the $1 billion dollar barrier and pull in at least $1.5 billion. Or are we underselling it? With the golden word-of-mouth the film is receiving could it be the film to topple Avatar?

Free. Not a lazy persons way of saying three but the reason you don't need to pay for both Star Wars/Serenity and Buffy/The Guild until the end of the month. Both of these free comic book day titles will be available for free download on Dark Horse Digital starting today and running through the end of May.

DARK HORSE FREE COMIC BOOK DAY COMICS AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD FOR LIMITED TIME!

MAY 7, MILWAUKIE, OR—If you missed out on picking up your Free Comic Book Day comics at your local comic-book store, you can get them from Dark Horse Digital for a limited time!

Both Star Wars/Serenity and Buffy/The Guild will be available for free download on Dark Horse Digital starting today and running through the end of May.

Dark Horse Digital is available through all modern web browsers and features cloud storage in both the Android (beta) and iOS apps.

Make sure to check out these awesome titles from Dark Horse and support Free Comic Book Day! Free Comic Book Day has happened the first Saturday in May every year since 2002—ten years in the running! For more information on Free Comic Book Day, visit FreeComicBookDay.com.

What were you doing on 2nd May? Chances are you probably can't remember, but someone at Lucasfilm was registering a number of new domain names that have thrown fandom into a guessing frenzy.

URL's such as StarWars1313.com, SW1313.com, 1313starwars.com, 1313starwars.net, 1313sw.com, 1313sw.net, starwars1313.com, starwars1313.net, sw1313.com, and sw1313.net were registered and there's certain to be a good reason for that.

Check out this post after the break from What Culture and see what you think.

Anthony Daniels, the heart and soul behind See-Threepio, will be appearing at the London MCM Expo on 26th May. Anthony is only signing on the Saturday, so for a rare chance to meet and greet one of Star Wars great ambassadors, get your tickets now.

Lucasfilm laid me off. Contact me for full-time & freelance writing/social media gigs. Thanks! My CV: linkedin.com/in/bonnieburton

— Bonnie Burton (@bonniegrrl) May 7, 2012

That's the very sad news that was confirmed today by your friend and ours Bonnie Burton. Bonnie has parted ways with Lucasfilm, moving onto pastures new. We want to take this opportunity to wish Bonnie the very best of luck.

She's been part of the furniture since 2003, guiding us through Revenge of the Sith, befriending us at Celebrations all around the world and delighting us via How to Draw Star Wars, her Twitter and Facebook pages, her work on the Official Star Wars Blog, Star Wars Rocks, the Star Wars Craft Book and many other things too numerous to mention.

We're sure she won't be a stranger to the many Star Wars friends she has made, but it won't be the same without her.

Read on after the break as celebrities and fans wish Bonnie all the very best for the future.

We've been contacted by our good friend, Admiral Motti himself Richard LeParmentier about his forthcoming appearance this coming weekend at the Long Beach Comic Con.

Richard will be appearing on 12th May at the Long Beach Convention Centre alongside other Star Wars stars including Cat Staggs and Tom Hodges.

Check out the site right here and if you attend tell the guys Jedi News said hi!

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Very neat indeed, and all for a brilliant cause. But the best part? A sailbarge is going to be at Celebration VI! With the Gentle Giant Jabba and a room full of bikini-clad Princesses it might just be the coolest photo op yet.

In a textbook exercise of stating the obvious The Hollywood Reporter investigates exactly what happened to the stars of Star Wars after the release of the original trilogy.

You will be amazed. Apparently Harrison Ford had quite a career and Peter Mayhew appeared in Glee. Read on after the break for more golden(rod) nuggets of knowledge.

"These are not toys. High powered laser devices could have devastating consequences if used improperly. Due to the extreme powers of the Spyder 3, only operate while wearing Laser Shades in a controlled environment. These are professional stuntmen. Do not participate in any form of fencing or swordplay as it will cause serious damage to people, pets or property."

So, we've got to ask the obvious logical question. Why is this available to the general public when it's plainly apparent that these weapons could seriously injure or even kill the people using them? As ever, thoughts are welcome on our Jedi News Facebook page.

My good friend and the co-host of the excellent Sarlacc Pit podcast Chris 'Hoth Iceplanet' Smith is launching a Kickstarter project to fund a pet project of his: Trivia From a Galaxy Far, Far Away - Star Wars: Original Trilogy Edition.

Why do you love Star Wars? Because of the movies right? For the most part everyone falls in love with Star Wars because of the movies. You might love a lot of things in Star Wars, or if your like me pretty much everything, but the movies are what started it all for us.

Now we have a brand new trivia book from the Star Wars universe called: "Trivia from a galaxy far, far away.... Star Wars: Original Trilogy Edition". This edition has 1,138 trivia questions from the original trilogy Star Wars movies.

This book is for all ages, but was created for the first and second Star Wars generations, to pass along the love of the movies to out third generation and beyond. This book will help to excite the younglings who have only known the "Clone Wars" for now. Watching these movies now, they will become more intrigued as they search for answers.

So jump on over and join our publication team for some great rewards:Trivia From a Galaxy Far, Far Away

Have an amazing Star Wars collection? One that you feel is unique and different from the norm? Well, the Collectors Showcase at this August's Celebration VI could be just the event for you.

Here's how you can be a part of this unique collectors event.

Each Star Wars collection is as unique as the people who assembled it. Whether your collection fills a single shelf or a full house, the Celebration VI Collecting Track will show what sets your collection apart. Maybe you have the weirdest assortment of t-shirts, or posters from every country where Star Wars movies were shown. Maybe you just have a flair for displaying your stash in ways that even non-fans can appreciate. The Celebration VI Collector Showcase is your chance to provide fellow collectors with ideas on how to make their own collections shine. Select images from those submitted will be displayed in the Collectors' community area at Star Wars Celebration VI.

Daniel Jones, founder of the Jedi Church has been thrown out of a Tesco in bangor, Wales for not removing his hood. Jones, who claims to have 500,000 followers around the world, claims to have been left 'emotionally damaged'.

'It states in our Jedi doctrination that I can wear headwear. It just covers the back of my head. You have a choice of wearing headwear in your home or at work but you have to wear a cover for your head when you are in public.

They said: "Take it off", and I said "No, its part of my religion. It's part of my religious right." I gave them a Jedi church business card. They weren't listening to me. They wasted my personal time. They were rude and not very nice to me. They had three people around me. It was intimidating.

It was discrimination. They were making a joke against me. I was really upset. Nobody should be treated like that. We have 500,000 members in our church. It is a religion founded in Wales with a scripture and ceremonies'

For their part supermarket giants Tesco had this to say.

'He hasn't been banned. Jedis are very welcome to shop in our stores although we would ask them to remove their hoods. Obi-Wan Kenobi, Yoda and Luke Skywalker all appeared hoodless without ever going over to the Dark Side and we are only aware of the Emperor as one who never removed his hood.

If Jedi walk around our stores with their hoods on, they'll miss lots of special offers.'

Any fan of the galaxy far, far away knows that one of the harshest environments is the iceball of Hoth. Via his Flickr account, Vesa Lehtimäki brings you the harsh reality of living your life on the ice planet Hoth as well as being made of LEGO bricks. It's tough, it's not all fun and games and, well...see for yourself right here and try not to feel too chilly.

It's the film that practically everyone has been talking about, the film that practically everyone loves and judging by the unbelievable box office figure it's just racked up the film everyone has gone to see this weekend in North America and Canada.

Marvel Avengers Assemble has absolutely obliterated the previous three-day record of $169,189,427 held by last years excellent Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part Two by bringing in an estimated $200,300,000 since it's US release at midnight on 4th May. With a worldwide haul of $641,800,000 it's (Hulk) smashed a number of records. It became the fastest to $100 million, $150 million and $200 million, a benchmark it managed in a puny three days compared to The Dark Knights five days, nabbed 82.7% of the market share, second only to Spider-Man 3's 83.3%. It took both the all-time biggest opening weekend and all-time biggest adjusted as well as the biggest Saturday haul of $69,700,000 and the biggest Sunday, $50,100,000.

If you haven't seen it go now. It's a marvel (pun intended), showcases some truly stunning ILM effects and simply put is two and a half hours of pure unadulterated geek heaven. Congratulations to all involved on this colossal success.

From IGN:

The Star Wars universe is massive. Aside from the six films, there are umpteen books, games and comics that are officially part of the canon. The sheer scope of the mythology makes it rather hard to accurately prophecy what might be coming for Star Wars: The Old Republic (SWtOR) in future updates but it does give us more than ample scope for some wild speculation and wishful thinking.

SWtOR runs with a hybrid approach to races – rather than simply taking an "equal and opposite" approach like World of Warcraft or a straight universal approach in which any faction can employ any playable race, it instead merges the two approaches, with races that cross the faction divide as well as species that are unique (outside of Legacy rewards) to the faction. We've taken a similar approach to come up with these suggestions for races we'd love to see incorporated into the game.

Admit it - you love LEGO Star Wars minifigures. They're cute, whimsical, and cool to collect. But did you know these little guys are also tough as nails?

How tough you ask? How about tough enough to brave the extreme elements on the icy snow planet known as Hoth?

Check out the article posted on io9:

Opportunities for skiing aside, life on Hoth can be brutal. The planet features little life (and some of that life wants to eat you), and if you're separated from your home base and your tauntauns, you're likely in for an icy death. The dramatic Lego scenes capture the highs and lows of life on the snowy Star Wars planet.

Vesa Lehtimäki creates these action scenes, which rise above most toy photography. There's life in his little Lego men — sometimes sad or terrified life, sometimes routine or even amused life. Hey, he even managed to get Darth Vader to go skiing, albeit without his helmet. Vader should really watch out for those rocky patches beneath the powder.

For the rest of the article and to see more action scenes from Vesa, take the source link below.

This Saturday the Birmingham Symphony Orchestra will be at the Nottingham Royal Concert Hall playing classic John Williams themes. We've had an update to let us know that there will be Stormtroopers keeping everyone in check and watching out for missing droids, also there is a family ticket available (four people, max. two adults) for just £50.00.

Once again the family takes centre stage as Celebration VI announces more locations and activities. The Family Room will make a welcome return as O'Lando prepares to be Star Wars'd once again.

Family Fun in the Family Room

Star Wars Celebration VI will offer endless opportunities for young fans to have fun. The Family Room will be an exciting place for kids to hang out together with their families, designed with younger Star Wars fans in mind. Open every day of the show, the Family Room offers a variety of fun activities that kids and their families can participate in together. Parents and kids can drop in at any time to make a craft, play a game, or just relax in a comfy chair with a Star Wars book. The Family Room is a large space, and multiple activities will be going on all the time. Coloring, crafts, games, and puzzles are always available. Other activities, such as droid painting, drawing lessons, and Building Challenges, are offered at scheduled times throughout the Convention. Whenever you stop by, there is sure to be something fun going on.

The full list of fan tables has been announced for August 23rd's Celebration VI, and a motley crew of sites it is. Check out the list after the break for the full rundown of participating sites.

Some people are blessed with an abundance of talent, and Nick McKaig is one of those people. There's every likelihood he could sing the phone book and make it interesting, but on this occasion he's opted to sing the Main Theme to Star Wars.

On a day like today, this is simply too cool and funny not to post. Who can resist? Here at Lightsabre Towers I'm dancing with Ewoks, Gungans and women in bikini's who dare not walk past magnet factories...

We all know Han Solo is one of the best pilots in the galaxy, and his partner Chewbacca one of the most able co-pilots in the known worlds. But what you likely didn't know is that both of them are rather excellent on skateboards.

Watch this video as Han and CHewie arrive on Earth and show us just what they can do with planks of wood and an empty road.

Here's another new release from the team over at Dark Horse.

Han Solo and Chewbacca have a falling-out after a deal with a shady customer goes bad. When the client gets designs on the Millennium Falcon, Han and Chewie present a united front that can’t be beat! “Mal” Reynolds, captain of the outlaw vessel Serenity, is no stranger to jobs gone wrong. But when the chips are down, he’s able to rely on an amazing, odd, and diversely talented crew for help!

CREATORS

Writer: Zack Whedon

Penciller: Davidé Fabbri, Fábio Moon

Inker: Fábio Moon, Christian Dalla Vecchia

Cover Adam Hughes, Daniel Dos Santos

Genre: Star Wars

Publication Date: May 05, 2012

Format: FC, 32 pages

Price: $0.00

UPC: 7 61568 20190 1

Everybody's talking about Star Wars Celebration VI in Orlando, Florida this summer. But what's the average Joe - or Jane - to do?

Wanna know the answer to this question posed earlier today?

Find out right here!

Gentlemen, are you looking for a unique way to display your love for Darth Maul (and Star Wars in general for that matter) in a more formal & professional manner? If so, I think CuffLinks.com has you covered.

They have a great-looking pair of metal cufflinks in the design of Maul's lightsaber hilt. While a bit on the pricey side ($125/pair), there's no denying the "wow factor" these cufflinks would generate the next time you want to spruce up a boring dress shirt.

From a galaxy far, far away comes a pair of cufflinks so immaculately detailed, you can practically hear the hum of the Sith buzzing from your wrist. Villainous detail and executed with elegance, be sure to arm yourself before heading out into the Jedi-filled ranks of your work place with Cufflinks, Inc.'s officially licensed Lucasfilm LTD replica Star Wars 3-D Darth Maul Lightsaber Flip Bar Cufflinks. Captured in shiny plated base metal with red enamel lights signifying the dark side, add some Sith to your cuff today and get free shipping!

Folds flat for storage when you can let your guard down!

Officially Licensed Star Wars Cufflinks.

In addition to the Maul cufflinks, they have an entire series of Star Wars cufflinks available to choose from.

Back in 1979 when she was elected Britains first female Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher enjoyed the admiration of the British public. While that would change somewhat over the following decade, she was indirectly responsible for this very day.

Yes, it turns out that today's stand-out phrase originated back when the Iron Lady was elected to office. The London Evening Standard printed 'Congratulations Maggie, May the 4th be with you!'

Further to that, it was later brought up in Parliament and almost caused a researcher his job.

Mr. Deputy Speaker (Mr. Geoffrey Lofthouse) : Order. I can assure the hon. Gentleman that that is not uncommon in this place, whatever is supposed to happen.

Mr. Cohen : Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker. If that point of order was an allusion to me, I can tell the hon. Gentleman that I was here for the opening speeches, and for some of the speeches that followed.

May the fourth is an appropriate date for a defence debate. My researcher, who is a bit of a wit, said that it should be called national star wars day. He was talking about the film "Star Wars" rather than President Reagan's defence fantasy, and he added, "May the fourth be with you." That is a very bad joke ; he deserves the sack for making it, but he is a good researcher.

Bravo that man, and at the risk of being repetitive - May the fourth be with you!

Wait a second - what is this? I just saw this rotating landing page on the SW.com CVI section and had to do a triple-take to make sure my eyes weren't deceiving me.

Is this what I think it is - an animated suit of Boba Fett armor from The Clone Wars?

Sure looks that way to me!!

Let's hope we see more at Celebration VI!

Anyone born in the 60's and 70's will absolutely flip for this, a mash-up of coolness to rival Star Wars and ponies. Scalextrix has joined forces with Star Wars to bring us sets of Scalextrix beginning in June 2012.

Goldenrod himself Anthony Daniels said "I had a thrilling Scalextric set when I was a child and it’s great to see the brand is now stronger than ever. The launch of this exciting new range takes Scalextric and Star Wars deeper into that ever-expanding galaxy. Fans will jump to lightspeed to get behind the controls of this one!"

Next month, Scalextric releases the first ever products from its three-year global licensing partnership with Star Wars TM, the most successful film series of all time.

Joining forces with Scalextric to celebrate this momentous occasion, British Star Wars TM actor, Anthony Daniels (C-3PO) said, “I had a thrilling Scalextric set when I was a child and it’s great to see the brand is now stronger than ever. The launch of this exciting new range takes Scalextric and Star Wars deeper into that ever-expanding galaxy. Fans will jump to lightspeed to get behind the controls of this one!

The Scalextric products available from June 2012 include Micro Scalextric set called Death Star Attack featuring X-Wing TM vs TIE Fighter TM. A pursuit battle game, on a 3.8m length circuit, with glow-in-the-dark track and illuminated starfighters!

Also available is the Battle of Endor, a Scalextric Start set featuring Luke Skywalker TM vs Biker Scout TM. Speeder Bikes piloted by Luke Skywalker and a Scout Trooper race around the 4.3m printed Endor forest scene track and duck through the hazards; depicting the famous scene from Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi TM movie.

Paul Chandler, Marketing Manager at Scalextric, commented: “We have worked on the Scalextric-Star Wars project for over two years now and we are delighted with the products we have created, working in close partnership with Lucasfilm Ltd. The combination of the incredible Scalextric slot racing system together with the iconic characters and vehicles from Star Wars TM is truly unique. And together, the Force is even stronger!”

Individual, highly detailed versions of the Speeder Bikes (C3299 Luke Skywalker TM and C3298 PaplooTM the Ewok TM), with additional electronic light effects and alternative decoration features, are also available later this year.

Here at Jedi News we honestly cannot remember May 4th being celebrated with such gusto across Star Wars fandom, and the many licencees have absolutely spoiled us on this fun day. The latest to weigh in with an amazing offer is Digital Dark Horse, and here's some info on what they are offering today.

DARK HORSE DIGITAL: MAY THE 4th BE WITH YOU SALE! A GALAXY OF STAR WARS COMICS FOR $99.99!

MAY 4, MILWAUKIE, OR—Dark Horse Comics is joining in on the May the Fourth madness with a very exclusive limited offer to their digital comics readers.

Get blasted into a galaxy far, far away with this amazing May the Fourth Be with You MegaBundle!

May you pay a fourth of the regular listed price for these digital comics? Why, yes! This is the MegaBundle you’re looking for, but only here for a limited time, it is.

This collection places 3,600 pages of Star Wars goodness right at your fingertips, including some of our most popular Star Wars series, such as Knights of the Old Republic, Blood Ties, Star Wars Tales, Rebellion, and Dark Times, as well as some of our newest series, such as Dawn of the Jedi, Agent of the Empire, and Crimson Empire III.

Star Wars fans can also check out a free, exclusive preview of Darth Maul: Death Sentence #1 on Dark Horse Digital!

And for May 4th only, Barnes & Noble NOOK Tablet and NOOK Color™ will have Star Wars: The Old Republic Volume 1 available for $4.99 in the NOOK Comics™ store.

Dark Horse Digital is available through all modern web browsers and as an app in both the Android and iTunes stores.

The May the Fourth Be With You Sale ends Sunday at midnight. Stop by Dark Horse Digital and get all the Star Wars comics you could want and more!

John Jackson Millers excellent Star Wars: The Lost Tribe of the Sith is coming to comics on August 8th and USA Today have got the inside track on the series.

Read on after the break for more information on the latest entry in the Star Wars story.

The last remnants of the Empire have been defeated, and it is a period of peace in the galaxy. The Jedi Order, no longer needed in their role as defenders, have scattered across the stars and started new lives...while the Sith wait quietly hidden in their midst.

Such a Jedi and her Sith counterpart have found common ground and established a new business together on a remote planet. United by a love of animals and a belief in the force, they have rededicated their lives to the art of grooming.

Their latest mission leads them to the base of a former Rebel. Though the war is over, they have not forgotten where their true allegiances lie...

Miss the original Saber episode? No problem, check it out below.

There are a galaxy of dedicated Star Wars fans, many of whom show their love for Star Wars by building, crafting and trooping their fandom. But this bike is a bit special, a vehicle fit for any officer in the Imperial Army.

We’re celebrating May 4th, the unofficial world Star Wars day – "May the fourth be with you", get it? – with this amazing tribute. The Phat Stormtrooper is the work of Russian sci-fi fan Max Denislov (aka Dee Troy), from Moscow's Rastabike BC.

A designer by trade, Max decided to start the bike as a tribute to George Lucas and Star Wars. He'd previously built a custom Felt Ghost Rider, which can be seen here. The Phat Stormtrooper is based on a Phat Cycles Stretch Delux cruiser frame. Max drew the bike up using graphic design programs, created 3D models, cut the shapes from polyurethane foam and then made them using fibreglass and resin.

The amount of detail on the bike is incredible, from the custom chain guard, mudguards, valve caps and headlight, to the specially designed fork crown (a set of standard forks was widened from 90mm to 130mm to accommodate the broad tyres and styled from an image Max saw on a Star Wars poster).

Here we go! The first batch (of what we hope is MANY) of Celebration VI Guests has just been announced!

• Carrie Fisher
• Dave Filoni
• Joel Aron
• Jeremy Bulloch
• Daniel Logan
• Dickey Beer
• John Morton

Keep your targeting computers locked onto Jedi News as we bring you all your Celebration VI news & updates as they happen!

Get those credit cards ready, 'cause they're gonna be put to the test today! Tons of great deals have just been announced on the the official site:

In celebration of May the Fourth, several Lucasfilm partners have posted big limited-time savings and special online/in-store events for "Star Wars Day," the biggest such offering in recent memory. Be sure to check out the major deals and events listed below, and May the Fourth Be With You!

Don't delay - check out these deals now!

The team over at Dark Horse are spoiling us again today. This time out we get a preview of July 25th's Darth Maul: Death Sentence.

By now the galaxy has learned the terrible truth: Sith Lord Darth Maul still lives. Worse, he has joined forces with his brother Savage Opress!

The Jedi are searching for them and, after Maul and Opress cut a murderous swath through the Outer Rim, so is an army of mercenaries hired by a wealthy mine owner.

Darth Maul has a price on his head, and for him there is only one way to deal with such a problem: go directly to the source!

CREATORS

Writer: Tom Taylor

Artist: Bruno Redondo

Colorist: Michael Atiyeh

Letterer: Michael Heisler

Cover Artist: Dave Dorman

Genre: Star Wars

Publication Date: July 25, 2012

Format: FC, 32 pages

Price: $3.50

UPC: 7 61568 21327 0 00111

Posted at EW.com:

On May 4, fans celebrate the sci-fi classic; we do our part with a look at its long reach in pop culture, from Lady Gaga to Ronald Reagan.

Posted by Eric Goldman over at IGN:

If you’ve been to Star Wars Celebration before, you know the convention offers a ton to see and do for Star Wars fans. And if you haven’t been yet, well, hopefully you can make it to Celebration VI this summer in August!

Lucasfilm has provided me with two four-day passes to Star Wars Celebration VI to give away, which will get you into every day of the convention, from August 23rd to August 26th. I’ll be choosing one winner to get both passes, so you'll have one for yourself and can bring along one other lucky person! But of course, I’m looking for a big Star Wars fan...

In the comments below, let me know who your favorite Star Wars character is and why. The winner will be chosen randomly on Friday, May 25th (if you’re a Star Wars fan, you know the significance of that date!). Make sure you check your IGN wall to see if you won between May 25th and Wednesday, June 4th. If the winner has not claimed their prize by the end of June 4th, I'll be choosing someone else!

Oh yeah - the official site gets things rolling big time this Star Wars Day with a sneak peek at Season 5 of The Clone Wars!

Check out the 35 second teaser trailer right here!

The Official Site has really pushed the skiff out today by allowing us to download the entire second chapter of Timothy Zahn's long-awaited Han Solo caper Scoundrels.

Click here to download and read the chapter and continue the countdown to December 26th and the release of the book.

This from Cris Machts' YouTube channel...

A very special treat for all of you that have been following us - please pass this on and share the link! HAPPY (early) May the 4th (be with you!)

We know it's May 4th/Star Wars day but it's also a VERY special day for us at Jedi News because it's also our birthday!  This year we celebrate our 5th birthday and we thank all our readers and our amazing team too - without whom we'd have nothing!

We have lots of prizes to give away over the course of the month - from figures to concert tickets and everything in-between and we'll be kicking off our first competition over the weekend.  We're sorry but entries are only available to UK residents in all cases but you'll get an extra entry if you're either following us on Twitter or Facebook - take the respective links to join up if you've not done so already.

Thing From Another World are running a one-day only Star Wars sale that ends at midnight tonight.

Click here for a closer look at the amazing array of items they have in this special one-day celebration sale.

More news from Gentle Giant...

Happy May the 4th! In honor of the occasion, we're offering a surprise 24-hour sale on all Star Wars items! Any orders for in stock Star Wars Products placed on May 4th, 2012 will receive a shipping discount when the payment is processed for the order. Free shipping will be applied to all the eligible domestic orders and 50% of the shipping will be deducted for all eligible international orders.

Please note: Shipping fees will appear on your order confirmation. Order totals will be adjusted before payment is processed.

...and don't forget about their Kit Fisto Mini Bust giveaway...

LAST CHANCE TO ENTER OUR KIT FISTO GIVEAWAY! Go to our blog to find out how you can enter this contest!

That not enough? We're running a May the 4th Caption This Contest! Funniest caption, as determined by the staff here at Gentle Giant, will win a $50 Gift Card to GentleGiantLtd.com! Deadline to enter is 11:30am PST.

The good people over at We Love Fine have asked us to post an update regarding their excellent May the 4th

For any Star Wars items in the store, customers will NOT be priced at 30% off prior to checkout; Instead, customers will enter promo code MAYTHE4TH upon checkout, and 30% will be deducted from ALL Star Wars items in their cart.

What a great offer. Get on over there and start ordering.

Read on for the latest product updates from Site Sponsor Big Bad Toy Store that features a batch of new arrivals and many more new pre-orders...

You can always rely on the brilliant Stephen Stanton to bring the class and the funny to any situation, and once again he's knocked it out of the park. Check out this awesome image of Stephen as Grand Moff Tarkin, to celebrate May the 4th.

"May the Fourth is a special day so I decided to go all out and get dressed up as one of my favorite Star Wars characters! Can you guess who I am :::::))))) May the Fourth Be With You All!!!"

Brilliant news for all fans of Star Wars and Hughes the Force, the film will be available to watch for free on the internet from 25th May 2012. Check after the break for the press release with all the great news.

Here's a cool piece via our friends over at the Star Wars Prequel Appreciation Society about a clash of two very fun celebrations.

The Mexican government is deeply upset that May the 4th is quickly overshadowing Cinco de Mayo. Soon this totally made up faux holiday will be an excuse to drink beer and eat Star Wars cookies.

Speaking as someone who happens to enjoy beer and cookies very much I say this can only be a good thing. Here's to May the 4th and Revenge of the 5th!

We've been contacted by Jedi News reader Wayne Brough about a very special auction taking place next weekend 12th May in Guildford, Surrey here in the UK. Over to Wayne.

I work for Wellers Auctions in the Uk and we are holding a Film and Music memorabilia auction on Saturday 12th May in Guildford Surrey England. This includes a small amount of Star Wars items from a retired 20th Century Fox employee which include:

• Lot 635 - Design layout of R2 - D2 with german text (estimated at £300-£500)
• Lot 637 - Poster art used in the production of the Empire Strikes Back 'Gone with the Wind' style poster acrylic and ink on board possibly by Roger Kastel (estimated £3000-£5000)
• Lot 638 - Unused Empire Strikes Back poster design by Ronald William 'Josh' Kirby (the artist for The Return Of The Jedi Quad poster) signed Josh Kirby acrylic and ink on board (estimated £5000-£8000)

For more information please visit www.wellersauctions.com for more info and photos. Thanks, Wayne Brough

Thank you Wayne, fascinating stuff. We'll be sure to bring you more information from the auction as we get it.

Our friends over at Gentle Giant have put up complete 360 degree images of the Gamorrean Guard Jumbo Kenner 12" Figure which is available as one of the five PGM gifts for 2012.  Also, they're extending the guaranteed pre-order deadline for the 2012 PGM Gifts until June 1st, 2012 - giving you another few weeks to get the Gamorrean Guard!  Take the link below to see all the images...

LEGO have lots of Star Wars related offers today to celebrate May 4th/Star Wars day...

• Free Delivery on orders of £50 or more ($75)
• Free Exclusive TC-14 Minifigure on orders of £50 or more ($75)
• PLUS Exclusive R2-D2 Poster (see below - click on image for a closer look) and Mini TIE Fighter with any LEGO Star Wars Order!

Collect a limited-edition LEGO® Exclusive R2-D2™ Poster of the Ultimate Collector Series R2-D2™! Decorate your wall with a full-color design of this cool brick-build Droid and his true-to-film functions! Includes facts and a short biography of R2-D2, the most famous Droid in the Star Wars™ galaxy!

• Features a full-color design of the LEGO® Star Wars™ Ultimate Collector Series R2-D2™
 • Includes detailed photos of the model’s features, functions and facts

There's two new products to pre-order from Sideshow.  To start with we have the first in the new Mythos Polystone Statue Series which features Darth Maul (standing 18" high).  The second product is the next Sixth Scale Figure in the Militaries of Star Wars collection and is OOM-9 Battle Droid Commander.

Both are scheduled to ship in quarter 4 2012 and pre-order the exclusive versions of both whilst stocks last!

Our friends over at Sandtroopers.com have got their hands on carded and loose images of six of the seven figures from the San Diego Comic Con Carbon Freezing Chamber set that includes Sandtrooper, Bespin Princess Leia, Darth Vader, Jar Jar Binks, Clone Lt., and the Shocktrooper. The only figure missing is Jar Jar Binks in Carbonite. 

Remember that these figures will also be available at retail in both the Lost Line and Vintage card backs (just like last year's Revenge figures).  Take the link below for all the images...

It's May 4th... and Mimoco have brought out a limited edition Darth Maul MIMOBOT limited to just 504!  Take the link below to order before they're all gone!

Also, check out this great May 4th video from Mimoco too...

The title says it all. No need to elaborate on this one.

Today is our day. Celebrate it by having a Star Wars blu-ray viewing party, dive into some recipes from the Star Wars Cookbooks, or get your creative juices flowing with design ideas from Bonnie Burton's Craft Book.

How ever you decide to honor today, just remember to do one thing:

Celebrate loud & proud.

Rock the 'Wars...

A new DVD documentary on the 501st Legion detailing their involvement at Celebration V is now available for purchase.

Every once in a while Star Wars fans like to get together...and throw the biggest CELEBRATION in the galaxy.

Episode 501 is a 10-minute documentary that serves as an exciting overview of what the 501st Legion is all about, how it began and the pivotal role it plays in helping make celebrations like this possible.

In addition, enjoy over 90 minutes of special features, including The Imperial Bash, Droid Hunt, the Group Photo, Sci-Fried Live, and so much more!

Head on over to the source link provided below and place your order today!

Looks like a lot of fun for a great cause is to be had in York on Friday.

A Star Wars themed event – May The Fourth Be With You – is being held at a York pub in aid of young cancer patients.

Staff and customers at the Derwent Arms in Osbaldwick will don Yoda and Princess Leia costumes at tomorrow’s casino night in aid of the Neuroblastomabn Society, which fundraises to fight the rare and aggressive form of childhood cancer.

It is hoped some of the funds raised will also go towards brave Kelfield youngster Jamie Inglis, who has suffered a neuroblastoma relapse and has undergone surgery to have a tumour that causedparalysis removed from his spine.

The six-year-old’s family are now working to raise as much as £250,000 to pay for lifesaving relapse treatment with experts in Germany.

Sue King, the landlady of the Derwent Arms, said about the fundraising: “I don’t think a lot of people know about the Neuroblastoma Society charity, children tend to get missed out.

Have fun folks and raise some money huh?

To help kick off the Star Wars Day festivities a little early, our friend Andy G. sends over the following email:

Here's a music video of a song called, "May the 4th be with You" about losing a whole collection of rare Star Wars toys. Thought you'd enjoy.

Thanks for the link Andy, and May The 4th Be With You as well!

We've been expecting it all along, but now we have official confirmation:

May 4th is gonna be huge for Star Wars fans.

MTV Geek got an early inside scoop on what's in store for fans on Star Wars Day. From new eCards to special retail deals to...wait for it...

Celebration VI updates!

Get pumped people!

This from our friends at LEGO in the US, click on the images for a closer look...

To celebrate “May the 4th be with you” this year - LEGO Star Wars is creating a virtual mosaic experience for fans.

This Friday, May 4th,  fans visiting LEGO brand retail stores and LEGO.com are encouraged to build a LEGO Star Wars creation, take a photo of that amazing creation and then upload it to the starwars.lego.com/creations page. These images will then be compiled into the largest ever LEGO Star Wars virtual mosaic image to be revealed on May 5th!

Additionally, one photo submitter will be selected at random to win a limited LEGO Darth Maul desktop build. I attached front & back images of the postcard that will be passed out at LEGO brand retail stores.

As far as we're aware this is only open to residents in the US!

Our friend Mark at Sublevel Studios has done it again and created an awesome new t-shirt design featuring Baby Fett riding his Slave I.  You can get this t-shirt today and only at ShirtPunch.com... I have a feeling this one will really fly!

Earlier this week we brought you two stunning images by French artist Gary. Today we present this brilliant TIE Fighter pilot cover for yet another never-produced 35th issue of Dark Horse's Empire series.

Could this be an image of Darth Maul from September's fifth season of The Clone Wars? Dunc over at Club Jade seems to think so and has directed us over to the Star Wars The Clone Wars Facebook page.

Exciting stuff, and on the back of our report last week telling of Sam Witwer being in the studio it could all add up to more Maul in season five.

You may have heard of this project a while back when it was in it's infancy. Drew:The Man Behind The Poster is almost complete, but funding has run dry and now film maker Erik P Sharkey has turned to Indiegogo and the generosity of Struzan fans to see the project home. Over to Erik.

Drew Struzan Doc Needs Completion Funds

My name is Erik P Sharkey. I have been making films since I was a child and always dreamed of being a filmmaker. I have sank every dollar I had and money I didn't have to make a Documentary titled Drew:The Man Behind The Poster about my favorite Illustrator Drew Struzan. His artwork for films such as Star Wars, Back To The Future, and Indiana Jones sparked my imagination as a child and I want to share my love for his work with the world.

Along with my partners Greg Boas and Charles Ricciardi we have been able to film amazing all new interviews with George Lucas, Harrison Ford, Michael J. Fox, and Steven Spielberg to name a few. We have done this out of our own pocket with our own time. But the money has totally run out. We need your help to finish this film that will honor one of our finest Illustrators. Please help us with the completion funds we need and support truly independent filmmakers..

This looks amazing. Sideshow Collectibles have announced their latest release, the Darth Maul Mythos statue.

Here's the latest from Sideshow.

Remember that the Sideshow Exclusive Darth Maul Mythos Statue will be available for Pre-Order through the Sideshow Newsletter on Thursday, May 3rd, 2012, which is typically published between 2PM and 3PM (Pacific Time). For those of you who can’t wait to see the full reveal of this Star Wars collectible, we’re posting the product gallery and info a bit early.

The Sideshow Exclusive Darth Maul Mythos Statue will be priced at $249.99, will have a $25 Non-Refundable Deposit charged 24 to 48 hours after a Pre-Order is placed, and will have Payment plans available! Make sure you log into your newsletter account on May 3rd, 2012 to secure this piece for your collection.

We're thrilled to announce that a new comic shop will be opening in Lichfield, Staffordshire next week. And it's owned by a very good friend of the site.

Louis Turfrey, my old co-owner over at Lightsabre.co.uk launches Computers and Comics next Tuesday 8th May and he'll be offering a vast array of comics and genre memorabilia as well as the more practical service of computer repair.

Check out the site here and join us in wishing Louis the very best of luck.

Visit the official Star Wars Identities site for more information on this awesome exhibition.

From the official site:

Jedi and Sith alike will revel in the latest Course of the Force announcement -- the schedule that will allow all Star Wars fans to plan for an epic event. Officials at Lucasfilm, Ltd., Nerdist Industries and Octagon are thrilled to present the stops for Course of the Force, benefitting Make-A-Wish, as it travels down the California coastline, July 7-11.

Point your browser HERE for the full story and event locations, dates, & times.

For more information on this exciting event, visit CourseOfTheForce.com.

The Empire is here to lend a helping hand when cracking open your favorite ice cold beverage.

Check out this cool new Death Star Bottle Opener available from Entertainment Earth:

That's no moon! That's a fully armed and operational bottle opener! Cast in solid metal, this Death Star opener features all the detail of the famous Imperial battle station from Star Wars, but at four inches in diameter it fits in the palm of your hand, and the small exhaust port opens bottles with ease. Plus, a magnet on the back allows it to hang ominously on your refrigerator! The ability to destroy a planet is insignificant next to the power of applied force! Comes packaged in a collector's case with a full-color wrap.

Our friends from Hasbro UK have been in touch regarding the forthcoming waves of The Vintage Collection figures and this is what they had to say...

We are pleased to confirm that Star Wars Vintage Action Figures Waves 1, 1.5, 2, 2.2 and 2.5 will be available in the UK.  Please note that waves 2.2 and 2.5 will be available in limited quantities from Gear 4 Games Forbidden Planet International.

Good news indeed - the UK will be seeing all waves through to 2.5 and as we announced recently we expect to see wave 3 in August/September.

Here's the breakdown of each of those waves: -

• Wave 1.5 - Ep1 Qui-Gon Jinn (Final Battle), Ep1 Darth Maul (Final Battle), Ep1 Battle Droid, Ep1 Darth Sidious, Ep1 Anakin (Padawan), Ep1 Naboo Royal Guard, Ep1 Quinlan Vos, Luke Skywalker (Jedi Origin), Princess Leia (Sandstrom), Lando Calrissian, Rebel Trooper (Colonel Cracken), Rebel A-Wing Pilot (Mon Calamari)
• Wave 2.0 - Ep1 Qui-Gon Jinn (Final Battle), Ep1 Darth Maul (Final Battle), Ep1 Battle Droid, Ep1 Darth Sidious, Ep1 Anakin (Padawan), Ep1 Naboo Royal Guard, Clone Wars Anakin, EpIV Darth Vader, EpIV Imperial Navy Commander, EpV Luke (Hoth), Expanded Universe Darth Malgus (The Old Republic).
• Wave 2.2 - Ep1 Qui-Gon Jinn (Final Battle), Ep1 Darth Maul (Final Battle), Luke Skywalker (Jedi Origin), Clone Wars Anakin, EpIV Darth Vader, EpV Luke (Hoth), EpIII Aayla Secura, Expanded Universe Non Anor, EpIII 501st Clone Trooper, EpIV Kithaba, EpIV Dr.Cornelius Evazan, EpVI Rebel Pilot Wedge.
• Wave 2.50 - Ep1 Darth Maul (Final Battle), EpIII Aayla Secura, Expanded Universe Non Anor, EpVI Kithaba, EpIV Dr.Cornelius Evazan, EpII Bariss Offee, EpV Bespin Han, EpIV Bom Vimdim, Expanded Universe ARC Trooper Commander, EpIV Logray, EpVI Gamorrean Guard, EpIV Rebel Fleet Trooper.

Remember you can follow Hasbro UK on Facebook.

Hellooo, what have we here?

The mecca of Star Wars collectibles, Rancho Obi-Wan, has just opened an eBay Seller account!

They are currently selling their 2012 Initiate Memberships for $35.00 (with free shipping too).

Be sure to keep an eye on their Seller page to see if/when new items are added!

Tom Hiddleston, the actor who plays Loki in the frankly magnificent Marvel Avengers Assemble (which I saw last night and is everything a member of the Merry Marvel Marching Society could wish for: funny, exciting, tragic, epic) has been interviewed by the good folks over at Aint it Cool about the character, the film and his involvement in future movies, specifically Thor 2.

Interestingly, Hiddleston likened Loki to a couple of very famous Star Wars villains:

Tom Hiddleston: What’s so fascinating about Loki is that he is constantly and has done, for the history of the comic books and the history of the Norse mythology, he is constantly dancing on a tight rope, which swings between darkness and redemption and it’s no secret that in AVENGERS he is indulging and yielding to his darkest instincts. What fascinates me about the future of the character is if he can swing back and when and how. I don’t know that it will ever happen in THOR 2, because I haven’t seen a script, but I think that spiritual flexibility in him is really the most fascinating aspect of his characterization and one has to ask “Can he be forgiven by Thor and Odin for what he does?” “Can he accept forgiveness?” “Has he gone to the dark side forever?” It’s kind of like he’s Anakin Skywalker in that way. I mean I’ve only just thought that, but there’s that sort of like

The Kidd: Where anything could set him in one direction of the other.

Tom Hiddleston: Yeah, but I honestly don’t know if he’s headed towards Emperor Palpatine or the way that he somehow has a glimmer of redemption in him.

The Kidd That old Anakin Skywalker where after they take the helmet off.

Tom Hiddleston: I mean I would be honored if… Darth Vader is the greatest villain in cinematic history, so I’m not suggesting that I’m even at that level, but just psychologically that’s an interesting place to play.

Register & play The DK Quiz for Star Wars: May The 4th Be With You and be in with a chance of winning Star Wars DVD’s and a Samsung DVD player!

Take the link below and good luck!

It's time for the latest issue of The Star Wars Insider and for the 133rd issue the team at Titan Towers are celebrating the art of war.

Check out my article on the 501st, Celebrating 10 Years of Kamino's Finest as well as myself and James Burns on My Star Wars with Sam Witwer and Red Five with Danny Wagner.

Issue highlights:

• This Time It's War! The top ten battles in the Star Wars saga, clone troopers 10th birthday celebration, and the lowdown on the stunning new book Star Wars: The Essential Guide to Warfare!
• Warwick Davis answers your questions, Jeffrey Brown on his indie cartoon book Darth Vader and Son, and Sam Witwer reveals his Star Wars favorites! Star Wars: The Clone Wars director Duwayne Dunham on the creative process behind "The Pursuit of Peace" and "Water War".
• Behind the scenes on the Volkswagen Superbowl advertisement, plus all the latest Star Wars books, comics and merch previewed in our dedicated 'Blaster!' section!
• Greatest Battles: We count down the 10 most important battles in the Star Wars saga!
• Clone Birthday!: Insider and the 501st - the well-armored and outfitted Star Wars fan group - join forces to celebrate 10 years of the clone troopers!
• Ask Warwick Davis: The popular actor behind Wicket the Ewok in Return of the Jedi answers questions from Insider's Facebook fans.
• Monster Mash: We lift the lid on how creature creator Tom Spina and his crew brought the Cantina's aliens back to life for Volkswagen's Super Bowl advertisement.
• The Art of Warfare: The artists behind the stunning new book Star Wars: The Essential Guide to Warfare showcase their work!
• Sam Witwer: The actor behind Darth Maul in Star Wars: The Clone Wars reveals his favorites from the Star Wars saga.
• Vader and Son: We chat to indie cartoon superstar Jeffrey Brown about his hilarious new book, Darth Vader and Son.
• Duwayne Dunham: The director of recent episodes of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, "The Pursuit of Peace" and "Water War", on the creative process.
• Exclusive Fiction: A Hutt goes on the hunt in 'Hunting the Gorach', an all-new Star Wars story from Jeff Grubb - with art by Joe Corroney.
• Books: Journey into the underworld in Star Wars: Scourge, and learn to count with Star Wars 1,2,3!
• Comics: A newly born Sith Lord proves his worth in Darth Vader and the Ghost Prison, and there are surprising revelations in Knight Errant: Escape!
• Incoming: Aayla Secura, a Death trooper, Star Wars Weekends goodies, and an R2-D2 football feature in an amazing line-up!

As part of G4's Attack of the Show (live weeknights at 7pm in the US) there is a segment on the show called Rad Jobs.  Most recently these have featured LEGO and in the last few days Gentle Giant.

Rad Jobs with LEGO features lots of Star Wars goodness including the creation of a lifesize LEGO Darth Maul...

Rad Jobs with Gentle Giant features our friend Ashly Powell talking about her amazing job - eagle eyed people will notice the 12" Kenner versions of Luke X-Wing and The Empire Strikes Back Yoda as well as a Holographic Darth Vader Mini Bust!

Timothy Zahn brings us another tantalising snippet of his forthcoming Han Solo story Scoundrels. Here we have Han and Lando catching up on old times.

Han thought about denying it. But unfortunately, it was the truth. “So what have you been up to lately?”

“Not much,” Lando said, waving a hand vaguely. “Winning some, losing some. You?”

Han shrugged.

"I picked up some crazy passengers, rescued a princess, fought stormtroopers and TIE fighters, helped save the galaxy, and got my reward snatched right off my ship by pirates. “Not much,” he said aloud. “Why are YOU here?”

Don't forget, we're currently three-quarters of the way through our very own Lando Calrissian story Queen of Air and Darkness right here at Jedi News. Here's the links to the first three chapters:

• Queen of Air and Darkness Part One: The Betting Phase
• Queen of Air and Darkness Part Two: The Calling Phase
• Queen of Air and Darkness Part Three: The Shifting Phase

Excellent news - according to the latest Star Wars Insider issue, a special tribue to Ralph McQuarrie will be coming in Issue #134.

The team at Insider would like to offer our condolences to Ralph's family and friends, and to his wife, Joan. We will be presenting a full tribute to the man to whom Star Wars owes so much next issue.

So if you aren't currently an Insider subscriber, you definitely want to make sure you hit up your local comic shop/newsstand in June and pick up this must-have issue.

Jedi News reader Alan Reaney very kindly sent us this heads up regarding Home Bargains stores here in the UK.

It would appear Home Bargain stores have managed to get their hands on a large amount of Star Wars figures it seems to vary from store to store but they have a large amount of POTF2, Expanded Universe, POTJ, Saga accessory sets and figure and cup sets all priced at £3.99 ideal for anybody looking to plug some gaps in their collection or just for troop building

UPDATE: Jedi News reader Mark Tackley sent us this update regarding more vintage era figures showing up in UK stores.

Just to add to your Home Bargains Offer Classic Star Wars Figures article, I was in Milton Kynes on Saturday and i noticed the Toy Entertainer had a few of the EP2 and pre EP2 gold striped figures in there some of them looked like they had Spanish stickers on them.

At one time we've all dreamt about a life in the galaxy far, far away. But if you were able to hop onto a Star Tours cruise to the Star Wars galaxy, what would you be?

I've always fancied myself a dashing, heroic smuggler. You might prefer to be a Sith apprentice, an Ewok chief or Jabba's Slave Girl.

Check this flow chart out and let us know your destiny on our Jedi News Facebook page.

Just as there are endless stories set in the fictional Star Wars universe there are a thousand stories about the actual making of the Star Wars universe. Here's a fascinating piece about the man who played one of the Nikto guards in The Phantom Menace, Craig Stratton.

I got the call to be an alien in Star Wars, The Phantom Menace, Episode 1. As you can imagine, it was a boyhood dream come true. Whatever I was going to be doing that week could quite frankly wait. I remember going to the costume fitting with three other guys and seeing row after row of incredible hand made masks and characters that we recognised form the original films. We were like kids in a candy store. One of us spotted Greedo and we all made a bee-line like crazy children to try on Greedo’s head. “I wanna be Greedo… I wanna be Greedo!!” The head just didn’t fit me and I was so disappointed. I mean, you would be too, right? I was allocated the mask of a new character, a Nikto (who were a reptilian humanoid species from the planet Kintan in the Si’Klaata Cluster, for all you nerds out there).

There’s a lot of hanging around on set so much time was spent along the large corridors of Leavesden Studios on roller skates that a friend had brought along.

The biggest memory for me on Star Wars was wondering around a packed canteen one afternoon for lunch and finding the last seat in the dining hall next to a girl who I spent the next 45 minutes or so chatting. I was still wearing my costume, but without alien mask and gloves, and she asked me which character I was playing in the film, to which I answered rather proudly “…a Nikto” Of course I politely returned the question to which she replied ” Queen Amidala….”

Jedi News is working with Star Wars Actors Appearances to bring you the very latest in Star Wars actors convention appearances. Here's this weeks updates:

DAVID BARCLAY

Jabba the Hutt (puppeteer) - ROTJ

Steel City Con

July 27-29, 2012

Monroeville Convention Center

Monroeville, Pennsylvania, USA

Steel City Con

JULIAN GLOVER

General Maximilian Veers - TESB

Salon Internacional del Comic de Barcelona

May 3-6, 2012

Fira de Barcelona - Montjuic

Barcelona, Spain

Salon Internacional del Comic de Barcelona

On Sunday we brought you a fantastic Boba Fett piece by French artist Gary. Today we present this awesome Darth Vader cover for another never-produced 35th issue of Dark Horse's Empire series.