For Star Wars fans and collectors, having a passionate advocate and steward like a Steve Sansweet, who also just happens to be the custodian of the largest Star Wars collection in the galaxy, is like catching lightning in a bottle. Not only does he have a collection you can never even dream of owning (let alone housing), but he can write, and write pretty well, of all the relevant events and collectibles from both a fan and collector standpoint because he bore witness to and collected most of them. Like E.F. Hutton, when Steve writes, every Star Wars fan should read.

Via Gus Lopez, former Kenner and Hasbro photographer Kim Simmons has updated his site with more wonderful and amazing vintage Kenner product, comps and prototype photos. 

Les Jouets (The Toys) Star Wars Exposition is now underway at the Musee Les Arts Decoratifs in Paris, France featuring 450 select Kenner and Hasbro pieces from the collection of Arnaud Grunberg. 

Today's (technically) Figure of the Day is Han Solo in Carbonite from 1996, which is pretty gosh-darned similar to the old Kenner one from the 1980s. New color, new stickers, and because we've got a deadline, read on!

Over at the Gentle Giant Blog, they revealed their next 2011 San Diego Comic-Con International exclusive: a giant Vinyl Caped Jawa!  Neato.  Guild member pre-orders are up now and for the rest of us... well, I'm crossing my fingers.

If you've been collecting figures from Japan, the new batch of Star Wars Kubrick DX Wave 3 should be of interest.  Not only is there a build-a-vehicle of a Landspeeder, but the bulk of the figures' aesthetics are heavily influenced by 1970s Kenner action figures.  I stumbled on these pictures at NCS today.

The folks at Gentle Giant have announced their next 2 Jumbo Vintage Kenner 12 inch figures to be Darth Vader and Princess Leia Organa! Both come with reproduction vinyl capes and Vader even includes a telescoping lightsaber. Details and photos after the jump!