A screening of Black Angel, a George Lucas-funded short 25-minute film tied to The Empire Strikes Back in some overseas markets, is getting a screening next month after being lost since 1980.  It's an Arthurian legend-inspired piece and Ars Technica has a 3-page story on this Lucasfilm-adjacent project.

It's Q&A time! Let's look at The Black Series - you may not realize this, but we're required to legally. Even if the line dies in four waves, we have to talk about it. And how about warped plastic can we fix it? Some of it, yes! And can we complain about distribution in 2012 still? Apparently, we have to! Read on for more or send in a question for next time, or both.

Here's a neat one - Entertainment Earth (sponsor) has a Star Wars Yoda Lightsaber Table Lamp from United Cutlery, and it's pretty neat.  You can outfit it with pretty much any light bulb, including a green one which you can snag at pretty much any Walmart or party supply store for a couple of bucks. This definitely adds a nice glow to the item.  See the glowing green animated pic after the jump.

If you were a fan of Star Wars in the 1990s, you no doubt remember seeing some of A.C. Crispin's work on the shelves.  The author, Ann Crispin, penned short stories for the franchise, a trilogy of Han Solo novels, and numerous works of licensed and sci-fi writing including Star Trek. Click here for her official site, and here for her Wikipedia page.

If you've been feeling that Hasbro's offerings have been a little lacking lately, Bloomberg has an article with some proof.  Headline: Lego Beats Hasbro as World’s No. 2 Toymaker Amid Asia Sales Jump. According to the article:

Star Wars™: Force Collection, the first globally released Star Wars™ card battle game, is now available for free download on iOS and Android devices.

Attakus announces 3 more characters for their 1:10 scale Elite Collection: Yoda, C-3PO and R2-D2! Read the full announcement and peep out the photos after the jump!

From our sponsors at BigBadToyStore.com: We've reduced prices by 15% to 50% on over 5,000 items! Take a look at the huge sale menus, there are tons of Transformers, Star Wars, Marvel, DC, GI Joe, Anime, Statues, Props, T-Shirts, Trinkets, Stand-Ups, Imports, Movie Figures and much much more!

File under Not Star Wars: Funko and Super  7 are teaming up to take on everything you loved about growing up in the 1980s in toy form.  We're reading lots of reports of Kenner-style 1970s/1980s action figures being produced for Aliens, Terminator, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firelfly, Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, Predator, Goonies, Back to the Future, Dark Crystal, and more are on deck for production in the not-too-distant-future. Click through for more on what may actually give Hasbro's 3 3/4-inch juggernaut a real run for its money.

It's Q&A time! Are we getting too many products even though it's arguably a slower year? Maybe. And which of the new figures are new enough to matter? The answer may (but won't) surprise you. Also, Walmart has no space for 6-inch figures - is there a precedent? Only one man knows for sure, and since he won't return your calls it's all up to me in this week's column!

Wow! Check out the Brian's Toys newsletter.  A giant truckload of new stuff has come in.  Brand new items off the truck this week include:
- Black Series 6-inch Wave 1 (Set of 4)
- Marvel Legends Rocket Raccoon Series (Set of 5)
- G.I. Joe: Retaliation Wave 4 (Set of 12)
- Admiral Ackbar "Magnitude" Mini Bust
- Clone Trooper (White) Deluxe Statue
- Ree Yees Mini Bust
- Darth Maul Spider Statue

Here are the latest listings of new arrivals and pre-orders from our sponsors at BigBadToyStore.com. Check out the full listing after the jump!

Have you found the new Hasbro figures? All Hasbro's new lines, Black Series 4-inch, Black Series 6-inch, Mission Series, and Saga Legends, are showing up across the US. New toys are a welcome relief to the modern Star Wars figure collector after many months with no new releases, and on this week's Star Wars Action News podcast the coverage continues. Listen to this week's podcast for a hands on review of the new 4-inch Black Series figures. Then vintage Star Wars collector Jerry takes a look at the Saga Legends figures and provides his views on their five points of articulation.

Friend of the site (to whom I owe an email or two) Daniel sent me this link to a Japanese site showcasing Hasbro's recent Saga Legends and Mission Series 3 3/4-inch action figures in blind boxes.   These new-to-me figures appear to be in Hasbro-branded boxes, which is unusual for the Japanese market, and as far as I can tell there are no obvious difference between their not-blind and likely cheaper US counterparts.

Ad: They're up!  The long-awaited ALIEN action figures developed by Super7 are now up at Entertainment Earth.  The set of 5 is at $64.99.  Click here to pre-order yours now!