By popular demand, we will start looking at the 2003-2005-style animated Clone Wars figures starting with Anakin Skywalker!  How does this cartoony character hold up? Surprisingly well.  Read on!

The New York Times conducts a revealing and insightful interview with George Lucas for his Tuskegee Airmen biopic, Red Tails, which hits theaters this Friday. Some highlights include his desire to back away from big blockbuster type movies and focus on smaller personal art films, the pushback he received from the studios for the World War II adventure drama resulting in Lucas putting up the money himself, and what he really thinks about all those complaining fanboys. After all these years, he's still the renegade. 

Very few Phantom Menace figures were made since 2001, so this R2-T0 is quite a treat on many levels.  It may not be 100% authentic to the stills from the film, but I'm OK with that.  It's gorgeous! I hope you have one, read on now!

It’s not news that Darth Maul is back in 2012. The tattooed Sith Lord is the face of the Hasbro 2012 line and also will make a much anticipated appearance in The Clone Wars series. For his Vintage Collection figure, Hasbro achieves a masterstroke of sculpt, articulation, and even tailoring.

The new Walmart U.S. exclusive Discover The Force figures were reported being found across the pond in the U.K.at a local ASDA store by a poster in the Rebelscum Forums 

You get two of this Sky Trooper in the boxed set Hasbro made for Disney last summer.  I like it-- the stand isn't included, but man, it should be. It's cool.  Is this repaint worth it?  Read on!

Yep, it’s the same figure as you’ll find in the 2008 Jedi Legacy Evolutions set and then again in the Eopie Mailaway. It’s a decent enough version, with good articulation and passing likeness to Neeson, but it’s time to update the noble Jedi for the new decade. Like Obi-Wan, there’s nothing new here so move along if you’re a loose collector.

Blah blah Phantom Menace? Gooble gobble price increases? Shazzam flazam Fighter Pods? All this and so much more, so read on and send in questions for next week!

The poet Charles Baudelaire (or was it Verbal Kint?) once said that "the greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he doesn't exist." This new Darth Sidious figure is certainly a revelation. We were completely prepared to be underwhelmed by Hasbro's latest effort of "The Phantom Menace" himself mainly because he didn't look anything special in the package. The VC12 Darth Sidious, while certainly sporting a great face sculpt, fell short with the soft goods and fur coat giving him more of an evil "bag lady" look.

A preview of this Friday's next Clone Wars episode #4.15, Deception, is now online with video and images. When the Jedi learn of a Separatist plot to kidnap Chancellor Palpatine, one of them must go deep undercover as a hardened criminal to extract information from the conspirators.

The ToysRUs exclusive Podracer Pilots Action Figure Pack is now online at ToysRUs.com. The set features re-issues of Dud Bolt, Clegg Holdfast, Gasgano, Mars Guo, and Teemto Pagalies as well as their flags. It's in stock now and retails for $26.99. Click here to order!

McDonalds previews their next Happy Meal toys featuring characters from Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. The toys appear to be lightsabers (with one R2) and a character cap or disk of some sort. Click here to visit their site. 

Technically speaking, this isn't a "Character Debut" for the Naboo Royal Guard since a version was released in 1999 for The Episode I Collection. Aesthetically speaking, this all new iteration is worlds and 12 years of sculpt and design evolution apart from that TPM figure. This Guard deserves a variant head sculpt/running change for troop/squad building purposes. You can head swap yourself with the ball jointed neck so pick a couple up for that Naboo Hangar diorama that will be immediately enhanced by this worthy upgrade.

Hasbro re-issues the Padawan Kenobi from 2009's The Legacy Collection and includes a commlink this time around. This figure could have been vastly improved by an updated head sculpt as the likeness to McGregor falls short. It's not as premium a Vintage Collection figure as we'd like it to be and one of the weaker releases of this assortment. If you're an opener and already have the '09 release, you're good with skipping this.

Hasbro expanded upon The Phantom Menace Celebration scene finale where we witness little Ani in full Padawan garb. The figure includes a lightsaber, training helmet, and training remote orb. This is a super articulated, with great likeness, vast improvement from the 1999 "Naboo" figure, which until now had been the only version of Padawan Anakin released. It's worth the wait as Hasbro packed in 14 points of articulation, incredible detail, and even a soft goods skirt to plus it up. Can I get a "Yipeee"?