I always get excited when Oscar winning a-listers get attached to our decidedly tent-pole pop corn world.  For that reason, I’m very happy that Variety is reporting that Forrest Whitaker is in negotiations to joint the cast for Star Wars: Rogue One which is the first “stand alone” Star Wars film due out next year.  The only thing better would be if they announced he was going to reprise his role of Charles Jefferson in the Star Wars universe.  I’m pretty sure the Millennium Falcon is an allegorical Camaro, so there seems to be a lot of room to work with there.

Christopher Lee, the actor who played Count Dooku in Episodes II and III, has passed away at age 93. Losing a member of the Star Wars family is always sad, but it’s also a time to reflect in amazement at a pop culture career that spanned seven decades.

A Canadian library has recently discovered and early “4th draft” of Star Wars and the librarian claims this draft settles the debate on one of the most controversial edits in the Special Edition.

Our own BIGJIM, who has apparently forgotten his front page credentials, alerts us that the Deluxe Black Series 6” Biker Scout with Speeder Bike is available on Walmart.com for $10.  In other news, the 6” line is exceeding expectations.

The site Jedi Insider has an early look at a packaged 6” New Order Stormtrooper from The Force Awakens.  Click through for the details.

Last night an Ebay seller by the name of tigertoys07 sold off the entire Vintage Collection via individual auctions.  The results frankly have my jaw on the floor.  Keep in mind that these are all well preserved unpunched carded figures which will always command a premium, and also serves as a reminder of the value of a well curated collection.  Throwing figures in a Rubber Maid bin is causing them to lose value by the minute.  Keeping your desirable figures in Star Cases in a cool dry place away from sunlight can be rewarding in many ways.  Anyway, click through for some of the shockingly high final prices.

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I would be lying if I said it wasn’t getting worrisome that wave 8 still hadn’t show up at the larger e-tail sites for pre-order.  “Late waves” have a notoriously spotty success of finding release.  We can all thank the maker that wave 8 is now available from our site sponsor Big Bad Toy Store.

The official site has confirmed that the new Star Wars: The Force Awakens Products will Arrive on ‘Force Friday,’ September 4, 2015.

StarWars.com is thrilled to announce that Star Wars: The Force Awakens products will land in our galaxy on September 4, 2015, at 12:01 a.m. — “Force Friday” — with stores around the world opening their doors at midnight for a special celebration of all things Star Wars. It will be a day long remembered.

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Our friends at Jedi Temple Archives have posted their Q&A with Hasbro from the floor of Celebration Anaheim.  While still being coy about the state of the toy line after June, there were a few reassuring answers given (assuming Hasbro was referring to the 3.75” scale) and one truly bizarre one about the height of the 6” Leia in Boussh disguise.  Click through to find out what was asked and answered. 

But for the love of GOD, Hasbro, could you please just answer yes or no to the question of whether or not 14 POA 3.75” will continue.  If that way of collecting has come to an end, why would there be any reason not to admit it?  Do you think those of us who currently hate 5 POA will hate it more if you tell us that 14 POA 3.75” is done?

Enough said.

I came across this pic on the interwebs today, mentioning what seems to be some sort of contest to win a midnight madness shopping spree at the Toys R Us flagship location in Times Square.
One can only wonder…

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Remember that Robotech styled short film that came out a few years ago?  Well there’s a new extended version out now too.

Check it out.  Still better than the PT.

Our friends at Jedi Temple Archives have announced a Celebration Anaheim exclusive poster featuring the full run of vintage Kenner card backs.  This is nothing short of Homer Simpson droll worthy if you’re a Star Wars collector.  Head over to JTA to check it out.

The official EA Star Wars page has informed us that the next installment of the hugely popular Battlefront game series will debut at Celebration next month.  Also, according to a recent Twitter post from EA, it will be available on Xbox One, Playstation 4, and on PC platforms.

If you follow this link to our forums, you’ll see that we have been speculating about this installment since 2008….when BanthaSkull first set up shop.  So it’s about time, yeah.

It’s been a few years, so we at banthaskull.com are kicking around the idea of doing new t-shirts, but first we’d like to know what you think. Please leave a comment or head over to our forums and join in the discussion if you think you might be interested in purchasing a banthaskull.com t-shirt. Thanks!