My pal who I will call Juan Nonymous sent along sample shots of the Jabba's Rancor Pit gift set Jabba the Hutt in comparison with the 2010 model from Walmart.  This new-for-2015 version is a 100% new mold with new deco, meaning it is... say it with me...

"Just different enough to make you mad."   Well, not Jabba, Jabba's new and interesting.  The rest of the set is as interesting as your collection isn't - it's great stuff if you don't got it yet.  This set will be sold at the Entertainment Earth Booth at Comic-Con next week, on Toys R Us.com, and probably retail stores too.  Want to see more images?  Check after the jump.

The results are in!  Hasbro asked for our top 6 choices for the Fan's Choice Black Series Star Wars Poll, and here we have them for you - interestingly, the winner is someone you've seen as a controversial Fan's Choice winner (or runner-up) in the past.   Even more interestingly, we had a four-way tie for third.   Who are those tie fighters?   Find out, after the break.

Ad: New and recent Hasbro Star Wars arrivals at Entertainment Earth!  Snag the year's new Cantina alien with Mosep Bineed, in stock now for $13.99.  Also grab recent arrivals like Leia in Boushh Disguise, Han Solo in Carbonite, the new Jawas 2-pack, and others - but only while they last.  Click here for pricing and availability!

...despite the graphic, we're actually very excited to report that one of our favorite fan events is making a long-awaited return!  Rejoice!

Given that we're not even two years into the 6-inch line, it's pretty amazing that Hasbro has made this announcement: "Hasbro is pleased to once again invite you and your readers to help determine its next STAR WARS Fans’ Choice figure! And for the first time ever, the STAR WARS Fans' Choice poll will choose a 6-inch scale STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES figure!"

Wow!  Well, the good news is we get to have a say in who's coming. The bad news is that since it's a little early, it probably won't get weird - after all, we haven't got the main cast of the original Star Wars yet, nor Lando, nor Jango, nor Made Windu or any of Jabba's stooges.   As such a popular movie character will no doubt get the nod before an Expanded Universe favorite like Fordo or Mara Jade.

So how do you, the reader, participate?  (UPDATE: You can't! Comments are now closed and votes are being tallied.)

You probably don't need Darth Vader (Dagobah Test) if you've been collecting for the last 15 years, but it's not terrible.  With a great head sculpt and a neck that's a tad too long, it repurposes a 2005 body - a good one - for your collecting pleasure.   Read on!

Let's finish up this look at the first round of 2015 exclusives (more are coming in round 2) with the R2-Series Astromech Droid Blue and Yellow edition - this one is really close to the unreleased 2012 R8-B7!  And he has a swell hat, assuming of course that's the hat you opted for when you built him at a Disney park this year.   We switch gears tomorrow, so read on!

The egg-like R2-Series Astromech Droid White and Yellow figure is today's release, and it ain't bad - we don't see a lot of white-domed figures.  Read on!

If you just can't wait for (most likely) September, you can part with your money early by clicking here to see the new 6-inch Stormtrooper.   There is no packaging shown and you can see the blaster - it's pretty sweet! There's also a backpack peg, which may mean there are multiple versions of this figure on the horizon.   Check it out.

So now we're up to 25 of these in the 2015 series - but I'm still working through the first 11!  Today it's the R8-Series Astromech Droid White and Blue version, and there's an orange one coming shortly.   Amazing.   Get one if you dare, and read on!

Today in Figure of the Day: R6-Series Astromech Droid White, Black, and Red!  If you missed the news, R6 droids will appear in the new movie - so that's a good reason to get one like this.  Read on!

Today: R5-Series Astromech Droid Red and Black!  It's like R5-K6, which is really expensive on eBay from the Scramble on Yavin set, but this is.... less expensive.  If you're at a Disney Park, at least.  Read on!

Today in Figure of the Day: R2-Series Astromech Droid Silver and Blue MK II!  It's a lot like the last R2-D2, but not - other than the dome, each piece has slightly different tooling and a lot of deco tweaks.   It's for completists only, but at this point that's a lot of us.  Read on!

Today we look at the Disney R2-Series Astromech Droid Black and Gold (not Goldie R3-S6), which is pretty close to the Separatist droid from the TV show.   It's black, it's gold, and it even has some silver in spots.   It's arguably worth the trip to get this one, or if you're me, it's worth pestering friends to help you out until it shows up in the mail.   Read on!

One of at least a few droids to be redone in the Droid Factory, this R4-Series Astromech Droid Blue (MK II)  is actually fairly different - it's not just a slightly different shade of blue, but the paint masks on the dome are different, too.   Even though at first glance it looks the same, it's not - you can see some pretty striking differences when you click here to read on.

A store chain I've never heard of has Star Wars toys that shouldn't exist, at prices you probably won't want to pay - $19.99 gets you one carded Legacy Collection figure from the doomed 2012 line.  Carded samples were known to exist in the hands of a few (OK, 1) private collector so this is something of a shock.  Click here for more at Yakface.com, click here for Rebelscum's report.

At press time I am unsure if any are different (or how different) from the figures that eventually came out in Amazon's boxed set or the first wave of Black Series releases, but you can all take solace in the fact that there are no truly exclusive characters to be had here.