Marjorie and Arnie are back, in black with the new Black Series of Star Wars figures coming from Hasbro!  On this week's podcast, the hosts of Star Wars Action News discuss Hasbro's reveal of new, collector-oriented, highly articulated 6-inch Star Wars figures.  Is this a lightspeed jump for figure collectors, or a desperate retread?

Our sponsors at BigBadToyStore.com have posted their latest pre-orders and IN STOCK merchandise. Star Wars pre-orders include the hot new Kotobokiya ARTFX+ Jango Fett and much, much more!

Check out Teemto Pagalies.  Not the fancy one for five bucks with all the droid stuff, but the 2012 gift set one likely on clearance at a Toy R Us near you.  Why?  Well, it's got a flag... and goggles that are kinda different.  The paint job isn't bad.

This week on The Clone Wars: Scream at the heavens over the amazing stuff that you'll see in "The Lawless." Resolving many loose threads and justifying a few previous fairly dull episodes, this week's installment brings back a variety of familiar faces while giving fans (and especially fanboys) a Mandalorian battle so spectacular that it should have been held back for the series finale. While the D-Squad arc mixed adventure with a bit of an existential crisis, this series Darth Maul's arc (seemingly) wraps up reminding you that the saga is still quite capable of punching you in the gut and killing off a major player if it feels it necessary. If you watch only one episode this year, make it this one. I don't care if you hate this show. You're a Star Wars fan and you need to see this. More (as in spoilers) after the break.

In another paradigm shift that signals Star Wars as we know it is drastically headed into a bold and exciting direction, Lucasfilm announces that new spinoff films will be released sometime after Episode VII that will expand the Saga and focus on a specific character.

From our sponsors at Brian's Toys: This week boasts new products from Gentle Giant and Sideshow!  Pick up the new 12" Bossk action figure from Sideshow Collectibles or the General Veers and Republic Commando mini bust.  Also, for those still looking for a new Emperor bust, the Return of the Jedi Palpatine will make a worthy edition to anyone's collection.

The Sony blog has some nifty details of the new Star Wars Zen Pinball 2 game launching this week!  Exciting.  Multiple tables are available, and for some reason it seems Obi-Wan Kenobi has a green lightsaber.  Check out a video after the jump.

It's Clone Commander Neyo! Initially sold in an exclusive gift set, this unique trooper has a helmet you don't see many other places.  I like it.  Will you?  Probably.

Let's look at Clone Commander Colt, the only individually-packaged animated-style Phase II-style ARC Trooper in the entire line.  Why is this?  I have no idea.  I assume Hasbro must hate you all, because these guys are crazy popular and the mold has been painted 4 times so far with no new releases in the last year and change.  He's totally cool and totally worth owning.

What's new in Q&A this week? Let's talk new figures, if we can try to do so. And how about variation rarity? Well, we can pretend to guess. And display stands are a good thing too. Read on, and get ready for Toy Fair!

Here's a video review of a brand-new item that, 24 hours ago, I didn't even know was coming out.  The Target Exclusive Special Edition Yoda Tin Star Wars Fighter Pods Set is in stores right now and features Yoda, Darth Sidious, and a ton of Clones and Battle Droids in this Kashyyyk-themed set.  It's also the first new exclusive item to hit retail stores in quite some time.  For $24.99, it includes 18 figures, 4 pods, a Spinfire Launcher, and a tin.  And you can see me talk about these Revenge of the Sith-themed mini-figures after the jump.

While I'm nursing unrelated toy-related disappointment, why not go look at ARC Trooper Blitz?  He's part of a great Battle Pack which you may actually be able to find on the cheap if you know where to look.  It's worth it.  He's cool, man.

A spy report from the Nuremberg Toy Fair courtesy of Jedi News reveals more of what's planned in 2013 from Hasbro, including the Black Series 3.75 inch line (Vader Card)  where some of the planned Droid Factory figures will end up, a "budget" Movie Heroes assortment, and a "Mission Series" 2 pack.

Click here to find out more and thanks to Dan Curto for the heads up!

Our sponsors at BigBadToyStore have put up their latest pre-orders and IN STOCK items. Check out this week's listing after the jump!

Let's look at the Plo Koon figure from last year's nifty Ultimate Gift Set.  As the least-nifty part of that set, this one may have escaped your attention.  Is it possible there's some special detail making this an ignored gem?