Hasbro takes a stab at crowdfunding, starts off with massive vintage Star Wars toy

Hasbro is taking on crowdfunding and is taking an unusual approach to it. But if you’re a diehard fan of the company’s toys, Haslab, as Hasbro calls it, might be an exciting concept for you. The crowdsourcing program kicks off with something massive—quite literally. It’s a 4-foot long, 14lbs recreation of Jabba’s Sail Barge from Return of the Jedi. Launching Haslab allows the company to develop more premium toys that would seem a bit too much for the mainstream toy market. It’s for enthusiasts who are willing to shell some precious moolah for limited edition toys.

What’s unusual about this crowdsourcing platform is that Hasbro will announce a possible project and if the product meets its preorder goals, the company will make the toy. If it doesn’t the toy won’t get made and its backers won’t be charged for the preorders. In the case of the Sail Barge, its target is 5,000 preorders at a very premium price of US$500 apiece and the company hopes to reach this goal before April 13. The Barge is part of Hasbro’s newly revived 3.75” “Vintage Collection” of Star Wars action figures. It features a fully detailed interior with removable panels, fabric sails a special figure of Jabba himself, as well as a production booklet how the vehicle was translated from the movie to the figure.

Source: io9

‘Game of Thrones’ creators will develop new ‘Star Wars’ films

So, the new Solo: A Star Wars Story isn’t the only big news we’re getting from the galaxy far, far away this week. It’s just been announced that the creators of HBO’s Game of Thrones, David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, will be coming on board to create a new series of movies for the franchise. These movies “will be separate from both the episodic Skywalker saga and the recently-announced trilogy being developed by Rian Johnson, writer-director of Star Wars: The Last Jedi.” So, yup, there is a whole lot of Star Wars in our futures, ladies and gents. No word yet on the timeline of these films but we’ll definitely hear more when the time comes.

Here's the first official teaser for 'Solo: A Star Wars Story'

It feels like forever for us to get the first official footage from the upcoming standalone Star Wars film about “the galaxy’s greatest scoundrel” but it’s here and we’re extra stoked for the movie. Disney and Lucasfilm gave us the first trailer for Solo: A Star Wars Story at the Super Bowl and it’s looking pretty amazing. We definitely got goosebumps watching it. The film comes out in May 2018 and is directed by Ron Howard and stars Alden Ehrenreich with Emilia Clarke, Donald Glover, Thandie Newton, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Woody Harrelson, Paul Bettany, and Joonas Suotamo.

‘Solo: A Star Wars Story’ gets its official synopsis

As what’s been the case in the past, Lucasfilm and Disney have kept details on the upcoming Han Solo film close to its chest. Now, it seems they’re ready to let us in a bit. They’ve just released the official synopsis for the film, which they say stars “the galaxy’s greatest scoundrel.” And it looks like Solo: A Star Wars Story will take us to a time when Han Solo meets Chewbecca and "notorious gambler" Lando Calrissian. Director Ron Howard has been giving hints about the film and you can check out all his updates in this link.

Here’s the full synopsis from Star Wars.com: “Board the Millennium Falcon and journey to a galaxy far, far away in Solo: A Star Wars Story, an all-new adventure with the most beloved scoundrel in the galaxy. Through a series of daring escapades deep within a dark and dangerous criminal underworld, Han Solo meets his mighty future copilot Chewbacca and encounters the notorious gambler Lando Calrissian, in a journey that will set the course of one of the Star Wars saga’s most unlikely heroes.”