"Luke Banana-walker battled with his inner shellfish when he began training to become a Jedi Steak."

OK, no, this isn't some weird new offshoot of the Star Wars universe. Well, in a sense it is, but it's not anything you'll see on the big screen or on TV. It was recently announced that ever-popular Mad Libs is going to be released in the Star Wars and Indiana Jones universes.

I remember playing with Mad Libs some when I was a kid, and I thought it was ok, but I never thought it was the barn-burner that some people did, so I won't be picking these up, but there will be plenty of other things to hold my interest.

My Star Wars obsession is going to be having quite a bit of competition in the next several months. OK, so I'm really looking forward to the novelization of "Star Wars: The Force Unleashed" that's being released on August 19. The husband is excitedly waiting for the arrival of the game itself, but I'm really just interested in the story, which sounds terrific, so the novelization is what I want.

And there's apparently a whole slew of new things being released in the Galactic Heroes (aka "little squat people") collection. Here's a run-down with pictures of a ton of stuff. Slave Leia and bartender R2 are funny. Destroyer droid!!!!!! We just got the Battle of Mustafar set from Target that includes pregnant Padme. The rancor is a bit funky, but I'll probably have to get him anyway - come on, it's the rancor! The couple sets after that all look pretty awesome. And here's a landspeeder that's not mentioned on that blog. Guess I'll have to regularly haunt Target, Walmart and Toys R Us for these new releases.

But it's not just little squat Star Wars folks. Hasbro is also going to be releasing little squat Indiana Jones folks! Here's a run-down of the first wave, with pictures galore. The snakes are a little more realistic than I like, so the husband may have to open those packages. I love Indy with the idol as well as Belloq with the Ark. There are a few other sets not mentioned in that article but which are on Hasbro's website. This is one set we're NOT getting. This one's pretty cool. This one's just funny, though I don't think his likeness is very good, and I have no idea why he's carrying an Indy doll.

And then, of course, Mr. Potato Head in the Indy collection is being released this weekend.




And obviously, the new film is being released later this month, so we're going to have to figure out whether we're going to a screening on the morning of opening day or the night/next morning of opening day.


But it's not just about Star Wars and Indiana Jones. Wall-E is gearing up as well. Recent merchandise news has been released - check out this blog entry for more info.


It looks like we'll be spending all that economic stimulus money that we're not getting.