Once TPM finished its run, Hasbro scaled back its offerings. As the Star Wars aisle at the store got smaller, so did profits. Hasbro’s earnings dropped 11%, Grand Toys International’s net sales dropped $6 million, and Toys R Us’s earnings dropped 9.5% in the second quarter of 2000. Sales had shot up during the TPM frenzy in 1999 and there just wasn’t anything equal in scale that came along the next year.

I don’t have a news article or anything just yet but someone did update his Wikipedia page with the info:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ian_Abercrombie

I’m sure whatever work was needed for Season 4 has been completed, but the search may be on for a new Palpatine soon.

Abercrombie had an extensive t.v. resume. Seinfeld fans might remember him from Elaine’s stint as a personal assistant to a rich guy, Mr. Pitt.

They’ll go on sale soon on HerUniverse.com

The poster features art by Dave Filoni and it was originally printed as an exclusive for the fans who got Jedi Knight and Jedi Master passes at Celebration V.

The auction lasts just three days (two days and fifteen hours as of writing) and proceeds go to the AIDS and Breast Cancer Emergency Fund of San Francisco.

The reason why Star Wars have their own conventions with girls in Slave Leia outfits, enough stormtroopers to occupy a planet, enough Jedi to restock the Order, the opportunity to stand all day in line to get their fave stars’ autograph, and of course the chance to spend LOTS of money is that the con originally was conceived as a pre-TPM release pep rally.

Originally held April 30-May 2, 1999 at an aviation museum outside of Denver, CO, it drew tens of thousands of fans. The downpours, mud, and chaos made it kind of a Star Wars Woodstock, only without the LSD or mass nudity. At least that’s what I was told. I missed the Great Denver Mud Party. But the conventions remained with the release of every subsequent prequel and three (including the one this summer) since ROTS’s release.

Nick (assisted by Kyle Rowling) will teach a light sabre master class at Combat Con in Las Vegas July 6th, 2012. After the great success of this class last year you won’t want to miss this opportunity to learn light saber fighting from the man who created it for Star Wars I, II and III.

In this master class Nick will teach a complicated run from Revenge Of The Sith which covers all of the Jedi moves while explaining the rules involved in Jedi fighting. He will also teach how to write it yourself. This World Premiere master class lets you learn it the same way Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen learned it!

This special master class will be a separate charge, but only participants registered for Combat Con will be able to attend. You can register for Combat Con at any level (General, Premium or VIP) to be eligible. In fact, there is only 6 days left of the January only discount of 1/3 off, so register soon! – http://thecombatcon.com/register

The Jedi Fighting master class will be $150 above the cost of Combat Con registration. It will be two hours and there are three sessions to choose from (9-11am, 12-2pm or 3-5pm). Special registration for it will open in Feb/March and currently registered CombatCon participants will have first chance to register.

And if you subscribe to any Titan Star Wars publication, you’ll get 3D glasses crafted to look like Anakin’s racer goggles.