This Insane Star Wars Action Figure Set Is Dedicated to the Letter ‘U’

Image: Hasbro Timothy Zahn’s Heir to the Empire trilogy is, even now, still the definitive Star Wars text to many people beyond the films—one that we still see the reach and influence of to this very day, considering Disney and Lucasfilm are setting the stage to adapt its events once again. But it’s also a … Read more

How the Finale of the Dungeons & Dragons ’80s Cartoon Became a Pop-Culture Mystery

Hasbro’s multitude of celebrations marking the 50th anniversary of Dungeons & Dragons include streaming the fan-favorite 1980s D&D cartoon on the 24/7 Dungeons & Dragons: Adventures FAST channel. The animated series, despite a relatively short run of three seasons and 27 episodes, has become a fantasy genre classic. The engaging storytelling and dark themes greatly … Read more

The Dark Side Is Strong With Star Wars’ New May 4 Merch

A small sample of new Star Wars merch. Image: Lucasfilm Three things you can count on in this world are death, taxes, and new Star Wars merchandise. Just days after a huge dump of new figures for the upcoming show The Acolyte, it’s now time for a “March to May the 4th.” Basically, that means … Read more

Hasbro’s New Star Wars Toys Embrace the Dark Side

Image: Hasbro Star Wars products love a theme moment—Force Friday, Triple Force Friday, whatever the Force Friday equivalent for Rogue One was called. Maybe they just love Fridays, but now Lucasfilm and its merch partners are capitalizing on a whole month to sell you things, with a specific villainous twist. This March is now Imperial … Read more

Ahsoka’s E-Wing Is Flying Into Hasbro’s Star Wars Toy Line

Image: Hasbro In another life, the E-Wing was meant to replace the iconic X-Wing as the go-to starfighter of Star Wars’ post-Return of the Jedi fiction. But even if—in neither the original Expanded Universe it debuted in, nor rebooted canon after appearing in Ahsoka—the E-Wing never really got its time to shine, at least in … Read more

Optimus Prime Gets an Ultra Update in New Transformers HasLab Project

Image: Hasbro In the world of Transformers, Optimus Prime is the guy. The traditional leader of the Autobots is the most popular character in the entire franchise and for good reason. He rules. You’d imagine it couldn’t get much bigger than him, but thanks to Hasbro, Prime is about to get a lot bigger. Hasbro … Read more

io9’s Top 100 Posts of 2023

Image: Hasbro Ten years ago, Hasbro announced something akin to a disturbance in the Force—and Star Wars toy fans’ wallets: The Black Series, a brand new line that would bump the iconic heroes and villains of the galaxy far, far away up to 6″ scale for the first time (and away from the 3.75″ scale … Read more

All the Jonathan Majors Trial Updates, and More Top Pop Culture News of the Week

The Last of Us, Star Trek: Lower Decks, Our Flag Means Death, Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury, Doctor WhoImage: HBO, Paramount+, Max, Crunchyroll, BBC/Disney+ With a dizzying array of streaming services available, there was no shortage of great TV this year—and while io9 has already shared our top 20 shows of 2023, today … Read more

Ahsoka’s Zombie Stormtroopers Are Getting the Lavish Toys They Deserve

Image: Hot Toys If you thought it’d be Hasbro who first got its hands on Ahsoka’s trooper repurposing, think again: Hot Toys is giving us our first actual look at Thrawn and the Great Mothers’ unholy matrimony of Imperial Remnant and Nightsister witchery in action figure form… although there stands a good chance anything Hasbro … Read more

The Gathering Formally Bans the Use of Generative AI in ‘Final’ Products

An error in judgement earlier this year—when a D&D artist confirmed they had used generative AI programs to finish several pieces of art included in the sourcebook Glory of the Giants—saw Wizards of the Coast publicly ban the use of AI tools in the process of creating art for the venerable TTRPG. Now, the publisher … Read more