Time to Go Rogue. Catalyst gets a start. There’s a Rebel in all of Us and Share The Force.
By Mike Audette // Go Rogue. That’s the name of the game. Catalyst’s synopsis makes appearance, and there’s a Rebel in all of us. About time for some Star Wars news.
Go Rogue
Go Rogue
Finally the details have been revealed on the release of the toys and merchandising for Rogue One. Coming on Friday September 30th, the floodgates will be opening. Everything from Hasbro, to Lego, to Funko, and Disney. Toys”R”Us will be the only stores participating in “Midnight Madness.” Consequently the news broke this week with a story from usual suspect Anthony Breznican (the dude is good), that many of the toys were revealed in an initiative called ‘Go Rogue’. The stop motion video shows off some of the new offerings from the different companies. More videos will be released throughout the month leading up to the 30th. Following the release, fans will be able to create their own video shorts to enter a contest for a chance to be invited to Lucasfilm to attend a screening of Rogue One. Check out the official site for more details on the contest.
Meanwhile, all the details on the actual merchandise can be found in a neat little package from DengarDan, here. While I’m pretty much only interested in the Funko Pops. The action figures don’t really do much for me. Yet, I guess that makes me the black sheep of fandom.
It looks like the name of the ‘Shoretrooper’ that was announced a few months back has changed. They are now known as Scarif Stormtroopers. It’s not yet known what brought on the change but all I hope is that they are used for Imperial skins in the Scarif DLC for Battlefront.
Also the Star Wars Show revealed the name of a new Imperial Astromech, C2-B5. Therefore, of course this guy has some toys as well.
Catalyst
Also this week, the official synopsis for Catalyst: A Rogue One Novel was released. It appears that part of, if not most of the novel will take place during the Clone Wars. You can check out the whole publishers summary, here. Director Krennic, Galen Erso, as well as Jyn and her mother Lyra will be heavily involved.
Galen’s energy-focused research has captured the attention of both Krennic and his foes, making the scientist a crucial pawn in the galactic conflict. But after Krennic rescues Galen, his wife, Lyra, and their young daughter, Jyn, from Separatist kidnappers, the Erso family is deeply in Krennic’s debt.
This part is really intriguing. Krennic is holding this over Galen’s head in order to coerce him into working on the Death Star project. This is exactly the kind of prequel story for Rogue One that needs to be told. Lot’s of character details and motivations for Krennic, Galen, and Jyn. Most noteworthy, the James Luceno penned novel will be out November 15th.
Share The Force
Target is following up their Force Awakens marketing campaign from last year with another one for Rogue One. Labelled There’s A Rebel in All of Us, the new commercial showcases different fans and how Star Wars informs and influences their daily lives for the good. My friend and Coffee With Kenobi co-host Dan Zehr was featured in it! Dan Brooks over at StarWars.com interviewed Dan along with the other three fans featured in the Target commercial. Check out the article with Dan, Jennifer Landa Busch, Amiyrah Martin, and Charley Burns.