Ahoy, squirts! Quint here with a bunch of links (via Coming Soon) for you STAR WARS junkies out there concerning the big April 2nd (well... April 1st midnight, rather) events at places like Toys R Us and Wal-Mart and Target where you can start practicing your STAR WARS lining techniques in order to give Lucas money in return for little plastic figures.

Now I know I've been harsh to the prequels in the past and I still hold my ground believing they are not up to par, but I've been broken by Lucas these past few months. My cynical shell was first cracked by the very first trailer, then it was plucked at by the thousands of "leaked" pics that are badass and just as dark as this film needs to be, only to be stripped away completely with that last trailer.

I don't excuse the pandering to 6 year olds, the inclusion of modern slang or the total cock-up of not making Anakin the "Good man" Obi-Wan talks about in A NEW HOPE, but even though I promised myself I wouldn't set myself up for disappointment again, I can't shake this feeling that Lucas is going to do this one right. I didn't have that feeling for ATTACK OF THE CLONES. I had hope, but not the same pit of my stomach instinct that I have for REVENGE OF THE SITH.

All this is to say that I've gotten caught into the anticipation again, felt the STAR WARS geek in me grow again and make my hands buy Darth Vader Cheez-Its (where I can order a limited edition poster with just 2 UPCs!!!) and search out new Unleashed figures early which are adorning my living room at the moment. A talkbacker mentioned in the talkback for the last REVENGE OF THE SITH trailer (which was great) that this film could be as shitty as the cynics say it is, but nevertheless this is the last time to get excited about a new STAR WARS movie. Enjoy it. I'd disagree with that if THE CLONE WARS wasn't so great and every bit of the "leaked" material hasn't pointed to Lucas making a good movie, but it seems that he may have finally delivered the movie we all wanted.

But enough about me. Fuck me, who cares? You're reading this because you want to know about STAR WARS toys.

Coming Soon did a bang-up job on an article detailing what stores where are open at Midnight and who has exclusives and what are they. Phew... It's a great article that has all the right information for anyone wanting to get their mechanical hands on those awesome Unleashed figures or your very own Grievous, Palpatine, Yoda, or one of the doomed Jedi. Enjoy!

CLICK IT HERE FOR STAR WARS GOODIES!!!