New Her Universe Clothing Coming in May, Available for Star Wars Weekends

Over the weekend, Ashley Eckstein was at the Orlando Science Center to talk Star Wars, The Clone Wars, and Her Universe. During the proceedings, she also had some details of new Her Universe releases to share. Luckily for us, Nanci was at the event to record the details.

She also debuted a new Padme tee featuring artwork by Tsuneo Sanda.

New Padme Shirt

Also of note from Nanci, the Rogue Squadron tank/dress and the new Padme tee will be available at Star Wars Weekends. The new Clone Wars shirt that had been shown off earlier won’t be ready quite yet.

Her Universe Secures Expanded Universe Merchandising Rights from Lucasfilm

Under way right now is a chat on the Star Wars Books Facebook page with Her Universe founder and  The Clone Wars voice actress Ashley Eckstein. You should go there and read answers to things and such! Early on there was an announcement that’s sure to catch the eyes of Her Universe and Expanded Universe fans. When asked about potential EU gear in the future, Ashely responded:

YES! We are designing Several NEW Star Wars designs this year. Everything will be debuting in May. We are making shirts, dresses, jewelry…We have Rogue Squadron designs AND I am SO excited to announce that Lucasfilm has given us the rights to design shirts for the women in the EU, so expect more Mara Jade and Jaina Solo designs!

Rogue Squadron material launching in May, licencing rights to the Expanded Universe. If you’re a Her Universe fan, you’re appear to be in for some real treats.

Ashley Eckstein Reveals New Fashion Plans for Her Universe

Speaking of geeky clothing

Ashley Eckstein, the voice of Ahsoka Tano on The Clone Wars and creator of the Her Universe fashion line, was recently interviewed by Justin Howard. Several questions involved plans for future designs and branching out to fashion staples beyond t-shirts. Of particular note:

Hot Topic has been an amazing partner for us! We developed our first dress with Hot Topic, a TARDIS dress from Doctor Who, and we are currently developing a fashion line together which contains more dresses, leggings and even cute sleep wear!

More dresses – yay! But even better…

JH – Are there any other areas of fashion you want or have plans to get into?

AE – We definitely plan on getting more into fashion items finding inspiration from Andy Defrancesco ; dresses, leggings, skirts, cardigans but we will continue to push the envelope and expand on our staple items like tees, v-necks, tanks and sleep wear. Everyday fashion that girls can wear to school, work, parties, dates, etc.

CARDIGANS!!! *cue hyperventilating*

You don’t understand. I love cardigans. Love love love. I’m always cold, and I have a billion cardigans (okay, not really, more like 10) that I wear to work, because they’re easy on, easy off, and look professional while being comfortable. Alas, my Star Wars manga hoodie doesn’t quite fit the dress code. If I owned a Star Wars cardigan, I would never take it off!

*begs for Star Wars cardigan*

Finally, Ashley says about the fans:

I am influenced by the fans. We do most of our marketing and PR through social media and I am very active with our fans on a daily basis. So they tell me what shows and movies they are watching. They tell me what kind of art they like and what music they are listening to. A lot of companies are scared of getting too close to their fans. I would say the key to our success is listening to our fans. It creates a sense of loyalty. I feel extremely loyal to our fans and, in turn, I hope they feel loyal to us.

Indeed we do, Ashley, and I’ll be even more loyal once I get my Star Wars cardigan! 😉 

Update: 

New Quote Tees from Her Universe

As someone who was looking for a neat Valentine’s Day gift, I’m glad to see that Her Universe has a new set of Valentine’s Day themed quote shirts for the Star Wars, Star Trek, and Doctor Who fandoms.

The Star Wars shirt’s quote can be seen on the left and features a bevy of lovely in-universe references.

The new shirts are available in the store right now so head on over to Her Universe to pick one up for the geek in your life.

Rogue Squadron Product from Her Universe Incoming?

Working with a staff that’s predominantly female has taught me a few things. One, Her Universe products are amazing. Two, Her Universe should totally get a Rogue Squadron shirt in their lineup. Weeelllll about point two …

If you click on that Instagram link in the embedded tweet above, you’ll see that it appears to be ‘Rogue Squadron’ stenciled over what appears to be a Rebel flak vest.

Update: 

Want to see this product become reality? Let Ashley know!

New Her Universe Gear Coming on Cyber Monday

Need to do some holiday shopping for the women in your life, or just looking to buff up your  own geeky wardrobe? Luckily for you, Her Universe is here to save the day! Yesterday the company previewed their new holiday items, which include two Doctor Who tees, a Star Wars v-neck shirt (the same style shirt as the Mara Jade exclusive from Celebration, which fits so very well), a Star Trek tee, a Battlestar Galactica sweatshirt, and last but not least, Darth Vader pajamas designed by Katie Cook!

How cute are they?? Katie did an awesome job.

You can purchase all of these items starting Cyber Monday (November 26). Even better, there are two exclusives for orders placed on that day only: every order will receive a free Chewbacca holiday pin, and all orders within the United States are eligible for free ground shipping.

And in news very relevant to readers of this blog, Ashley Eckstein teased on Twitter that Her Universe is in the process of designing a Rogue Squadron dress and tank top! No word yet on when we might see those released, but you can be sure I’ll be first in line to get them.

You can see all of Her Universe’s new holiday items here.

Ashley Eckstein Upbeat About Disney Purchase

Given Clone Wars voice actress Ashley Eckstein’s love of Disney, it should come as no surprise that she’s very excited about the big Lucasfilm purchase and what this means for the future of both companies. Over at the official Star Wars Blog, Ashley talks about her history with Disney.

One could say that I “grew up Disney.” My Dad started working for Disney when I was two years old and my earliest childhood memories revolve around Disney. Growing up in Orlando, Florida, with a parent that was a Disney “cast member” definitely had its perks. I got to go to the Disney parks all the time for free, I got in to advance screenings for Disney movies, my summer camps were at the Disney resorts, and I had special opportunities like going to live tapings of The Mickey Mouse Club. I bring this up because Disney was and always has been a MAJOR influence in my life and has definitely shaped the person I am today.

Be sure to give the whole entry a read!

Upcoming Her Universe Releases

The wonderful Ashley Eckstein was a guest on this week’s episode of Tosche Station Radio and shared with us some pretty great new products that you can look forward to from Her Universe in the near future.

Starting this Monday, Her Universe will be releasing a new Halloween bag for 2012.  This year’s design, once again by Katie Cook, will feature Darth Vader in a unicorn costume.  (Yes, you read that correctly!)  He will have all of the candy and will be saying “I find your lack of candy disturbing” to several costumed yet candyless stormtroopers.   Also available this Monday will be the Ahsoka Tano costume top in adult sizes (Small through 3X) and a brand new Spock costume top.

The next upcoming product doesn’t yet have a release date yet but will be a Hot Topic exclusive so keep an eye out for a TARDIS dress!

Finally, Ashley let us in on a new product for the holidays that will be released for Cyber Monday.  You will now be able to purchase Her Universe pajamas!  These are another Katie Cook design and will be a pair of flannel pants with little Darth Vaders on them and a top that will picture Darth Vader with bunny slippers and a coffee mug and saying “I woke up on the dark side of the bed.”  The holiday pin will also make its return and this year’s design will feature Chewbacca.

Tosche Station Radio #33: Her Universe

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On this special episode of Tosche Station Radio, hosts Nanci and Brian are joined by the voice of Ahsoka Tano and the founder of Her Universe, Ashley Eckstein!

Kicking off the show, Nanci highlights what’s new on the blog. Fanwork Friday featured a fic by salanderjade called Beside the Dying Fire. Bria’s weekly Cosplay Monday feature looked at a brilliant Ursula costume. In Trope Tuesday, Brian entered the battlefield of love to discuss Ship-to-Ship Combat. He also reviewed the Essential Reader’s Companion by Pablo Hidalgo and discussed continuity and perspective in the Expanded Universe. Hark.com sent us some infographic fun comparing Star Wars to Star Trek.

In Fixer’s Flash, Nanci has been keeping herself busy by reading The Long Hunt as well as the Essential Reader’s Companion. She’s also thrilled that Once Upon a Time is back on the air. Meanwhile, Brian is reading through War of the Seasons: The Half-Blood by Janine Spendlove and the latest issues of the all-new Captain Marvel. He also has been enjoying all the extra features in the Avengers Blu-Ray set.

Deak’s Dirt starts with news that the Essential Reader’s Companion has hit book stores. Long story short? Go buy it. Suvudu has collected a wealth of Star Wars short stories and archived them on their site. New ebook editions of the ERC and Essential Guide to Warfare are now available from Del Rey. Meanwhile, the Scoundrels release date has been pushed back to January 1st. Finally, The Clone Wars television series now has its own Twitter account!

For this week’s Camie’s Concerns, hosts Brian and Nanci are excited to welcome the voice of Ahsoka Tano and the founder of Her Universe onto the show. Ashley Eckstein joins Tosche Station Radio to answer questions from the hosts and listeners.

Wrapping up the show, hosts Brian and Nanci field questions from listeners and readers in our Ask Us Anything segment.

Tosche Station Radio is the official podcast of Tosche-Station.net and a part of the Solo Sound network. If you like what you hear, please leave a review on the iTunes Music Store or the Zune Marketplace. We can also be found on Facebook and Twitter.

Nanci and Brian are the co-founders and writers of Tosche-Station.net. You can find Nanci on Twitter with the handle @Nancipants and you can find Brian with @LaneWinree.