Hello there everyone and welcome to this centennial roundup of news from a Galaxy Far Far Away. With Celebration Chicago beginning in just a few short days, I have to admit I was surprised to learn there was any news at all this week. But here we are with some cool stuff to share– not all of which is Celebration-centric (if you’d believe it!?!).

Beginning with that which is relevant to us all, Webby Award nominations were announced this week and the Star Wars team has been nominated in several categories. Voting is open to the public via vote.webbyawards.com and you can vote for your favorites through April 18th.

Continuing with non-Celebration news (sort of) Del Rey this week released an excerpt (scroll to the end of the page for an audio clip) from Claudia Gray’s upcoming novel, Master & Apprentice.  In the excerpt, we get to spend a few minutes with Padawan Qui-Gon Jinn as he and his master trail a dangerous bounty hunter. The book will be available to attendees of Star Wars Celebration Chicago in a limited edition convention-exclusive trim and releases widely on April 16th. Master & Apprentice is available for pre-order through Penguin Random House or your favorite local bookseller.

Onward to Celebration!

With Star Wars Celebration Chicago only days away, it’s no surprise that a big chunk of the news this week revolves around the convention. The Celebration App is now live and available for download wherever you get your apps. The mobile app, presented by Topps, allows fans at the show to explore its offerings and personalize a schedule including panels, autographs, and photo ops.

Another feature of the app is the ability to pre-order merchandise from the Celebration Store for pickup during the show. I know I’m itching to get my hands on some of the exclusives announced this week. Whether you’re into t-shirts, plush toys, housewares, or even flannel, there’s likely to be something in the Celebration store to tickle your fancy.

In a departure from previous Star Wars Celebrations, geek fashion brand Her Universe will have a presence outside the main Celebration store. The show will see the debut of the new Sisters of The Force line of merchandise celebrating the women of the galaxy far, far away with jackets, sweatshirts, dresses (with pockets!) and more.

That’s all the news for this week! Wishing everyone safe travels, We’ll see you in Chicago! Look for the Tosche Station team on the show floor and on panels about community and creativity.

The last few times I’ve had news duty there’s basically be NOTHING going on (like, so little there hasn’t been a column). As we approach Star Wars Celebration Chicago (SWCC), THIS WEEK HAS SOME NEWSSS *rap airhorn*

Since we’re already on the subject of Celebration, let’s talk about some exclusives. If you love Star Wars toys like some (me), Funko, Hasbro, and LEGO will all have Celebration exclusives available through an advanced lottery and at their respective booths. More details are here.

Details about non-toy exclusives are here. If you’re obsessed with Spider Maul and want a Letterman Jacket, they’ve somehow got you covered??? Speaking of clothes, there will be Her Universe exclusives branded under the collection “Sisters of the Force”, which is sure to make us all fangirl even more than the terrific Her Universe brand usually does (somehow). Please click through–there is so much good exclusive content that y’all will want that it’s better to look at it than to hear me describe (dog shirts, mugs, JABBA CHIA PETS). Also, as a Book Wars Pod team member, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the load of Celebration exclusive book editions–you can find E. K. Johnston’s Queen’s Shadow as well as Claudia Gray’s Master & Apprentice. Seriously, please click through so you can see the artwork on the exclusive covers. Grabby hands for days, tbh.

Some more Celebration news–THREEPIOOO IS COMINGGG. And by that I mean, Anthony Daniels, who has played C-3P0 in every Star Wars film to date will be at SWCC. If you’ll be there, you can find him on Sunday at 5:15 p.m. when he’ll be presenting “Droidography” on the Galaxy Stage. For additional details and other times you can see him, click through. Also click through HERE for the A M A Z I N G mural Doug Chiang and Jason Palmer that they designed and created to (to paraphrase Kathy Kennedy) “create a piece of art that would encapsulate the entire Star Wars saga, visually representing the complete stories of Star Wars through art”. Do you think it’s overkill to get the whole thing as a back tattoo?

In other, non-Celebration news, who wants to fly the Millennium Falcon at Disneyland!!! (I really, really, do.) Smugglers Run will be at Disney Land and riders will enter the line through “‘Ohnaka Transport Solutions'”, a shady shipping operation run by Hondo Ohnaka” aka, I’m losing my mind and I want to do so many pirate adventures PLEASE?! The details sound tantalizing and full of scoundrel stuff and buttons and all the best things.

AND MORE. Darth Revan just got added to Galaxy of Heroes! THERE’S A NEW MEDIUM–AUDIO-ONLY BOOK!!! As a BWP homie, I am especially excited about Dooku: Jedi Lost.

Alright, seriously, so much news. Please, for the love, click through on all the things so you can get more than my teeny snippets. And enjoy our last few weeks before Celebration!!!

Search no more, dear reader, for the schedule has been bestowed unto thee.

That’s right – the full schedule of panels for Star Wars Celebration Chicago is out, and we’re already panicking over the panels that overlap with one another. A tradition unlike any other. Whether its details on the new VR experience Vader Immortal: Episode I that you’re looking for, or you want to see a sneak preview of The Mandalorian, the Celebration Stage will have you covered. But when will you need to get in line? How will the lottery system work? Well, we kind of know those details thanks to StarWars.com, but the Tosche Station team takes no responsibility if, say, these rules change with no notice and no one actually makes it clear to the attendees. Remember kids, communication is key.

Don’t care about the panels? Just going for the experience? Well, we’ve got you covered there too, with these previews of the collectibles and merchandise that will be available at the show store – with more sure to come in the next few weeks leading up to April 11. And hold onto your sand, because the Chosen One himself, Hayden Christensen, will be gracing SWCC with his presence. We truly, deeply love him.

What’s that – you don’t care about Celebration news? LIES! DECEPTIONS!

Ok fine, there’s something for you this week  as well – never let it be said that we aren’t here for our readers. We got a sneak preview of some of the high-tech functionality coming to Galaxy’s Edge at Disneyland and Walt Disney World via your mobile devices. We got a (gorgeous) cover, a new release date, and a new synopsis for the upcoming novel from Del Rey, Galaxy’s Edge: Black Spire by Delilah S. Dawson, which revealed that old friend Vi Moradi is indeed bringing her presumably-still-unfinished knitting project to Batuu. And finally, a hearty congratulations to The Star Wars Show for earning another Emmy nomination, this time for their hilarious Arrested Development-style recap of A New Hope.

And just think, we aren’t even at Celebration yet. Hold onto your butts.