Has it really been fourteen years since POTF2 and the dawning of the Action Figure Renaissance?

Have I really spent more years buying toys as an adult than I ever did as a kid?

Heck, there are people who grew up playing with POTF2 who have already sold all of their toys at garage sales and moved on to cars and girls...

Well, whatever stage of collecting you are in...I hope you have a happy new year and enjoy the following comic...

Spend it watching all 6 films + the Clone Wars movie + the Clone Wars animated series. (that should take up all of New Years eve and a good part of New Years day) OR play all the SW video games ever created.(providing you have the applicable systems) OR play all the SW board games you can get your hands on. OR play the SW customizable card game. All of these options should more than help you start the New Year off right and are far better options than watching any of those old Bowl games they always run.

Or perhaps you could have a SW costume party. Have all your friends and relatives come dressed up as their favorite Rebel, Imperial, droid, bounty hunter, or whatever...Make a bunch of delectable goodies out of the Star Wars cookbooks, and when 12:00 hits, party like the second Death Star just blew up. (Darth Vader's funeral pyre not included.)

If you're spending the holiday alone, this would be the perfect time to start memorizing the new Star Wars Encyclopedia (if you have it, that is). It will take some time, but in the end you'll be able to stump your family, amaze your friends, and really prove to everyone you have absolutely no life whatsoever.

How about start planning for attending the next Star Wars Celebration! Start figuring out what you'll wear, what you'll bring, how much money to take, etc... Of course, they haven't even announced where the next Celebration will be, or when, or who will be there. So maybe this might not be the best idea to go along with, but it's always good to be prepared!

Of course, my favorite choice would be to spend New Years Eve with CC.com! Go through Darth Danno's past stories, both long and short. Re-read each of Bill Cable's “Cantina” comic strips. (They're even funnier the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, or 5th time you peruse them.) We have more than enough material here to keep you amused, entertained, or at least in need of a good, stiff drink...or six. But remember, that if you drink, please drink responsibly! If you must drink, stay off the roads! (Drive on the sidewalks, they'll be less cars (except for those who are too drunk to know where to park) and there's not as many potholes (hopefully).

1 - GET THEM A PIECE OF CABLE ORIGINAL ART. Why not? Do they have a favorite character Bill hasn't drawn yet? Shoot him an e mail and get the ball rolling! This will most definitely be something that is suitable for framing, and will undoubtedly increase in value over the years. Just look at all the new characters from the Clone Wars movie. No one has requested or reserved any of those. Or perhaps someone from one of the new comic series strikes their fancy. Someone from: "Legacy", "Rebellion", "Dark Times", or "Knights of the Old Republic". There are a lot of prime choices still out there. Don't think for a microsecond that all the good ones have been taken. Get your dibs in before somebody else does. Once he draws one of a certain character in a certain outfit, that's it. It's not like they'll have # 2431 out of 5000. There's one and only one of each. It will be truly unique. Now Mr Cable did not ask me to set this all up to help sell his wares, For you see, I'm not only a writer for this site, but I'm also a client (aka a proud owner of my own piece of Cable original art). Besides, what do you or they have to lose? If they don't like it, send it back and he'll re-do it. And if you respond right away, CC.com will throw in, at no additional cost, a years supply of...absolutely nothing. So act now!

Come to think of it, considering Christmas is tomorrow, there's no way you can get your request and deposit in to B.C., have him create his next masterpiece, and get it to you or them in time for 12-25-08, but there's PLENTY of time to get it in for the Christmas '09 season. So what are you waiting for? Let's keep those cards and e mails coming!

In closing, it doesn't matter if you're celebrating Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, or whatever. May your holidays be merry and bright, and may that customs made Stormtrooper armer you spent two months salary on, fit right. Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good knight (Jedi Knight, that is.)

This time, however, he's striking back and going right to the source in order to insure all of his Christmas dreams come true...

But what really, really knocks me back is when instead of somebody putting my art in a frame, they put it on their body. Permanently.

So that gift I got today was proof that somebody felt my art was impressive enough to live with it the rest of their life. That's a big "WOAH" moment for me. And it's perfect for the season. So thank you Ricky P for making my week!

Hasbro dudes sent me this follow-up, a bit too late for this week's updated. The initial response to the following Star Wars Q&A question from this past round was incomplete and seems to have caused some confusion in the broader collector-fan community.

Question: Just to clear up some confusion, can you confirm the order of the waves next year? We're pretty sure 2009 (or maybe late 2008) starts with the 8 figures from ANH, then comes the 6-figure ESB themed Wave 2, followed by the 6-figure RotJ themed Wave 3? Is that right?

Answer: To clarify, the 2009 basic figure order looks like this: Spring consists of EpIV (8 figures), EpV (6 figures), EpII (6 figures), and EpVI (8 figures). Fall will see four waves: EpIV (8 figures), EpI (6 figures), EpIII (6 figures), and EpV (6 figures) for a total of 54 figures. A 9th wave, the EU wave (6 figures), has slipped to be on-shelf right now around late Dec/early Jan so we are not counting that in the 2009 count, unless we are able to bring that one back in.

We would appreciate it if you could communicate the above response to your readers as you feel is appropriate.

4 – GET THEM STAR WARS LICENSE PLATES. (This would only work if they didn’t already have Star Wars license plates though.) How about DRTH VDR, R2 N 3PO, DETH STR, DRTH RVN, HAN SOLO, LUK N LEA, X WING, Y WINGZ, TIE FITR, BE A SITH, REBELYN, MOS ISLY, JEDI NYT, or BOBA FET. These are just a few of the choices available (providing someone hasn’t already used these). You don’t like ‘em? Come up with your own! It ‘s easy. But if this is still not what you’re looking for, you can…

3 – SHOP DARTH DANNO’S PREFERRED STAR WARS SELLERS. If you live in the Chicago suburbs, you can stop in and see Tim at Toynk toys in Elk Grove Village (you can also order from them on the web), or Rudy at Comix Revolution in Mt. Prospect. They’ve got all kinds of SW stuff for sale. Or you could enroll them in a Sociology class at the College of Lake County taught by John Tenuto (now where have I heard that name before?) He teaches such classes like: The Sociology of Star Wars and The Films of Lucas and Spielberg, just to name a few. He’s a huge SW fan and a really great guy to boot. If you live outside of Illinois, you can let your mouse do the walking and visit such websites such as Wattographs, Officialpix, or Starwarsshop.com. They’re sure to have something your die-hard fan (that means die hard “Star Wars” fan, not fans of the “Die-Hard” films, I mean they are great films in their own right, but I digress…) doesn’t have, but if they do, you can always…

2 – GET THEM MENTIONED IN A DARTH DANNO ORIGINAL CC.COM STORY. What would they like to be? A Jedi, a Sith, a Stormtrooper, Bounty Hunter, patron of the Mos Eisley Cantina? I can make them whatever they’d like to be. Put ‘em in a short comedy, an ongoing drama, or maybe even a crossover (perhaps bring Indy back for a visit?) Now a small stipend would be in order, (I’d have to split it with Mr. Cable, Lord of the website, of course.) but to have them immortalized in SW lore would be priceless. Each story would and could be suitable for framing, (however, if they were mentioned in an ongoing drama like “Indiana Jones and the Sith Stone”, that would require a lot of frames. Every week I come up with something new, and your favorite fan could very well be a part of it. What an honor! Right up there with winning an Academy Award or receiving the Nobel Peace Prize.