This whole "Darth Icky" nonsense reads as beyond ridiculous at face value.  And it really left me wondering about a couple of things. 

First, is the story legit?  Without knowing any of the sources involved it's tough to make that judgement.  If it's all true it has to leave you with some serious questions about just what GL was thinking.

And second?  Is it possible this happened but GL had ulterior motives in judging things?  Because the names alone sound preposterous.  To a degree that it comes across like some sort of put-on.  Is it possible that GL went into this meeting with a totally ridiculous proposal in an effort to judge his own people?  Had he grown in stature to the point that nobody within his companies was prepared to challenge him on his creative ideas?  To someone with a background like his own that would probably seem like he had finally become what he had railed against in his younger days:  a studio apparatus that was out of touch with the work of the people on the artistic front lines.  Lucas's work with Francis Coppolla and American Zoetrope tried to buck that Hollywood system in an effort to do something new and different in film.  And effectively the Star Wars films, with the exception of the first, wound up being independent films.  But Star Wars had grown into something SO BIG that it seems like George Lucas had become the very thing that he had fought against for so much of his career.  It must be an eye-opening thing to be in a position where nobody will speak truth to power, and YOU are the power.

So, witness the sale of Star Wars/Lucasfilm to Disney.  And the fact that GL is going to be putting the bulk of that money towards philanthropic pursuits.  That, combined with the fact that he's stated that he wants to work on small, independent films say to me that GL probably recognized that this thing had grown far beyond even his own imagination, and perhaps it was time to move on since he couldn't find people that would be partners with him in a creative collaboration.

More to look forward to with the Funko Game of Thrones line.  These new figures were on display at Toy Fair as seen in THIS FWOOSH POSTING:

-Robb Stark
-Khal Drogo
-Brienne of Tarth
-Danaerys Targaryen (blue dress)
-Jaime Lannister
-Arya Stark

There are definitely some things from the EU that I'd like to see get explored.  My focus tends to be from some of the Dark Horse comics and video games.  And it still seems like fairly fertile ground from a character standpoint.  But I get this shift in direction.  It's an attempt to keep the Star Wars line CURRENT and moving forward with a sense of anticipation towards the new trilogy.

And then there's the shift in the action figure business.  We've seen a pattern emerge where interest seems to be gravitating away from the 3.75" action figure to collector focused 6" figures and the video game sector.  There have also been some massive failures on some serious movie licensed toy lines.  That's led to action figure lines that are leaner, more cost-concious and more risk averse than they were say, 5 years ago.

For the continued health of the line?  I'm okay with this shift away from the EU.  I understand what's driving it.  It's a compromise that's being made in the interest of benefitting the broader Star Wars merchandise line.

Given what we've been seeing from The Official Site and other news sources regarding the Expanded Universe in general, I'm not surprised at all that there's a pullback on the Expanded Universe across multiple fronts.  I take issue with the article simply because I find Paul's work focuses far more on hyperbole and nerd rage than substance and thoughtful analysis.  I found that to be the case during my tenure on the staff at JTA and that shift in style was a major part of my reasoning for leaving that website.  But that's besides the point.

The EU pullback is actually very logical from a marketing standpoint.  Look at what's happening:
-Dark Horse's comic license is coming to an end.  That's been a major source of EU material over the past decade plus.
-Marvel taking over the comic license and re-launching the direction of Star Wars comics.
-The announcement of the creation of the Lucasfilm Star Wars story group which will be determining what is canon and what is not.  And notably this will have an impact on the post-ROTJ EU, which will likely have a tremendous impact on the story direction of Episode VII and beyond.
-Focusing Star Wars on the REBELS television series launch for fall 2014.

Getting the Star Wars toy line working along with the other arms of Disney/Lucasfilm to this common goal is something of a no-brainer in the modern world of brand management.  It does have the side effect of impacting some fans of a particular niche in Star Wars.  This is an unfortunate casualty of the new world view for Star Wars.  But it' seems clear that Lucasfilm Licensing is looking at the big picture and trying to steer things towards a greater goal.  That means working towards a successful launch for the REBELS animated series and a ramp up towards the release of Episode VII.  This move away from established EU figures et al really seems to have been inevitable given the overall change in direction for Star Wars.

Interesting offerings for this first wave.  And safe.  The reveals of the past week have given us a little insight into who these characters are prior to Toy Fair.  I expect that the REBELS line of Saga Legends is going to be timed in such a way as to not give up too much about the show early on.

In a perfect world I'd like to see some more articulation in the figures.  And with the core characters we'll probably see them in a premium format with movie-realistic likenesses.  But the limited nature of the line so far makes it manageable.  And here's to hoping that the show will be good.

They typically don't show (or talk about) exclusives at TF.

Recently, it would seem.  I've been to a number of Toy Fairs, and they have shown exclusives there in the past.  The new trend seems to be bringing the retailers to the showroom and pitching exclusive ideas for Q3 and Q4. 

To me, it looks like a manageable year. I've been trying to be a little more cost conscious about things, and this line looks like Hasbro recognizes some of the strain the economy has put on their customers. The figure line isn't exhaustive, but there are some really cool choices in there. The vehicle line doesn't look completely rehashed. And the the 6" figure line is going in an interesting direction with things like the speeder bike and Jabba.

However, the lack of exclusives?  That seems telling.