Some new Star Wars toys coming in May will feature a Furby-ish twist: four-inch action figures of young Darth Vader, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and others that talk to each other.
Hasbro unveiled the toys on Monday during the first day of the American International Toy Fair in New York, the toy industry's biggest trade show.
The toy industry badly needs a hit. Even with successes like the talking Furby doll and robotic Lego sets, the industry had a flat year in 1998.
"It's a whole new way to play with action figures," said Hasbro spokeswoman Holly Ingram. "The figures can interact and speak to each other with dialogue from the movies."
The high-tech figures are just part of a deluge of licensed products that will promote Episode I, which opens in theaters on 21 May.
Hasbro didn't release price information for the new toys, but they're widely expected to cost less than US$10. A separately sold speech-synthesizer plays the character's lines and sound effects.
The toys use a microchip technology, called COMMTech, licensed from Innovision Research & Technology, a British firm. The COMMTech chips themselves will become collectibles. Each includes a hologram of its character and is made to be worn on a ball-chain included with the reader device.
Hasbro also said it will license robotics technology from ISRobotics for other interactive toys.
