‘Star Wars: Rogue One’ toy line debuts via YouTube series

Just in time for your holiday wish list, Disney and Lucasfilm today announced a very special way you can preview the new line of toys based on the first “Star Wars” standalone film, “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,” due out December 16.

The new toys will be revealed via a series of fan-made, stop-motion, animated shorts starring the toys as the cast. The first short (there will be four in all) can also be viewed on the “Star Wars” YouTube channel starting today.

More toys will be revealed in the subsequent shorts, which will be released throughout September. The #GoRogue merchandise (from Hasbro, LEGO, JAKKS Pacific, Mattel, Funko and the Disney Store) will be available Sept. 30 via retail outlets.

In addition, a global contest kicks off Sept. 30, in which “Star Wars” fans are invited to submit their own short stories/skits “set in a galaxy far, far away” online at StarWars.com/GoRogue. According to the official announcement, winners will be invited to Lucasfilm in San Francisco for a screening of “Rogue One,” and see their short story on the big screen. In today’s debut video (based on the storyline of “Rogue One feature film”), the toys try to track down the building instructions of the LEGO Star Wars Death Star set, which were misplaced by the Empire.