Mass-market Star Wars figures haven't changed a great deal over the last 35 years. They've grown more complex and detailed as technology has improved, but today's Star Wars figures are still designed around the same 3 3/4-inch scale that the original Kenner figures were in 1977. Clearly the approach works. After all, it's difficult to produce scale-model replicas of the many iconic Star Wars vehicles if the figures are the size of G.I. Joe dolls.

But what about collectors who prefer their figures to be larger and more detailed? Until now, the choice was between Hasbro's tiny offerings or 1:6 scale figures from companies like Sideshow, Medicom, and Hot Toys (which can easily clock in at $100-200).Hasbro is finally looking to fill that collecting void and provide Star Wars fans with a happy medium. As revealed by USA Today , Hasbro is prepping a new line of figures called Star Wars: The Black Series. These figures will be similar in size and style to the Marvel Legends series. Instead of the old 3 3/4-inch format, they'll be designed at a six-inch scale. As Hasbro's VP of boys marketing Daryl DePreist told USA Today, black is "one of the main colors of Star Wars all the way back to the beginning, and it's the approach that Lucasfilm has taken with their collector-oriented product line. We're bringing that simplicity and essence and focus on the character now to the toy aisle."Naturally, these new figures will offer an increased level of detail and superior articulation to the smaller versions. Those improvements come with a high price tag. Hasbro is pricing each Black Series figure at $19.99. There are currently two series of four figures each planned for release in 2013. Series 1, scheduled for release in August, will include Luke Skywalker in his X-Wing uniform, R2-D2, Darth Maul, and an Imperial Sandtrooper. This lineup reflects Hasbro's general approach to the Black Series, which will focus mainly on Original Trilogy characters with a sampling of the more popular Prequel characters.Hasbro also revealed that the current Vintage line, which offers more collector-oriented versions of the 3 3/4-inch figures with retro-style packaging, will also shift over to the Black Series label.We're expecting Hasbro to be showing off this new line at Toy Fair next month, which will hopefully include the debut of the other Series 1 figures. Stay tuned to IGN for plenty of Toy Fair coverage in the coming weeks.

Jesse is a writer for various IGN channels. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter , or Kicksplode on MyIGN