Bantha Tracks (newsletter)

Bantha Tracks, which started out as the Official Star Wars Fan Club Newsletter, was a periodical released from 1978 until 1987. Currently, it exists as a section within Star Wars Insider magazine, with a focus on the community of Star Wars enthusiasts. Pete Vilmur took over as the editor of this section starting with issue 157, succeeding Mary Franklin, who had been the original editor since 2002.

History

The Official Star Wars Fan Club Newsletter, its initial form, was sent to members every other month; in contrast, Bantha Tracks had a quarterly distribution. Craig Miller, who served as Lucasfilm's Director of Fan Relations from 1977 to 1980, edited and primarily wrote the first two years of Bantha Tracks.

The name Bantha Tracks was chosen through a competition held in the Official Star Wars Fan Club Newsletter #2, inviting fan club members to propose alternative, less straightforward names. Preston Postle from Avon, Ohio won with his suggestion of Bantha Tracks. Other names that were considered included The Comlink and Inside Star Wars.

The original run of Bantha Tracks spanned 35 issues before it ceased publication in 1987.

In 2003, StarWars.com made all 35 issues available online to Hyperspace subscribers as Classic Bantha Tracks, from June through December. Additionally, in 2004, they launched a new online publication, Bantha Tracks Online, which was released biweekly and continued at least until August 2005.

At present, "Bantha Tracks" is a segment in Star Wars Insider that showcases artwork and submitted images from fans.

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