Years ago, while reading the biographical book Skywalking, I was intrigued by that picture of George Lucas and his wife standing by this huge animal named a Jerba during the shooting of the first Star Wars movie. I spent a long time trying to figure out where that animal could be seen in the movie.

And then I saw it. Actually two of them.

Just like the number "94" near the door to the Docking Bay 94, it was there, in plain sight, for everyone to see. But did anyone else notice it? Sure, they noticed the banthas, and the dewbacks, and even heard the cry of an unseen Krayt dragon. But sadly, just like Luke's friend Tank, the poor jerba would go into obscurity for the rest of eternity.

One person, an avid Star Wars archaeologist and custom action figure maker named David West Reynolds, noticed it too. But unaware of its name, he would call it a "minyak" in his fan-made Mos Eisley Cantina Exterior playset. Mr. Reynolds would go on and write the Star Wars Visual Dictionary and mention that Leia's slave boots are made of jerba leather. And in the Episode I Visual Dictionary he would give the jerba another nod with Anakin's japor snippet cord made of the same material. But would the world ever be aware of the jerba?

The big chance came with Decipher's Star Wars Customizable Card Game. The premiere pack included had a lot of little-known or -seen characters and objects from the first movie. There was a freakin' Blaster Rack but no jerba. Maybe in their A New Hope expansion, which added a lot of the stuff they missed the first time. There was a Dantooine card, which is only mentioned in the movie and not even seen in it. But still no jerba. Their next expansions would cover the next two movies, and the hopes of seeing a jerba card were pretty much depleted.

A miracle came in the form of the re-release of the movies, and Decipher's Special Edition expansion. Yes, the jerbas were still there in the same scene! They weren't blocked off by a CGI animal or droid. Lucasarts even released a Behind the Magic CD-ROM which included for the first time ever the Tosche Station scenes which were cut in the first movie, and include another jerba in the background! Go Decipher! Show us the jerba in all its glory.

No such chance. The much ignored jerbas would be overthrown by new creatures, which don't even bring anything useful to the movie, like the ronto and the scurrier. Decipher would even make cards for the Krayt dragon and the womp rat, which unlike the jerba, they are not even IN the movie. Making cards for the characters in the Tosche Station cut scene was just a slap in the face...

Now Decipher have released a Tatooine expansion. And of course you have your regular Ugnaughts on Cloud City, and an event card from Return of the Jedi. What do they have to do with Tatooine, you ask? Nothing at all. But the jerba has everything to do with Tatooine, gently waiting outside the cantina for its righful owner to reclaim it...