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Back now with a recap of our last tenth question:
I remember there was a series of Star Wars knockoffs that came out in maybe 1977-79. The series consisted of three 12" scale figures, one of a Darth Vader type and one of a C-3P0 and an R2-D2. I have been unable to find any information about these, but I am guessing they were made by Mego? I sort of remember the commercial, although I was in kindergarten at the time, do you have any information about these? -Eric
Good news Eric, thanks to your fellow collectors, I think we've got an answer for you, maybe two. Based on your description, it sounds like you're referring to Ideal's 'Star Team' figures. These were release around the same time as the original Star Wars line to capitalize on the intense interest the Movie and the Kenner line had created. A couple sites have pictures of these toys posted, for more information be sure to check out
http://www.wildtoys.com/zeroids/zeroids.html,
http://www.exit109.com/~lmelogra/10inch.html.
On the off chance these are not what you had in mind, another company, Tomland, ran a line of Mego type toys called Star Raiders. Again, capitalizing on Star Wars popularity these toys were a collection space aliens. A 3 _" line was also available, called Starroid Raiders, or Space Raiders. Kevin at Raving Toy Maniac sent the following links;
http://members.aol.com/raycastile/page3.htm,
http://www.toymania.com/334archives/raiders/index.shtml. Hope that helps.
Thanks to everyone that wrote in!
On with the show:
 1 I've been reading an old magazine (pre Episode 1 release) and it says the name for the 2-headed announcer was to be Hexen-Rexen (or Hex and Rex). Is this true? If so, why the sudden name-change by Hasbro? -Van-Troi Based on the information that's out there, I'd venture a guess that at one time during pre-production the announcer was referred to as Hexen-Rexen. However, as movie making goes, things always change. Either Hasbro created the name for a character that didn't have one at the time, or Lucasfilm bounced around several names before settling on Fode & Beed. Anyway you look at it, it's a minor foot note in action figure history. The end result is we have perfectly suitable name for an action figure that never made it into the movie (the podrace announcer that come in the Jabba beast pack). 2 Now that Hasbro has confirmed the two vehicles (crashed X-wing and Snowspeeder) as Wal-Mart exclusives, can you talk about it? What figures do you think will be pack-ins? OK, Hoth Luke and Dack? What about the X-wing? Dagobah Luke? Let's not get ahead of ourselves here. As of the other day, these vehicles are still far from "confirmed." According to a recent conversation I had with Hasbro, the next step in the process is crucial. Over the next few weeks, retailers will come in and make their final decisions regarding which exclusives they want, and how many they plan to order. Based on that information, we should here more news shortly thereafter. One of the obstacles in the process is making sure quantities are agreeable to both sides. The last thing Hasbro wants is a repeat of the Skiff and Y-Wing situation. Once the details have been agreed upon, Hasbro has promised an update. At that time we hope to have lots of details to share with fans and collectors. 3 Do you think that Hasbro will produce the volume of Episode II figures that it did for Episode I? And do you think they will have the clearance volume that Episode I has (like Toys-R-Us selling figures for $1.97)? -Papester Absolutely not. We've asked Hasbro how they plan to correct the mistakes made in '99, and it sounds like the approach for 2002 will be very 're-active' rather than 'pro-active.' That's not to say there will be a shortage of toys, but rather Hasbro will watch very closely to see what items and figures are selling, then adjust to meet demand. Last time around, retail panic influenced Hasbro to increase production before the market evened out. Once demand leveled off, production was already way ahead of what it should have been. That's the major reason we've seen the mass clearance of Episode I product as we have. Next time will be much different. 4 Has it actually been confirmed that Hasbro will produce different colored shoulder pauldrons on the Sandtrooper or is it just all hearsay? -Dave It has, in a way. Hasbro has expressed a desire to do this, but as of last week a final decision has not been made. Not that it won't happen, I was told they've simply been too busy to make the final call. Once a decision is made, and I hear it will be made soon, we'll be sure to pass that information along. 5 I'm desperately looking for a B-wing action fleet vehicle to add to my collection but they never sold these in Sydney, Australia. Where online can I find a vendor? -Gary Your options are somewhat limited, but definitely give D&S Toys.com a try, or try eBay. There are actually very few on-line retailers that carried the Galoob line, fewer still that have remaining stock. At this point, I'd say if you see one listed anywhere, grab it! Good luck. 6 What are the chances of Hasbro giving us some Mos Eisley residents? Maybe one of the guys with the weird outfits and funny hats? Those hats alone are enough to warrant one of these background characters as a figure. Hasbro has given us so many cool Cantina aliens, but I think they should balance it out by making at least one Tatooine native (if not two or three). -Mike Until recently, I'd say the chances are pretty slim. However, with Hasbro's new focus on collector friendly figures, you never know what they'll come up with next. Still, without seeing which character you are referring to, I'd be hard pressed to pick a likely candidate. With so many great cantina aliens left to do, I have to think they are at the head of the line before common street fodder. But, if the support is there, I'm sure Hasbro would consider just about anything. 7 With Hasbro now delving into 'army builders', has there ever been any talk about some more female figures? There were women seen all over Echo Base (Toryn Farr for one), a female member of the Rebel Strike Team on Endor (Corporal Beezer), and at least one female Rebel Pilot (Karie Neth) at the briefing on Home One. Seems to me that the "it's just a bunch of white guys" argument would almost merit trying something a little different, and since there has always been the "Female action figures sell" mentality I would think it's at least something to mull over. -R. J. Well, actually, the prevailing thought at Hasbro seems to be female figures don't sell_, as well that is. There are lots of instances where female characters have become instant peg warmers, not that they aren't good figures, but it is a boy's toy line after all. With the exception of Toryn Farr, most of the female characters you've pointed out only became known through Decipher's CCG sets. If any of them stand a chance, Hasbro would really have to be at the bottom of the barrel. Unless they've somehow interacted directly with the main characters at some point, I have a very hard time seeing any of these female characters getting the green light. 8 I apologize if this has already been covered, but I think I read something recently about some Theed Invasion Queen Amidala figures not having any panties painted on (similar to the "Party Angela" thing in Spawn). Do you know what the story is on this? I bought an Amidala figure and, though I usually open my figures, I've held off on this one until I know what the story is. Frankly, I can't tell if she's wearing panties or not through the bubble. (Man, you know your life's on the downslide when you spend 15 minutes trying to look up an action figure's skirt.) -Bill Bauer I have not heard about any cases where Amidala figures have shown up sans panties, but there is actually a funny little story about the figure that might be related to what you've been hearing. Throughout the development of the Theed Invasion figure the plastic used for the Queens legs was flesh toned, naturally. The figure passed all the normal inspections and tests, but shortly before it was given the green light for production, someone at Hasbro happened to turn the figure over and noticed she looked naked under the dress. As a last minute change, the color of the plastic used for the legs was changed from flesh tone, to maroon in order to resemble some sort of leggings. As far as I know, no naked Queen figures were ever produce, but I imagine after reading this, there will a lot of collectors looking up Amidala's skirt. 9 I'm preparing a web site (private for fans/collectors, nothing commercial), and I have two or three names I would like to register and use. Anyhow, I am wondering, if it is safe to use the words 'Star Wars' in these domains, or should I replace them with SW (i.e. starwarsdudes over swdudes?) Maybe you or the staff at Rebelscum has some knowledge about how Lucas licensing thinks about the use of Star Wars in urls... -Bernd Good question, and one anybody considering starting a Star Wars based website should think about. The following comments are not meant as legal advice. Anybody faced with this decision should contact an attorney for advice. While in the past, Lucasfilm Limited, has been fairly tolerant of fans using the Star Wars name in urls, it's well within Lucasfilm's rights to take that domain away. Use of any copyrighted or trademarked name in a url can give the impression that the site is somehow authorized by the parent company. A basis for determining that a company deserves a trademark or copyright is if they actually defend against infringement of them. However, in the past I have only seen sites get in trouble with LFL when they involved themselves in questionable content, which could be seen as potentially damaging. This has the potential of being very damaging to both new sites just starting out, and those that have been established for years. One site that ran afoul of LFL was starwarsfarts.com. Your safest bet is to stay clear of trademarked names and develop your site with as original a name as possible. Doing this will ensure whatever you create on the web can't be taken away from you. Good luck! Tenth Question: "This one's for you..."
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If anyone has information regarding the whereabouts of Darth Mauls robe, send it on in. You're your help we'll have an answer for T-dog next week.
Corrections & Amendments:
For those of you looking for more information on the recently announced Star Wars Battleground game, Sean Lee sent in the following: "It's featured on the cover of this month's PC GAMER magazine, and there's a four page preview of it with lots of screenshots and info inside. It's being built with the Age of Empires II: Age of Kings engine. This engine is one of the most respected (and high selling) real-time engines in existence." For more details, be sure to grab your copy of PC Gamer. Thanks Sean!
Until next time...
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