Let'su go, passion!
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1 I seem to recall seeing a prototype for Squidhead in an official Star Wars magazine (Star Wars Galaxy?) some time back. Anyways do you know if the figure might be produced and if there are any other unproduced POTF[2] figures that never made it past the protoype stage? -Ryan
Excellent question! There were quite a few items that were either
proposed and just not made, made as prototypes and just not made, or
made in such small numbers they may as well have never been made.
A couple of items that put the "freaking" in "rare" are the Remote
Control Speederbike with Luke and the Millennium Falcon Flight
Controller, the second of which I've never actually seen. Actually,
I'm not quite sure if the Falcon Flight Controller exists beyond a
handfull of in-house samples... anybody care to chime in?
As far as figures go, Squid Head made a lot of rumor lists, but sadly no
picture ever surfaced of a POTF2 prototype. Since it's a pretty
distinctive looking character I wouldn't rule out ever seeing one in
plastic, assuming the line can survive long enough, that is. I think
everybody knows about the infamous "Attack R2-D2" and "Attack C-3PO"
figures from 1996, the latter of which (if I recall correctly) would
have looked like C-3PX from the Dark Horse Droids series. A Ketwol (or
as I know him, Slurpy)figure was supposedly on tap for 1998, and if you
believe the rumor mill, came so close to production that it might have
actually had tooling made for it. There were even a few rumors of it
being an exclusive... but, obviously, no such figure has surfaced, nor
have any images. In the Shadows of the Empire line, Guri and Xizor's
ship (called a Battlewing inside Hasbro) were proposed, but nothing
beyond very early conceptual drawings and models exist, both of which
can be seen in the Secrets of Shadows of the Empire book. (Click on
the Amazon link to order it, it's actually quite good, especially the
sketches of SOTE product that never actually got made.)
 I'm sure there were other figures, but I'm drawing a blank. However two versions of Hoth Leia were to be made in addition to what we got... sorta. The carded Hoth Leia we got in Collection 3 was to be packaged with a Hoth Complete Galaxy globe, as seen above in the only picture I seem to have on my HD of it. The second was with a Rebel Flight Deck pop-up diorama, which was to have completed the pop-up diorama trilogy. For whatever reason, this item was announced, confirmed, and later disavowed by Hasbro. Weird. As far as Episode One goes, a fourth Deluxe figure, the Coruscant Taxi, and Lott Dodd were all said to be included in the 1999 product line at one point or another, either from price lists or people allegedly close to Hasbro. While Lott Dodd has shown up on cardback mockups for this year, the other two are currently damned to the filing cabinets of the unknown.
2 On the March 1st Q&A, you "HAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAAAA!ed" at the idea of a POTF2 Imperial Shuttle being released. Does this mean that one will not be made in the foreseeable future? Also, is there any chance of a Lego Imperial Shuttle being made? -Jamie
This means: looking at Hasbro's product line-up,
and direct quotes the include but are not limited to "we aren't doing
the shuttle at this time", I can safely say that the long maniacal laugh
means "not anytime soon." As far as Lego, they like to keep quiet
about their new stuff until shortly before it becomes available. Or
until someone leaks some of it to me, which has been the case for the
first two years of the line. Since the Shuttle is a major vehicle, and
Lego seems to be doing ships exclusively, I would be surprised if we
didn't see it in the next few years. But-- and I say this a lot-- if
you have never read about something on a relatively legit news site or
magazine, that means it probably ain't on the way as far as I know. If
I knew something was coming out-- and this isn't just directed to you,
Jamie-- I'd be on the mountain tops, blaring to all who would listen,
that we are getting something particularly neat.
(This is why the questions of "where is the biker scout/Amanaman/etc."
aren't posted here-- no answers.)
3 I don't understand these people who collect these toys and never take them out of the packages. Everything I have is loose: if that reduces their value, so what? If i was just going to get these things to sell them later, I'd use the money to invest in stocks, know what i mean? They're TOYS: while i don't "play" with them, I get them because of their great sculpts and 3-D realism, like having a real piece of the films. What do u think? -Pjh123
I think if SW collecting was a fraternity, you'd
be wearing a pledge beanie.
SW collecting attracts people of all ages, all of whom bring different
tastes and perspectives to the hobby. Some people see the line as a
collectible, something to buy, trade, look at, and enjoy. Some do see
it as an investment. Others see it as just toys. While I don't keep
my toys packaged because I prefer to get the most of my toy dollar,
others would say that they have a greater aesthetic value in the blister
cards. (I know I prefer to keep my few autographed figures packaged,
and the vintage line does look pretty cool in the packaging.)
As to if these things will be worth something later, the more I think
about it, the less I think it can be predicted. This weekend I went
around toy stores just to look for something new (didn't find anything,
but I did finally buy the AST), and I didn't see a single Padme, Mace
Windu, Valorum, or Gasgano. (Check your local toy joint, your mileage
may vary.) So while a lot of this stuff is being hoarded by the case
in basements accross America, it is quite possible that today's
pegwarmer might be a bit harder to find. But it's not terribly likely
the figures will be much more than they were paid for, at least until
most of us are buried in the ground. Buy what you like, do what you
please with it, and try to enjoy-- that's the most you can ask from any
collecting-based hobby.
4
Can't remember if I ever replied to this question before, so here it might be again... it's a good question.
The bonus droid packs were created to allow countries that were not
getting CommTech chips in their native language to get some sort of
"bonus" with each figure purchased. While many believe the chips make
great stands, I already have stands, but it is good that something was
included to cushion the blow of the added $1 to figures in 1999.
Diplomacy aside, yes, I think that added "bonuses" that aren't chips
would be the best. Wuher's droid detector was pretty awesome (just got
mine last week), Vader's Interrogator Droid is something else
(unfortunately, no saber was included with the figure), even Beru's
droid was the icing on the plastic cake. And yes, I think that the
droids could be very good for business if they cost as little to make as
a chip-- after all, why settle for one figure when you can get two?
While the Astrodroids and Stormtroopers might not be doable from a cost
POV, I'm sure there are a lot of other characters that would be quite
doable. Heck, I know I'm alone here, but I wouldn't mind paying $7.99
(as opposed to the current $6.99) if they tossed the chips in favor of a
bonus figure, even if it is the same Battle Droid (or Pit Droid) that
they're getting overseas.
Unfortunately, I don't think the CommTech chips will go away until all
the readers vanish. If they eliminated the chips, these things would
never sell. Even at $3-- THREE MEASLY BUCKS-- Etoys STILL has these in
stock. I can assure you, it's worth having even for $10. But all
that aside, the chips probably need to stay to sell the readers, which
it seems everybody over ordered (and Hasbro overpriced by at least $10).
At least for this year. As cool as bonus figures would be, I don't see
it happening beyond the few like Pit Droid 2-packs or Jar Jar with the
collpased Pit Droid.
5 I've noticed that a lot of otherm lines from hasbro- Transformers, Batman etc. have more durable cards and packaging than Star Wars figures. Why are we stuck with the most easily damged cards? They must know Star Wars collectors are as neurotic about package condition as anyone else -YAYOGAK46
I'd say SW is pretty sturdy, at least from what
I've seen. I have yet to see a SW figure package that's been trashed
unless someone went out of their way to damange it.
6
While Lego provides more bang for the buck, the figures exist in more varieties (there's something like what, at least 250 of them now?) and are relatively cheap. If I could only collect one line-- all ribbing at them aside-- it'd be Hasbro's figures. I'm a sucker for action figures, for better or worse.
7
4-color is a printing process used involving four colors of ink: Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black. Four color printing is used in everything from newspapers to toy packaging, and really isn't anything special beyond the fact that if you think about it, it's really neat how they can do that.
8
It seems that there will always be one-per case figures, at least for a while. There's the new Jar Jar, which doesn't look half bad, at 1 per case... there's the R2-D2 everybody wants to see... and the one-per thing happened a lot before as well. If there's demand, Hasbro will make more. At least that's what they used to always do, I don't see why it would change now.
9
The first run of Action Fleet vehicles were numbered, and the first 100 of those were reserved for Galoob VIPs. I got one of these sets, and other than the sticker (which makes it insanely cool), they're no different than the regular toys.
10
In the original line, there was only one Chewbacca figure in the 4" scale. While some people may tell you they have a "rare" green limbed figure, truth is, it's just discoloration like a yellow Stormtrooper. There is a green bowcaster on the original figure, though, and of course there are numerous packaging variations.
In POTF2, there've been Chewies from every of the first three films.
For ANH, there's the upcoming Dejarik Chewie, and the Chewie in the
3-pack with the Han & Luke Stormtrooper figures. From ESB, there's the
Snow Deco Chewie (which has many other names which I shan't repeat in a
family forum), Mynock Hunt Chewie (my favorite), and... well, that's it.
ROJ had the Boushh's Bounty version, and Shadows of the Empire had
Chewie as the Bounty Hunter Snoova. There's also a non-film-specific
buff Chewie that came out in 1995 as well as a repaint that was offered
with a coin as a Toys "R" Us Exclusive in 1997.
Last, and definitely least, was a remake of the original Vintage Chewie
in 1995. He came in a four-pack with Luke, Han, & Vader, all cast from
the original figures and made in slightly different colors (as well as
being slightly smaller).
FIN
1
Excellent question! Qui-Gon did make it out, while I've never seen one in stores, they are showing up on the secondary market for about $15. Now thatcha mention it, I think I remember seeing some info on a Battle Droid last year, but I never remember seeing pics of it, and I know it wasn't released. Anyone got more info?
2 What happened to White's Guide to Collecting Figures? I haven't seen it anywhere since late '99. Did they go out of business or did retailers stop carrying it? -Scott
I also haven't seen it for a while, and I think the awesome groovy neat-o dudes at the Raving Toy Maniac posted that it went under last year.
3 I have recently picked up that Queen Amidala's Royal Starship (for the 4 inch figure line) and I was wondering about something from a collector's (and resellers) viewpoint. If a vehicle (such as the Starship) comes with batteries installed, is it better to remove the batteries (if planning to store the item for some time) and having to downgrade from "Sealed In Mint Box" status OR risk battery leakage over time? It seems that Hasbro has worked against the collector by having the batteries in the vehicle. -M
It's a decision that has to be up to you: personally, I'm all for opening the soaps to drain them, the ships to remove the batteries, and so forth just so what I originally bought doesn't get destroyed. But then, no sealed box. So it's up to you, "try me" packages haven't really been around long enough to study long-term effects.
4
Since it's marketed as a Holo, that's what I'd call it, even though it never appeared on screen.
5 It seems that a starved Star Wars market is also a healthy Star Wars market. With that in mind what do you think the impact has been of on-line merchants, such as e-toys and mosespa.com, on Star Wars collecting? -Christopher
I agree with the first part of your statement... "always leave them wanting more" has kept most collectors glued to any news wire they can find when it came to finding out what was next, and was the same thing that kept me writing a newsletter for almost five years.
As far as product goes, well, it wasn't exactly starved in 1997, but
fans were really happy. So were many retaillers, because until the end
of the year, most-- not all-- of the stuff sold really well. Pretty
much nothing sucked, and nothing was really all that hard to get if you
made at least one trip a week to stores. Now, well, "water water
everywhere and not a drop to drink." Sure, there's a lot of stuff out
there, but nobody cares because we already have it all. It could be
just as much product out there, if it were newer stuff, and it'd probably do a lot better than it's doing now.
6
Congratulations on learning Lesson #3 of Star Wars Collecting:
Nothing ever comes out on time, unless it's from Lego.
7
By my count, up through and including the Motti wave, and including the Fan Club 4 & Wuher in the tally, the number is...
118. (This counts packs like "Jawas" and "Ewoks" as one figure, not two.)
Which is a heck of a lot, considering that in about 7 years, the original line (not counting Ewoks & Droids) had about 96 actual carded figures.
If you wanna factor in all the mail-in, coin, deluxe, pack-in, Rebo band, and Cinemascene figures for POTF2, my total is at 105 more, bringing the new grand total to 223! And that's before any Episode One figures are tallied, too... which, if you think about it, is pretty amazing.
But just for fun, I've counted 77 Episode One figures, including the 4 major variations of the Battle Droid and all currently available 4" scale figures (with the Maul & Ben set counted as two figures.) Bringing our new total to exactly 300 Star Wars figures in about five measly years.
So with that to put things in perspective-- an average of 60 figures a year, which doesn't make this year (I've got around 30 counted so far) seem so bad from a storage point of view. If you thought the 300 was surprising, what's even MORE surprising is that Hasbro still hasn't done anything for Star Wars like they've done for the 100th and 200th Batman figures.
8
I don't remember seeing the Destroyer Driod, but the R2-D2 one was a candy dispenser.
9
Yup, a lot of aliens from the classic films appeared in the same or a slightly different form in Episode One, including but not limited to...
10
As to the terms of the deal, the general public (i.e., people who don't work at Hasbro higher-up or LucasFilm higher-up) weren't privy to most of it, meaning neither are we.
But since Hasbro released at least one preview toy for every movie except the original Star Wars, it's a safe bet you'll see at least one or two preview items to build hype and help move pegwarmers through another mail-in offer. (And with any luck, such a hypothetical mail-in will occurr when TRU has another very rarely known about $1 figure sale like in 1998.)
And for the curious, those old preview figures included...
Pre-ESB: Boba Fett and Bossk ("Secret Star Wars figure")
I'd be VERY surprised if LucasFilm wouldn't let Boba Fett be the preview, because (and let's face it) it's been too long since a new Fett toy has been introduced. Well, unless they want to keep it a surprise, but we all know someone out there'll get early pics anyway.
FIN Oh, a side note: a few of my friends have been asking this, so I'll just say it here in case you were wondering: filming on Star Wars: Episode II supposedly begins this summer. And yes, the casting information for Anakin has yet to be made public. Which, when taken together, is very, VERY curious... after all, it is March. One last thing: there was a totally cool interview with Gary Kurtz, the man responsible for producing ANH and ESB, at Film Threat's web site. It has some very cool insights on what almost was for ROJ... don't miss it! I'll be taking a few days off from Q&A, so as of right now, I don't plan on updating again until a week from Sunday evening. Sooooo... have a good week!
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