Q & A Archive for week of July 3, 2000
Hunh?


Questions for July 3, 2000

1
I have a few questions for you, Adam.

1) There was some mention that the 300th figure Boba Fett had a holster with a removable pistol. Does this figure actually have a holster with a removable pistol?

2) Did Hasbro mention anything about the Accessory Sets at the Plano show or at any other time recently?

3) When asking Hasbro if they have plans to make a certain figure and they reply, "No plans at this time.", for how long after that reply should you not expect to see that figure announced as an upcoming figure? Six months? A year?
  -John

OK...

1. That was probably me (so you know who to blame for saying it in the first place if it somehow doesn't make the final product), and yes, it does. It looks to me like the a weapon similar to that of the 1970s 12" Fett, however, I did not get to see the weapon out of the holster. Looks pretty slick, though. So in review: two guns, no waiting. Never before has a figure been so well equipped for hunting wookiees or other "damn dirty apes."

2. Didn't ask, but the message that these are unavailable because retaillers didn't order them was pretty apparent over the past few months... so if you want them, stores like Entertainment Earth, DNS Toys, or the vile/lovely eBay are your best bet.

3. "No plans at this time" means "sure, maybe, someday. Not now though." Hasbro's really, really lousy about letting us know about new releases in a timeframe I'm happy with (i.e., at this point I wanna see a list of everything due to be in stores before December 31 2000, and I think I've gotten it, but I'm not sure)... so I'd say that "not at this time" means the earliest you'd get a confirmation of the figure's development is probably going to be six months, most likely more. After all, there's a lot of unmade figures and not many figures on the way per year comapred to 1999...


2
Has anyone yet seen what this new Han Solo (Bespin, Captured) is supposed to look like? Or even a description?
  -Ray

Not that's floated my way... I forgot to ask. Hey Andy, if you catch this, chime on in.


3
If there are [lots of] cases of the POTF Commtechs in Hasbro warehouses,is there any chance we'll see these on clearence like the recent flood of Freeze Frame figures?
  -Shawn

Anything is possible. It all depends on what Hasbro decides they want to do with this stuff.

4
hi, iwas just wandering if you know at all if that there will be any of the new figures to canada since the last couple of waves weren't and of so where and when
  -Steve

After the glut of figures last year, last I heard there wasn't an immediate plan to ship more figures to the great white north. As to where and when, geez, stop asking those questions. :) If we knew when figures would hit, this kind of forum wouldn't be necessary. :)


5
DO THINK ITS POSIBEL FOR U TO SEND ME THE NAMES OF THE FIGUERS UP FOR CONSIDERATION THANKS
  -JOSEPH

First, allow me to commend you on your well-written note. It takes guts these days to stand up and say "I'll write in all caps to look like I'm shouting, and punctuation is for sissies. And none of this spell-checker crap for me, either!" I salute you, sir!

Short answer: all of them, except probably BoShek because he totally sucks. Long answer: all of them, except probably BoShek because he totally sucks and General Madine because he's boring.

(And no, I didn't edit this one.)

6
How much credence do you think Hasbro places on polls conducted at fan-based web sites? I'm asking in regard to the new card design mainly. Rebelscum's card contest design from a few months ago presented a fairly clear example of what fans would like to see in a card. Also, negative response in regard to the new official design seems to have had no effect whatsoever on Hasbro's descision to release the new card. What's up? Do you think they follow an in-house plan for design development and marketing, with little consideration for fans?
  -jacob

Well, I did talk to the guys at Hasbro about the card design, and a significant amount of time, energy, money, and talent went into the redesign which, well, not all of us our entirely thrilled with. It's vibrant. And if it wasn't for Obi-Wan, I think it'd be a lot better received. But I digress.

Sure, Hasbro sees the polls, the contests, and all of that stuff, but there are all sorts of legal issues when it comes to using fan ideas. The winner of our custom card contest came up with an incredibly dynamic, unique, and dare I say, awesome interpretation for Star Wars packaging. The rest were great, but like the new POTJ card, were basically revisions of an existing design...

There are in-house designers and marketers, and while you guys may not think so, a lot of consideration went into the packaging. Just because we don't care for it doesn't mean there were some people sitting around a table going "how can we annoy a ton of people on one of our most popular figure brands?"

Now, if they put Jar Jar in the corner with a mostly white cardback with a bubble that wouldn't allow the figure to stand up on its own, I'd agree with ya. If the cardback was fragile, I'd agree. But figure packaging, more or less, sucks accross the board. McFarlane's done some nice stuff-- not all of it, of course, but a lot is well done. Hasbro's had some nicer designs, but eh, most of their toys sell themselves based on either name recognition (Pokemon) or fan loyalty (TransFormers) anyway. Playmates... well, I don't think I can name a Playmates Toys packaging style I really liked. Maybe the original packaging of the Ninja Turtles about ten years ago.

In the end, packaging sucks. It pretty much will always suck because, well, we'll complain. A lot of fans are complaining that the new Fett isn't on a deluxe card and is instead in a box. (Oooooh. Like you won't buy two anyway. :) Fact is, we like the toys, and we'll buy them regardless of the packaging... I don't look at this as Hasbro getting our goats, and yes, I would like to see something more drastic done, but man, this topic's been going since POTF2 started five years ago. So for now, I'm done with new packaging questions, and with that...

7
Does the R2 with Holo Leia actually do anything, or is it just a 95 potf2 r2 with that inch tall leia figure?
  -Bespin28

It's a totally new sculpt with new articulation and whatnot. Take a look at our photo archive, the differences are pretty apparent with the close-up shots and I must say, it's a nice figure.

8
I'm getting a little worried here. Not a single store in my area has restocked with new figures since December. I've yet to get Motti, Vader, Leia, TC-14, R2-B1, Swimmin' Jar Jar, new Padme, Bibble, or the Pit Droids. My area used to be pretty good with getting the new stuff in, but not this year. Since the new line is do out very soon, what are the chances of getting these without feeding the scalpers?
  -Dwaine

First, well, odds are your timing was off. Looking at stores in my area, unless you go a lot (and by lot, I don't mean only once or twice a week in some cases) you will never see any 2000 figures. It's not unusual to not see any 2000 figures in stores, I know I don't see them around these parts all that much. It's a combination of Hasbro not shipping gobs of new product in the cases and retaillers not ordering that much new product.

As far as "when", that's the big question. There's a lot of these figures sitting around in warehouses, so they've got to show up eventually.

9
Jen, formerly of the Star Wars division at Hasbro told you that Aurra Sing will be made. Do you think she ment the 12" version? I want my 3 and 3/4" version of Aurra w/her swoop bike, any idea if a little version of Aurra is gonna be made?
  -IkabelGont

All info I received indicated she meant 4". I doubt you'll ever get one with a Swoop bike unless Hasbro decides to continue the Invasion Force assortment (the one with the Gungan cannon and such) which, unfortunately, it doesn't seem to be doing.

As far as when, well, patience. These figure lines are planned around 18 months in advance, odds are we just got one heck of a sneak peak when we found out she was in development. I'd be genuinely surprised if we didn't see her in 2001. There's a long time before Star Wars development ends, and Episode One won't necesarily end with the advent of Episode Two. After all, we didn't see figures like the TIE Fighter Pilot until the final waves of ESB, or Stormtrooper Luke or the Imperial Gunner until almost seven years after the original film came out. Like most things in life, waiting is a big part of seeing most of the characters you want. (Not in my case, though, Hasbro's made everybody from my "Dream List." Wuher & Dark Empire Luke... who'd've thunk it?)

In a nutshell, she'll be out eventually. Fan interest is there, Hasbro's aware of it, sometimes it just takes a while.

10
Can you give me the low down on the Ridell helmets. I want to get the Vader one and maybe Fett. Who sells them the cheapest that you know of? Would you recomend them?
  -Daniel

Actually, this just came up. I have no idea where these are still available, actually. KB Kids has three of 'em for $25 a pop, though...

The only one I bought so far is the X-Wing Luke helmet, which I liked (and coincidentally, KB doesn't carry.) It's well crafted, nicely painted, and full of detail. At a sub-$50 price tag, I'd say all of them are worthy purchases, although some are obviously better than others. C-3PO is probably the lamest duck of the bunch, but still, it ain't bad.

These are some of the finest Star Wars items out there, and unfortunately, there's only five different ones. Still, they're pretty great, and if you're looking for something for your SW rooms to buy before September, these are some great items. When compared to similar items from Don Post Studios, Riddell puts the competition to shame... really. The detail on the little Fett helmet is really something.

These items first hit a few years ago at prices ranging from $65 to $90, and just didn't fly with collectors back then. Which is a real shame, because these are collectibles that don't suck.

FIN
Bubbles said "the whites." Never expected to see so many Big Lebowski references there...

Next update should be on... Thursday, probably.

  
  Adam Pawlus

Questions for July 5, 2000

1
Why did Galoob take out the Ponda Baba figure included with the Action Fleet Battle Pack Bantha? When the Bantha first came out, Ponda was there. Now he's not included in the later assortments.
  -Miscus555

I did get the chance to ask Galoob about this when it happened, and it was (unfortunately) in a lot of the Battle Packs. Like the first five. As a cost-cutting measure, one figure was removed from each package after the first few months, and well, it kinda sucks.


2
Do you have your collection of toy figures insured?
  -Dare

I don't, but I know people that do or are in the process of doing so.


3
I've heard that Hasbro has thousands of the 2000 figures in its warehouse. Why can't some of those be shipped to the fan club so we can get them?
  -Meaneys

Even the best-packed cases have pegwarmers in 'em. The last Collection 1 E1 case had two Tatooine Mauls in it (the other 10 were all 2000 figures.) And there were only two new introductions to Collection 3 this year. Collection 2's fared a little better, but unless these things were to be hacked up and re-assorted odds are it would not be in the club's best interests to take them.

Also, fans have been pretty quiet about not being able to find a lot of the stuff recently. Between the Jabba & Eopie beasts and everything else, well, I haven't heard that many complaints (especially when compared with R2-D2.) I'm not saying the interest isn't there, but man, we've been getting on the less-complaining side lately. (Who'd have thunk it?)

4
have they made a trade federation tank, because if they have, i cant find it anywhere! and also, are there anyplans for the naboo hanger battle scene at this time?
  -MCARON855

Yup, the tank was made, and it's a really great toy. (I still haven't seen one in stores, but I did get to play with it and it rocks.)

As far as a Hangar battle scene, two playsets were made by Hasbro last year that might suit your needs, but odds are you know about them and they don't. A great Action Fleet set was made (highly reccomended), but no big giant hangar is in production that we're aware of.


5
Have you noticed in "A New Hope"that during a few quick shots of the lightsaber duel between Vader and Obi-Wan,their lightsabers were clear.It looks really bad,and it even gets on my nerves a little.Why weren't they colored before they released the special edition of the movie?
  -Daniel

Surprisingly, a lot of errors in the films didn't get fixed. I think I heard somewhere that they wanted to leave a few in there just because, but that makes absolutely no sense whatsoever considering what a FX-monkey LucasFilm seems to be in terms of wanting to be all over everything.

While I have no doubt (ok, SOME doubt) that this is one of the things being fixed for the uber-ultra-mega-special-edition DVD (at least it better have five adjectives), well, who knows? Some things are just they way they are. It's kinda neat, and it kinda sucks. Maybe just squint a little more.

6
Has a licensed, commercially-available Star Wars toy ever appeared in a Star Wars movie? Maybe in Anakin's room, or as part of the Rebel fleet in ROTJ, or something?
  -Thomas

Yup. Aside from figures being used for animatics (before they did digital animatics), some off-the-shelf model kits were used, starting with ESB (if I remember correctly). I can't point to specifics, but this was something mentioned in one of the bazillion books/specials/magazines/trading cards I've read in the past few years.

7
I can openly admit that i like variations, but what in the world is up with the micro-sabers?!?!?! I don't really understand them. Are the micro-sabers a 1/4" shorter than normal?...1/8" shorter than normal? Is it really that distinct where you can spot it with the naked eye or do you have to bust out with a lightsaber and compare? Also, I can't see how people are willing to pay more than $100 for these suckers.
  -Ray

A micro-saber is a term for an error where a Lightsaber is shorter than the length of its tray and is NOT the typical long tray/short saber thing that appeared on the first 5 figures with Lightsabers (Vader, Ben, Luke, X-Wing Luke, Dagobah Luke). It could be a few millimeters, it could be more. It's just another error, I wouldn't call it a variation since it really wasn't a conscious change or anything, just a goof-up at the plant like a mispackaged figure or whatever.

As far as why people pay it, well, I dunno. I'd rather put $100 toward a nice ESB carded figure than a POTF2 error, but hey, everybody's got their various interests.

8
I am curious if you know how the price of my old custom Han Stormtrooper [that I got from Toy Shop in 1994] would be affected on the collector's market when the official Han Stormtrooper was finally made. Custom figures are probably hard to price in general, depending on what the guy customizing them wants, but how would any custom figure's value change when an "official" figure is released?
  -Adam

Well, while ordinarily I'd give you loads of crap for asking a "value" question, this is a good topic.

Custom figures are essentially art and a sub-division of normal figure collecting. Because of this, there is no real value in the item unless there's a definite high level of interest in it. For example, if it's a well known customizer or a particularly cool figure, it might go for a whole bunch regardless of if it ever was made by a toy company. (Seen Gary's new Mara Jade figure? Man, I want one of those. But I digress.)

Your figure is worth... whatever it goes for. There's an estimate of "probably what you paid for it and a little bit more", but you never know. Custom figures are a bit of a niche, so I'd be genuinely surprised if it had any real huge aftermarket value to begin with. If you really want to know, stick it on eBay. Otherwise, just enjoy it for what it is-- a nifty little addition to your collection with a nice anecdote to go along with it.

9
I was just wondering , If you could explain to me what a transition tray is. I have been collecting Star wars for quite awhile now and I have checked all the different sites about the hobby , but no one has ever explained what this mean. I would really appreciate it.
  -Debbie

A transition tray-- unless it's some weird regional word-- is the short period in 1996 when figures with the current length of lightsaber ("short") shipped in trays molded for the original ("long") lightsabers. They're often abbreviated as SS/LT (Short Saber/Long Tray) and have also been referred to as "tweeners."

10
I was lucky enough to find the new Skiff at Target last week. In fact I found 2 (unfortunately in very beat-up boxes; fortunately for me, since I also open everything anyway). Upon close inspection I noticed the Luke's are different. One has a blaster mark on his hand, one doesn't. Which one is the "correct" Luke?
  -Michelle

With the mark, even though it does look a bit funky. It could've been intentional, but I really have no idea.

FIN
SURF'S UP IN HYENALAND!!!

Next update should be on either Friday or Monday morning. Probably Friday.

  
  Adam Pawlus

Questions for July 7, 2000

1
In the M/M line there was a green A-wing (which I never got the chance to get) now, was there a green A-Wing in the movie at least as a cameo? I got an A-wing from the TRU sale that I want to convert to the green version; But I don't I really want to waste time in something that was not on the movie; I recently fully repainted an F/X X-wing featured in the figures improvements page @ Yakface please let me know if this A-wing version appeared on the movie or if it was only a goof up from Galoob. I have an extensive reference sources from models from S/W and no signs of it.

PS After posting the Images @ Yakface I found an ooops! that one is Red-4 but another extra red stripe was added and presto, now Luke has his Red-5 standing by.
  -George

Galoob was given some toyetic license to create "new" toys using the almighty paint jar. Before Galoob's Action Fleet line, I have never seen or even heard of green A-Wing fighters. Blue, sure, but not green. It, the blue Y-Wing (unless I totally missed something), and the other version of the Snowspeeder were created especially for the line.

The X-Wing Action Fleet mold saw more modifications than any other vehicle in the line. In the Yavin IV Playset (now $5 at Toys "R" Us), a battle damaged version of Wedge's ship was incuded that featured notable retooling. Also, a repainted Luke Red 5 X-Wing was made as an exclusive for Toy Fare magazine, and it had some retooled weeds and vines on it to feature "Dagobah Damage" or something. In the regular line, there were Red 2 (Wedge), Red 6 (Porkins), Red 5 (Luke), and that was it. Luke's X-Wing is available in "dirty" and "clean" versions, and was also repackaged in a Flight Controller that was basically the regular ship with a giant novelty electronic missile-firing stand. It's actually quite cool. The last X-Wing on the list is Biggs Darklighters', which was part of the Series Alpha line before they started doing it right with Episode One. So in the end, you could've bought up to 8 versions of basically the same toy, and that's not even including the X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter two-pack or the Japanese "pewter" two-pack.

So to answer your question... yes, Galoob repainted stuff a lot.


2
I have noticed that there is a post over on yakface.com regarding the appearance of the Tatooine Skiff at retail in Britain...would you recommend waiting for my Target to pull something out of the back...or ordering it from a British friend or store? If it were a store, who would you recommend. Also, o' great swami, what is the current dollar-pound exchange rate?
  -Eric

I have, on more than one occasion, turned to kind souls in the United Kingdom to assist me in my various collecting endeavors... when hard to find Galoob stuff or impossible to find Beast Wars show up, it's nice to have someone who you can ask favors from once in a while.

If the price is right, I'd always do it, because patience, while a virtue, sucks. If the Skiff shows up again, it'll be around $20. So if you can trade for it, and this trade will cost you less than... say, around $30, I'd jump on it if I still needed a Skiff.

The exchange rate is (as of the time I write this) about $0.66 to one UK pound. Since the price for the Skiff in the UK is said to be around 50 pounds, this would mean it'd cost you $75. Meaning even UK residents would be better off being scalped on this one.


3
How did Hasbro come up with the Han Solo/Carbonite figure as number 100? There were only 96 figures in the original line, including the different R2's and C-3PO's. Number 100 should have been during the Droids line. Looking at a web site that listed the 300 figures, it shows the Carbonite figure as part of the Droids line which is incorrect, since it was a POTF release. Is this an error on Hasbro's part or am I missing something?
  -SWFan1977

Lucky for me, I asked them this when I first saw the packaging.

Since there were only about 100 figures in the original line (92 on a POTF cardback + 1 Yakface + 3 R2/3POs + Sears Snaggletooth + 3 Rebo Band) it struck me as odd that Han in Carbonite would be 100 because everything I heard had me believe that Yakface was, in fact, the final figure developed for the original line because it was to be a mail-in at one point.

According to Hasbro Lore (R), the original Power of the Force figures, Ewoks, and Droids were all developed around the same time with some overlapping, which means that, conceivably, the development could have been mixed up to allow Han being the 100th figure. Or it's possible Hasbro just didn't want to explain who Jann Tosh was.

4
Another couple of 12" questions for you: Regarding the Queen Amidala and Qui-gon portraiat edition from Hong Kong, are we likely to see this version of Ami packaged by herself in the states or do you think the foreign 2-pack will be the only way to get this figure? Also, you may have addressed this before but what's your take on these exclusives? I personally am tired of the gouging that occurs when someone gets exclusive rights like the Valorum-Senate guard 2 pack at the fan club. I know the exclusives may be the only way to see non core figures in plastic but OUCH $80?!?
  -Hans

This Japanese item (unless I've misheard) is the only way to get this version of the Queen and the taller Qui-Gon figure for now. Hasbro is pretty random on when it repackages toys from two-packs, but they're almost always changed and not always for the better.

As far as the price goes, for an import/exclusive/12" thing, this is about par for the line, which is generally overpriced as it is. If FAO can sell two rebel pilots for $60, this isn't that much of a stretch beyond that.

As far as my take on it, the plethora of exclusives combined with the lack of variety in the line for the most part has killed my interest in the 12" line as a whole long ago. Some items coming out are pretty slick, though: the new 12" Bounty Hunters, the Speederbike, and the Dewback are all high on my want list. But as far as Episode One goes, I have yet to buy one of the 12" figures from it and Valorum is just too dull to grab my interest in a 12" size. I'll get anything in the 4" scale... but 12" requires a commitment to space and money I'm not willing to make.


5
With the recent clearance of items in TRU and kaybee I have recently began to collect the action fleet line. Unfortunately not all of the later releases have been on the shelves. I still need some of the items like the Rancor, Virago and Imperial landing craft. Any ideas on where I might pick these up on the secondary market?
  -JoeKersav

Not beyond the typical "try ebay" stuff. The Rancor was always kinda tough to find... which is too bad, because he's got the coolest mechanism to ever appear on a Star Wars toy.

6
Hello,I purchased the yoda furby 2 weeks ago turned it on only 3 times since I got it.The rubber on his head is splitting above his eye lids and on his forehead.Do you know if anyone elses is falling apart?
  -RBolli

Actually, we've gotten a few reports of this happening, same spot as well. The display models at the local toy stores have been taken down, maybe this is why. All I can say is return/exchange the toy, write a polite letter to the toymakers to let them know the problem, and if it happens again, keep complaining. This is no time for junk toys when there's so many good toys out there.

7
Do you by chance know if the electronic C-3PO carrying case from POTF2 came with more than one sheet of stickers? The one I just got has only one sheet of 25 stickers while the case can hold over 40 figs. Am I missing a sheet? Also, why is there a sticker for the AT-AT driver? This case was released in the orange packaging, long before FF figures. Were there plans to release an AT-AT driver sooner?
  -Ray

The Electronic C-3PO carry case was one of my favorite targets when it first came out because it, as the kids say, embodies "suck."

It had one sticker sheet which didn't cover most of the figures available at its release, and was full of typographical errors. I believe "Admiral Akbar" was on there, but Jeff was mysteriously absent. The AT-ST driver written as an AT-AT driver was another one of these errors, and it did cause some confusion when we used it as a confirmation of an upcoming AT-AT Driver, much to Hasbro's surprise.

This item is, without a doubt, one of the worst toys in the past ten years. And I'm including those car seats that can kill people. It retains the 1983 copyright of the toy from which it was originally culled, most figures can't fit, and man, I feel like I do nothing but dump on this piece. Better get to the next question.

8
I have a couple of questions regarding hologram-carded figures.

First, when did Hasbro start adding these to the cards? Is there an actual difference in regards to rarity between green-carded picture cards and hologram cards?

Second, I got a .00 orange-carded hologram stormtrooper from a friend of mine who used to work at TRU. I know that it's real since he got it off a shipping box (actually there were two of them), but I was wondering if this a common mistake (or one that can be easily faked) or do I have something special?
  -Omar

Hologram stickers began being added to figures almost immediately after green cards began shipping. They were the-- and don't laugh-- special feature added to figures for 1997, the "20th Anniversary" year. I think they started showing up in the Hoth Luke wave first, with older green carded figures like Greedo getting holostickers added at the same time. At the end of 1997, figures shipped without the stickers, and most of the non-Freeze Frame figures you see today on clearance are these leftover, unsold "no holo" green carded figures.

A few orange carded figures shipped with holostickers, the Stormtrooper is probably the most common. It's easily faked, and there are a few out there, but it's not exactly common as most other figures. Still, it's a nice oddity.

9
Hi Adam, I think you may have answered this question before but here goes. Since I am new to collecting SW figures and I missed the POTF2 collection, how many of these figures will be re-released on the new cards? I would hate using Ebay to try and get collection of POTF2 figures, FF or not.
  -Marco

No-- and by no, I mean zero-- figures will be rereleased on the new Power of the Jedi packages according to Hasbro. (And by Hasbro, I mean about four people on the team told me this.)

Get off your duff and head to Kay-Bee and Toys "R" Us while you can, as both stores carry these older figures for two or three bucks a pop. You can't beat that.

10
About two months ago I found a 12" Padme Naberrie Doll from the Queen Amidala collection at a toy store in Northern California. This was a small shop, not a chain like Toys R Us, or KB. I did not purchase her at the time because I figured it was a new release and would be out in mass numbers soon enough. Well, needless to say I have never seen her since. That is until last week, I saw her on e-bay in an auction of loose 12" Star Wars figures. They were being sold as a collection (81 Figures). Can you tell me if she was ever released to the mass market or was it just a case of something that showed up on a store shelf a little early
  -Lu

I never saw one of these until the show at Plano the other week. She's a little hard to come by, but can be had relatively cheaply (like $30 or less) without too much of a struggle. I never saw her in stores, but lots of people have seen her available online. So yeah, go forth and pick one up next time you get the chance, it's not a bad little doll.

FIN
See ya next week!