So many questions, so little space... Many other
Star Wars collecting sites also submitted questions you need answered, so if you want to know the latest answers from this week's Hasbro
Star Wars Weekly Q&A Session, here's a handy guide to help you get all the info.
The Action Figs: 1) What other toy lines do you see as the Star Wars line's chief competition, both in-house and across the market?
2) Other than the Comic 2-packs and Battle Packs, will there be any sub-lines for the 3¾" figures (such as Deluxe, Evolutions, Tins, etc.) next year?
3) Why were there only 5 Vintage-style figures this year, and why was Empire Strikes Back left out of the line-up when there are such worthy candidates as a Snowtrooper, Bespin Luke, Bespin Han, the Hoth incarnations of Han, Luke, & Leia, and even ESB style Boba Fett waiting to be made? What does the future hold for the Vintage-style line?
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From Galactic Hunter: 1) Due to the cost of producing plastic playsets for the 3 3/4" action figures being so high, would you ever consider updating the old Toltoys or Palitoy cardboard style Death Star playset with new graphics? There's hardly any plastic pieces so production costs would be low.
2) I loved the Jabba's Sail Barge R2-D2 with bar tray you released in 2004, however it's disappointing that he didn't have an open slot in his dome for Luke Skywalker's lightsaber hilt. The original 1998 R2-D2 with launching lightsaber was far from accurate in design, due to his oversized third leg and the ignited lightsaber inside him. Have you considered redoing a more accurate version in the future with just the lightsaber hilt hidden in his dome? It's one of the only remaining R2-D2 variants we still need.
***Note: We could also use a re-release of the Bar2-D2 with a sturdier bar tray! The plastic on the previous release was a little too pliable.***
3) With tooling very similar to the Emperor's Wrath Darth Vader figure, are we ever likely to see the nixed CD-ROM Darth Vader (Bespin Confrontation) actually released? There are a lot of "samples" of this figure out there, so why not use it? (Seriously -- it's very close in detail to the Emperor's Wrath Vader which has been released several times with different deco.)
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From Jedi Defender: 1) The new pictures of 2007 wave 2 were really fantastic! It was great to see that both the new Death Star Trooper and Rebel Honor Guard figures appear to be super articulated. Both have removable helmets (another great feature) with unique and fairly generic likenesses. Are the faces based on anyone in particular in the Hasbro organization as some past figures have been, or are they just random?
2) Is there any chance of a variation on the Death Star Trooper in a grey costume for the Death Squad Commander from the vintage line (and just barely visible in A New Hope)?
3) There was some hope for the poncho with the McQuarrie Concept Boba Fett figure. Is the poncho a scrapped idea or just not included in the photo we saw?
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From Jedi Insider: 1) With so many new Star Wars video games coming out these days, and with kids being so into video games these days, has there ever been thought about doing a line of figures based on them again?
2) Do you think we will ever see a return to where the toy market will support the release of large vehicles and playset like back in the 80's?
3) Now that 2007 is almost upon us, can you give us any hints as to what characters we might see done for the VOTC line next year?
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From Sandtroopers.com: 1) Was the Toys 'R Us exclusive Battlepack, "The Hunt For General Grievous" under produced or under shipped? This was one of the most difficult to find. Is there any chance of a re-release of this in the future?
2) Are we ever going to see a Clone Blaze Trooper and a Clone Assassin Trooper from the Ep III game?
3) Is Quinlan Vos still slated for release? If so when? We are seeing a two pack believed to be the Hasbro retailer catalogue stating Komari Vosa and Vilmarh Grahrk, is this a typo?
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From Sir Steve's Guide: 1) Can Hasbro give us an idea of how many waves and figures there will be in '07? And roughly how many from each movie or EU source?
2) In an earlier Q&A, Hasbro said they wanted to put larger accessories in the packages such as the Moisture Vaporator and the curved bar section for the cantina. Can you elaborate on some of the other larger accessories we may see?
3) Was it intentional for the recent Target-exclusive Rogue II Snowspeeder to be without stickers (especially for low-deco areas such as the cockpit), and without the spring-loaded landing gear? The landing leg in previous releases of this vehicle have a spring which held it in the down position when its door was slid open.
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NEW: From Star Wars Action News: 1) Recently a couple of figures, mostly Imperial troops, have had pinkish-red eyes. Is there any reason for this specifically, and was it a paint error, or are they cyborgs? Why was this done?
2) The recent announcement of next year's Saga Legends line has left many disappointed. First, even though it's "Saga Legends," there is no Luke SKywalker and no Princess Leia. Also, 12 of the 18 figures from the first 2 waves have been on pegs this year or last. Out of all 3 waves, mostly just the Fan's Choice figures are really digging into the past. Can you explain how these figures were chosen, and why the reliance on figures that have very recently been on shelves versus older figures.
3) How do you feel these weekly questions & answers have influenced the future of Hasbro's line in 2007, 2008, and beyond?
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From SW Collector: 1) Jabba's holochess droid, BG-J38, has the same body as 8D8 but painted yellow and with a new head sculpt. The Death Star's supervisor droid, AV-6R7, has the same body as EV-9D9 but painted black and with a different head sculpt. Have you looked at these recently as a (relatively) easy way
to get never been done characters out while utilizing existing molds?
2) Wondered if you were doing any more Galactic Senate figures? Would really like to see from Episode III a Cellheim Anujo figure and Tundra Dowmeia.
3) With a new Bantha and Tusken Raider on the way from Toys "R" Us next year, what are the chances of getting, say, a reworked Jabba the Hutt from ROTJ with his dias and maybe a sitting Slave Leia and Salacious Crumb, along with a bunch of accessories? This would be a great set.
4) How do you feel about characters that have been eliminated from the newer cuts (Special Editions, DVD releases) of the movies? The Wolfman (Lak Zivrak) came out right before the SE, but does the fact that he will no longer appears in new versions of ANH hurt his chances for a resculpt
or re-release? The same goes for whether we will ever see the very similar Coyoteman or, my personal favorite, R2-A6?
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From TheJawa.com:1) Hasbro mentioned in an earlier Q&A that one of the Revenge Of The Sith TRU exclusive Jedi Starfighters would be reissued in the 2007 line. Currently at least one etailer is listing an Anakin Skywalker jedi starfighter in one of their assault vehicle case assortments. Is the fighter that's being offered in this 30th Anniversary Collection assortment the green jedi starfighter that was previously a Toys R Us exclusive?
2) The Jawa had previously asked about the possibility of coordinating figure releases with the release of vehicles that are somewhat character specific. The response we got was that it would be looked into in the future. Fast forward to the announcement of the Saga Legends lineup, and that series has brought us a couple of figures that do seem very well suited to being pilots, those being the Darth Maul for the Sith Infiltrator and Saesee Tiin for the Saesee Tiin Jedi Starfighter. Now with another new assault vehicle on the way in the V-Wing starfighter, can we expect a new Clone Pilot figure for this vehicle that is similar in deco to the V-Wing Pilot that was part of the Attacktix line?
3) With many desirable clonetroopers being re-released next year for Saga Legends, would Hasbro consider finally giving us a "clean" variant of many of these troopers (perhaps as a running change?). For example it would be amazing to see the Evo Sandtrooper sergeant (white pauldron) and the RotS #41 clonetrooper without the dirt markings. Clones especially since for army builders it looks VERY bizarre to have an entire army of #41 clones with exactly the same dirt patterns. A clean version would save Hasbro money, give fans a new reason to add to their clone collections and customizers could also customize their own dirt patterns if so desired.
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From Yakface: 1) I was very excited when I picked up an Obi-Wan Kenobi #28 on sale at Target a few days ago. I could finally have a soft goods cape, unlit hilt, headset and stand all in one figure, but I was kind of disappointed the figure's foot wasn't deep enough for the stand. hasbro is releasing another Obi-Wan next year that has been retooled for the mouth piece,
but will this version have a retooled peg hole in his foot? With all of the accessories that have been released with this great sculpt of Obi-Wan, dating back all the way to the ROTS Pilot version, I want him to at least be able to stand on his... stand without any problems.
2) I know the Q&A has had a lot of new vehicle and playset questions and you have told us why you don't make them, but fans are not convinced by these reasons because, they walk down the toy aisles seeing other large toy companies and small companies (who have less funding and resources than Hasbro, make new molds without the issues Hasbro has with making new molds) filling the shelves with new vehicles and playsets for their toy lines, which the retailers obviously don't mind selling in their shops and are being bought; many items could be listed in one store alone. GI Joe being an example of the outcome of this. I would of thought as a toy maker, Hasbro would want to constantly put out new product not just new packaging to keep it fresh, to be Innovative and up to date in your chosen business. For example Hasbro has said no to build-a-figure suggestions, but the next Buffy wave of figures will have it so it must be a good idea. This is the point most fans don’t get Hasbro turned it down; though the company will experiment with items like Choppers and Playskool etc.
As well as fans, Kids want new Vehicles and Playsets to put their favourite figures in, as we all did when we were kids. Collectors will only buy so many Jedi Starfighter repaints before they've had enough and most kids will only want one of each different vehicle, again as we all did when we were young, because we wanted new ships not the same we already had but in a different colour.
Sorry if this sounds more like a rant than a question, but this is the frustration many fans have, we feel let down compared to other fans and kids. You have given us some great figures and battle packs but what about the rest? My question boils down to how come you give reasons, saying you can't do something or you say retailers have an issue with shelf space, when other Toy companies are doing it and retailers are stocking it?
3) Since the beginning of these Q & A's, (which I want to thank you for by the way) is there any upcoming product that has been given the go-ahead as a direct result of an idea from them, that perhaps otherwise wouldn't have been? I understand if you can't give out specifics right now, though if you did, it would be appreciated.
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From Yoda's News: 1) With the seemingly growing success of the 2” unleashed line especially with the playset style and the awesome snowspeeder , are you going to look into creating more vehicles in this scale? An AT-TE would be incredible. Also, can we look forward to some ewoks and/or a battle for the bunker playset for Endor?
2) Is there any chance we will be getting an updated version of klatuu from jabba's dungeon?
3) HasbroToyShop.com has had some nice deals in 2006, especially the ability to get exclusives there. Any chance in 2007 you will offer solid case packs on the site?
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