As part of Hasbro's bi-weekly Q&A session, Rebelscum passed on 3 of your burning questions and now we've got the answers for you. Since it's the 30th session, we went back through the past sessions, and thought we'd try to get an update some older items that fans would want to know.

Rebelscum: In our last session, you stated that there was never a McQuarrie Luke planned for wave 5, that Luke will be the C4/CE exclusive. Yet many retailer lists still show him as coming in that wave. Then in another Q&A (over at our friends SWcollector.com), you stated that there is no McQuarrie Leia in the works at all. So that got us thinking....if you notice this photo of the McQuarrie artwork featuring the 5 main characters, there is a female character in that painting who technically isn't Luke or Leia...is this the "Luke Skywalker" figure that's coming in wave 5? If yes, then just what are you calling this character?

Hasbro: Well Dan, that's some pretty good detective work and you nailed it. Rather than be coy, I will confirm but it does requires some explanation. First, the figure is indeed the female Jedi seen in the iconic "Fantastic Five" poster by Ralph McQuarrie. While this character became the inspiration for both Luke and Leia, originally, the character was called neither. We are going with the name "Starkiller Hero" for the package to describe the original inspiration behind the figure rather than the specific character(s) that were subsequently fleshed out. Early line plans (which are always subject to change and are worth the electrons they are printed with) showed Luke as the name but this changed as we got further into it. And thanks for the reflection of 30 sessions....indeed it has been fun!

Rebelscum: There have been a lot of rumored repackaged items surfacing lately, with everything from battle packs to vehicles. Even if only half of these items are released, there's a lot of stuff coming out that many collectors already own. Can you explain this? Are you trying to drive collectors crazy?

Hasbro: It's pretty simple - collectors are only part of the target market! Look at it this way...these re-offerings of classic and iconic figures and vehicles continue to get Star Wars into the hands of a new generation of kids and, at the same time, give us confidence in pursuing new opportunities for both audiences. We have said it before - our intention is not to drive collectors crazy with repacks but to keep the momentum going which is perhaps the most important perspective to consider. Kids want the main Jedi, the core starfighter vehicles, lightsabers, and the line - these are often their first Star Wars purchases and it is a sound strategy to make sure these are in the line year after year. When our line look changes every 12-18 months, it's unavoidable that a re-release of a vehicle means that it will come out in the new line look and hence becomes a "new version". Our philosophy is to make it new and different to justify a collector purchase, or completely leave it alone (such as many battle packs or Starfighter assortment repacks) so loose completists don't have to pick it up again. The real challenge, of course, is for the packaged completist collector. They pretty much have to make a decision to pick up the new package version or not; we do feel their pain when faced with buying the inevitable re-release, but again, it's a Good Thing overall for Star Wars.

Rebelscum: Looking back over previous Q&As, there are a couple of figures that were confirmed, but have yet to appear on any rumor list as either basic figures and/or battle packs. Can you tell us whatever happened to Qui-Gon Jinn (first revealed by Yakface), Bothan Spy (first revealed by FFURG), Oola (first hinted at here at Rebelscum), and for the love of Yoda...will we EVER see a Tonnika Sister??

Hasbro: Qui-Gon Jinn and a Bothan will most likely be in the 2008 line, as previously alluded to. However, we have kept 2008 details to a minimum so we have SOME news to talk about as we actually approach that year. ; ) Oola, which was planned for a basic figure repack (not an all-new figure), was replaced in our EpVI wave but has not been forgotten....but she likely won't appear in 2008. We cannot comment on the Tonnika sisters, period.

30 sessions already? WOW! I just wanted to take a moment to say thanks to everyone at Hasbro and Hunter PR for doing these Q&A sessions...we love the opportunity to share this with the collecting community and I know the fans enjoy getting all the inside scoops!

Here's to another 30 sessions!


Got any burning Star Wars questions you need answered straight from the source? If so, post your questions in this thread in our forums, and with any luck, you'll get your answers next time!