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 Bi-Weekly Q&A Session, here's a handy guide to help you get all the info.
From 4-inches.de: 1) What will be "new" with the TAC-2008 Obi-Wan Kenobi figure? Are there any figure parts that will be reused with the figure? Could you tell which figure parts will be new and which are reused?
2) Hasbro said in the latest Q&A that the mustafar lava platform should have been originaly used with the TAC-2008 figures Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi, but will now come out with the Mustafar Panning Droid that seems to find its way in this wave in the last minute. Does that mean that the Mustafar Panning Droid has "ersetzt" another figure in the TAC-2008 line? If so, could you tell something about which kind of figure has been replaced? Was it a jedi, an alien or another clone?
3) If Hasbro decides to make a TFU Rancor w/ rider who then would be that rider? Would you tend to a jedi character like Shaak Ti or would it be another force-sensitive rider without any jedi training? And which color would that a Rancor have? Concept drawings of the Rancor offer the colors green or brown with white stripes.
Click
here for the answers to these questions.
From Action Figs: 1) Hypothetically, assuming there were 2 large battle packs coming out this holiday season, 1 from ESB and another from ROTJ, and both of these sets had versions of the AT-ST vehicle in them, why so many AT-STs at once? Granted, some collectors still don't have a version of the AT-ST vehicle, but would they really want 2 different sets with them coming out at the same time, hypothetically speaking?
2) Since there has been buzz about doing a Willrow Hood (ice cream guy) figure, is there a chance that you'll visit other obscure characters from Bespin such as Treva Horme, Wiorkettle, and alien Bespin guard Utris M'toc? These characters are visually more interesting than Hood (many people think so), and Trooper M'toc could be the basis for a potential army builder as he's a Bespin security officer.
3) Hasbro's made it clear that the McQuarrie Signature series concept figures have exceeded expectations. There's plenty more concept art designs to mine for new takes on main characters, villains, creatures, and more. With the Evolutions line returning with new concepts, would Hasbro consider doing a McQuarrie- or concept-art-inspired Evolutions pack, showing the different stages of a character from inception to finalization? Also, can we hope to see concept figures from ROTJ some day?
Click
here for the answers to these questions.
Boba's Bounty:1) Besides Padme and Leia, there are a lot of other female characters in the Star Wars universe, but they don't seem to get much figure time...Any chance my daughter will be seeing some more female characters in plastic in the future?
2) Figures and Lightsaber so far, what else can we expect to see for The Force Unleashed?
3) Any chance for a Family Guy / Star Wars Crossover Figure?
Click
here for the answers to these questions.
From Jedi Defender: 1) Which figure do you consider to be the single most obscure character you've ever made in the 3 3/4" basic line? Bo Shek? Ephant Mon? Which figure do you feel has set the "obscure background filler" record so far? Any candidates in 2008 to smash that record?
2) In the Saga Legends Fans' Choice Poll, the AotC Clone Pilot had a pretty good showing. If he did make his way into the line again, which version would you release, the Evolutions Pack version or the 2002 basic figure with the turret? The 2002 sculpt lacks articulation but has the turret for the gunships, while the Evolutions figure has more articulation but lacks the turret. Which is the more attractive repack in your eyes?
3) You mentioned in a previous Q&A session that there will be 30 figures in the Indy line next year. Are Indy figures in 2009 a certainty or is it more of a "wait and see" type of thing and see how 2008 goes first? We're just curious if this is going to be a toy line with legs under it like Star Wars has been, or if it will be much more subdued in character choices/variety.
Click
here for the answers to these questions.
From Jedi Insider: 1) What is the thought process that goes into adding articulation to an action figure? The Luke Skywalker figure from the Luke/Mara comic pack has ball-jointed ankles but is missing articulation in his knees. If certain figures only get so many points of articulation, why would it be placed on a joint when it would be better spent elsewhere?
2) w I realize this is a long shot, but who do I have to bribe over at Hasbro to get a figure of Darca Nyl? Even more of a long shot, our buddy Darca in his mercenary armor from his early days before getting his sweet nomad uniform and slugging it out with Lycan. Again, I know a long shot...but with the contract with Hasbro as far into the future as it is, that leaves room for a lot of "secondary" and Dark Horse characters.
3) I know you have been asked this one before, but since it keeps coming up from readers, we thought we would ask again. Any chance of seeing weapon or accessory packs released in some shape or form?
Click
here for the answers to these questions.
From Jedi Temple Archives: 1) When it comes to smaller characters we've seen a continuing trend of trying to add more value to this kind of Basic Figure offering. With Jawas, they tend to come in twos or with a droid. With Yoda, we've gotten sizable pack-in accessories, a Jedi younging and even the Kybuck. With Kabe we got a full-sized figure in Nabrun Leids. Can you expound on this subject a little further, and can we expect more such offerings in the 2008 line?
2) re was a report from Star Wars Fan Days in Texas that an AT-TE vehicle will be coming out in late 2008. Will this be part of the Clone Wars line? Will it be a main line offering shipping to mass retail? And can you give us some initial details about the vehicle itself (size, features, pack-ins, etc)?
3) In the most recent Q&A you stated:
For 2008, we are going to take the classic total down by about one wave. So from the current 60 figures this year, expect around 53 figures or so. Episodes III-VI will each have waves along with a The Force Unleashed wave and a couple other surprises in there. Does the 53 figure number include the figures from the Clone Wars line? And can you give us a little insight into what the themes of these waves might be? And is The Force Unleashed limited to one wave only?
Click
here for the answers to these questions.
From Sandtroopers.com: 1) Dear Hasbro, With the release of the Battlefront - Renegade Squadron game can we expect to finally see a super-articulated Rebel Commando figure in 2008? Since you can use the legs, backpack and helmet from the 2006 Endor Rebel Trooper you only need to sculpt a new upper body, arms and head. There could also be a running change including the rodian and the sullustan heads based on the customizing feature from the LucasArts website.
2) Will the AT-TE come with some new type of clone driver?
3) Dear Hasbro, I know you don’t like to comment on rumors or speculations, so … if you were to produce new X-Wing or Snowspeeder pilots in 2008 … would you use the existing mold from 2004 as you did with Biggs Darklighter, Hobbie Klivian and Lt. Lepira or a completely new one with more articulation? Ball jointed shoulders and (at least) swivel elbows would make a major improvement.
Click
here for the answers to these questions.
From Sir Steve's Guide: 1) If Hasbro feels that mid-sized vehicles is the way to go, then will we be seeing more airspeeders and landspeeders in the forseeable future? Some of the airspeeders are pretty much snubfighter sized. (side note: this question was the second-oldest question still on our voting list, it was there since round 7, July of 2006!)
2) With the inclusion of KotOR charaters Darth Revan and Darth Malak in the TAC line, and Darth Nihilus in one of the upcoming Evolutions packs, is Hasbro considering including KotOR vehicles in the Titanium 3" line such as the Ebon Hawk, Leviathon, and Sith Fighter?
3) In the Art of Revenge of the Sith book, there was a detailed piece of concept art from Aaron McBride of the Mon Calamari Female Dancer. The concept is applied in ROTS as the dancers in the Squid Lake scene (yes, it's really called that). What are the chances of seeing this Mon Cal Dancer design turned into a figure, especially using the striking design from the concept art? And if you were to make her into a figure, would you give her a name?
Click
here for the answers to these questions.
From Star Wars Action News: 1) I know that the McQuarrie figures have had more buzz about them this year than any Hasbro item in recent memory. These concept figures seem to prove that there is an appetite for Star Wars items beyond what is shown on the screen and in the Expanded Universe materials. Given this, I was wondering if there were any plans (hopes) for another new type of figure that fans have wanted for a long time, behind the scenes figures. I know I have heard fans requesting, and customizing, figures such as Anthony Daniels as C3PO, in fu ll outfit but with mask off, or Kenny Baker as R2-D2 with the dome removed, etc. It seems that not only is the demand there for such off-the-wall figures, but these behind-the-scenes figures could be some slight retoolings of current figures. C-3PO with Anthony Daniels mask could be a head swap, and the R2-D2 could be a retool of an existing figure, etc.
2) With the recently released comic 2-pack with Mara Jade and Luke Skywalker from Heir to the Empire Mara comes with a purple lightsaber; however, in the book/comic she had no lightsaber of her own, she had only Luke's green lightsaber. Is there a version of this figure with a green saber going to be made available as a running change, or is it staying with the purple?
3) Last year you came out with the largest Star Wars Transformer to date the Millennium Falcon. Then after Thanksgiving there was a special Wal-Mart package of this item with Titanium vehiecles. This year there's now an even larger Transformer, the Death Star. Are there any special pack-ins, store exclusive or not, plann d with this item any time in the near future (remainder of '07, early '08), or is the current packaging the only package that will be available?
Click
here for the answers to these questions.
From TheJawa.com:1) Given that there are only so many SW vehicles that you can do for the Titanium line, is it possible that Hasbro will revisit certain vehicles again and make improvements on them? You've mentioned already that there are plans on doing a new X-Wing mold with wings that will close. What about a Falcon and Shuttle Tyderium with working landing gears and door ramp, or Gunship with working doors and ball turrets (detachable, so the gunship can be displayed without them as well) and this time painted the correct color to match the full-sized Gunship vehicle, or an AT-AT with actual usable knee and neck articulation (given that the first release could barely move either). Even the eps3 Jedi Starfighter could be improved by actually including a tiny plastic Obi (or Anakin, or whomever) pilot actually sitting in the cockpit rather than just the empty seat or windows painted black to hide the lack of a pilot.
2) While I do like the latest mold for the Super BattleDroid in the TAC line, I've avoided buying any because quite honestly the two holes in its chest used to attach the "flames" annoys me beyond words. Will Hasbro eventually plug up these holes and re-release the SBD again? (BTW I noticed that some early photos of the SBD in the forthcoming comic 2pack with the white Rep Commando show that in some photos he has no holes, but in others the two holes are back again...)
3) Hasbro has obviously had a lot of success with the SA clonetrooper mold in all its forms (Clone Wars SA, RotS #41, Evolutions Commander, Clone Commander, Galactic Marine, etc etc). It's well known that the tooling is very expensive and with the clonetrooper tooling you've obviously gotten a good return on your investment by being able to reuse that tooling over and over by just doing inexpensive repaints and/or tweaking minor parts of the figure to make "new" figures. And the fans are more than happy to buy them up too, so it is win-win for all involved.
So why has it taken so long for Hasbro to adopt the same policy for other army builders? Why not dive in and produce tooling for SA bodies such as the Tantive IV Rebel, Hoth Rebel Soldier, X-Wing Pilot, Hoth Snowspeeder Pilot, Mon Calamari officer, Imperial Officer (black/olive/whatever), Jedi Knight (human/humanoid), etc. After which, you could vary the heads, the ethnicity, the ranks, gender (maybe), or what not and get the same kind of ROI that you've gotten with the clones. So long as every "template" body is SA, has neutral leg pose (i.e. no more Codys or spread-legged puffy-knee Death Star Troopers please), has either ball-jointed elbows or if angled-cut swivel elbows then at least the arms can be posed straight (and not bent like the AT-TE Gunner), you can reissue that sculpt again and again.
One speculates that if enough thought is put into it in advance, you could even build into the tooling extra leg or arm parts that would let you produce figures of different heights as well so that the soldiers don't all feel too generic. By now it should be fairly obvious that kit-bashed figures that are based on less-articulated molds like Dutch Vander or Major Derlin aren't being greeted too warmly by collectors, we'd all rather wait until Hasbro makes the "ultimate" mold and then happily buy up all the variations churned out from that mold.
Click
here for the answers to these questions. (Note: this site is undergoing a major overhaul with the new owners, and is temporarily being hosted by Sandtroopers.com)
From The Private Universe:1) Would Hasbro ever consider opening the Fans Choice to customisers ? By this I mean having fans create figures / characters which we could vote on, and would then see Hasbro renderings of their efforts released as part of the toy line ? Is it true that the Rodian Jedi in the Clone Wars 3-pack was inspired by a fan custom ?
2) Clones, in their various deco's, have been a mainstay of the Hasbro line in recent years. Now that definitive versions have been issued for most squads, what do you see as being the new army building trend ? You've tried astromechs, and standard armoured imperials - can we expect multi-hued protocol droids ? Or does The Force Unleashed / The Clone Wars hold some new paint options ?
3) Can you give us revised release dates for TAC Waves 4-8 in the UK ? Our US cousins are boasting of the arrival of Wave 7 in some of their stores, and we've yet to see Wave 5. Some of our forum members are starting to worry about missing out on short-packed figures (given the excitement around the EU / McQuarrie elements of these waves).
Click
here for the answers to these questions.
From Yakface: 1) Since the AOTC Obi-Wan Kenobi Jedi Starfighter is coming back with the Hyperdrive Ring, is it possible that we might see a return of Plo Koon Jedi Starfighter with the Hyperdrive Ring added similar to the current Titanium version?
2) Recently hi-res images on the 2008 Kashyyyk Troopers appeared and in the loose shot he has the Evolution Blaster rifle and the binoculars while in the packaged shot he has the more accurate "bulkier" Rifle and no binoculars. Which one will he come with and what's the story on the binocs?
3) Now that the transition from '07 to '08 figures upon us and with that, the passing of the coins into the night; what is on tap for us as far as the UGH 2008 promotion? Will it go back to the silver stands and silver foil accents on the packaging or is UGH concept on hiatus, joining the Vintage Assortment?
Click
here for the answers to these questions.
From Yoda's News: 1) There are certain Galactic Heroes figures that where never available except for in multi packs (like the Shadow Stormtrooper, the Mace Windu battalion clone, or R2-Q5) that contained a lot of figures that collectors that had collected the Galactic Figures line from the beginning had already bought. Are there any plans to re-release these previous multi pack exclusives in a regular two pack, perhaps to reward or thank collectors that had been supporting the line since it was under the Playskool banner?
2) Can we expect an updated Return of the Jedi version of Emperor Palpatine, perhaps even with a soft goods cloak and maybe even a throne as an accessory, in the near future?
3) How does Hasbro feel about the current status of the 7" unleashed line? Is there no possibility of it ever making a return, other than in rehashes and repaints?
Click
here for the answers to these questions.
