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 Tri-Weekly Q&A Session, here's a handy guide to help you get all the info.
Don't forget to check
Rebelscum's Q&A Session as well!
From CollectionStation.com: 1) Right now, based on what you've said and shown at Toy Fair, the 2009 basic TLC waves look like this: February (ANH), May (ESB 1), September (TPM). We know the '09 EU wave got pushed into '10, but according to your prior answers that still leaves 4 more TLC waves crammed into the last part of the year. 2008 suffered pacing issues and delays in part because the Hasbro SW team was focusing on Indiana Jones, but this year there is no such sidetrack, so why the pacing problems and slowdowns? Does the fact that so many other movies are getting Hasbro toy lines (GI Joe, Transformers 2, Wolverine) slow the flow of SW toys? Will all 7 remaining '09 waves actually make it to market in this year, or will all those waves on top of each other in the last 3rd of the year cause another push-out and all-repaints wave? As per your Dec 10th Q&A correction, will ROTJ and ANH 2 waves get released between May's ESB wave and September's TPM wave?
2) What are the requirements that a retailer must go meet to get a Star Wars exclusive, do they have to be a certain size company, make a certain number of Hasbro orders a month, etc.? Is there some sort of process that a retailer has to go through to get an exclusive, do they work with Hasbro on what item to produce, or is it out of their hands?
3) With the Titanium Series line, how much influence does Lucasfilm put into it? Have they ever asked for a specific ship to be included in the line when it otherwise wouldn't be? Have they ever requested a feature be added to a vehicle, or even possibly a potential feature removed? Is the LFL approval process fairly smooth with this line compared to something like the action figure line, have they ever sent a Titanium Series vehicle back to the drawing board or even canned it altogether?
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From Galactic Hunter: 1) Many collectors are eagerly waiting for more information regarding the upcoming Return of the Jedi wave. Our evil spies report that you intended to show the wave at Toy Fair, but that it was not possible due to time constraints. Is there any chance that you could share pictures with us when it becomes available? We are all very excited to know more about the Death Star II Luke Skywalker, the 'innovative' "Slave" Leia , Skiff Guards, etc.
2) Hasbro, you obviously keep the molds used for figures and vehicles, where and how are they stored? I'm picturing the government building in Indiana Jones right about now....
3) Finally, with everything shifting pretty heavily toward the latter part of the year, a few of the products heading our way feel a bit like "placeholders". In particular, I'm interested in asking about the Mini Rigs that were mentioned at the Toy Fair presentation. Can we safely assume that even if certain products (the Battle Droid and Tank) don't sell gangbusters, we're still going to see NEW Mini Rigs vehicles on our shelves in for the "back half" of the year? Also, just to calm (my) shaking nerves, is the maestro of the orginial Mini Rigs line (Mark Boudreaux) heading up this very honorable extension of a beloved vintage favorite?
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From Han's Hideout: 1) The Comic Packs Lumiya figure - knee articulation or no? Some folks see a knee joint in those Toy Fair pictures, but others don't (and frankly, due to information overload at Toy Fair, I can't remember myself what type of articulation she had).
2) The Clone Wars Nikto Bounty Hunter figure - we know he's not coming in the Jabba Battle Pack anymore, but can you confirm that he will make it out at some point in the near future? He's such a great figure, we'd love to get him sooner rather than later!
3) Just to clarify a point that has come up on your 10th Anniversary Eopie Mail-Away - will the "Mark of Maul" stickers be found only in Phantom Menace wave or will the stickers be found in other toys/figures as well?
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NEW: From Jedi Defender: 1) In the recent Toy Fair slide-show, we saw that the Japanese RC droids are coming to Target. The Remote Control R4-P17 wasn't on the slide. Will he be included, and if not, will he be available at any time domestically?
2) Thanks to the recent Build-A-Droid series the list of movie droids that still need to be made is dwindling fast. What are the chances of any of the following seeing the pegs over the next few years? R5-X2 (Jabba's red/white unit from the podrace), R2-A5 (the white/green droid in Mos Eisley), the R3 and R5 units from the Rebel Briefing scene in Return of the Jedi and last but certainly not least a vintage update of the Lars Family Power Droid (Gonk Gonk).
3) I'm impressed with the Build-a-Droid figures, and I was wondering if you consider the quality of the fully assembled figures to be on par with figures released in the basic line-up? For instance, would you consider releasing some of the Build-A-Droid figures in the Legends Line at some point? That Dark Trooper coming this year is begging to be army built by collectors, if he were to be released in the Legends line some day (hint hint!).
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From Jedi Insider: 1) Since we are getting more large vehicles these days, what is the chance of ever getting a large vehicle/playset of the Venator-Class Republic Attack Cruiser. As a kid I always wanted a cool Star Destroyer toy and since the Cruiser was in the movies and featured regularly in the cartoon it seems like a logical pick to get some plastic love from you guys?
2) Last year you all pulled a major surprise out of your hat before SDCC with the BMF Falcon and I know t Toy Fair you all said there would be no other large vehicle this year other than the Turbo Tank, however I was wondering if you are planning anything that will be on par with last year’s summer surprise later this year for fans that you could tease us with?
3) Any plans to expand the 'Build a Droid' concept to something beyond just droid, like a Build a Alien or 'Build a monster/creature' figure?
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From JediNews.co.uk: 1) First of all, it was really good to see a Yuuzhan Vong figure revealed at Toy Fair. Does Hasbro plan to release any further EU figures from New Jedi Order such as Jacen and Jaina. Also, are there any plans for a Zayne Carrick figure either as a Comic Pack or Legacy Basic figure release?
2) Can you please clear up the issue regarding the Battle Pack with Gun Turrets - this has got people very confused and annoyed. Please can you confirm how many Fun Turrets we're getting in the Battle Pack - is it one or two? If it's two then great, if not, why are we paying for a Battle Pack with two figures and one Gun Turret - when this was originally released as a figure from Episode II we got a figure with Gun Turret for the cost of a Basic Figure - now we could be expected to pay three times the cost for a lot less!
3) There were reports of a Galactic Heroes AT-AT with electronics (apparently this was seen at the UK Toy Fair) but this wasn't mentioned or seen as part of the US Toy Fair Coverage. Can you clarify the position on this item and when and if we're likely to see it?
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From Jedi Temple Archives: 1) The Clone Wars figures on the new cardbacks that were shown at Toy Fair included Mace Windu, the ARF Trooper, Super Battle Droid Sergeant. But there was also an Obi-Wan Kenobi that was originally released as 2008's CW02 on the new cardback, but with a CW01 number. Is that new cardback accurate to the new line's numbering scheme? Additionally, will Hasbro be re-releasing some of those 2008 Clone Wars basic figures as refreshes when the line relaunches this August in the new packaging? And if so, what would those refreshes include?
2) One of the staples of the Basic Figure line over the years has been Darth Vader. He's the most iconic character of the Star Wars saga. But he was noticeably absent from the Toy Fair exhibit and presentations.
Be that as it may, the modern figure aesthetic has given us a tremendous new version of the Dark Lord with the release of 2008's BD #8 Darth Vader. That begs the question, where does Hasbro believe there is room to continue to innovate with future OT versions of Darth Vader? Might we see Darth Vader relegated to Greatest Hits type of assortments? Or could we possibly see a new REVENGE OF THE SITH version, perhaps with the trademark Sith eyes and cloak?
3) Noticeably absent from the Hasbro presentation at this years Toy Fair were the Clone Wars figure & droid 2-packs that are starting to appear now at retail. How extensive can we expect this line to be, and will it consist of refresh figures only, or will some new figures be appearing in this line of 2-packs?
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NEW: From MouseDroid.com: 1) My son and I love the Clone Wars voice changer helmets. He has the Blue and I have the plain white. They are really great items with excellent electronics and very durable. Yet we have been thinking...as Boba Fett is a favorite character of his (ours)...is there a chance at a Boba Fett Voice changer helmet in the future? You could even make a Jango Fett plus an entire Mandalorian range in different color schemes.
2) The articulation in your figs keeps getting better and better but sometimes some of the figures have swivel elbows rather then the ball jointed elbows.
My question is will you guys phase out the swivel joints and completely replace them all with ball joints? Also is there any talk about a new way of doing the hips? Perhaps ball jointed hips?
3) This is more of an idea for "down the road", but one I was wondering if you had ever considered. 2-Packs seem to be popular among collectors, and can make great display pieces when the packaging is interesting.
So, have you or would you ever consider do a series of 2-packs featuring the Animated version of a charcter along with it's Legacy version? It would be an interesting way to perhaps celebrate the Animated series and the SW Legacy at some point down the road. Now, I know that not every character could be done as not all characters in the animation appear in the Live-Action. Obvious choices would be Anakin, Obi-Wan, Yoda, Padme, Clone Trooper, Grevious, Dooku, Commanders Cody & Gree, C-3PO and R2-D2. What do you think?
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NEW: From Raving Toy Maniac: 1) How about a Queens of Naboo Evolutions 3-pack? Use an as yet unproduced version of Queen Amidala from Episode I, Queen Jamillia from Episode II, and Queen Apailana from Ep III.
2) Toy Fair was great, but we're an impatient bunch. Can you give us a tease to something that we can hope to see at Comic Con?
3) Considering the "crazy" price rises on most of your ranges of toys how come you religiously maintain that items such as Comic-packs have to be designed to a price-point. Hence the fact that we have "SECOND FIGURE SYNDROME" whereby the other figure in a pack is usually a disappointment/total waste of time. eg; the recent Asajj Ventress. Why not just give fans what they want, two fully articulated figures and price accordingly?
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From Sandtroopers.com: 1) How does a new paint job and box justify a $30 price increase on an "exclusive" that just came out in December (the ARC-170)?
1) With all the remakes and upgrades you've done over the years on insignificant characters, is there any chance that we might ever see a new improved Admiral Ackbar figure anytime soon? He's only about the most important strategist that the rebellion has...
2) Hasbro's newly revealed pilot/gunship turret pod battlepack comes with 2 pilots and one turret and looks AMAZING! To completely outfit 1 gunship, kids and collectors will need to purchase 2 battlepacks. Will we need to buy ahead and purchase extra battlepacks in anticipation of future gunship releases? Or will Hasbro release this battlepack in conjunction with any and all future gunship repaint/repack releases?
3) Over the recent years we are finding at retail that figures packs are being returned to stores tampered with. In this case the actual figure and accessories have been swapped out but will keep a retailer from restocking because they believe they have actual product. Is it possible to use tamper resistant tape instead of the clear tape Hasbro uses?
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From Sir Steve's Guide: 1) Hasbro has shown great confidence in the Mos Eisley cantina scene, recognizing that the iconic scene has great mileage with both collectors and kids, and pledging to complete the roster of background aliens. With that in mind, might Hasbro be interested in expanding that to include Ket Maliss, Cebann Veekan, Myhr Rho, Y'bith, Thorp, Kelbo, the Tin Tin Dwarf, and/or Kal'Falnl C'ndros - characters who are "just off camera" and yet appear in various sources from behind-the-scenes materials to the Decipher's CCG and the Holiday Special? Many of these designs fit well with the in-film Cantina styled characters and all have precedent in or around that area, they could certainly be passed off to casual collectors as being part of that element, just as was done with your recent Bane Malar figure.
2) Titanium Series has suffered another indignity by not being included at New York Toy Fair. With recent significant price increases, a continued focus on pointless repaints, a general feeling of lack of support from Hasbro for pretty much the life of the line, canceled and displaced molds (some shown at the '08 Toy Fair), what is happening with Titanium Series? Fans keep asking about the line, and Hasbro keeps saying they will give it more attention at the next venue, only to get shorted again. What does the future hold for this line that is in many ways the only outlet for most Star Wars vehicles in toy form? Are sales at least solid enough that Titanium collectors can relax their fears a bit for the foreseeable future, or is the line considerably weaker than the 3.75" figure line and thus vulnerable in these uncertain economic times?
3) Will we be seeing any episode-specific Battle Packs for The Clone Wars? This would be a great way to get several of the individualized clones, battle droids, or astromech droids from any given episode without spreading them over a long period of time into the basic line, especially when they're only minor retools or mere repaints or kitbashes.
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NEW: From Star Wars Action News: 1) Recently you made the Spacetrooper figure from A New Hope and included the likeness of A New Hope concept Artist Joe Johnson under the helmet. How much back-and-forth is there with Lucasfilm licensing regarding what faces you can put under the masks of Stormtroopers? A Jango Fett head here or there makes sense given they descend from clones, but when you do things like the flip-up visor Scouttrooper or this Stormtrooper, what is the approval process?
2) In a recent magazine article it was revealed that we would be getting R5-H6 as a Build-a-Droid figure later this year, with the associated text going on to identify this droid as being present at the pod race on Tatooine in Episode 01. The problem is, at least as far as we collectors know, that red and white droid was actually R5-X2. To our best knowledge, R5-H6 was a grey and purple background droid from Episode 02, a very different looking astromech. Can you please clarify which droid we can expect to see as a BaD release and can you say whether or not the dome has been newly tooled to reflect the unique appearance of all the prequel trilogy R5 style droids or is it a reuse of the same R5 dome sculpt that is currently available on the yellow R5-A2 Mos Eisley BaD toy?
3) Recently figures have taken another price jump at retail, htiting fans, collectors, and kids hard in these tough economic times. I can't find a less blunt way to put this, so here goes: who's to blame? A lot of people are shaking their fist in your (Hasbro's) general direction, but is this strictly set 100% by retailers? Did Wal Mart and Target just coincidentally decide to jump prices, or did some other factor come into play?
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NEW: From SWCollector.com: 1) With the new $60 vehicle price point, are we going to see a Nu-Class Shuttle from the Clone Wars? It would serve as yet another incentive for collectors to troop build!
2) There are pics circulating of a rumored upcoming Wedge Antilles X-Wing, which is very promising. But there is a concern that his astromech is not be decoed accurately. In cockpit shots of Wedge in ANH, it is plain that his R2 unit has a red dome with white panels (similar to R3-T2), while in ROTJ you can see that he has a white-domed R2 with black markings. Since onscreen accuracy is of paramount concern to collectors, can we be sure it will be corrected before any release of this vehicle?
3) Based on questions answered in previous sessions, I believe we're getting two ground-based Clone vehicles in the Starfighter assortment this year. With the TX-130 announced, can we get confirmation of the Swamp Speeder?
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From TheJawa.com:1) Will the Amanin that's in the upcoming comic pack ever be released on Amanin battle (and without ending up with dozens of dirty Sunbers).
2) I'm glad to hear that the 'build-a-droid' series will be continuing on into 2010 and that you are using it as a chance to put some obscure droids into the figure lineup that might not otherwise make it. I hope there are lots more to come! On that note, have you given any consideration to two of my most wanted droids, Boba Fett's droid BL-17 from the Droids cartoon and Z-X3 from Marvel Star Wars 47?
3) Could Hasbro make it a point to include the ladder with all of your future X-Wing releases? Or to include the ladder again with another Yavin hangar battlepack so collectors can pick up a few spares to go with their existing X-Wings?
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From The Private Universe:1) You have mentioned more Legacy comic packs coming, any chance we will be seeing the Ghost of Luke Skywalker or a Han Solo figure in one of the packs? I think that would be a great way to continue to tie the Legacy characters with the Original Trilogy.
2) With the live action Star Wars TV series looming on the horizon, I presume Hasbro is already working on figures for it, so are there any plans on what we are likely to see and will it be included within waves or will it have it's own collection like TLC or CW?
3) There appears to be a lot of the stuff shown at USTF that are not making it currently to the UK and with the loss of one of the UK's biggest high street toy buyers Woolworths, it looks pretty bleak for UK Star Wars collectors. How does Hasbro see the UK market now and how will it make sure that UK collectors can still buy from within the UK?
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NEW: From Yakface.com: 1) Price hikes. We hate them. We also realize they are sometimes a “necessary evil” when it comes to retail sales.
In the past you’ve stated that you don’t directly set retail prices but Hasbro is the “M” in MSRP and retailers agree to that MSRP. Now with the prices in oil going down, the country in a recession and the dollar not going as nearly as far as it did, how can retailers (who are hurting) charge nearly $2 more now per action figure, comic pack, titanium, battle pack* and vehicle?
The natives/collectors are restless, can you clarify this point further for them since they helped to make the Star Wars brand the #1 license for 2008 (before the price hikes)?
*I thought the drop from the 5 to 4 figure battle pack format was supposed to stave off a price hike for this assortment?
2) Recently, preorder info has been made available online for the large Clone Wars Octuptarra Droid. What further details can you provide (size, FOBs, cost) regarding this?
3) The new TPM and AOTC Obi-Wan figures are fantastic, thanks for finally updating them. But can something be done at this late stage about the lightsabers included with them? The Episode II figure is shown with the complete wrong saber, and the Episode I saber is the correct one, but chunky and inferior to not only todays standards, but you have already made a saber that not only looks more like the screen used saber but has the "energy flares" coming from the emitter like all current sabers. It was included in 2003's deluxe Obi-Wan on Kamino set. Any chance of this perfect looking saber coming with these two perfect looking figures?
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From Yoda's News: 1) My question is in regards to the recently revealed upcoming packaging for the basic figures. The cardbacks have a unique shape that looks like they will be very different from previous Star Wars packaging. I noticed that the top trapezoidal area (SW logo & character face) has some heavy shadowing underneath it. Will the top trapezoidal area be placed as an additional piece of cardboard on top of the bubble, adding a three dimensional aspect to the packaging? Or, is that just the way the card looks and the bubble will be on a flat card as in the past? Please review the attached moc-up images I made illustrating my concept. Thank you!
2) A previous Q & A revealed that the battle droid from the Galactic Heroes Jedi Starfighter Cinema Scene was dropped due to costs, hence the incorrect packaging image on the rear, but the ones I am seeing on the shelves now have the battle droid figure included. What changed? And why do some people feel like they have been cheated out of a battle droid?
3) We were doing a second look at Hasbro's powerpoint and we noticed that on the slide for the Force Unleashed Stormtrooper, it states: "Available and Hasbrotoyshop.com and StarWarsOnlineShop.com". We assume you meant StarWarsShop.com because if you take a visit to StarWarsOnlineShop.com, it isn't owned by Lucas or Hasbro (from what we have seen) and even has pop ups flagged by many anti-spam pop up blockers.
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