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 Hasbro's
Star Wars Q&A Session, here's a handy guide to help you get all the info.
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Rebelscum's Q&A Session as well!
Action Figure Insider:1) With the popularity of the TITANIUM Series ships the OUTRIDER and NEBULON- B FRIGATE, any possible chance we will see a re-issue of those?
2) I know we are still in the midst of the Empire Strikes Back anniversary celebration, but as we look forward to the inevitable Return of the Jedi anniversary celebration is there any chance you would consider re-doing/updated the Speeder Bike mold that you guys have been using since 1984 (much like you have done with the Millennium Falcon, Snowspeeder, X-wing, Twin-Pod Cloud Car, etc.)? It seems like that would be a cool update using today’s technology and an opportunity to make it more screen accurate.
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Action Figure News:1) The Expanded Universe figure of Sigel Dare has a different style of paint than the previous Imperial Knights figures. Her armor is glossier and even a lighter shade than Antares and Ganner's suits. Was a decision made to change the look of the armor or did this just happen by accident?
2) I watch The Clone Wars in Canada on Teletoon virtually every week (sometimes multiple times per week as they are rerunning Season 1 on a daily basis). I don't recall ever seeing a commercial for Star Wars toys during these episodes. While it's possible that I simply missed them, does Hasbro buy advertising space from networks like Teletoon to advertise the toy lines during the program?
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AllSpark.com:1) While we know that there is no full redeco planned for the 3 3/4" scale Clone Wars Y-Wing, is there any possibility of a deco inversion? Instead of white and yellow, yellow and white? So that fans could have a show-accurate deco for Anakin and Ahsoka's bomber.
2) What scale is the upcoming Crossovers Yoda in robot mode? Will he be shorter than the other Crossovers robots?
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ASMzine:1) What processes do you use to prototype larger, interactive toys — playsets, large vehicles, etc? When in the prototyping process do they get kid-tested, and if so, how do you handle the prototypes around potentially-rowdy youngsters? We’re curious as to the behind-the-scenes processes of creating and testing these one-of-a-kind conceptual pieces.
2) With regards to the upcoming Force FX lightsabers, how will the blades be made removable? Will there still be the string of LEDs in the blade, with a quick-detach, or is it going to a single, powerful LED in the hilt that will light up the entire blade?
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From CollectionStation.com: 1) Usually, the only figures whose heads are painted rather than cast in flesh-tone plastic are those with a sculpted helmet, hood or large hair so the plastic matches the majority of the head. Though understandable, those painted faces aren't always that successful, noses are rubbed off by packaging, paint masks miss targets so they either over- or under-shoot, and the facial features don't look as crisp. Recently though, this has crept onto regular figures without hoods or the like. Evolutions Jango Fett is supposed to be a premium figure but has that - yes, it's likely a costing issue since it'd be the only flesh-toned part on the figure, but this is supposed to be a definitive version. Col Dyer from the Battle for Endor battle pack has flesh hands yet a painted head. And now Luke Tatooine from the Resurgence of the Jedi pack is the same way, that's an iconic figure with an impressive new sculpt, yet its sullied by the painted head syndrome. Maybe it's fine for kids, but these are collector-themed figures we're talking about, and too often it's sloppily applied and prone to the problems mentioned above, not to mention it softens the sculpted facial features you guys work hard to produce. So why use painted heads on those sorts of figures? Will there be a focus to lean on this less in the future? Might those Jango and Luke figures get cast instead of painted heads on their next runs?
2) In a previous Q&A, you mentioned that "[Hasbro] will continue working with Sideshow on their 12" figure program." As we know, Sideshow sub-licenses their 12" Star Wars through Hasbro's Star Wars license, but the intricacies of this relationship are not fully understood. With your recent comment above, collectors are ever more curious as to how exactly Hasbro and Sideshow work together on that 12" figure line. What types of input and interaction does Hasbro have into the Star Wars items that Sideshow produces?
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WELCOME: Core Planets:1) What has happened to the last wave of Titanium ships? They haven't been spotted anywhere in our city (St. Louis, MO), and some stores have already removed the pegs for Titanium. Will we still see them soon, or are we out of luck?
2) Exactly how limited will the exclusive Con comic packs (Maul and Owen, Cammie and Fixxer) be and is there any preliminary plans to make the cancelled Legacy comic pack( Darth Nihl and Delilah Blue) available to fans?
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Dewback Patrol: 1) It appears that running variations on troopers (i.e. Hoth Rebel Trooper and Scanning Crew) have been a difficult process for Hasbro and a source of disappointment for fans. As a matter of fact, I believe you said that Hasbro will not be doing any such variations in the future. It seems that releasing a trooper with 3-4 head variations in one package would solve the problems that previously existed, make fans extremely happy, and result in more purchases. After all there would be no running changes for the packaging, accessories, or tooling. It would just be one figure, one package, with 3-4 heads. And, you could probably use older head moulds or create a set of 3 generic heads that can go with different troop builder bodies. I know the Hoth Trooper is being released in a battle pack but many fans will not be able to army build at that price point. So what do you think?
2) In ‘97 you released a grand moff tarkin figure with a sticker on it that said something about it being the first release of this character. Would you consider doing that for the current line? If a figure from a movie made in 1977 has never been made in the 4 inch scale, I think it would enhance the excitement.
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From DroidsandEwoks.com: 1) In the past you have said that you like some of the classic TV characters such as Princess Kneesaa and Proto One. Considering that you are scaling back on EU figures for the time being, combined with LFL's desire to have classic animated characters made in animated style, what would it take to get characters like these made in action figures? Could they be candidates for EU two packs (without comic) if you end up going that route?
2) When can we expect to see a new figure of Luke Skywalker in his Hoth outfit? Being that it's a big year for The Empire Strikes Back, it seems like he would be a good one to have in the line. If he is in the works, can you share any details on the figure?
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From Echo Base Forums: 1) Now that we have K'Kruhk coming in the Expanded Universe wave, will we ever see figures of Tarr Seirr and Sha'a Gi to recreate that first encounter with General Grievous on Hypori?
2) IF you were to release an awesome new Slave I, which colors would you release it in first (assuming it would later be repainted)? Prequel colors, to match its upcoming appearance in The Clone Wars cartoon? Or its original look, to celebrate the 30th anniversary of The Empire Strikes Back?
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From Galactic Hunter: 1) We keep hearing that a nicely-sized revamp of a very iconic ship will be unveiled at Star Wars Celebration V in Orlando, Florida. Is this some echo-chamber effect where a rumor is repeated so often that collectors accept this as a fact, or will we be treated to a magnificent revamp of a very iconic ship that will make its debut at the premier Star Wars event of 2010?
2) The POTF2-Commtech Princess Leia with her hood up was an excellent figure. She was even posed nicely to program her plea for help to Obi-Wan Kenobi. She is one of the few figures that never popped up in a Battle Pack or a simple reissue. Did the figure's mold get lost in the shuffle somewhere, or did someone just blackball the figure? What gives?
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From Han's Hideout: 1) Based on a recent Q&A answer, it looks like the four "new" figures in the Revenge of the Sith wave will be Senate Duel Palpatine, Anakin Skywalker, General Grievous, and Magnaguard. We've seen the picture of Grievous and we've read the recap on Palpatine. How about a quick rundown on the changes/upgrades being made to Anakin and Magnaguard that make them "new"?
2) At Toy Fair, you mentioned that the new AT-AT (and two other TBD vehicles) would be getting special TRU exclusive "kenner/vintage homage" packaging. The packaging wasn't ready as of Toy Fair... any chance it's ready now so that we can get a sneak peek of the modern interpretation of the classic vintage box? And any comment on the rumor that the starship of our favorite smuggler just might be another one of the ships getting the vintage package treatment?
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From Imperial Shipyards: 1) Can we get a picture of the toysrus exclusive boxed version of the new At-At coming out? As we understand, it will be given a special vintage boxed deco and there will be two other ships given this same vintage retro feel? Any chance we could get exact dimensions on the size of this new behemoth?
2) Will we ever see some of the Mandalorians from the Entertainment Earth boxed set on a single card, or released again in a battle pack? Will we be able to get the female Mandos on card?
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WELCOME: Jedi Business:1) Will Jedi Luke be re-released on a vintage card, and if so, will you make any changes to the figure?
2) Can you share a picture with us, what a prequel character (Grievous? Qui-Gon?) looks like on a vintage card?
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From Jedi Defender: 1) Well, the Legacy line is wrapping up and for the most part, Willrow Hood doesn't seem to be nearly the peg-warmer that the non-believers thought he'd be. We know you don't like to talk exact numbers, but in general terms how'd he do? Hopefully he met (or exceeded) your expectations as we really, really loved seeing him in the line!
2) OK, so the Target Exclusive Geonosis Arena 2-packs have been out there a while now. What's the verdict then? Will we see a second series of these packs? And can you hint whether we'll see upgrades to our favorite Alien Jedi like Pablo Jill, or perhaps a couple more new Human Jedi using existing Jedi bodies with new headsculpts? I suppose you can tell we like seeing our Jedi get that super articulated upgrade?
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From Jedi Insider: 1) At Toy Fair you all mentioned that 3 vehicles would be released with variant vintage packaging, 1 being the AT-AT that will be exclusive to Toys R' Us stores. Any word on the other two, and will these be TRU exclusives as well, also can we get a look at that AT-AT vintage packaging?
2) In one of the Q&A's last month you said the AT-ST would be re-released with a Hoth deco this year for the Empire Strikes Back anniversary. Are there any plans to re-release the BMF Falcon with some Empire Strikes Back love?
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From JediNews.co.uk: 1) The last waves of red\white packed Clone Wars figures have shipped in the US but we’re only just seeing the Aayla Secura and Hondo Ohnaka wave at retail in the UK. Can you reassure us that we will get these last waves and that we won’t be missing any waves out (same goes for our Canadian readership please) before the packaging change in August?
2) We’re really looking forward to the new AT-AT’s – both in 3.75” scale and also the Galactic Heroes version too! You’ve said the Toys R Us will be having a limited supply of the 3.75” scale in Vintage style packaging – can you confirm if these will reach the UK and Canada or if we’ll just be seeing the regular packaging? Also, did you consider a Vintage style box for the Galactic Heroes version too?
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From Jedi Temple Archives: 1) The appearance of young Boba Fett in the season finale trailer for STAR WARS - THE CLONE WARS has the collecting community abuzz. We've already heard that a CLONE WARS Bossk (who is in the trailer) may be on the way in figure form. But what about young Boba, and in that same regard his ship, Slave I? Can we expect them in the fall lineup for CLONE WARS as well?
2) Pons Limbic was an amazing action figure that came with perhaps an even more amazing accessory: the awesome Cantina table. And to date we are slowly but surely getting bits and pieces of the entire Cantina over time. What we are missing however are the chairs that go along with this table. Maybe you can resurrect the “who shot first” controversy and release a Han Versus Greedo themed Battle Pack? It could include Han Solo, Greedo, the Pons Limbic table, and then the new pieces could be 2 chairs. Perhaps even can add another Cantina bystander like a corrected Hrcheck Kal Fas (Hint.) We think it would make a divine set and it will certainly help you out with tooling costs and yet provide kids and collectors with something new!
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From Jedi Temple War Room: 1) The updated versions of Agen Kolar and Plo Koon in last year's basic figure line up were quite a nice surprise. Both figures look absolutely amazing and are certainly a major improvement compared to recent releases. Since the Jedi play a major part of the prequel trilogy I presume that we may see at least one or two in the Vintage Collection. Do you have any plans to release new, movie accurate versions of Ki Adi Mundi, Eeth Koth, Adi Galia, Shaak Ti, Pablo Jill, Barriss Offee or Cin Drallig in 2010 / 2011?
2) The vintage collection has the Star Wars collecting community chomping at the bit. And the cards of the Vintage Collection's basic figure line present a whole range of questions. We've seen questions about J-hooks, blister sizes and more. But there's also some serious curiosity about a couple of things. Chief among them is how will the prequel movie logos look on the classic black and silver cardback? And on a related note, will characters from A NEW HOPE feature the STAR WARS logo? With that in mind, would a sneak peek at some of the cardbacks be possible?
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From Lightgeschwindigkeit.de: 1) Will we see a return of the Ultimate Battlepacks this year? If so, can you share any information of what to expect? And how about a different Hoth Battlepack in the future that includes an Ion Cannon?
2) We are still waiting to see the release of the non-bearded Hoth Rebel Trooper. Will he make it onto the new Vintage style cards or are you holding on to release him in a battlepack? He would make a nice addition on a single card considering the 30th Anniversary of ESB.
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NEW: From MouseDroid.com: 1) A lot of collectors are starting to get psyched about the upcoming Vintage Collection. As this is a 2 year long run, I am going to assume that the numbering system wont restart half way through, so my question is, how many figures - whether they are competely new scrupts, retooled sculpts, repainted sculpts, or complete repacks - do you have planned for the 2 year run? My guess is between 100 and 150 as the rumour for the first 2 waves has a count of around 20 individual figures.
2) With the release of the BMF previously and now the upcoming Bigger scale AT-AT in August would it be fair to assume that additional plans for larger scale updates of vehicles are on the horizon? I know I am not alone in the enjoyment of these larger scale representations of some classic vehicles and have been very very happy to see a return of focus to the vehicle aspect of the line. Specifically, are we likely to see a newer version of the iconic Imperial Shuttle from ROTJ at some juncture?
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NEW: From Raving Toy Maniac: 1) Why do the latest released Legacy figures have new UPC stickers on them? Can the stickers be used for the mail-away offers too?
2) While several Clone Wars Mandalorians were shown at Toyfair, the Duchess of Mandalore (Satine Kryze) was very conspicuous by her absence. As the Duchess is the protagonist of that arc and is shown to be a capable woman when she rescues Obi-Wan, would she be considered for a figure in the Clone Wars line or is she just considered not "kid-friendly" enough for inclusion?
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From Sir Steve's Guide: 1) In past answers, you've said you have no foreseeable plans to re-release any of the Build-a-Droid existing droid characters again. However, for various reasons natural to collecting, many collectors found themselves with the problems of having too many of some droid parts, and more often, too few of others. Short production runs are an especially big problem for completing certain droids. The bottom line is that there are a lot of incomplete droids around, and some of the droids are army-buildable including the hard-to-get YVH-1, so even after working to complete 1, some collectors want several more. And the upcoming BG-J38 wave looks like it will be no picnic to complete either what with exclusivity and a very short production run. Aside from the notion of collectors coming back to the line spurring a Droid Factory playset with the possibility of using some of these parts, would you reconsider alternate methods to distributing these parts or whole droids, perhaps offering individual parts on HasbroToyShop, or bagged complete but unassembled droids in simple white box packaging, or perhaps some other method that lets collectors complete their build-a-droids?
2) Don't think we haven't noticed that some of your exclusives are playing a color-scheme war. Target, whose company logo is a big red bulls-eye, gets a red-accented TIE Fighter vehicle; Wal-mart, whose logo has been blue lettering for decades, gets a blue Octuptarra Droid vehicle. Wal-mart gets a blue 501st role-play helmet; Target gets a red Clone Trooper helmet with flashlight. Target gets Commander Fox, a red-hued Clone figure; Wal-mart gets the 501st Clone Trooper, a blue-accented figure. Confess! You're creating some of these exclusives with coloring themed to its specific retailer, aren't you? "Payola!" they'll all yell to the heavens as they learn of such treachery. Busted! So, are you guys doing this on purpose, and if so, how did it come up? Do your retail partners know that they're getting specially-tailored exclusives as are their rivals, and what do they think of it?
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NEW: From Snowtroopers.ca: 1) Since there is a lot of demand for some figures that you considered releasing but are reconsidering, how about a compromise:
1. a battle pack consisting of the Utai (both versions), an Utapuan (maybe the one released for ROTS or a new one) and either Obi-Wan Kenobi or his gold R2 unit
2. a battle pack including the other version of the scanning trooper, a Death Squad trooper (with original Kenner paint scheme) a Stormtrooper (maybe a new variant, or at least the longer blaster seen in ANH when the troopers were checking out the Falcon?) and maybe an Imperial officer of some kind, either a junior ranking one or even better a revised Moff Tarkin with improved articulation). I think we could do without another Darth Vader though.
3. A Hoth battle pack that has the bearded/ unbearded variant of the Rebel Trooper (whichever hasn't been released, or both), and maybe something like a random X-Wing pilot (with Hoth gear), or maybe the new Imperial general and a Snowtrooper. How does that sound? Sounds like a win-win to me (mostly because I'd buy at least two of these battle packs) happy
2) When Hasbro releases another eps2 Obi-Wan, will we get some fixes? The TLC one was good but had some problems: when you bend his legs, they spread out VERY wide, making it impossible to sit him inside his eps2 starfighter unless you are willing to risk permanently warping his legs. As well, it should be obvious but the color of his TLC outfit is incorrect and too bright (your Saga-era Obi-Wans had the correct or close-to-correct colors). Finally, will we get a new head where his hairstyle matches the more slicked-back hair from his arena battle?
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NEW: From Star Wars Action News: 1) With the upcoming Vintage line-up having a higher price point than the Saga Legends and Clone Wars figures, how will this impact Battle Packs? Will we not see the Vintage figures in battle packs, or will battle packs with vintage figures also feature a higher price?
2) With Celebration V and SDCC so close together, will you be revealing some "new" product at each event, and if so, will one venue feature mroe than the other, or how are you deciding what is shown where?
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From TheJawa.com:1) I noticed with the diorama packaging that came with the Resurgence of the Jedi battlepack that the package designer put in a little sitting area for C3PO. While it was a small touch, I loved it - I like to see these dioramas be more than just a flat background and have a bit of interaction with the figures (given that we can expect no actual playsets, at least it gives these environments a bit more of a 3d feel like a playset).
If you ever do an Echo Base battlepack, any chance you might expand on this idea say giving the rebel computer consoles, cables, pipes, icicles, or whatever, some more ooomph along these same lines? The left and right side of the diorama box could be cut out as doorways also. For a "Sale of the Droids" BP, what about a giant cardboard Sandcrawler for the diorama backdrop (as a nod to the classic Kenner "Land of the Jawas" playset). Although please, don't paint in any characters into the backdrop (e.g. like the Stormtroopers that were painted into the old Sears Cloud City playset).
2) With ActionFleet gone, and Titaniums now also a thing of the past, I find I still have a desire to collect representations of my favorite SW vehicles. The only line that seems to be left standing is SW-Transformers. The problem here is that in many cases, I've seen the accuracy of the vehicle compromised due to (I am guessing) the desire to make it easily transformable or to give the robot a cool look. For example, the eps3 Jedi Starfighters are too wide, the X-Wing looked too ...toyish... as was the Vader tie fighter. I did buy the Snowspeeder, Slave 1, and AT-TE which I thought all looked "ActionFleet" worthy. Could Hasbro please keep the vehicle look as accurate as possible from now on - I'd love to get some kind of good AF-scaled Star Destroyer or Republic Cruiser or any of the big cruisers in fact. And it seems SW-Transformers is the only fallback we collectors now have (at reasonable cost at least).
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From Toy Ark: 1) Why have Battle Packs never been packed with DVD's?
2) Are vehicles from games such as "Shadows of the Empire" such as Dash Rendar's Outrider off limits for the Star Wars Transformers Crossovers line?
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NEW: From Yakface.com: 1) Last session you confirmed a new Endor Commando for the Vintage line. Will it be jacket/pants rebel or the jumpsuit rebel from the vintage and POTF2 line that is long over due an update?
2) Back in our 12/10/09 QnA, you stated that you were working on getting Commader Cody's 212th (Utapau) Clone Troopers back into the pegs. With last week's release of the Vintage and Legends line up, it was revealed that there is an EpIII Clone Trooper in both the Vintage line as a "Greatest Hits" figure and the Saga Legends line. Will one of these clones be that much requested Utapau Clone, if not which EIII clone is it?
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From Yoda's News: 1) I am curious about the production process for figures. Specifically, why are we having to wait so long before we see the next wave of Galactic Heroes in August? This is not a complaint; I am simply curious as to what business reasons give rise to this spacing between waves. Thanks!
2) Any chance of seeing a 2-pk of TX-20 with Poggle The Lessor and 2-pk of General Trench and his Tatical Droid just like you did with Walmarts Jek, Yoda. Thire and Rys?
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