Questions for March 3, 2004
Q&A Archive

A few of you may recognize having sent these questions in a while ago, I started this update shortly after the first of the year but couldn’t get the time to put the finishing touches on it until now. Following up from Monday’s post, a lot of you have been writing in eager to help Mark track down some of the older figures for his son’s collection. While it’s great to see such an outpouring, I really shouldn’t be passing email addresses back and forth. What I can suggest is that you all head over to the classifieds section of our forum and get to know each other a little better. Thanks again for all the questions, I hope the answers help.

On with the show:

1
I just purchased the Luke Hoth Attack and was wondering what the peg on the lightsaber is for? I thought it might be to put on his belt but there is no corresponding hole. Any word on an AT-AT Driver in the present Hoth waves? -Dave

It appears the lightsaber was at the least modeled after the one packed with POTJ Obi-Wan Kenobi. That version included a peg that attached to Old Ben’s belt. While it’s possible an early version of the new Hoth Luke included the same feature, no images have surfaced so far, and if planed at one point the feature was eventually cut prior to going into production. Hasbro typically re-uses existing tools for accessories and such, I’m sure this is just another case of taking advantage of what they had available to them. A shame really, having a hole in his belt to hold the saber would have been a nice touch.

No word on an AT-AT driver yet, but with the Hall of Fame assortment coming up, I guess anything is possible.


2
I finally have a nice glass cabinet (thanks to the accommodating wife this Christmas) in which to put my 12" SW dolls and miscellaneous items. (Finally the bantha, tauntaun, probe droid and bacta Luke all see the light of day again!) However, I would like to display my fancy Amidala and Leia dolls, but only some of them came with those nice clear doll stands. Those fancy hair Amidala’s don't stand-alone and the slave Leia base is huge in order to accommodate the R2-D2. Any idea where I could score a few more?

For 12” figure stands the best I can do is point you towards you local Wal-Mart. Though I’ve not seen them for myself, a number of readers have written in, the craft section is said carry adjustable metal stands. Other than that, you could try other craft stores (like Michael’s), but I’ve yet to find anyone selling stands like the ones packed with the figures you mentioned above.


3
It's obvious that many of the current Hasbro Star Wars vehicles (not to mention the vintage ones) don't have the right sale compared to the figures. Some examples: Millennium Falcon, Sebulba's Podracer, Slave I, etc. I was wondering, which of the current Hasbro vehicles do have the right scale? (I could imagine the Episode II speeders coming pretty close.)

And do you happen to know if there's any website or something that mentions what scale the wrong ones, like the ones I mentioned above, have? (For example the POTF Millennium Falcon has a scale of 1:X where it should be 1:Y to be correct with both the movies and the character figures).

While some may come close, I’m pretty sure the only vehicles that are “in scale” are the recent Dooku (Geonosian) Speeder Bike and Anakin Swoop. Near as I can tell, all other toy vehicles have either been scaled down (or scaled up as the case may be) to accommodate the figures or features. As for a web site that tracks the actual scale of the toys, I haven’t seen one that keeps such information handy, sorry.


4
Several figures were reissued on the new gold border cards. When the figure was reissued the figure number on the bottom of the bar code changed. The reissue figures are all 850xx. Can you tell me which figures were re-issued and their figure numbers? I passed on them when they first were released and now want to try and pick them all up. I have found Anakin (Secret Ceremony), Snowtrooper, Boba Fett, Yoda & Chian, Ashla & Jempa, Aayla Secura, and Barris Offee. What figures do I need to look for? -Tom

Dan and I went over this question together, and to the best of our knowledge these are the ’03 figures you were referring to. While many of the changes also represent a distinct packaging change, we found that the SKU’s on the last three (*) changed within the same packaging style. An additional figure, a Jango Fett originally from ’02, was also re-released on the gold card, as were a handful of figures from years prior. I didn’t include those in the list but if you’re looking for them as well just let me know.

03-07 Anakin Skywalker (Secret Ceremony) - 84927 changed to: 85014
03-08 Boba Fett (The Pit of Carkoon) - 84920 changed to: 85013
03-11 Aayla Secura (Jedi Knight) - 84928 changed to: 85018
03-12 Barris Offee (Luminara Unduli's Padawan) - 84926 changed to: 85025
03-13 Han Solo (Hoth Rescue) - 84959 changed to: 85012
03-15 Yoda & Chian (Padawan Lightsaber Training) - 84969 changed to: 85029
03-16 Ashla & Jempa (Jedi Padawans) - 84861 changed to: 85030
03-17 Luke Skywalker (Throne Room Duel) - 84977 changed to: 85008*
03-18 Darth Vader (Throne Room Duel) - 84978 changed to: 85009*
03-19 Snowtrooper (The Battle of Hoth) - 84979 changed to: 85011*


5
I have two questions for you that I hope you can answer as I am completely out of ideas. First off, do you know of anywhere I can find display cases for early edition Master Replicas sabers? I have Luke's from ROTJ and Obi Wan's from E1 which (for some dumb reason that escapes me now) I did not purchase with display cases. I have seen then on eBay from time to time, but have not recently.

Secondly, do you know of any stands for the 12" line of figures? I finally have a place that I can display them all nicely, but some of them don't stand all that well. I have seen some stands that seem to grip figures around the waist, but I have no idea where I might find them. Thanks for listening. If anyone can help me out, I know it's you! -Vinnie

Until a few months back I was in the same boat as you, unfortunately the only source I was able to come up with was eBay. I found most dealers were already sold out of the cases, and MR is no longer producing them. Keep watching for the latest auctions, with any luck some are bound to show up eventually. 12” action figure stands can be found in the craft section at Wal-Mart, and most likely other ‘craft’ type stores like Michael’s. Another possible source would be collectible doll shops, if you don’t have much luck, you might want to look them up in your local directory. Good luck!


6
I was wondering if you would be able to provide me with a list of any and all figures that have been made that were carded but not an official 3 3/4ths carded figure? I know that is confusing, so what I am looking for are figures such as Wedge from the carrying case, Rorworr from Invasion of Theed board game, Imperial Scanning Crew from the Falcon, etc. I am a MOC completist and I wanted to know what other figures were out there, from the vintage line to today, but not an official "carded release" figure. I know this may take a while, but I think you are one of the only people who are best suited to answer this question. -Justin (nack5811)

Actually, and someone please correct me if I’m wrong, the only other figures I can think of that were officially “carded” (i.e. factory sealed to card stock with a plastic bubble) but not released as a carded figure, would be the Darth Vader and Stormtrooper Luke from the Escape the Death Star Game. While there have been other figure offers other than standard release, most of these have been bagged or packed in a tray/display box. Unless there’s something out there that completely slipped my mind, adding this set to your list should just about do it.


7
I believe I read a question a couple of weeks ago in either Question Mark or a Q & A session on another site where someone wrote about their new Hoth Rebel Soldier being shorter than the older figures. I just bought an extra Janus Greeatus (sp?) to open and place in a diorama I have and noticed the same thing. He's noticeably shorter than any of the other figures. Have you heard anything about this? Is Hasbro making the figures smaller now to save a few pennies per figure? -alan laffoon

While I’m sure Hasbro is always looking for ways to reduce costs, I find it hard to imagine they would short sheet their action figures just to recoup a couple pennies. Still, I guess pennies do add up…Considering they recently made a major step forward in this area, bringing more scale to the line, an about face like this would certainly be a bad thing. Hasbro knows this, or at least should, so I’m more inclined to think they have a good reason to do what they’ve done. A lot of times it’s hard for us as viewers to get a good feel for how some of the characters we see on screen relate to each other in height. Obviously dealing directly with Lucasfilm, Hasbro has more information at their disposal to determine how tall one figure should be compared to another. The situation with the Hoth Trooper is hard to reckon, such an obvious short fall, but with the Imperial Dignitary there seems to be more wiggle room.


8
This may almost sound blasphemous to most collectors but I still have to ask. Why the heck are there so many current figures? In a non movie year over 50 basic figures get released to the public! (The original line had a little over a hundred over almost eight years! ) The reason I ask is that tracking down a complete set – even just a complete set from last year - has become to most, almost an epic quest in itself. I just cannot fathom how a company like Hasbro can crank out so many figures that will hardly ever reach the buying public. Wouldn’t it make more sense to release fewer figures with better distribution than so many with poor distribution?

This issue of distribution needs serious attention. All the reasons given thus far to explain this lack of availability simply doesn’t add up. Hasbro doesn’t offer simple mail-in offers with points because the costs of prototyping a figure are too high? Yet they are more than willing to develop fifty odd figures in a non-movie year that barely make it to anywhere but the secondary market? Even from a business standpoint this makes no sense.

One final question – outside of gadders, artoos news and your site, where is a good place to download vintage cardbacks? I am having difficulty tracking down the vintage re-issued figure backs from the Return of the Jedi line (ie: ROTJ Tatooine Luke, Sandpeople, Jawa, etc) and a complete line of tri-logo card backs. Any suggestions other than having to resort to those cardback CDs that are on Ebay?

I think a lot of the reasoning behind the number of new figures released in a year originates at retail. Let’s face it; every time a new case is released, we all go looking for the figures. Retailers know that the more visits we make to the toy store the more likely we’re going to buy “something”. I think retailers like to have a line that brings in customers, and Hasbro is happy to give them just that. Clearly there are problems that go along with this, uneven distribution, slow distribution, backed up inventory, but from the front end of the deal it makes perfect sense. If Hasbro were to limit the number of figures, say a new case every two or three months, it wouldn’t bring people in to stores as often and may give the appearance of being stale. A fresh, hip, hot toy line is one that has new stuff showing up all the time. That’s what retail likes, and that’s what gives us fifty new figures a year, whether we can find them or not…

To be painfully honest, with the exception of toys leaked out of the factory, every figure out there as far as Hasbro is concerned (second market included) has been paid for. Once a retailer takes delivery Hasbro, for most part, has gotten their money. Where ever they go from there, it’s no longer Hasbro’s primary concern. Sure, they see the problem, they feel bad for their fans that can’t get the toys, but the situation is out of their control. Who it doesn’t make good business sense for are retailers. Think of the sales they’re missing out on if they can’t get the product they’ve already bought and paid for to market. The longer they delay getting new toys to the shelf, for whatever reason, the more customers they send to on-line retail or other sources. It’s convenient for everyone to point to one company, Hasbro, and complain about distribution, but really it’s Toys ‘R’ Us, Target, and Wal-Mart that need to be yelled at.

I can’t think of another site with vintage cardback images you can download, but if one of our other readers knows maybe they’ll pass that info along…


9
Is the new Hoth Snowtrooper supposed to be an officer, and if so why isn't it named that? He has the imperial Lieutenant rank badge, and his shoulder pads are upside down from a regular snowtrooper's. This uniform configuration was seen only on the snowtrooper officer in the ATAT cockpit with Veers, nowhere else. And yet the figure has a regular snowtrooper's helmet - the officer's helmet in the ATAT has a rigid face veil (instead of crinkly like on a regular snowtrooper) and has metal knobs on the hard hat. Hasbro's usually pretty sharp with details like this.

Also, how could such an atrocious figure as the new Hoth rebel soldier (which you previously pointed out is majorly height-challenged compared to other figures) be released alongside such remarkable figures as R-3po, Rieekan and the new Dignitaries? With arms as long as its legs, 1995 style buffed out chest and the same cheesy pose as the old hoth rebel of 5 years ago, this thing has got to top Luke Jedi Throne Room for worst of 2003, right?

Speaking of, why not a poll for best and worst of the year - let Hasbro take a bow and kick in the pants to let them know when they nail something and when they miss completely? -Duncan

The only ‘intent’ that I think was there in regards to the new Snowtrooper figure was to make a cool toy with a little play value. I’m sure Hasbro sculptors drew from a number of different reference photos in order to come up with what they thought was a good looking figure. After a close review of the Hoth Battle scenes there are definitely discrepancies between the two types of uniforms, but I have a hard time faulting Hasbro for these. If you watch the Star Wars films closely you’ll see all kinds of inconsistencies, there’s every bit a chance that the day they shot the Echo Base scenes the pads were put on wrong… Another interesting note, the AT-AT drivers wear the same shoulder pads on their uniform, and theirs are placed ‘up-side-down’ as well. Maybe that’s the day wardrobe goofed. So anyway, the action figure may not be totally accurate to either scene, but it’s still a pretty nice looking toy.

You know, I hate the taste of crow, but I’ll be the first to point out when I’ve goofed. While watching the early scenes of Empire I did notice something that caught my attention. I had to scan back to make sure, but it was definitely there. In the scene where the Snowspeeders are preparing to take off, a group of Rebel troops run down the center of the main hanger. Sure enough, there near the end of the pack, was one vertically challenged Rebel Trooper. I would have never caught him had it not been for this question, but I’m now thoroughly convinced that’s the trooper Hasbro modeled this new figure after – who’d a ever known it was movie accurate… Frankly the height thing I can kinda get around, but the dramatic pose was something I thought we were moving away from. For blaster fodder it’ll work just fine with my other Hoth Rebel Troops, but it would have been a big plus in my book if Hasbro would’ve actually built a figure that we could pose a number of different ways, or at least one posed in a way reminiscent to how the troops appeared in the movie.

A best AND worst poll…? Now there’s a thought.

10
I am worried about the availability of the Animated Clone Wars figures. I work during the week and I don't have the time to go to Target. I am scared that this is going to be another y-wing screw up. We have 2 Target stores here in Huntsville Alabama. One got the A-wing and the 12" Leia Speeder bike and the other Target didn't receive these. I am worried that our Target will be over looking or the figures will go so fast that as well as being bout up by scalpers. I will never see these. I know these have just been found but I read that these figures are a limited run and am concerned that Target will only get one shipment of these and they will sell out in seconds. Well, I can screw not finding these.

Well as I’m sure you’ve found out by now, hopefully, your concerns about Animated Clone Wars availability were for not. The line appears to be very well distributed; most Target stores in my area at least have a steady supply to pull from. While the figures moved swiftly the first few weeks they were out, the first wave is quite easy to come by now. With the second wave just starting to show up now, I can only assume the same will be said for it once they begin to ship in quantity. All in all, from what I’ve seen and heard, the line has been one of the best handled exclusives so far.


Until next time...



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