Questions for May 6, 2004
Q&A Archive

Oh sure, any Star Wars fan can celebrate the unofficial Star Wars day, May the Forth, but it takes a true Dark Side adept to fully appreciate the power of the Sixth. Thanks again to all who contributed a question to today's edition, I'll look forward to fielding more of your questions soon. And oh yes…

May the Sixth Be With You!

On with the show:

1
How about a 12-inch Bespin Leia and a 12-inch Lobot? These would make a great addition to the 12-inch line, and I as many others are, are 12-inch collectors. I know the line is slowly dissipating, but has Hasbro ever considered making these figures available? Any insight, or hinting to Hasbro to think about doing these figures would be great!

I have to think Hasbro has at least considered these once or twice, but for some strange reason we've yet to see them offered. As the 12-inch line appeals more to collectors that the average kid, I would think this line would see more offerings like these, but lately Hasbro seems stuck in a rut. I hate to say it, but if Hasbro doesn't start looking at some of these characters more seriously, I'm afraid the line will loose its audience. There are only so many versions of the same character you can do over and over again, and the 12-inch line is nothing like the action figure line, fans tend not to double up on characters if they've already been offered. If and when the opportunity comes, we'll certainly suggest these two characters and others, but in the end it will be up to Hasbro to recognize the demand for them.


2
I have noticed the card stock used to make the card backs of the 'Animated' versions of the 'Clone Wars' figures seems to be different than what Hasbro normally uses. In fact, if I didn't know better, I'd say they look like they're made from recycled paper. What do you think? -Anthony

I would image these days that all the cardboard used for cardbacks contains some recycled paper, but that fact may be more evident in the Animated line on account that the cards don't have the high gloss finish the standards carbacks have. Still, hard to say for sure if there is a major difference; if we get the chance, we will ask.


3
Ever since the last set of 12-inch figs came out (Obi-Wan, Jawas, and Garaindan) there has been no word as to what the next wave will be. Have you heard who will be coming out next? Or will the next wave of 12-inchers be from the new OTC?

So far the only other 12-inch figures confirmed for this year are the OTC Luke, Stormtrooper, and Boba Fett. There have been rumors another 12-inch scale Chewbacca will be released, but so far that has not been officially announced. We may see a few others, exclusives perhaps, but that's about it.


4
When will be seeing new Imperial officer figures, and will the Star Wars Trilogy Arcade game ever be released to consoles?

Aside from the Admiral Ozzel figure that is shipping to retail now, no other Imperial officer figures have been confirmed. There are rumors a General Veers figure may be out later this year, but no announcement has been made to date. As for the Trilogy Arcade game, it has not been released for any console, and no plans for its release are known. I have to think it's always a possibility, but wouldn't even hazard a guess as to when or what system.


5
Is there any chance that we might see a V-19 Clonefighter from the animated series? I would be happy with any version: Lego, Action Fleet, scale, etc. I guess it all depends on if it makes an appearance in Episode III. -Brian Clardy

We ran this one by LEGO last year at Comic Con, but it doesn't look like they felt the need to get involved in the whole Clone Wars campaign. Under Hasbro's leadership, the Action Fleet line has struggled, and not been known to venture into the EU. I have to think that even if it does come back in 2005, there won't be much room for this vehicle. Finally, I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for Hasbro to add this to their 3¾" line; it's just not their style these days. I hate to get anyones hopes up, it's admittedly a long shot, but the V-19's best chance will probably come in the MicroMachine line if it should make a come back. Because of their small size and lower cost, there just seems to be more that can be done with the Micro line than can be done in any other collection. Keep your fingers crossed.


6
Is it safe to say that the figure that was once called "Greedo Resculpt" is the same as the Greedo POTF Commtech chip figure? Also, what is the difference between the Commtech Greedo and the Wal-Mart Cantina figure w/bar, other than the latter having the more accurate orange vest?

For some reason I have a hard time seeing Hasbro spending time and money to make an all new Greedo. I'd say it's a safe bet this figure listing refers to the CommTech Greedo in new packaging. I'm sorry to say I did't have my CommTech Greedo handy for a comparison, but judging by the images in our photo archives, I'd say the figures are the same, with a more accurate deco on the Wal-Mart version. The Wal-Mart version also sports a nice wash that really adds more dimension than what we saw in the CommTech release.


7
I received my order from Shop.Starwars.com --- here is a summary:

Talk about a fiasco - everyone knows the crap that happened on opening day --- well I re-ordered the "Return of the Jedi 1983 Original 1-Sheet 27 X 41", well today I received a box that was 8"x8"x about 36" from Lucasfilm, opened it up and the poster is wrapped in bubble wrap, up against a side of the box, the box had been damaged in transit so the poster is damaged and creased in return --- then I unwrap the poster and it's a ROTJ Japanese poster (I think since its all in Japanese). What a crock!

First, didn't they ever hear of poster tubes?

Second, can't they fulfill and order correctly?

Talk about lousy service, no wonder they didn't venture into this business years ago - they are just plain terrible at it. Okay sorry for the rant, hope others had a better time. There is no way I am ordering cases from them! -Bob

We've had a few emails from customers that received less than perfect service from StarWarsShop.com, but overall it sounds like they're doing an okay job. As unfortunate as your experience was, it's fair to say these types of things are expected with any start up. Given time, I'm sure they'll get all the kinks worked out, but in the meantime their reputation will rest on how they deal with their shortcomings. If I were you, I'd be sure to keep on them until they either make the situation right or tell you there's nothing more they can do. It sounds like you have a legitimate case for added attention, I would be shocked if they couldn't rectify the problem and get you what you ordered in acceptable condition. Hang in there.


8
How do Rebelscum and other collecting sites get a hold of versions of figures and sets before they are officially released? For example, pictures of Ozzel, Bossk, and Dengar were updated at Rebel Scum's photo archives long before the figures were released. -Chris

While early toys can usually be found through a number of different means, for the most part our early figures are made available to us through our sponsor Action-HQ.com. Based overseas, they typically get the figures/toys quicker, and can turn around and ship them faster than standard surface freight. In addition to A-HQ, I rely quite a bit on Entertainment Earth and Toy Maniacs. More times than not, they'll have the toys available long before I see them arrive at retail.


9
Is there any chance Hasbro will ship any more clone trooper 3 packs from the clone wars? I wasn't able to find them at my local KB, TRU, or Target and there is no way I can afford the prices on eBay or other online stores. Amazon had them for $7.95 but they were sold out in two days! Do I have a chance or am I out of luck? -Cory

While there is always a chance, the chances aren't looking too good at the moment. More and more Clone Wars shelf tags are disappearing and there's no sign Hasbro plans to add to the line anytime soon. That being said, there's still a possibility cases already in the supply chain may surface, but there's no telling where they will end up. I have to think, like everything previously, if there's existing stock somewhere that will eventually be cleared out, the best places to look in that case would be KB or Toys 'R' Us. Keep watching the news and the forums, if the 3-pack do start to surface again, we'll be sure to mention it.

10
Why do you think Hasbro is afraid of releasing solid cases of Stormtroopers? Are they afraid that they might actually sell, or in a worse case scenario, every kid and collector would be able to amass a small army of them? For example, they could ship cases of Stormtroopers/Sandtroopers. Then switch it up, every three to six months, with Stormtroopers/Scout Troopers, Stormtroopers/Clone Troopers, etc. Think about it, it would be the perfect way to distribute the Super Articulated Stormtrooper (add paldrons to the figures to create SA Sandtroopers) and SA Clone Trooper. Come on Hasbro, what's the problem!?

As it has been explained to me, it's not so much a factor of being afraid to do it, as it is a "production time" management issue. Basically, in order to offer block cases of Stormtroopers (one figure), they would have to use the same production time they use now to produce the standard mixed case (three to four new figures). During this time they probably wouldn't be able to produce much of anything else, and if Hasbro were limited in any way by the number of production molds they have to utilize, production time could even exceed what it takes for the standard run. This in turn would push delivery dates out, extend the time between waves, and basically make a mess of their production schedule. Now the thought of a "trooper" wave of figures may work, but we probably couldn't expect the ratio to be any different than what we're seeing now (two or three of each figure per case), and that doesn't really address the issue. The best way to get the right number of troopers out there is to keep the figure in the assortments longer. If Hasbro thought it would be acceptable to collectors, they could plan follow up assortments with troopers accordingly and only include two 'new' figures. This would allow them to continue running the trooper figure, pack more of them per follow up case, and in essence keep the Trooper as a "new" figure in both assortments.

11
Thanks for answering my question in the last question Mark. I thought I should clear up my question for the Death Star Trooper's Blaster. What I meant was do you think that they will make a larger one that is in scale to the Blasters from 1995, you know, beefier and bigger ones, not these small pea-sized almost microscopic guns we have seen recently with the "collector's characters" like Dodonna and Antillies. I'm just curious to know if they have the mold for the proper scale. -dave

Actually, I think the scale right now is probably very close to what it should be. All the blasters/accessories from the early waves were much too large. Is there a chance Hasbro will go back to the oversized blasters/accessories - I have to think no.

12
I was lucky enough to get two SA Clone Troopers and I loved the various poses I could put them in. It makes me wonder why doesn't Hasbro have all their SW figs with this kind of articulation? While scene specific characters are cool (Luminara Unduli, Bariss Offee, Mace Windu, etc) you can't "use" them for anything else. The SA clone could be posed for formation, battle, or retreat if you're anti Republic.

What happened to the Build your own lightsaber kit?

Now with the upcoming OTC waves I'm wondering why is Hasbro shafting the Clone Wars? I know the DVD is coming and Hasbro wants to get stuff out in support but there is SO much more that the Clone Wars could offer. For years many of us have waited to find out just what that line meant in A New Hope and now it's here. Why not focus on that until Episode III? Yeah I know Luke, Han, and Vader always sell but with this is an opportunity to do something new. I think Hasbro could (should) have given us more CW merchandise. The cartoon was a success and season two had NOTHING to sell in stores. Why did Hasbro treat CW like a red headed stepchild? They could have put out a Clone Starfighter, More Clones, and any other redecoed Jedi or Separatist and made pretty good business -Washington

Added articulation typically translates into higher production cost, which usually means higher prices at retail. In trying to keep prices down, Hasbro has done about the best they can to make the most of each figure offered. From the looks of it, and Hasbro's description, the OTC Vintage line will feature more articulation than the average figure, but it will also feature a higher price point. I think Hasbro can get away with this on this limited scale, but if they moved the entire line in this direction it could likely cost them a significant share of their customers. Hopefully they will continue to make figures like the SA Clone Trooper where they make sense, but I imagine we'll always see figures with the standard six points as the mainstay in the basic figure line.

From what we understand the kit was shopped around, but generated little interest. Failing to inspire retail orders, the kit was eventually cancelled. No word if or when it might be offered again, but let's at least hope so; it looked like a very cool toy.

Yeah, it's disappointing to see the way the Clone Wars line was handled; for such a major event in what we've come to know as Star Wars history, it barely made a blip at retail (or in the movies for that matter). I would have liked to have seen the theme run all the way up to Episode III, new figures, new vehicles, but oh well. However, as an EU line it was rather substantial and hopefully did well enough for Hasbro to consider other EU lines in the future - KOTOR for instance. While it's hard to say with any certainty what the original plan was for the Clone Wars line, those plans could have easily change once Hasbro caught wind of the Trilogy DVD release. Recognizing that this would be a substantial event for Star Wars fans, Hasbro may well have abandoned the continuation of the Clone Wars line for the obvious Trilogy theme we've seen this year. Disappointing to fans interested in the Clone Wars, yes. A smart business move overall for the Star Wars line, absolutely.

13
[About the Gold Leader Y-wing] The paint scheme on this is horrible. Is this a Hasbro joke? Please tell me it will have a nice battle-weathered look. -Tom

While it's possible the image shown is only a mock up, and not the finished product, it's equally possible this is in fact the very version that will ship. You may want to wait for the Y-Wing's release before passing final judgment, but I wouldn't be surprised if this turns out to be the toy.

14
Rebelscum archives are the cat's meow. How can I, a padawan with computers, get each figures listing in a printer ready format? Same for your "to die for" checklists. I'm thinking of a 3 ring binder holding them as a reference. I can understand Lucas might oppose you actually printing your own book for fans, but a printer friendly link on the web page? Or at least printer friendly web pages? And possibly pages without inconvenient page break locations and photograph repositioning like I get now. I know you periodically tinker with each listing so each one should have a "last updated" date that prints out so I will know when you have changed one and I can print out a replacement. Any help here would be most cool. MTFBWY -Monte Hall, Las Vegas

There's actually been quite a lot of talk around the office lately regarding a printable version of the Archives, but so far nothing's on deck. First and foremost would be to determine what format works best for collectors, full page, double sided, half page, trading card size… It's definitely something we've thought about, but if we go forward we want to make sure it's useful to collectors. At this point we're not aware of any issues pertaining to copyright infringement, although I'm sure that might be a different case if it were something we were looking to sell. In all likelihood, anything we did end up doing would be free and downloadable from the site.

15
Do you know of any resource on the net that lists all the basic SW figures by series? I know the book Sansweet put out a few years back does a great job of series by series but of course it is grossly outdated. I don't even really need the pics just a list. if you know of anything plmk. -Shawn Eckels

At this point I'm not aware of a site that keeps an updated list by series, if in 'series' you mean waves. We do keep checklists based on series according to Power of the Force, Episode I, Power of the Jedi, Saga, Clone Wars, etc… but they're split up in their various Archive sections. Hasbro used to keep a record of figure releases by wave, but that information is no longer available on their site and hasn't been for some time now. I kept a list running for a long time in order to keep track of my collection, I'll see if I can dig that up and backtrack to where I left off. Hopefully we'll be able to add this content to the site soon and get you the info you're looking for.

16
Any idea as to why General Dodonna comes with 3 medals? I heard rumor of an ultimate edition original trilogy that included Chewie receiving a medal also.

and from another reader…

Not sure if this is been in your Q&A before, but here goes. Why does General Jan Dodonna come with 3 medals he only hands out 2 (Luke and Han), or did I miss something. -Sam

Near as we can tell it's just Hasbro's way of acknowledging the fact fans have already come to accept; that Chewie deserved a medal too. While there are rumors this scene may be added to an 'ultimate edition' of A New Hope, there has been no confirmation that it will be added or that there are any plans for an 'ultimate edition.' For now we have the toy, and the MTV movie awards footage, to fill in the gaps.

17
What happened to the exclusive green clone on the ShopStarWars site? It's not offered anymore. Is it already sold out???

After the site failed on opening day, all orders placed were essentially frozen. When the site opened again, to ensure those who did manage to get an order placed were able to re-activate their frozen order, certain items (Clone Sergeant, and Adventure Kermit) were held back until such time as the existing orders were either confirmed or cancelled. I think the time period was about 48 hours, after which StarWarsShop took a look at what was left over before putting it back up on the site. We had gotten a couple emails from people informing us the Clone Sergeant was back on the site, but it wasn't there long before it was sold out.

18
With Hasbro's impending release of a special 500th figure, I can't help but feel that I have a void of sorts. We know that Han (Carbonite) was the 100th, Mara Jade the 200th, and Boba Fett the 300th. Who, or what, is the 400th? It has to be a Saga figure, but which one? I would like to hear your opinion on this.

Well, I ran this one by our checklist guru Dan, and after a few emails back and fourth, he came up with the following. Counting forward from 300th Boba Fett, excluding all re-carded figures, counting all side lines (Clone Wars, Star Tours, and Sneak Peek figures), figure number 400 actually turns out to be - Boba Fett (Pit of Carkoon). Going one-step further, Dan was also able to determine that the last figure we know to be confirmed, OTC Lobot, is actually figure number 475. So, whatever the 500th figure turns out to be, it's literally right around the corner.

19
Do you know if there are any plans to release a prequel trilogy edition of Star Wars Trivial Pursuit? They put out an expansion pack for Episode I, but have not done so for Episode II. I'm wondering if they are waiting until all three prequels have been released and before they produce a new edition that would encompass all three prequels. -Justin Berg

Honestly, I've heard nothing about plans to update the Star Wars Trivial Pursuit board game. Considering the timing, I would tend to think that if they were going to release an Episode II expansion, they would have done so by now. At this point waiting would make the most sense, but we'll just have to wait and see if that indeed turns out to be the plan. Having come this far, I have a hard time thinking Hasbro would not follow up, but I guess anything is possible.

20
If companies like Hasbro (and Mattel with their defunct He-Man line) have such a hard time getting retailers to buy their product, and they know there's a fan demand for the product, why don't they just simply offer these items on an On-line store? Cutting out the middle man who increase their profits.-T

I guess it's more a mater of tradition than anything else. For years toy manufacturers have made toys for toy retailers to sell. Each have their place in the world, and seldom do we see instances where one crosses over into the other ones area of expertise. It's a delicate balance, but for the most part it keeps everyone happy. One of the concerns from the manufacturer's standpoint is that if they were to bypass retail, and being to market directly to the customer, retail (who in a way represents a much larger/higher volume customer) may just cut back or cease to buy from them completely. In essence retail could very well say; if you want to sell directly to the public, you can sell all your toys to the public. Typically manufacturers are nowhere near capable of marketing their entire product line directly to the end user, and such a move could prove disastrous. While it seems exceptions to this could be made regarding toys that retail passes on, truth be known, without distribution at the retail level manufacturers could never hope to sell as many pieces as they would otherwise. We may all be there to support the move, but there's a pool of literally tens of thousands of traditional retail customers that would go largely untapped. Believe it or not, it's sales to those customers, in addition to the die-hard fans and collectors, that keep the line going and continues to put toys on the shelf. Admittedly, it's a hard concept to grasp, especially for fans like us who feel passionately about toys like the Sandcrawler that may not get made, but in the larger scheme of things the system works just fine as it is.


Until next time...


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