Questions for August 2, 2004
Q&A Archive

Thanks to everyone that took the time to submit a question for this update, I’ve got plenty of mail to go though but by all means keep the Q’s comin’. For those of you that have submitted a question that never got answered, don't worry, I haven't forgotten about you. Over the next several weeks look for a few “mail bag” editions to be posted.

On with the show:

1
Can you please explain, or point me in the direction of this information, what the deco and other visual differences there are between the repacked OTC figures from their original releases? I know the deco and/or treatments have been varied on some of them, and as a figure completist I wouldn't want to pass over any of these sort-of variations.

While we weren’t originally planning on doing this, taking into consideration that Hasbro has gone the extra mile on several of these re-released figures, we will be adding comparison shots to our Archives as these figures are released. As it stands right now Luke X-Wing pilot, Luke Bespin, Jawas, and Tusken Raider all feature additional or alternate deco from their original release. It’s probably more obvious on the Jawas and Tusken Raider (which we’ll be adding to the archives soon), but you’ll also notice things like the added spray to Luke’s helmet on the pilot figure, and the omission of his facial wound on the Bespin figure. Other figures lined up for a new-improved look are the Gamorrean Guard, Bib Fortuna, and Darth Vader Hoth with added snow deco. Again, as these figures are released we will add comparison shots, but if you want a quick look please check our coverage of the Hasbro booth from this years Comic Con.


2
Being from Oklahoma, Wal-Mart is probably the absolute worst place to look for new figures. Case in point—they just loaded up the pegs (FINALLY!) but not with anything new. In fact, they are all the Aayla Secura wave (with Yoda and the young Jedi figures, etc.). Anyway, I was actually lucky enough to stumble on a WA-7. I’ve been wanting this figure for quite a while, and knew that when I found it, I would open it; just because it’s cool. At least, that’s what I thought, until after I opened it. How the HECK do you get her to stand there? The plastic is so soft and flimsy that I cannot get her to stay on her stand. And when she does, the little tray with the drinks on it droops to the point that, if the glasses had real liquid in them, they would spill; the glasses would fall and shatter, etc. It’s awful!

Unfortunately I know exactly what you’re talking about; getting the figure to stand correctly takes some effort, if you can get it to stand at all. What I would suggest is trying to position the arms so that the figure is more balanced upright. Once the wheel well is clipped into the stand it should stay put, but if the upper body is off balance it could start to lean one way or the other. Keep in mind too that because of the plastic used, warmer rooms will tend to accelerate the problem. It may be tricky, but with a little effort you should be able to get the figure to stand reasonably well without looking like it’s about to spill its tray. On the other hand, if you’re still having trouble, just try doing the best you can and then lean the figure up against something else for support. It certainly was a neat idea, but stiffer plastic would have been a plus.


3
Do you know when the second wave of Target Exclusive Figures and Cups will be released? (Yoda, Han, and Boba)

Also, I have found the Obi-Wan, Leia, and Han, but where is Luke in the Vintage Original Trilogy Collection?

Unfortunately, as cool as these cups were, the future does not look bright for this series. I spoke with Hasbro quite a bit about their Target exclusive situation this year at the con and the word on the Cup and Figure sets was the line hadn’t done as well as they had hoped. While I don’t think a final decision had been made, the team indicated these probably would not be released. Who knows, things might change, but at this point I wouldn’t get my heart set on adding these to your collection any time soon.

For some unknown reason (most likely a production issue) the Luke figure was held back from the first assortment of Vintage OTC figures. Luke will first ship in a follow up assortment to the first wave at three per case, and in subsequent assortments at lower ratios as well. Don’t worry, he’s comin’.


4
I know this question is asked a lot but with a constant rumor of a R5-D4 figure, will one be released soon. Also will Hasbro continue the VOTC figures beyond the first 12? -Adam W.

No plans for an R5-D4 have been announced yet, maybe late 2005 or 2006, but it’s anyone’s guess at this point. Not to worry though, I’m sure we’ll get one eventually. As for continuing the VOTC line; I asked about the chance of that at Comic Con and the Star Wars team seemed interested. However, with 2005 five being a movie year and the focus on those toys, Hasbro admitted they probably wouldn’t be able to continue anything like the VOTC line until 2006. Clearly there are no plans right now for anything after these 12 figures, but it’s good to know the option is in the back of Hasbro’s mind. In the end it will all depend on how well this current line does at retail.


5
Not really a question, but something that came to mind when I saw the The Revenge Of The Sith packaging featuring General Grievous. Do you think there is any chance Hasbro would use the same bendable material that was used for the "spine" of the TPM destroyer droid on the Grievous figure, giving the flexibility that was shown in the Clone Wars series?

I would be surprise if Hasbro hasn’t considered that, but no details about any of the Episode III figures have been made public at this point. As great an idea as it is, we’re just going to have to wait and see what they come up with.


6
I was wondering what the differences would be from the Master Replicas version of the AT-AT compared to the future release version of the AT-AT that will be made by Code 3 Collectibles? -Hoa Nguyen (Friendswood, TX)

I think it’s fair to say price, size, and materials will be the big differences between the two; hopefully articulation will be another. Code 3 mentioned at the show that they are very conscience of what collectors are willing/able to spend on their line. I imagine the price tag on their AT-AT will be closer to $300-$500 where the Master Replicas version reaches $1,200. Code 3 also deals in die-cast metal as opposed to plastic, and size-wise I imagine the Code 3 walker will be noticeably smaller. Basically, if you thought the MR AT-AT was too big or too expensive, the Code 3 version might better suit your collection.


7
I am totally disappointed with the upcoming Jedi Council Scenes. The first two were great with only a couple flaws that I try to ignore (like Depa not being able to sit, Oppo seeming a bit on the small scale, and the chairs seeming too small for the taller characters and too big for characters like Yaddle). Now Hasbro has really nothing to offer with these new sets except finishing the floor; the pieced together figures just do not look right and I noticed they do not have their correct council chairs. Is there any chance Hasbro will release basic carded figures of the council members with new better articulated sculpts and resculpted chairs? Sure it is great that we are getting some form of the council right now, but seeing as Hasbro corrects many of their mistakes made with figures in the past, aside from buying these to finish the floor base, is there much point to buying these sets?

I was wondering why Hasbro would not have released a VOTC version of Emperor Palpatine? He seems more an essential character and would have had so much potential had they done him. I think many would have wanted a good Palpatine sculpt over another Stormtrooper. With all the buzz surrounding Palpatine in Episode III, is another reason I am surprised we do not get a Palpatine in this collection. Is Hasbro waiting for Episode III before dealing too much with Palpatine at the moment?

The Hall Of Fame figures do not totally bother me since there will be many new fans wanting those figures when the DVDs come out, but some of Hasbro's choices surprise me. Why would they release such early POTF figures that did not sell well and have had fans desiring new sculpts (like Bib Fortuna)? Why not release more well sculpted figures that sold well. There are many I can think of like Admiral Motti, Beru, Ree-Yees, Hooded Leia, R2 with Holo Leia. Is there chance these will be coming soon?

Will we be seeing more Imperial Officers? After the well sculpted Ozzel we could certainly use resculpts of Tarkin, Piett, and Veers.

Yeah, I’m right there with you on these Council Scenes, it’s a shame they went through the direct market division. Obviously the Star Wars team could have done a much better job of it, but they are what they are I suppose. At this point it’s hard to say what the chances are that Hasbro would go back and release ‘better’ versions of these figures. I’d like to say they’ll probably get around to it eventually, but they haven’t been known to dwell on the Prequel characters, much less those with limited screen time. It’s possible we might see a few associated with the Revenge of the Sith line, but there’s no telling if they’ll be generic enough to fit the Council Scenes. Time will tell…

I wouldn’t necessarily say Hasbro’s avoiding Palpatine; a basic version is being released through StarWarsShop.com later this year after all. It’s probably more a matter of Hasbro wanting to cover the twelve ‘most popular’ characters in that line. As central to the plot of the Trilogy as the Emperor is, you can’t tell me most fans would rather have another version of him over a highly articulated Stormtrooper. Aside from that the Emperor did very little in Return of the Jedi, his costume is rather basic (black) and those qualities rarely translate well into an exciting action figure. While it might be interesting to see what Hasbro could come up with in regards to VOTC type Emperor, it think they made the right choice by going with the 12 figures they picked. Who knows, maybe by 2006 they’ll revisit the line and consider old Palpy as a candidate. As far as 2005 and Episode III, there’s probably something to the thought that they didn’t want to overdue the character too much in the OTC line. Despite the fact the OTC Emperor will be an exclusive; I’d say they’ve covered him well enough for this year.

Hard to see what the future of the Hall of Fame line is, but as Hasbro stated in San Diego; OTC will wrap with the 38/39 figures announced already. Following those, we’ve got four new waves of figures leading off 2005, then the Episode III line. Considering Hasbro has done this sort of thing for the last couple years, there’s probably a good chance we’ll continue to see a few re-released figures added to the line periodically. I don’t think collectors necessarily mind it, though I’d rather see them wave based, one or two at a time mixed in with new figures, to keep a good selection on the shelves. As far as who they’ll release, I have to think any or all of the figures you mentioned make likely candidate, we’ll just have to wait and see.

No plans that have been made public yet, but someone mentioned a very interesting idea in San Diego that the Hasbro guys seemed to like. Regarding troop builder type figures, why not include two or three alternate heads? Hasbro kinda seems to be heading that way with figures like the new Luke Dagobah Training; it certainly seems they could work in alternate heads for figures like the various Imperial Officers, or even Rebel Pilots. I think at this point it’s just a thought, but hopefully it will become a regular practice before too long.


8
Just wanted to get your opinion on the new Episode III figure packaging. My first impression was, "Wow, these are certainly... busy!" After some reflection, I still can't say that I love it, but it is growing on me. What do you think? -Anthony

I think it is very eye catching and probably fits well with the overall theme of Episode III, but in the end it doesn’t look very ‘Star Wars’. I’m a huge fan of the current OTC style package, I don’t think the line has ever looked better, and I hope once we’re past Episode III the line goes back to an OTC look and feel. I’m sure the Revenge of the Sith package will do it’s job, it’s quite busy in an attractive way, but I think it will also get tiresome rather quickly.


9
I am wondering why the Stormtrooper figures from the Power of the Jedi, Hall of Fame, and original trilogy collection are so hard to find. Am I seeing things or were there like a zillion of them in the original trilogy? I also wonder why Hasbro consistently has such a bad record in meeting the supply and demand. I remember when the Saga line came out for Ep. II, there were millions of captain Typho on the pegs, I can still go to my local toy store and get several of them, as well as Zam Wessell. When, oh when will Hasbro pull there head out of there (insert body orifice of your preference here) and learn that they can make so much more money by producing more of the characters we want. I know several stores that no longer buy cases of SW figures because of the fact that they don't have room to store all the extra not so popular characters that Hasbro cranks out in surplus. I could go on for a while but in short, "It's not the 80's anymore, there is a fan base, so give us what we want!!!"

Stormtroopers sell simply because everyone can always use another Stormtrooper. In the collecting world it’s what’s known as a no brainer – if Hasbro makes it, we will buy. Bottom line, you can’t find them because collectors want them and scalpers know they can sell them; it’s all about troop building and collector demand.

As for your question regarding supply and demand, it may not be as simple as this, but it goes a little something like…When Hasbro rolls out a new line of toys and figures in a movie year, they’ve already invested about fourteen months designing and developing those toys. In many cases they’re working off early footage and designs for some of the characters and have no real idea what kind of impact those characters will have on movie goers/fans, or how much time they’ll end up on screen for that matter. Going into this situation Hasbro estimates as best they can when it comes to how many of these figures to produce, how many to put in each assortment, and how long to keep them in the mix. A good example is Ric Olié from The Phantom Menace. Originally Ric’s roll in the script was much more important and tied more closely to Anakin, making him a decent figure choice. A quick trip through the editing room and all that changed significantly. Hasbro had already spent a considerable amount of time and money on the figure, and basically had to bite the bullet knowing full well they were putting an instant peg warmer out there right from the start. I think it’s safe to say they did a better job with Episode II than they did with Episode I, but there were still a fair number of peg warmers in the early Saga assortments. Hasbro doesn’t really get a chance to gage consumer demand on the new movie characters until after the movie is released. In a lot of cases they get lucky and choose well, but it’s also not unheard of that a figure will get pulled from the line due to lack of interest or in some cases a reduction in screen time due to last minute edits. Once they see how the movie is received and can see who is hot and who is not, they can tailor the line to better meet demand; it’s just tricky with those initial assortments. I suppose the only alternatives would be to limit initial assortments to main characters only, or wait until after the movie is released to make the toys. In both cases, I don’t think fans or collectors would be any more satisfied than with the way things are otherwise. In the end, Hasbro knows what collectors want and works with their system as best they can to meet demand. We only really run into this problem when dealing with unknown factors and even then they seem to be getting better at it.

10
I found the recently released OTC Greedo (#22) today at Target. I noticed that the red Imperial symbol was not in the upper left corner on the front of the card. The name is on a red background, and the back of the card has red... Both of these aspects are in line with the rest of the imperial figures - just no symbol on the front. I thought I had read that Hasbro was assigning figures to one affiliation or the other even if they are neutral such as Jawas and Tusken Raiders... This leads me to three conclusions:

1) Hasbro has decided to leave the card blank for those not associated with either side.
2) It is an error and will not be corrected.
3) It is an error and will be corrected.

Personally, I never understood why the symbol was ever added because this figure proves how much better the card looks without anything in that corner. Since this is Q&A, I better ask the question... What is your take on this?

I’m more inclined to agree with conclusion #1 than either of the others. Not only did they leave it off the Greedo package, but the Jawas, Tusken Raiders, Gamorrean Guard, and Bib Fortuna package as well. Looks like if the character is not directly related to either side, Hasbro just left the insignia off. I suppose it would have been nice to have a third option in the mix, but as you pointed out the card does look a little nicer without anything in the corner. I imagine the transition packaging between OTC and the Revenge of the Sith line will probably look something like this. Based on the figures announced in San Diego, there’s not much need/use for the insignias after the OTC line wraps.

Until next time...


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