Questions for January 25, 2005
Q&A Archive

More of your questions, and more of my answers, the latest Question Mark is ready to go. I've got a whole other update ready for Thursday, so be sure to come back before he end of the week. A few feedback emails came in after I tried to tackle the General/Admiral Motti question last week:

Hi Mark,

I'm not sure who it was typing up the credits, but according to the script for Star Wars (1977), as published in the Art of Star Wars (1979), the character of Motti is an Admiral. From page 52:

INTERIOR: DEATH STAR----CONFERENCE ROOM

...Commander Tagge, a young, slimy-looking general, is speaking.
TAGGE: Until this battle station is fully operational we are vulnerable. The Rebel Alliance is too well equipped. They're more dangerous than you realize.
The bitter Admiral Motti twists nervously in his chair.
MOTTI: Dangerous to your starfleet, Commander; not to this battle station!

While the credits do list Motti (not Mottie, as the original questioner spelt it) as a General, the credits also list Commander Tagge as General Taggi, misspelling his name and changing his title despite the fact that his rank of Commander is spoken audibly in the film's dialogue.

Indeed, when you also consider that some of the actors in the film have their names misspelled in the credits (Dennis/Denis Lawson and Angus MacInnes/McInnis), I think it's probably best to take any information from the credits with a big ol' grain of Tatooine sand. -Alex Newborn

A huge thanks to Alex for clearing that up! Also, a few readers wrote in to suggest Protecto-Pak cases for those looking for options to Starcases. These can be found at Adkins Collectibles, for Star Wars figures you want item# BB7876. No word on other lines but it sounds like they're worth checking out.

Thanks again to all that wrote, be sure to check back Thursday for update #2!


On with the show:

1
I saw that the E3 Preview wave has been found in California (big surprise). How does that help me out here in Alabama?

Either make a friend in California that will ship the figures to you, or keep a close eye on your local Wal-Marts. As it appears Wal-Mart is the first to get the figures, and has no problem breaking the Feb. 1st shelf date stipulation, there's a very good chance they'll show up on sale soon.


2
I am excited about hunting down the Ep. III Sneak Preview figures, even though we never get things early in Sacramento. I was just wondering if we had item numbers from Wal-Mart to help us in our search. -Nick

So far I haven't seen any item numbers to help the search, but I did notice the DCPI numbers at Target are the same as those for the other Pre-Episode III (transitional) figures. Given that I would assume any numbers out there won't be much help, as they could just as easily refer to the Naboo, Coruscant, or Cantina waves. If anything comes up we'll post it, otherwise just keep checking Wal*Mart; either they can't read the shelf date markings on the box, or they just don't care.


3
I live in Australia and I tried to purchase TPM on DVD for a Christmas present. All the retail stores had none and when I went online the news was that this "item is no longer available". Some retailers have said it is out of production. Is this just particular to our region? Or is Lucasfilm planning on releasing it again as part of a boxed set? Todd.

AND

I keep trying to buy episode I & II DVDs, but the stores are out, and online stores such as Target & Best Buy say they'll be out in March. Any ideas if they're going to add some more stuff to the DVDs? Or were they just clearing out the warehouse. The covers look the same.

At this point both Episodes I and II are out of print, but LFL plans to make them available again starting March 22nd (same date as the Clone Wars DVD) in anticipation of Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. As far as we've been able to tell, there will be no changes/additions to these DVD re-releases, they should be the same as both previously released editions. Still no word on a boxed set, but we all know it's coming eventually…


4
I know that repairing some vintage Star Wars vehicles can easily be solved by acquiring spare parts from other ships found in garage sales and E-bay auctions. I was wondering if there might be a firm that would be able to repair electronics and/or spring mechanisms. I have an old Tie Fighter that looks good but has bad electronics and one ejection panel just won't work. Any references to fix my toy would be appreciated. -Mike, Janitor of the Sith

Unfortunately I'm not aware of anyone, or company, that would take on such a job. I suppose an electronics repair shop would be your best bet to fix light and sound issues, but (depending on the toy) I would be concerned about their ability to put the "toy" back together again… If you're serious about following this up, I'd strongly suggest a visit to our Customizing Forums. The guys in there a well versed in taking toys apart and putting them back together, if anyone can point you in the right direction, they can. I hope that helps.


5
Do you have any idea if they are going to make a CZ-3 figure? Seems to have been a rumour for awhile. Like many others I would love to see the twins made and a better r5-d4. And I'm happy they have made several figures I thought never had any hope. They have made many of the characters I've dreamed of for 25 or more years. But for Chris sakes does anybody know if there ever going to make the figure I have most wanted and waited for since I was 8 years old!

WHERE IS CZ-3?!

WHERE!!!

Why isn't he in that new Sandcrawler?

CZ-3 has been rumored for some time now, but nothing official has ever surfaced regarding an impending release. Odds are it was probably talked about at one point, but never made the final cut. Then again, it could very well just have been pure rumor; we don't know. At this point I'd say it doesn't look very promising; the character is basically scene filler, not very exciting, and would require a fair amount of new or re-tooling. Based on Hasbro's pattern over the last few years, I think they'd rather give us a red C-3PO than have to work up new tools for a CZ-3 figure. So why not put one in with the Sandcrawler you ask? While it would make sense, the answer is the same reason they didn't vac-metalize RA-7; cost. To keep the price point at the absolute lowest, and still offer a decent package (a vehicle and figures), they used what they already had on hand. It would be nice if Hasbro could go the extra mile for their fans in cases like this, but these days cost rules the industry.


6
I'm a collector for a while now and I'm in the military so I travel a lot, most of my purchases are done on the net and that's also where I get all my info. Right now I'm in Japan and I visit Toys R Us about once a week or so, I noticed that they have a lot of these so called exclusives from Wall-Mart, Star Wars.com etc. How is this possible? Are these items reproductions? I don't think they buy them from the different stores and then sell them; the prices are too low to think that. I've been here for a year know and I have purchased the figures with the cups, emperor executor trans mission and the 3 pack that came out for the DVD released and I know those items were exclusive and not Toys R Us, oh I also got the OTC 12" Chewbacca and I know that's suppose to be a KB toy exclusive, so if you could give me some input on this subject it would be very appreciated. -Juan C Morales

Well, just because it's an exclusive to a particular store or website here in the U.S., it doesn't necessarily have to be in other countries. In fact, most all store exclusives in the U.S. end up in general release everywhere else in the world. The market and distribution for these toys is much smaller in most foreign countries, thus it makes more sense to put as much as you can in any store that will take it.


7
Please can you tell me if any of the OTC vehicles are to scale in relation to the OTC figures? If not, are there any vehicles from Hasbro that are to scale?

While some may argue, almost none of the vehicles in the Kenner or Hasbro lines have ever truly been in scale with the 3¾" figures. The two exceptions, and I'm pretty sure about this, are the Episode II Anakin Swoop, and Dooku Speederbike. As I was told, both of those were produced using GGS's scanning data and are about as true to scale as the Star Wars vehicles have come. Everything else has either been scaled down, or scaled up to accommodate the technology of the day. One of the vehicles most everyone assumes in to be in scale is the Hoth Snowspeeder. In actuality, that vehicle had to be scaled up in order to fit the vintage sound effects and lights. It seems odd these days to have to enlarge a vehicle, but there have been plenty of sketches and models that show the speeder should be much smaller. So, no; none of the OTC vehicles are "in scale."


8
With the arrival of Episode III and Mace Windu having a significant role will Master Replicas produce the Mace Windu lightsaber again? - Nick

Hmmmm… While it looks like the Yoda saber will be making the rounds again (slightly remodeled and battle damaged), there's been no mention of a second go on the Mace Windu saber. Depending on how it's featured in the movie, I suppose a battle worn version could be a possibility, but there's been no official word as of yet. Aside from that, or some other form of replica, I don't see much of a chance this saber will be released again. So far Master Replicas seems to understand and appreciate what 'limited edition' means to their collectors, even at what could be considered their own expense. I don't imagine they would want to jeopardize the reputation they've earned by essentially going back on their word and messing with those original limited quantities. We may yet see other types of Windu saber replicas (a dueling stunt prop maybe), but as far as the high-end saber prop, I think MR has moved on.


9
I was wondering if you'd ever addressed the issue of the Saga R2-D2's (Coruscant Sentry) built-in battery. As most people have experienced before, toys or electronics that have batteries left in over time become ruined as the battery acid leaks out of the casing. Isn't this going to be a problem for MOC collectors in a few years who have stored away a MOC R2 with a battery inside? I can see myself coming back to my collection one day and finding brown acid spilled over the white plastic of the R2 figure and clear blister packaging? If this is a recognized problem, is there anything MOC collectors can do about this, or do we just have to accept the fact that Coruscant Sentry R2's are going to be ruined in a few years time? -John

Not sure if I've addressed this specific issue, but yes; this is another case where collectors will just have to cross their fingers. Not all batteries rupture and stored in the right conditions (cool and dry) one should be able to preserve this figure for a good amount of time. However; batteries will be batteries and all the precautions in the world may not be enough. Hindsight being 20/20, it would have been nice if Hasbro could have somehow made this figure available without the batteries, but they didn't. Now collectors have a choice; do nothing and gamble that leakage won't occur, or somehow open the bubble take the batteries out and re-seal it. Either way finding a mint on mint card version of this toy sometime in the future may turn out to be a tall order.

10
Ask your droid there what's the sweet low-down on Attacktix?

ATTACKTIX (did I spell it correct?!) is coming out with figures that look like they are on stands like Hero Clix, but bigger (what size are they exactly? Full-sized action figures like Shadow Run?) and with cartoony shapes like Clone Wars or Jedi Force figures but with added "action features" like missile launchers and lightsaber slashing.

Some actually looked pretty fun like Chewbacca with enormous hand for ultimate smack-downs and Shakkti with missile-launching spidey-wrist action! And Darth and Old Ben can high five before smashing away on each other!

Any idea what this is all about? Is this a game like Weapons & Warriors where you knock each other over? Or like Heroquest/Star Wars Miniatures or HeroClix where you have quick rollplay action without the D&D-style paperwork? Or some new-fangled gimmick to suck the dollars from the wallets of today's youth...and their parents?! And as always...what age group would this be for.

P.S. The Wizards of the Coast Star Wars Miniatures are great, reminds me of Heroquest sans paperwork, except for the few odd faces like my Luke Jedi who must've had his face melted in some Sith battle (almost as bad a paint job as Marvel Hero Clix - almost!).

Aside from what we posted here a few days ago, and what was recently printed in Star Wars Insider #80, not much is known about the new Attacktix (yes, you spelled it correctly) game and figures. It does look to be more battle orientated, but I guess it also has some RPG-like strategy features. Size-wise I haven't seen any comparison shots yet, but I assume they are smaller than a 3¾" figures, but bigger than the WOTC minis. My guess is they're going for the younger crowd with this line, ages 7 to 12, and of course us collectors who will buy just about anything… The first round boasts ROTS characters, with characters from other films coming later. At this point it's probably fair to say that any future plans for this line depend on how well the initial set is received. With the Star Wars Miniatures game still relatively new I wonder if they'll only succeed in splitting their market (which would probably hurt both lines), but only time will tell. We'll have more details on this line as they're made available, so stay tuned.


Until next time...


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