Questions for June 13, 2004
Q&A Archive


1
I know a lot of people have been complaining about one of the variations of #23 Royal Guard being rare, but it seems like both are extremely rare around me. And by rare, I mean nonexistent. I haven't ever seen #23 on store shelves. The only reason I have a Blue one is because a friend bought one for me out of town. I've been to numerous stores in and out of the area but still haven't had any luck finding a Red version. My question is, are they still shipping #23 in some assortments or not? Cause it just seems really weird that I can find figures 44+, but can't find a #23.

That figure hasn't been in any of the recent assortments, but there are upcoming assortments that it's supposed to be in. What I've noticed lately though are older assortments, ones the two Royal Guards originally shipped in, starting to be put out again. In the last day or so I've seen roughly five blue guards on the pegs - all fresh from the case. As army builders, and intentional variants, it's no wonder these figures have moved faster than normal. Give it some time though, as more ship you'll have a better chance of tracking down the one(s) you need.

2
Hi Mark, what figures do you think will be among the rumoured 12 extra figures to be released later this year, and what are you hoping for? I'm holding out for a Cody, one of Bacara's snow troopers, and another Padmé. - Dave

It's anyone guess at this point, but I like your thinking. I can't picture any Jedi that haven't been covered, though I'd like a Nick Gillard Jedi. In that same vein I wouldn't mind a figure based on Jeremy Bullock's cameo aboard the Tantive IV. We really haven't seen many Separatist figures, but then again, none really standout as 'must haves.' I suppose Nute Gunray is the most likely but really… I will be floored if Commander Cody gets passed over; there's a nice figure there if I've ever seen one, throw in a seeker droid and I'll be extremely pleased. As far as Clone Troops; Bacara's are certainly unique enough to be noticed, though I wonder if Hasbro might feel as though they've covered enough troopers this year. One thing I hope we don't see is one of the twelve taken up by a simple repaint. There are a lot of clone battalion colors I'd like to see on the Super Articulated Clone, but I hope they don't count that as a "new" figure. I'll be disappointed if there isn't another Padmé figure, but I'm not sure which version makes the most sense to add. My pick would be the one from the meeting with Bail Organa and the other Senators, but since the scene was cut it may not be the best choice. What would be nice is if Lucas put the scene back in for the DVD release and Hasbro had the figure on the shelf… We'll see, Comic Con is right around the corner and we should know all or most of the twelve figures by then. Until that time it's always fun to speculate.

3
In Question Mark 157 you had stated that Hasbro would much prefer to re-paint a vehicle rather than release a new one. This makes absolutely no sense especially when the toy in question is the Gunship, which did not sell well in my area nor my friend's in New Hampshire for not one but two runs. A movie year would justify a new vehicle like the Turbo Tank, which did have more screen time than the gunship in ROTS and was more prominent on the screen. So I have to ask, did the evil retailer known as Wal*Mart who knows nothing of toys, just selling them, put its nose where it didn't belong and decided to impose what it thinks people will like? I just find it hard to believe that Hasbro would pass that up based on screen appearance.

That being said, with Hasbro opening up its own online store, would it be less of a risk for them to offer "unpopular" or "non-kid friendly" vehicles through there? I mean, are there factors in an online store that would weigh to our favor as far as product?

The costs for creating tools (molds) for a new vehicle are so astronomically high, that unless the vehicle meets a certain price point - one that consumers don't bat an eye at - it's highly unlikely Hasbro will be able to sell enough of them to make back their investment. Anytime you re-release a vehicle, new deco or not, you (A) avoid that cost, and (B) continue to recoup the cost on the initial investment or put money straight to the bottom line. Keep in mind to that every Gunship you see sitting on the shelf, as far as Hasbro is concerned, is already sold. Retail buys from Hasbro, we buy from retail… If Hasbro is able to sell the toy to the retail distributors they've accomplished their goal, if not the toy likely won't go into production. There are a number of things that can happen if a toy doesn't move at retail, but seldom does it involve giving all the money back.

A new movie is great justification for a large vehicle, or many smaller vehicles. Hasbro does have a nice line out there right now with a (possible) re-release in the form of Plo Koon's Jedi Starfighter. The ARC-170 is a good-sized ship, perhaps the final call this year came down to one of quantity over size. As cool as it was, the Turbo Tank didn't have all that much screen time, compared to some smaller vehicles that did, maybe it just didn't fit the budget… I don't know, I'm not happy about the situation, anyone that grew up with the AT-AT, Imperial Shuttle, or Death Star Playset knows what I mean, but from a real business standpoint I do understand what Hasbro is saying.

Wal*Mart certainly has enough power in the industry to kill any toy that Hasbro might plan to make, in particular any large one. We've seen it before; Wal*Mart not taking the Action Fleet line in 2003 was one of the major determining factors in that line being discontinued. Who exactly gave Wal*Mart that kind of power; we did. As the largest toy retailer in the country they represent thousands of potential customers. Based on our buying patterns, if Wal*Mart doesn't feel they can sell a toy, they won't think twice about not picking it up. Losing that avenue to that many potential customers, any company would question their ability to move their product by other means. Wal*Mart is just too big a customer, too big a player in the toy market, to be ignored.

Web-store or not, there's simply no way Hasbro could reach as many potential customers as they can through traditional retail. The Internet is popular, but not popular enough, not yet anyway. Without access to those potential (retail) customers, there's no way Hasbro could ever justify offering such an item as the Turbo Tank on their own.

4
I remember something, from a few years ago, where Hasbro was going on about they had some kind of fancy 3-D scanning technology that was supposed to allow them to make REALLY accurate sculpts for their action figures. IF I am remembering correctly, then why are the 12" figures from the last few years so BAD. The faces are shiny, cartoon-like, and with little detail. And the outfits seem to be a lot simpler and cheap looking. What gives? It seems like they drew a line and said, "let's make chintzy 12" figures now."

Hasbro actually showcased some of Gentle Giant's handy work at Toy Fair 2001. While Hasbro never really said whether the toys were based directly off the Real Scan Technology or not, they did say the data was a tremendous source of reference. There was a lot of talk about the scanning information being used for the Episode II line, but since then it really hasn't been played up. Considering the 12" line was already on the skids, and subsequently moved away from the Episode II characters, I imagine the data just wasn't there to be used and Hasbro reverted to more traditional means. Still, it doesn't really address the lack of quality the line has experienced as of late; for that you'd have to look at the line's decreasing popularity. As sales slipped and support at retail dwindled, so did Hasbro's level of quality and care for the line. Now it appears the line will end with Shaak Ti and Barriss Offee, and I suppose it's all for the better. As a fan of the line I have to admit it has been quite some time since I've been excited about what Hasbro has had to offer, and longer still since I've been totally satisfied with the product. Even this year there have been a number of complaints about the 12" figures, Grievous especially. Frankly, if this is the best Hasbro can do, then I think everyone is better off letting the line go. Hopefully Sideshow will manage to get a crack at the line, I'd be very interested to see what they could do with it.

5
"Lucasfilm has plans for two television series, the possibility of a new movie has been tossed into the mix"

You said that a couple of 'question mark's ago. I'm curious, I knew about the TV shows and what not but I have heard no rumors about a new movie. Where has this come from? I am an old school fan (7 in '77) and still remember the old interviews with Lucas where he promised NINE chapters. And yeah, I'm still a little salty that after waiting all those years he announced back in '99 that that wasn't going to happen. So when I read what you wrote I became quite interested. -jeffrey

Lucas mentioned it in an interview, and even touched on it at C3. The question was posed as would he ever allow other filmmakers to make Star Wars movies based on other areas of the myth. To that he answered it was a consideration. Then came the interview and talk about a young Yoda and the Sith, some 100 to 800 years before Episode I. It's all very exciting, he certainly made enough reference to "that earlier time" in the latest movie, but it's nowhere near a done deal. I truly think Lucas is finished with the Skywalker story and his major involvement, I don't see him making Episodes VII - IX, ever. Hopefully the TV series will follow some of Darth Vader's history, but I doubt we'll ever see another feature film dealing with the Skywalker family. I believe, if he were to 'make' any new Star Wars movies, he would take a more hands off roll (Executive Producer) and maybe outline the story (as he's done with Indiana Jones). It certainly is an interesting idea, I would love to see Spielberg involved, but there's a long way yet to go.

6
A friend of mine recently returned from the USA and gave me the Wal-Mart Early Bird kit as a gift. Due to the fact that it was a gift she failed to keep the receipt, and therefore my problem. Is there any way of finding out if Hasbro would honour the claim for the 4 exclusive figures if I were to just send a letter explaining what happened with the other "redemption items" that are in the kit? Any help on this would be good, as the kit is really not much use if I cant redeem it for the figures. -Dave

Unfortunately Hasbro has been crystal clear that in order to redeem the figures you MUST have a qualifying receipt. Short of finding someone that is willing/able to give you an extra receipt, I don't think you'll have much luck with a letter. Sorry.

7
What's the story with the Micro Machines line(s)? They stopped producing them years ago with the Phantom Excess of merchandise that wouldn't clear the shelves, but why not get the ball rolling with the line again? What's the story here? And how can we get them back into production for the new movies? -Alex.

Well, aside from the two exclusive lines Hasbro is currently running with Target (Micro Vehicles) and Wal*Mart (Titanium Series), the Micro Machines line is dead. We saw a short-lived Action Fleet line in 2002, but there's been no sign it will return this year. As it wasn't an original Hasbro property (Hasbro acquired it through their purchase of San Francisco based Galoob Toys) there hasn't been much internal support for MicroMachines. Even now, while they seem to be doing a nice enough job on the die-cast (Titanium) line, the Micro packs have been very lack luster. Hasbro did say the die-cast line will go into wider distribution next year, but nothing has been said regarding the Micro sets. As I understand it there are concerns that having too many different lines out there at once could weaken the performance of all, which is not something Hasbro has really had the luxury of risking in the last few years. Perhaps there will be a better time for MicroMachines and Action Fleet somewhere down the road, for now we can at least enjoy the few items that are out.

8
I just purchased one of the great Gentle Giant Luke X-wings from a local store. I was pleasantly surprised to find that a Series One bust-up of Leia was included with the bust. After my initial surprise, I wondered whether someone at the store or a customer had simply put the Leia in with the Luke. Though after considering that it might have been an "aftermarket packaging customization" it did seem strange though that the bust-up fit perfectly in the crevice that it was packaged in and that it was in fact taped to the Styrofoam. I looked on your archives and noticed that it appears that a Series One Han Solo Bust-up was included with the Gentle Giant Luke X-wing that you guys received. My two questions are whether this bonus was included with all Luke X-wing busts, and whether there were bust-ups included with any of the other Gentle Giant busts. I didn't notice any other busts that included them on your archives. -Brett

As far as I know Bust-Ups were available with both the Luke X-Wing Mini Busts and Stormtrooper Mini Busts. You can see in this image from our archives that a C-3PO is tucked into the slot in the Styrofoam shell. I believe these were randomly packed, so any number of combinations could exist. All in all a pretty nice way for GGS to seed the marked; I remember being pretty stoked when I found them in the box.

9
I've got my Master Replicas Luke V, and Vader IV, and MR is advertising new slimmer models of the same sabers (Anakin III, Vader V), besides cosmetics, is there a difference? I love you. -Hank the tank

Yes, there is a difference - will you appreciate it; that all depend on your personal expectation from a prop replica. The new hilts are slimmer, and more 'movie' accurate. There are a number of small (yet significant) differences between each type of saber, but if you're not aware of the subtleties, they may not matter in the end. As far as the electronic, they appear to be equal, no vast improvements that I've noticed. If the thought of knowing that there are versions of these sabers out there that you don't have bothers you, it would be worth picking these up. If you are completely satisfied with the versions already in your collection, then you may have better things to spend your money on. Hope that helps, and yes…, I love you too.

10
I just got the #41 cone trooper, and I noticed the belt seemed to be on upside-down. Is this the way it is on all of them, or does my figure have an error?

So far all the ones I've found are like that, it seems to be a production error that has yet to be corrected.

Until next time...


Got Questions?