Questions for July 1, 2005
Q&A Archive

1
Whatever happened to the Scout Trooper Builder Set? Has it been cancelled? -Eric

Either cancelled or on indefinite hold; there’s been no mention that this set will be released anytime in the near future. Hopefully Hasbro will wait until they have a Super Articulated Scout Trooper before putting this idea back on the drawing board.


2
In 2006, do you know if Hasbro plans to go back and continue doing some of the unmade characters from the original three movies (cantina patrons, etc)? And finally, a decent Uncle Owen would be nice to have (even if it's the young version from the newer movies). -girlofgod

2006 will probably bring a mix of new figures, resculpts, and repacks; similar to what we saw with the OTC line. We’ll hopefully have more news on that from Comic Con. As for a Uncle Owen figure, it sure would be nice but there’s been no mention of one yet… Stay tuned.


3
I just moved last week and just realized that I filled out my Early Bird exclusive form to my old address. Please let me know if there is a way I can contact Hasbro and let them know of my change of address. -kevin

Kevin, rather than trying to contact Hasbro, just head down to your local Post office and fill out a change of address form. The Post Office will reroute all the mail from your old address to your new one. Be sure to find out how long they will reroute the mail, and if need be resubmit your request until the Early Bird package arrives.


4
I would just like to know why when the[y] released Slave 1 for the OTC line that they gave it the weapons it had in AOTC? Why didn’t these weapons show up on the AOTC Slave 1, and have you noticed the OTC Slave 1 comes in two different paint jobs? -andy

The OTC Slave 1 was originally designed as an AOTC exclusive for K-Mart. Once K-Mart dropped the set Hasbro was stuck with a slightly retooled mold and no customer. When OTC rolled around, rather than retool the mold again, they simply reworked the deco and released it as Boba Fett’s Slave 1. I had noticed a little variation in some of the overspray deco, but nothing major. If you have images of the different paint jobs I’d sure love to see them…


5
I have a question about the Anakin figures. Not one of them is at all poseable, the collection 1 Anakin has a loose arm that is very frustrating, the second one also has a battle feature, and the Mustafar figure has no regular Anakin torso. Does Hasbro plan to make a decent no action feature Anakin in the near future?

As a matter of fact they do. Hasbro has two very nice looking Anakin figures and one good looking Darth Vader figure coming in the new Evolutions pack. This is shipping to retail now and should be available soon. If you’re looking for a top notch Anakin, this is the set you want. Aside from that no plans for a collection 2 Anakin have been announced.


6
Hello!, My question is about the Burger king watches I seen a month or 2 ago, I believe there was 8 watches to choose from, they were able to change from a "light" or "dark" side character when the wrist straps were reversed. I'm wondering if they came out & they slipped past me or pushed back or cancelled. Please let me know, thanks keep up this wonderful section of great info! -Gene

The BK watches have not been released yet, they are part of a Fall promotion to coincide with the DVD release of Revenge of the Sith. We’ll have more news on these as we get closer to the promotion so be sure to check back.


7
My question is this, being as how we never actually got to see Vader's Saber in EPIII are there any plans for Hasbro to release a version of his saber? I love the fact that there was talk about Sidious's saber to be released. -Dave Campbell (Victoria, BC Canada)

Hasbro did in fact release a Darth Vader Electronic Lightsaber here in the U.S., although I’m not sure if it’s planned for Canadian release. It’s the basic Vader Electronic saber they’ve been putting out since Power of the Force 2 first hit the shelves in 1995. Nice to see it in the new packaging, but it’s really nothing new.


8
I recently picked up the Anakin Jedi Starfighter. I really love the details. I was wondering, why Hasbro made the stickers that go in the cockpit so difficult to place? Also, which of the Anakin figures do you think is best to be the pilot? –Todd (Ocoee, FL)

I doubt Hasbro made it difficult intentionally, because the tight quarter’s cockpit decals are typically harder to apply. I’ve found that using a pair of tweezers usually helps, but the smaller the cockpit the more challenging it can be.

As far as I’m concerned, none of the new Anakin figures fit very well inside the Jedi Starfighter’s cockpit. It would be nice if Hasbro through a collection 2 Anakin into the mix with soft goods, but I suppose with all the other Anakin figures it just didn’t make much sense. At this point I’d have to assume the Evolutions Anakin will be your best option for Starfighter pilot.


9
Do you know when the Early Bird figures will arrive.

I’m 99% sure Hasbro said the sets would start to arrive in the Fall; October/November. I’ll be sure to ask again at Comic Con in a couple weeks, you never know if or when those types of plan will change.

10
In 'Question Mark' #164, you made your dream list of what you want the next 12 ROTS figures to be. One of those was a pau'an 2-pack. What is a Pau'an?

The Pau’ans are the bubble-eyed attendants that service Obi-Wan’s Starfighter after he arrives on Utapau. I think they’re pretty cool lookin’ and like the Ugnaughts and Jawas definitely deserve the 2-pack treatment.


11
I have many Power of the Force figures that all have huge he-man looking chests. My question is now that the movies are over will future figure lines be more for the collectors? I would really like a ceremony Luke and Han that are more proportionate, and just gotta say love the fact that Hasbro is including stands with the new figures and hope it will continue with any future lines. Maybe you could sell them in bulk like target tried to do with the clamshells, personally I'd be more inclined to by stands then clam shells.

As they did with the OTC basic figures, I think it’s safe to assume Hasbro will continue to produce resculpts of some of their earlier muscle bound figures. Ceremonial Luke certainly tops my personal list of favorites, but we haven’t heard anything regarding the prospects for one next year. Stands are certainly a good thing; it’s a good bet we’ll continue to see them included with the figures though my guess is Hasbro will go back to the more standard Saga/OTC style. Again, a package of figure stands is a great idea, I’ll certainly run that by them at Comic Con.


12
I was just wondering if there is a chance of them remaking Queen Amidala's star fighter and any more playsets? When is comic-con because will we find out the 12 new revenge figures? -Trevor George

Large vehicles and playsets are tough to justify in a non-movie year; I don’t imagine the chances for these will improve much as the line continues. Still, if they have the molds, we could always see previously released items re-released. No word on anything like this yet though…

Comic Con (San Diego) will run from Wednesday July 13th to Sunday July 17th. Stay tuned to the site because as soon as we know, you will know.


13
I don't quite understand the Title of the "Jedi Vs Sith" battle pack. I thought that Asajj Ventress wasn't a Sith (according to Count Dooku in the Clone Wars cartoon), and I thought General Grievous wasn't a Sith either, and only was trained in the Jedi Lightsaber arts by Count Dooku, what's up with that? How is this Jedi vs. Sith? -John

Best I can figure, “Jedi vs. Sith” just sounded better than the original title “Jedi vs. Sith Wannabes.” While Ventress and Grievous are not Sith themselves, they are agents of the Sith and the title fits when you look at it that way. Well, from a certain point of view anyway…


14
Question #6 in "Question Mark #162"mentioned a Chicago CON. When is this? I live in Chicago, and, for some reason, I haven't heard anything about it. If you could please respond with some much needed info that would be great! Or if you could just point me in the direction of a good link, it would be much appreciated. -Jack

Wizard World Chicago will run from August 4th to the 7th, you can find all the information you need right here at Wizarduniverse.com.


15
I've heard that Hasbro is going to stop making action figures with lightsabers that have blades that detach from the hilt because they break too much (thank God), but is there any word on if they're going to make lightsabers where the paint on the hilts don't chip off (like with Grievous, Windu, etc.) Also, do you know if they plan on making double bladed lightsabers? (Not the F/X kind, but the cheap ones where the blades go in all the way and you have to slide the red button to "ignite" them)

Unfortunately it’s gonna have to be one or the other; if they stop making two piece sabers, they’ll have to go with the one piece design with painted hilts. Hopefully paint-chipping won’t be a huge problem, but it’s certainly a factor when use that design. No word on new designs for the basic Lightaber assortment (non-electronic). As it is we only got one new design this year – I would have hoped for more – and the odds of new designs from this point on are probably slim without a movie to support them. Rubies made a few sabers in this category, including a double Maul version; it’s possible we could always see those re-released.


16
With the fact that custom Clone Troopers such as the 501st, Commander Gree, Cody, Neyo, etc., are going for $20.00 to $100.00 (for a custom 3pack of 501st). Is their any chance [Hasbro] will take into consideration the obvious demand and produce these? -J.R.

I’d say that’s a safe bet. We’ve already gotten wind of a few specialized Clone sets due later this year, it certainly sounds like Hasbro is heading in this direction. Considering the success Entertainment Earth had with their Clone Trooper set, I’d be shocked if Hasbro did figure out they could do something like this all on their own. We’ll see, hopefully there will be more news on this at Comic Con.


17
Heard from a local Burger King Manager here in Dayton that he was told to save his rooftop Vader for a new promotion this coming November. No details. Any word on this? If true, sounds like a tie-in to Christmas.

Yes, Burger King will have a second Star Wars promotion this year around the time of the DVD release. Items up for grabs this time will be two-sided watches, and possibly a half dozen new toys (hopefully super-deformed). Should be fun.


18
I was wondering if the Y-wing w/pilot that was offered as a Toys R Us exclusive was from ROTJ or ANH? Simarily, the black Imperial droid that came with the Toys R Us 4pk, did it appear in ROTJ or ANH?

Also, I thought of a sweet idea for Expanded Universe (since everyone seems to be asking for it lately). Just like Hasbro is doing, the comic books w/ three figures for G.I. Joe, why not do the same for Star Wars? I would love a three pack w/ the comic that reveals Boba Fett's history! Just an idea, what do you think? -Jeff

The pilot that came with the OTC Y-wing is just a generic figure that’s not necessarily from either film. While the figure is the same as the one used in the Power of the Force 2 Y-wing (closely matching the appearance and deco of A New Hope’s Gold Two, Tiree) a red Y-wing never appeared on screen and the deco on this figure has been changed. Previous versions of red Y-Wings exist, namely the vintage Die-Cast vehicle and galoob’s Squadron Colors Action Fleet toy, but again, neither have been directly link to any of the movies. I’m pretty sure the black astromech can be seen briefly in Return of the Jedi. If not it makes little difference, the figure was in fact based off of production stills from that film.

That’s actually an excellent idea. One of the reasons Hasbro resists doing comic book figures is because they don’t feel people will make the connection to Star Wars or the comic. If the figures are packaged with a reprint of the comic book, how can they not? It would certainly be cool to see them try this as a Diamond exclusive, but something tells me it would take a lot of arm twisting before they’d even consider it.


19
Since Hasbro has said it is easier to use existing molds, do you think we will ever see the much hoped for Super Articulated Stormtrooper? What about 3 packs of Stromtroopers like the Clone Troopers? Maybe vary them by Sandtrooper, Snow trooper, etc. -Sean

I think there’s an excellent chance we’ll see the Super Articulated (VOTC) Stormtrooper again. Quite honestly, why bother making another version? As the basic body type, I’d love to see them release a Sandtrooper version, zero atmosphere version (from the scene in ANH), and a Blackhole version from the EU. Three packs similar to the current Action Assortment Clone sets would be more than welcome. They’d have to create new molds, but I’d go nuts over a set patterned after that classic production shot the three troopers at the end of one of the Death Star corridors. I certainly wouldn’t mind if they used the same molds for a Sandtrooper set, but they have to come up with all new molding for the Snow Troopers or Scout Troopers, that might not be very economical for them. Good ideas though, we could always use more troopers.

20
Hey Mark, do ya think Entertainment Earth is gonna make another Clone Trooper building set with the new Super Articulated troopers? Also, why did Lucas put Hayden Christensen as the young Anakin in Return of the Jedi? Obi-Wan wasn’t his young self and they both died old. -Joe Ross

I recently asked Jason that very question and while it doesn’t look like they’ll be offering that particular set, it does sound like they have something pretty cool up their sleeve. I’m not going to spoil their surprise, but stay tuned; we should see an announcement soon.

Well, the obvious reason is because he wanted to make a clear connection between the Classic Trilogy and the new Prequel Trilogy. While I was skeptical of the move at first, after seeing it on screen I have to admit it was pretty powerful stuff. I’ll always think of Sebastian Shaw in that scene, but Hayden’s appearance certainly does bring closure to the whole saga. As far as how this works within the continuity, it’s been explained away as Anakin appears before Luke as he looked before he turned to the dark side. Obi-Wan and Yoda look the same as they do from the Classic Trilogy because they never turned like Anakin did. It’s a stretch, but if people aren’t prepared to take a few of the things they see in a Star Wars movie on faith alone, then they really are missing the point.


Until next time...


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