Questions for August 8, 2005
Q&A Archive

1
I was wondering do you think Hasbro will make a senate pod or maybe even a chancellor's pod, after all they did make the bar from the cantina in ANH?

At this point I’d think this would be highly unlikely. Releasing a Senate pod or Chancellor’s pod is quite a bit different than releasing a tiny section of the cantina bar, either pod would be more like a small vehicle and not a very exciting one at that. Unless Hasbro found a really interesting way to market such a toy (say like a version Yoda and Sidious can toss around), I don’t think we’ll see one released.


2
In a previous Question Mark, someone asked about LEGO making a box set of figures to complete some of the sets. Your response was that only Hasbro has the rights to make/sell individual action "figures." Well, then, what about Kubricks? And how is it that Kubricks can get away with using a card design that is nearly identical to the old Kenner design? -Jason L. Weatherly (Arkansas)

Kubricks are licensed for the overseas market only (Japan and parts of Asia). While many of the figures make their way to the U.S. and other countries via the secondary market, direct distribution is not allowed in the U.S. How they get away with mimicking the classic design is pretty simple; they’ve coordinated the rights to do so with Hasbro and Lucasfilm.


3
I was wondering if you know if any wearable clone trooper masks are gonna come out from Revenge of the Sith? I know Master Replica has theirs coming but I don’t know about paying $300 bucks for one. -isaac

I inquired about this at Comic Con, it doesn’t appear Rubies has anything in the works (at least nothing they were willing to talk about). Unless something comes out in the Fall that’s a little more ‘costume’ orientated than the Master Replicas prop helmets, I’m afraid there will be no alternative.


4
I have been collecting the new Titanium series. Have you heard if demand is weak? I can't seem to track down release dates for the next 2 - 3 waves coming. Hasbro's site doesn't tell you much and they are not even represented on the Wal*Mart site! I'd love to have any info.

I’d hesitate to say demand has been weak, but I certainly would say due to poor distribution finding these has been extremely difficult. For an exclusive item, Wal*Mart has done an awful job of maintaining the line; I can hardly find a store that has space set-aside for them anymore. Now, does that mean they’ve sold well, or not well enough for Wal*Mart to care? What I have been able to find has been slow movers from the April wave, nothing new has been put out for quite some time, though some reports of wave 3 have come in from the south-east states. Hopefully the situation will improve next year; Hasbro plans to make the line available to the broader retail market, which might be enough to keep distribution steady. As for what’s coming up; wave 3 has been available from overseas for a few weeks now, and is just starting to show up now.


5
I collect the 3¾-inch figures, we know the 1st Luke, 100th Han in Carbonate, 200th Mara Jade, 300th Special Edition Boba Fett. Now Hasbro has released the 500th figure Vader in his meditation chamber. Between Boba Fett and Vader there was 2 movies and at least 7 figure lines (AOTC, Saga, HOF, OTC, VOTC, POTC, ROTS). But no mention (unless I missed it) of who was the 400th figure.

You didn’t miss anything; there really wasn’t any hype over the 400th figure. According to Dan’s notes, and based on how Hasbro calculated the 300th figure Boba Fett, it looks like 03-08: Boba Fett (Pit of Carkoon) is the line’s 400th figure.


6
I was just wondering if there were any potential plans for a release of the Cloud City 'Cloud Cars' from ESB in the near future? We've seen the Vintage style vehicle, and also the EU single car version, but no basic double pod cloud car? What's the deal with that? -James

Honestly, at this point your guess is as good as mine, It seems we’ve been all over the map with this one; first it was a ‘hopeful’ exclusive, then the we heard the original mold had been lost or destroyed and would likely never be re-released, now it seems it’s still an option… It’s enough to make you “Cloud” Car-sick. I suppose the latest is what it is; Hasbro will continue to look at it for potential release in the future. Could that be the near future; no one (including Hasbro it appears) really knows for sure.


7
Since dates seem drifting further and further apart I figured I could ask you, being that you have most of the answers to our hobby. Have you heard anything from Gentle Giant Studios or the Star Wars online store about when the Republic Commando maquette is scheduled to ship? At first it was June, then July and no one at the store wants to answer my question. Now I am well aware that release dates fall behind I was just curious if you had any more info than what is floating around out there now. -Brett

I asked Gentle Giant about this at Comic Con, and while they did have a hand in designing the item, we were told once again that it is not one of their pieces. Any delays up to this point are between StarWarsShop.com and the manufacture. The good news is they are finally shipping; in fact mine just arrived the other day…


8
I heard a rumor that the new Life Size Yoda Pepsi give away was actually created by Gentle Giant. Any truth to this?

Yes, it’s true, from a certain point of view. Gentle Giant did the sculpting/prototyping as they did with the Republic Commando maquette and has done for many other companies, but the piece was mass-produced by Pepsi, who also set price and edition size.

Gentle Giant has their own life-size Yoda, which they showed and Comic Con and had on display in Chicago last weekend. This piece is a different pose and includes a light-up saber and sound effects. At this point GGS is only taking pre-orders for Yoda at the two shows, but hopes to expand the offer soon.


9
In Question Mark #168 you said the Target exclusive clone had also been released in Europe. What European countries has it been released in? I'm in the UK and I don't want to pay import prices for one (or four).

From what I hear (from Jeremy…), it is available at Toys ‘R’ Us in England, not so sure about what other countries have gotten it though.

10
Why is Hasbro making the Coruscant " blue" clones for the 3 pack when they're making it for the 5 pack? Maybe they should replace them with snow clones..... You know, Bacara needs clones to command, right? -steve parisi

I would assume it has a lot to do with the impact of the Jedi Temple Assault, and the expectation that this is a scene many fans and kids would most likely re-create in both dioramas and play. The more versions of this figure that are out there, the easier it will be to build that army, I think that’s at least part of the reason we’re seeing so many versions of that particular clone deco. As far as replacing that clone with a set based on Bacara’s troops; it can’t be done without creating a new set of molds… Repainting an existing mold is always more cost effective than starting from scratch, and cost effective is what these particular sets are designed to be.


Until next time...


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