Questions for August 9, 2005
Q&A Archive

1
Hey Question Dude, I saw the Jedi vs. Sith Battle pack at a Target? It was hard to tell but what is actually new in the pack? It looked like all re-issued toys to me? Am I wrong? -Chris

Actually, Asajj, Obi-Wan, and Anakin are ‘new’ figures. While parts of these three may be based off of previously released figures, there’s enough new to set them apart. Grievous and Yoda are the only straight repacks.


2
In your last SDCC roundup questions, Hasbro stated that it has no plans for movie-based vehicles in the Galactic Heroes line due to lower-than-expected sales. I haven't bought any of the vehicles myself, but that's only because I already have them from when they were originally released in the older Playskool line. I'm not interested in their transforming vehicles...what I really want to see is a TIE fighter, AT-ST, or AT-AT. Is there really only demand for the figures?

Also, are there any plans to release more large-scale figures/monsters? I'm especially waiting to see a Galactic Heroes Jabba.

Like you, for whatever reason, people just aren’t buying the vehicles as quickly as they’re buying the figures. While it would be interesting to see if an all-new vehicle could sell better, getting Hasbro to take the necessary steps in that direction are difficult. We seem to be at a catch-22 stage with the vehicle line; Hasbro would like to see better sales before investing more money, but they probably won’t see that until they put something out there that hasn’t been around for the last three years… I don’t give the ‘convertibles’ much of a chance, but if they do well enough it could push Hasbro to the next step. We’ll see…

We haven’t seen any indication that Hasbro plans to release any Galactic Heroes ‘Beasts’ this year or next. We’ve seen that a couple speederbike sets may be coming up in ‘06, but nothing that could include Jabba, or any other large figures/beasts. Frankly, I think Jabba would be a great addition, as well as a Dewback, Bantha, Rancor, or Boga, but we’ll just have to wait and see what Hasbro does with the line.


3
I have two questions. First, do you know when the Master Replicas Vader helmet will be available for pre-order? Second, is there any news on how rare the re-paint clone figures will be? -Matt

As far as we know a specific pre-order date has not been set for the MR Vader Helmet, but if we were betting men we’d put our money on some time in September. I think a few details are still being worked out, we’ll probably hear more about this in the next couple weeks.

I haven’t heard any numbers being thrown around on the Clone re-paints, and Hasbro is very good about not sharing production quantities. While I would expect them to be very rare initially, Hasbro will likely follow up with more figures in subsequent assortments until they feel demand has been fulfilled. Basically, give it time and you should be able to find what you need.


4
I just have to comment that they did have PLENTY of these new Star Tours figs in Anaheim this morning but I am really disappointed. They are all incredibly soft with little articulation. In fact, the one that looks like a mouse with eyeballs for antennae has nothing on it that moves at all. These look and feel more like Mexican bootlegs than legit Hasbro figures. Someone screwed the pooch and dropped the ball. The fans are getting screwed. $10 bucks a figure my left nut! Any idea where these droids appear in which ride? Also, has Hasbro made any comment about why the price shot back up to $5.99 at retail?

I’ve only been on the ride once, but I vaguely remember seeing similar characters at the Disneyland Paris Star Tours attraction. If anyone can confirm that for me I’d appreciate it, other than that I can at least tell you they are NOT at Disney Anaheim Park. As for the retail price going up; I’m pretty sure it the SRP for this year has always been set at $5.99, various retail chains have just been dropping their price in order to lure more customers/collectors their way. Why the price has gone up over last year is fairly obvious; considering this is a movie year with a high level of visibility, Hasbro would very much like to make Star Wars as profitable for them as they can.


5
Is there any chance LEGO will produce more MINI lines? I love these, but there are so much more to be made. I mean an actual line, and not exclusives, because in Europe, we almost never see exclusives, and they have enormous prices on eBay... -tanotrooper

While we’ve never really gotten a specific answer out of them on the minis, LEGO has said they’ll continue to look at the line and it’s potential for future releases. Clearly there’s nothing this year, aside from the handout they had at Celebration III and the Toys ‘R’ Us TIE Interceptor, but that doesn’t mean we won’t see something in 2006. Stay tuned…


6
Any word if certain vehicles that are out now for ROTS, such as the Jedi Starfighters, the ARC-170, and Republic Gunship will still be made available in the new Saga Collection? I don't usually buy ships, but I'm having a heck of a time finding a Gunship since May and I've only seen the ARC-170s at TRU and the Obi-Wan's Red Starfighter at Target. I haven't seen a Yellow Starfighter around here either, too. -Mike

The only hint Hasbro has given about vehicles for 2006 is that we shouldn’t expect anything new; no word if any of this year’s vehicles will still be available, but there is always that chance. Unfortunately, we’re just going to have to wait and see, but it does look like a new round of ROTS vehicles are shipping to retail, hopefully you’ll be able to find what you need before the end of the year.


7
I have been watching closely for any news regarding more Star Wars Miniatures Colossal figures like the AT-AT that will be released in November. I can't wait for that to be released! Do you know if there are plans to keep that momentum going with more colossal figures? I know I could definitely go for an AT-TE, Clone Turbo Tank, Separatist tank, Tri Droid, etc. -Brian

Dan’s the expert on this line so be sure to watch for his reports. I talked with the folks from Wizards for a bit about the line at Comic Con; they seem happy with how well it has done and look forward to a bright future. Unfortunately they didn’t really say much about what will come next and I think for now they’re just waiting to see how the AT-AT does before moving forward with more colossal figures.


8
It looks like Hasbro is finally giving us some more of the obscure cantina characters, such as Goatel, Dannik Jerico (sp?), Mayo, and Keed'kak, Kitik, finally! But my question is why to date haven’t characters such as the Tonika sisters, CZ-3, and a better Uncle Owen been made? I once read somewhere that Hasbro or Lucas film couldn't secure the rights to use the likeness of the two ladies that played the Tonika sisters. Any idea if this is true? Is there any word if we will get a Commander Neyo and Cody out of the ROTS line? I see that we are getting Bly and Gree.

For a long time there was an issue with the Tonnika Twins, word had it they never signed off on use of likeness and figures just couldn’t be made without that. Who know back in 1977 that anyone would ever want to see figures made for those characters…? There was a rumor floating around Celebration III that Hasbro approached one of the Tonnika actresses that was signing for Official Pix and she signed off – one down. So far there’s been no mention that a Tonnika figure is coming, but who knows what we’ll see at Toy Fair 2006? As for CZ-3 and a new Owen Lars… The first thing that comes to my mind is that Hasbro probably doesn’t consider these the most exciting or interesting characters in the book. It’s nice to see that they are branching out to more obscure characters, there’s always the chance Hasbro will get to them eventually, but we may have to give them a bit more time.

I have a good feeling we’ll see all the Clone Commanders we could ever ask for. While it doesn’t look like we’ll see it in the ROTS line, Hasbro has already said a Cody figure is on their list. As near as I can tell a Neyo figure would only require a slight retool, why Hasbro wouldn’t produce both of these figures is beyond me. Again, give it time, I’m sure Hasbro won’t let us down when it comes to Clones.


9
Any idea about a DVD release date for the prequels in a box set? -John Todd

I have not seen a box set advertised, nor have I heard mention of one for the Fall. While I personally don’t expect we’ll see anything like that released this year, it’s certainly not out of the question. Hopefully if Lucas does put a box set together the movies will contain more than what was on the standard DVD release. It’s hard to imagine what ‘new’ content they could add to each movie, but I’m sure some things were held back just in case.

10
What is Hasbro's apparent fascination (or should I say "obsession") with holographic figures? Are fans really clamoring for them? I can understand issuing exclusives, like the TRU Yoda (Kashyyyk Transmission) or the recent Princess Leia hologram, but why the heck do the final 12 ROTS figures include not one, but two holographic characters? Hasbro held back Commander Cody for this? And Aayla Secura and Plo Koon aren't even cool-looking holographic figures, like the 2004 Holographic Luke Skywalker (Jabba's Palace). -Lord Edzo, Imperious Leader

Plain and simple: A) They’re cheap – just re-use an existing mold. B) They’re easy – one color plastic, little or no deco. Actually, as far as exclusives, I’m much happier with them throwing out a few hologram figures than I was with the Silver Edition paint jobs, at least the hologram figures look good on display and have some value at playtime. While I wouldn’t say fans are necessarily clamoring for them, what they’ve done (or plan to do) so far at least has some basis in the films. Aayla Secura and Plo Koon were both featured as holograms in Revenge of the Sith, from that movie alone we’ll probably also get Ki-Adi Mundi and Commander Cody (once they have a mold) holograms. From other films we could end up with Darth Maul, Nute Gunray (finally), Sio Bibble, and Captain Needa. To be perfectly honest, as long as they spaced them out, I wouldn’t even mind original hologram figures of Luke, Han, Chewbacca, Bob Fett, I just thinkt he clear figures are cool. Yeah, the figure are not as “cool-looking” as the ’04 Luke or Obi-Wan, but they work well enough for what they are; simple little moneymakers that should help the line be more profitable in 2005 and hopefully beyond.


Until next time...


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