Questions for September 26, 2005
Q&A Archive

1
Is there a reason why they do not reuse or reissue the CommTech Leia with hood up mold? They've reused the ‘new likeness’ Leia so many times, while this harder to find mold has not been reissued. This version with the hood up would have been far more accurate for the holographic exclusive (I realized they would have had to use a different skirt). Any chance of a better more accurate holographic Leia using the hood up mold? -Shawn

Odds are the decision not to reissue the CommTech mold has a lot to do with cost, and ease of manufacturing. While it may not seem like much, the soft goods portion of the figure entails an additional cost as opposed to standard molded plastic. When it came to the Holographic Leia, developing an alternative for the soft goods portion may just have been more than Hasbro and StarWarsShop was willing to tackle for what was essentially a limited run exclusive. Considering they just released a holographic Leia, I don’t think we’ll see another version any time soon. Hopefully given time Hasbro will get around to it though, I think it’s obvious to every Star Wars fan that the CommTech mold would make for a much more accurate Holographic Leia figure.


2
I was just wondering if you could tell me how much the Star Wars Miniatures AT-AT is going to sell for. -Mark

Funny you should ask, according to Friday’s WOTC update, manufacturers suggested retail price is $49.99. You can check out the full announcement right here.


3
Any idea if the interactive R2-D2 that is supposed to be released in EPIII packaging is actually going to make it to shelves? I have seen pictures but none of the major toy sites seem to have these listed for sale. I have not been able to find one around me at the local Target, Wal-Mart, Toys-r-us, or BJ's. Where do you think I can find one of these without going and spending $300+ on e-bay for the 2002 version? Any help would be greatly appreciated. -Steve Allen

Pretty sure BJ’s is the first retailer to be reported stocking these; if you haven’t found it at your local BJ’s store ask and see if they know when it might show up. As for other retailers it’s a little hard to say at this point. Some clues may pop up once they start to reset for the holidays, but we may not know for sure until they actually hit the shelves. One thing is certain; Hasbro wouldn’t have repackaged this item if the broader retail market hadn’t shown interest… Give it time and we’ll probably have a better idea where we’ll be able to pick these up.


4
We're going crazy here. With the release of the DVD in November can we expect to see Saga figures showing up and the rumored VOTC (coin carded) figures? Can you give us anything to go on? -Chris

Based on what Hasbro showed us in San Diego, we might see initial wave(s) of the Saga Collection show up before the end of the year. That’s usually the case, but as we all know distribution can be a little on the slim side. As for the coin VOTC figures, as far as I know these are still rumored, and as such there’s no telling if or when they might appear. It would be nice to get some news about them at some point, but we may just have to wait until Toy Fair before we know for certain.


5
I was wondering if you have heard anything from Gentle Giant in regards to their armory collection? Such as, when are they coming out, how much will they cost and how will they distribute them. I would love it if you could sign up for a subscription service and just have them delivered as they make them. Sideshow had an offer like that on their LOTR medallions and I would think it could work for Gentle Giant as well. Anyway you can find any of this out?

A quick check with GGS reveals that there is no new news regarding the Armory Collection. It appears with everything they’ve been working on the line continues to get pushed back until they can devote more time to it. As far as I know it is still something they intend to release, but no timetable has been locked down. The subscription idea is an excellent one, no word if they plan to follow that model, but the next chance I get I will ask about it.


6
Will there be more figures like the covert-ops clone trooper and stealth trooper? How soon can we expect to see quality pics of the 2006 figures shown in the slideshow at Comic-Con? I'm thirsting for figures from the original trilogy. -Geoff Wojtulewicz

Nothing has been mentioned beyond the covert-ops and stealth trooper. I assume Hasbro will wait and see how well these two do before committing to more, but I for one wouldn’t mind a Blackhole Stormtrooper if they do move forward. As for the 2006 figures; Hasbro has been pretty good lately with the updates, I expect we could start to see official images as early as next month. If not from Hasbro, keep in mind these figures will likely hit the streets overseas in November. Once that happens we’re bound to see pictures all over eBay and from overseas distributors.


7
Why is Hasbro re-releasing the same ships over and over where with the plastic used it could go towards a Death Star, a Hoth playset a bigger one, or a new version of the Ewok village playset.

Hasbro again has released figures hard to find like the red royal guard and the price at Kmart and Fred Meyer are more than 5.99. Why can't Hasbro make there fans happy by not releasing the same stuff over and over and over.

Quite frankly the cost of plastic used to reproduce from existing molds is only a fraction of the cost it takes to create patterns and molds for all new vehicles/toys. Assuming there’s little or no immediate return on investment, especially on some of these larger items, putting the money towards these items is simply a losing proposition. If there’s little or no chance for Hasbro to make money off the deal, there’s really no point in them moving ahead. It’s not necessarily something a fan wants to hear, but in today’s depressed toy market it’s just a matter of fact.

One thing that Hasbro has said over and over is that they appreciate the fact that with each film more fans are drawn into the toy line. Because of this they try to make certain figures available from all the movies that new fans/collectors may have missed out on. This is the reason why we see a few of the previously released figures re-carded or repackaged each year, and why Hasbro occasionally upgrades some of their earlier figures with new sculpts. While seeing Hasbro re-release these figures may seem like a burden to some, others choose to simply focus their attention on what’s truly ‘new.’ As for pricing issues, obviously price can vary from store to store; if you’re not happy with the price at one chain, I’d suggest not shopping there. Larger retailers typically have better pricing because the buy in greater volume, which is why Wal*Mart and Target generally have the best prices.


8
I missed picking up an ROTS Republic Gunship in the wee early hours of April. Now your best bet is shelling out nearly $100 on eBay. Any word if Hasbro is going to ship the Gunship again? -TC

We’ve heard for a while now that more Gunships are on the way, but so far there’s been little or nothing to report. I’d like to think we’ll see more of these before the holidays, but I’m not entirely sure that will happen. We recently saw a batch of ARC-170s roll through retail, no Gunships to be found, and now they’re gone. Wal*Mart and Target do not appear to have shelf space set aside for the SKU anymore, and until they sell through some of those Mustafar playsets I have a hard time seeing them add the SKU back into the set. It’s all just kinda wait and see for now, I’m sure Hasbro would like to get more out to retail, the question is; is retail interested in taking them? …Unfortunately, it doesn’t look that way.


9
I was just wondering when the Commander Bly and Gree figs are coming? -cole

We got a couple reports over the weekend so it looks like they’re here now. It may take a while for the figures to reach all markets, but keep your eyes peeled; these trooper figures are sure to move fast.

10
I saw the picture of the Boba Fett Forged Figure a bit ago, and am greatly anticipating the entire line. How many figures are being planned as of now? What will each figure be going for? Is the line going to be an exclusive (and if so, to who)? And finally, is the Forged Figure line going to be considered part of the Titanium Series? -Isadora

From what I understand Hasbro will have an update on this line shortly so stay tuned. However, based on a little information we were able to dig up it looks like there are at least six figures planned between December ’05 and June ‘06. So far we expect to see Darth Vader and Boba Fett around the beginning of the year, a Stormtrooper and Bossk shipping in February, and Darth Maul and IG-88 next summer. I can only assume Hasbro plans to follow these up throughout the remainder of 2006, but we’ll have to wait and see. Retail price point should come in around $15, according to what we saw at Comic Con, and as these are for the most part considered 2006 figures I don’t expect they’ll be exclusive to any one retail chain. Yes, based on our info, the line does fall under the Titanium Series heading… Hope that tides you over.

Until next time...

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