Questions for October 5, 2005
Q&A Archive

1
Will Hasbro honor the Wal-Mart Early-Bird Kit order if the kit was purchased at clearance price? A number of Wal-Marts are marking these down, and I've heard Hasbro may not accept it if the kit wasn't purchased at full price. -Len "RedneckJedi" Fowler

According to Hasbro they will honor the Early Bird certificates, even if purchased at the discounted price. In one respect, Wal*Mart has already paid Hasbro for the sets, if they want to cut the price and clear them out that's their choice; it has no baring on the offer.


2
Are you able to tell us exactly which clones that are made into figures were actually in ROTS. I don't really recall seeing the Target exclusive, or a shadow trooper anywhere. Perhaps these are EU figures and I am not familiar with them? -Kurt W.

The original Target exclusive clone trooper wears the armor designation of Commander Neyo's battalion. These markings can be seen briefly on two troopers in the scene where Stass Allie gets blasted off her speederbike. The helmets worn by these troopers are different than the one on the action figure, but we can assume troopers in the standard clone armor make up a portion of Neyo's battle group. The Shadow Trooper and Stealth Trooper both appear to be 'made up,' so far I've seen no evidence that either deco was featured in the movie or was created during postproduction. There's a chance the designs could originate from work done at ILM, but I haven't seen any evidence of that yet. As for any of the other clone decos, particularly the deluxe clone 3-packs and Coruscant Attack clone troopers, the designs may not have made it into the movie, but are featured in many of the behind the scenes books as well as other promotional materials. Other clones like the green Clone Commander, black clad pilot, and blue Bacara type clone all appear to be based on ROTS clone designs, but not from the actual film.


3
I wrote a few months back and had asked if the Jedi vs. Sith name was a mistake on the box set and you had said it wasn't. I still think otherwise, even more now with the Jedi vs. Separatists box set. It just seems that they put them all in the wrong boxes. Grievous, Sith or separatist? Darth Maul, Sith or separatist? I think the boxes should have been labeled the other way around. Any ideas on why they weren't?

Obviously, from a certain point of view, you have a valid argument. However if you look at the titles of each set as "affiliations" they are somewhat interchangeable. The Sith are in fact the instigators of the separatist movement and the separatists are firmly allied with Sith Lord Darth Sidious. Granted, it would have been more appropriate to call the set containing Maul "Jedi vs. Sith," but evidently Hasbro didn't put as much thought into it as a fan would have. Regardless, the sets are called what they are and there doesn't appear to be any kind of change coming. You can either chalk it up to thoughtlessness on Hasbro's part, or take a heaping spoonful of understanding and see where they really mean the same thing.


4
Will we see a Schedule for the New Burger King DVD toys? Will the Saga Watches be out all at once or 2 every week? Will we see a schedule for the toys like the other promotion? -Alex Pineda

It remains to be seen whether we see a posted schedule or not, but I assume we will. Considering the promotion will run for roughly five weeks, I'd think we'd see a new watch every five days or so. The toys will probably run like they did before, but this time in sets of four, with a new set each week. As we get closer to November 7th we may hear more, but even if nothing official is posted Dan did a great job keeping track last time and I'm sure will be well on top of the situation again.


5
With the new Clone Commanders Gree and Bly coming out in the next few months is there any news that Hasbro will make a Commander Cody, Neyo, or Fox action figure?

Hasbro has already addressed the question of Commander Cody; they do plan to release one at some point. However there's been little mention of Neyo or Fox. Neyo shares the same deco as the original Target Clone Trooper, I imagine with a simple helmet resculpt it should be an easy figure to pull off. If Hasbro really loved us they'd find a way to package a Super Articulated version of Neyo with a BARC speeder… As for Commander Fox, if the Star Wars Insider is accurate, there's very little difference between him and the standard 501st trooper. Hasbro could dress up a SA Clone (#41) in 501st colors and call him Commander Fox, but with the current Tactical Ops Trooper (#65) hitting the pegs, we probably wouldn't see that until next year. One thing is plain, with all the possible clone troopers and commanders from Revenge of the Sith, and the multiple clone molds Hasbro developed this year, the potential for clone repaints could last us for years to come. As long as fans are asking for or talking about these characters, Hasbro will do what they can to put them to plastic.


6
Am I the only one to notice this, or is the cover of the Episode III DVD missing Anakin's scar?

Sure looks like they missed something, doesn't it…? I imagine the artwork could have been changed in time for the DVD released, but we'll just have to wait and see what shows up on November 1st.


7
Hello I wanted to know what date exactly Target will be releasing the Lava Reflections Anakin and Obi-Wan figures and the Stealth clone trooper.

Well, the Lava Reflection figures have already started to show up, still no reports of the Stealth Clone though. If I were you I'd start scoping out your local Target stores now, and by all means ask Customer Service to check stock for you. The DCPI# on the figures is 087-06-0298, if you give them this number they should be able to tell you if they have them, or if not check other area stores.


8
At what point will start to see the Titanium Series of 3 3/4 inch figures in 2006? Aside from Boba Fett, what other characters are slated to be produced with this line? In addition, will this line be exclusive to a particular store or sold at a variety of locations?

We should start to see them fairly early in '06, perhaps even before the end of 2005. The first assortment is actually set to ship in December of '05. It may take a few weeks to actually hit the pegs, but it could also turn up early… At this point we expect to see Darth Vader, a Stormtrooper, Bossk, Darth Maul, and IG-88 in addition to the Boba Fett shown at Comic Con. According to Hasbro the line will not be exclusive to any one retail chain, these figure should be available wherever Star Wars toys are sold.


9
With Hasbro having the Star Wars license till 2018, it seems a good bet they'll get around to everything, but do you know if Hasbro has considered a vintage style set of figures? By this I mean figures that were never done in the 77-85 line done now in the same simple style and packaging as that era? The DVD OTC set would have been the perfect opportunity. Perhaps a 30th anniversary set? Can you get this suggestion out there? -Please withhold my name

I know the idea has been kicked around, but so far it just hasn't quite jelled yet. This might be something Hasbro would hold off on until they have exhausted their ideas for the current 3 3/4-inch line; I have a hard time seeing them try to market both lines along side one another. You'll recall that at a point there Hasbro had a live action based Clone Wars line right alongside an animated style line. Having that kind of direct in-brand competition isn't necessarily a great thing, and could end up hurting both lines. If Hasbro were to try that with a vintage style line and the current figures, it could turn into a real mess. Hasbro might be able to get away with something like this as an exclusive or limited set, but that's about the most we could hope for as long as the basic line is still rolling.

10
Is it me or is almost all the Luke figures feature him as he was in episode 4, his vintage still figure, all the repacks, even his force battler and Attacktix figure are of him in his farmers clothes, and when they do make different ones they are not always made for collectors, for instance the throne duel releases in 2003 is in a terrible pose, I realize this is probably aimed at kids but the Jabba's palace Luke is way out of proportion. Is there any chance that in the upcoming series of figures that a Jedi Luke similar to the pilot Obi -Wan (my favorite figure in the new line) will be released in the upcoming year?

I think it's fair to say Hasbro's always looking for new ways to put a Luke action figure out there, it just turns out that he's most recognizable in his Tatooine garb. Considering Hasbro has covered the Super Articulated "Tatooine" Luke (VOTC), I would hope the chances are good that they will start looking at other versions for this treatment. My personal favorite would be a SA Bespin Luke, shortly followed by Ceremonial Luke and Endor Luke with removable gear. The three would make for a rather impressive Evolution set, but who knows if Hasbro's even thinking of continuing that line… I think as we go along Hasbro is going to have to consider ideas like these, the VOTC and Evolutions sets have definitely raised the bar, I can't see them backing down now.


Until next time...


Got Questions?