Questions for Oktober 31, 2005
Q&A Archive

Season's Creepings and a Happy Halloween to everyone! I haven't had many opening comments lately due to the fact that I'm usually short on time, but I did want to throw out a few follow up comments to earlier questions and answers. First, someone had asked about the chances of Yoda #3 showing up again, it has - I found several of them this AM and it looks like Hasbro has geared remaining shipment this year to put plenty of main characters (Yoda, Anakin, Obi-Wan, Vader, Chewbacca, Clone Trooper, and Palpatine) back on the shelves for holiday shoppers. Second, someone asked about Dooku's electronic saber re-shipping… again, it has. For about a week now I've slowly seen these hit the shelves - another build up for the holiday rush… Finally, a couple readers had written in regarding Best Buy's Unleashed Vader. I had originally concluded the figure was the same as the standard version, it has since been pointed out that the Best Buy figure will have a red tinge (air brushed) as a sort of lightsaber reflection effect… As always I hope everyone has a safe and insane Halloween! I'll be passing out plenty of glow-in-the-dark candy bars (so come on by) and I look forward to seeing some really great Star Wars costumes!

On with the show:

1
I have heard mixed reports about Tuesday, but what exactly are the exclusives (Hasbro) WAL*MART has the 3 packs, TRU holo-emperor...but what else, if anything? Are the separation of the Twins figures supposed to be out that day? Oh and nationally speaking have the third wave of collectible figures and cups been released my Targets seem to be OD'd on the first two waves, and wasn't sure if the third set may have came and went and I should resort to eBay. -vLdR

The only other Hasbro exclusive that's expected on Tuesday is Best Buy's Unleashed Vader. The Separation of the Twins figures should be out later in the month, as should Target's Shadow Ops Clone Trooper.

The third wave of Target Cup & Figure sets have been released, Vader and the Stormtrooper were extremely hard to find, but the Leia set was fairly easy. The first wave (ROTS Obi-Wan, Grievous, and Clone Trooper) has re-shipped in the last couple weeks, no telling whether we'll see wave 3 again or not, but I'm sure there are a lot of collectors out there that would like to… As for resorting to eBay; if you can find them at a price you are willing to live with, go for it. While they could very well show up, there are no guarantees these figure and cup sets will ship again. In the end, having them in your collection is often times better than wishing you would've paid a little more for them when you had the chance.


2
With the new Saga line set to begin, how much longer will the ROTS line still be on the shelves? I still need more to complete my collection and I am afraid it is going to be like the Episode I line where everything disappeared before I could get it all! I am still trying to catch up...

The Saga Collection is a 2006 product, and probably won't replace the Sith line until after the holiday season. We may see the first Saga wave before Christmas, it always seems to happen, but I wouldn't expect retail to box up all of their Revenge of the Sith stock to make room for it. Based on what I saw this morning (a pallet full of basic figure cases, waves 6 and 7, at my local Wal-Mart) retail will likely stock up for the holidays and sell what they can until after the New Year. The time to look for whatever it is that you're missing is now, but there should still be about two months left in the Sith line before it gets phased out.


3
I am excited at the list of figures that Hasbro has coming out next year. Very excited to see "Expanded Universe" type figures like the Talz Jedi, Dem Hazon from the Holiday Special, the Clone Trooper from the video game, etc. So what do you think our chances of a "kit-bashed" Quinlon Vos are? It really wouldn't take much to make one, it would seem that all the parts are there. Also, since now we will have two figures from the Holiday Special (Zutton & Dem Hazon), what do you think the chances of a Holiday Special Boba Fett are (with the animated color scheme)? -Jason L. Weatherly (Arkansas)

Until I saw this list I would have said the chances for Vos were slim to none. I still don't give him a huge chance at being made, but if Hasbro were to visit this character I would think they would definitely "kit-bash" something, rather than sculpt a totally new figure. Only time will tell, but considering Hasbro is obviously looking at the EU now, anything could happen.

A good friend once told me that Lucasfilm declared they would never allow characters from the Holiday Special to be made into figures. This was in reference to a potential Holiday Edition featuring Chewbacca's family. Yes, we have two cantina characters (Zutton & Dem Hazon), but I would consider those special circumstances. Fett may fall under the special circumstances exclusion from that rule, but there's certainly been no mention of this version being considered. I think if Hasbro were to run an off color Fett, they would probably hit the white clad McQuarrie version first. Still anything is possible and as long as Hasbro is considering what fans would appreciated there's always a chance…

While we're on the topic of Fett variations, I'd like to throw my two cents in for repaint in the original vintage scheme. They pulled it off with a Kubrick figure, why not a Hasbro version?


4
So I've just seen the pics of the Saga Carkoon wave on Rebelscum, and I see that even the stands have the character's name on it! Wow! So we get new figures (mostly), a little holo figure, AND character specific stands.... that is pretty darn awesome if you ask me. However, it's almost too good to be true, is the price going to jump again to make up for it all? Is... any of this going to last for that matter? I could see them phasing out the holo figures I guess, but heck, you get so many cool little things with these figures, I can't help but wonder how long it'll last. What say you? -John Brumit

I haven't heard anyone throwing around prices just yet, but for what we're getting' I would expect the price to hover near or at the SRP for the Revenge of the Sith line. We're seeing some price breaks right now, but I don't expect they will last. Once the new line rolls out I'm guessing we'll be back up to an average price of $6 per figure. Time will tell… As for how long all these cool extras will last, well Hasbro usually sticks with the packaging style for a full year. I wouldn't expect any huge changes in 2006, but the story will likely be different in 2007. The figures themselves are numbered in three digits, which certainly doesn't lock Hasbro into anything concrete, but it could indicate Hasbro is at least considering the 'Saga Collection' theme for a multi year run. If they stick with the theme will they stick with the pack-ins? Again, only time will tell…


5
The upcoming Saga Collection figures will be packaged with mini exclusive hologram figures. I read that these will be "randomly packaged" with the figures. So does these mean that one figure, Han Solo in Carbonite for example, could be packaged with numerous different hologram figures? If so, it seems like there are going to be lots of variations for these figures. How many different hologram figures are there going to be? Hasbro sticks it to us again! Or will each figure get a different hologram figure included? So Leia would get one kind, Han would get another, etc. -Justin

Unfortunately the jury is still out on this. I emailed Hasbro in hopes that they would clarify how this will work, but they have refused to answer my question. I can only hope they'll address the issue on their site, but we'll just have to wait and see. At this point it "looks" like the figures will be randomly packed according to affiliation; bad guys get bad guy holograms, and good guys get good guy holograms. From the samples we've see the media appears to be mixed, Prequel and Trilogy characters are intermingled, which I suppose is what the Saga Collection is all about. How many holograms there are in total and how they're packaged is anyone's guess for now. There certainly is the potential for multiple holograms to be packaged with individual figures. If this happens it will certainly present a huge dilemma for completists, and could end up hurting the line. While it would be nice to have a better understanding of this issue, we'll probably just have to wait and see what shows up on the shelf.


6
I've been picking up the Jedi Force figures for my son as I see them (for a Christmas gift). He loves the Rescue Heroes and Spiderman & Friends figures, so these should be something that he enjoys. I was curious about any planned future additions to the collections. Do you know of anything in the works (like maybe a Stormtrooper or General Grievous)? -Sean Collins

Unfortunately Playskool wasn't at Comic Con, and the Hasbro team didn't really have much info on, or address this line in their presentation. In talking with Derryl DePriest he indicated at one point that there were no plans to continue the line, but then recalled a few figures from Toy Fair 2005 that were still on the way. Those figures have since been released, but there been no word whether anything will follow. As you pointed out the line seems to be a hit with kids (and Star Wars parents buying for their kids), mine have certainly enjoyed playing with the toys. However, the lack of "bad-guys" is a point that has not lost on my 3-year olds. Clearly Playskool has been focusing on the kinder, gentler side of Star Wars, but it's about time they look at Maul, Boba/Jango Fett, Dooku, Grievous, and some Stormtroopers to round out the collection. Hopefully we'll see a few of these at Toy Fair 2006.


7
With the Pit of Carkoon wave coming out do you think it is possible for Doallyn to be one of the unconfirmed figures?

Looking at what Hasbro has in store for us next year, I'd say anything is possible. If not as a single carded figure, hopefully Hasbro will include this character in the "Demise Of Boba Fett" Battle Pack… For now though we just have to wait and see what happens.


8
Do you know if there is any chance of the Micro Machines Star Wars being released again? I would like to see some of the new ships along with the older ships released again in the small scale. I enjoy both scales of the Titanium Series however the even smaller scale Micro Machines were amazing. -Jeremy B

While there doesn't appear to be any current plans, there's always a chance Hasbro will revisit this line in the future. Fans got a small taste of the old MicroMachines this year in Target's exclusive MicroBattle sets. Some of the vehicles were mixed scale, but the ARC-170 was clearly MM sized. I expect Hasbro will concentrate on the Titanium Series for now, get that up and running, and maybe bring the Micros back at a later date. From what I gather the line does well overseas, and has a respectable following in the States, I'm confident it's only a matter of time before the line surfaces again.


9
I was wondering if there is any more news about the future mini busts being released. I saw that they are bringing out a Sidious bust (that looks awesome), but is there any more news. My favourite busts are the ones of the Jedi or Sith and although the Fett, Solo, Leia busts etc are good, the Jedi and Sith ones just look incredible, especially when there lightsabers are also seen (like Yoda and the new Sidious). A Jedi Luke bust would be perfect. -James McNulty

Gentle Giant is pretty good at keeping future products under wraps, there's been no news regarding their follow up to the Sidious/Emperor Palpatine Mini-bust. Gentle Giant is also pretty good at sharing images and information when a new product is announced. Stay tuned, GGS will no doubt have some very impressive products in 2006, and as soon as they are officially announced, we should have more images and details.

10
Several Targets are telling folks that the Utapau Shadow Trooper has been cancelled. Is this true? -Eric

As far as I know it is not true, I've gotten the same answer when I've asked Customer Service to run a location check on the DCPI, but there's been no announcement to this end. From what I've been able to tell, the DCPI pulls up the item description "Utapau Shadow Trooper." When the employee goes to the next step and tries to run a location check, the number is not listed. I think the first thing anyone thinks when they run into this problem is the item has been cancelled, but judging by the fact that the figures are available overseas from multiple sources, it doesn't add up. Once someone at Target flips the switch and includes the DCPI number in their inventory, it should start to turn up during a location check. Until then, it appears to be a knee jerk reaction for most Target employees to claim the figure has been cancelled.


Until next time...


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