Questions for November 15, 2005
Q&A Archive

1
I was wondering if Hasbro noticed a mistake that has lasted almost the [entire] "saga" of the new Star Wars figures. When it comes to the Escape From Death Star game, Complete Galaxy Vader and 500th figure Vader, They come with the removable top part of the helmet to "recreate" that scene in TESB. What I noticed, though it is a rear view, Vader also has the front part of the helmet off too. In the scene you can see the front part if you pause it right and not to mention that if the face plate is on, the Mr. Clean like bald head would not be as exposed. I was just wondering why Hasbro neglected this. I could see that on the POTF 2 figures, but the 500th Vader should have been a new SA sculpt and not a mere re-hash of the VOTC Vader.

Funny, I noticed the same thing when I was watching Empire the other night… I think it’s safe to assume Hasbro and Lucasfilm (given we already know how the helmet and mask come off in ROTJ) settled on a version of helmet-less Vader that would be more consistent with what fans perceived to be the helmets proper design and function. Obviously there are inconsistencies between the two movies, when it comes to the toy line some of those inconsistencies must be addressed and dealt with, even if the result is a less than ‘movie accurate’ toy. We don’t see the mask in Empire, but we know what looks like in Jedi; had Hasbro simply made something up for the Empire Strikes Back figure we’d be talking about the inconsistencies between the two masks… I seem to recall this being a concern for Hasbro when the first removable helmet Vader came out, but it never really developed into much of an issue.


2
Hey there, I know that this question could raise some debate amongst fans, but why does Hasbro decide to make moulds of the Clone Commando "Scorch" who is barely recognized by Star Wars fans at large, when characters such as Quinlan Vos who receive extraordinary attention by fans still awaits any attention from Hasbro? This is very confusing as I am under the impression that Hasbro creates characters with a colourful background, not a two-bit fame drive from a Video game. -Ryan McQuilty.

I guess you could call it tread-life. For the one ‘Scorch’ mold, you have the potential for at least three different figures/characters (army building figures at that), you’re not going to get that much utilization out of a Quinlan Vos mold, not even close. There’s probably a good chance as well that the Commando figure is based off an existing Clone Trooper mold – a big savings in development cost compared to starting from scratch, which I think most fans would want if they wanted to see Vos done right. So the decision basically comes down to money, which I know a lot of Vos fans won’t want to hear, but in the end it could increase the odds that a Quinlan Vos figure will eventually be made. Naturally, if Hasbro sees there’s a fair amount of interesting the EU, they’ll probably make more figures from it… As for the Commandos themselves, they have been fairly popular in their own right, I see a lot of requests for these figure to be made.


3
Have you any details on an articulated BARC Trooper being released? Hasbro seems to enjoy releasing characters that have a few seconds screen time and then an abundance of time warming pegs. -Tom Lawson

Unfortunately there’s been no word on an Episode III BARC Trooper. Hopefully there’s a chance we could see one based on the rumored “VOTC-like” Scout Trooper, but we may not see that until late ’06 or ’07.


4
Is it possible to see a Yarna d´al Gargan figure in the next time? Nearly all characters of Jabba´s palace were made! Why not Gargan? Is it really because of her six boobs? I can’t believe that! We live in 2005! She is one of the most wanted figures of the whole star wars universe! What do you think? When will we see her? -jonas

Whenever Yarna is brought up at conventions or shows, the Hasbro team always kinda grumbles and says they hope not… I guess they just don’t think she’d make an attractive action figure. However, Kenner had a prototype going near the end of the vintage line, because of that I would think there’s at least a chance Hasbro might consider her somewhere down the road. I think if fans made an effort to let Hasbro know they really wanted this figure it would probably happen. With out that effort, I don’t think she’ll ever get made.


5
Hey Mark, I recently started opening up extra figures I have from the past lines that included the Jedi Master points. I know they ran auctions a while back so we could use these, my question is, do they plan on doing this again, or are these worthless now?

The last thing I want to do is tell you they’re worthless and have you throw them away. With my luck Hasbro will come up with some offer and then I’ll get a nasty email from you telling me I owe you 10,000 Jedi Master Point (which I probably have as well…). The last official word we have on these things is that there were no current plans that included them, but that anything was possible in the future. Which translated from PR likely means “we’re never going to use them, but we don’t want you to get mad at us for making you collect them for the last five years”… There are rumors that there will be a mail-away offer next year, but the latest info indicates it may be specific to whatever they end up calling the VOTC line. Honestly I don’t know what to tell you, unless they are taking up too much space, I’d just leave them in a shoe box for your grandchildren to wonder what they could have possibly been used for.


6
I missed out on much of the Unleashed line, and have therefore been playing catch-up for a few months via eBay. I'm heartened that Hasbro will be returning to the format rather than the silly mini-figures, but I am also hoping they retain the style. In particular, I'm wondering if it is possible to find out who sculpted some of the Unleashed items, particularly Palpatine, Mace, and Dooku? Moreover, aside from the three unreleased figures, anyone know what is in store for Unleashed?

I met one of the guys that worked on the Unleashed line in Indianapolis (CIII), I don’t know if he worked on these specific figures, but if I see him again I’ll ask. I would assume once they bring the Unleashed line back it would be in the same style as it was before. That’s the style that worked, that’s the style fan’s have been clamoring for, it would be ridiculous for Hasbro try and change it now. As for what’s in store, I don’t recall hearing any specific rumors (someone remind me if there have been), but I’m pullin’ for a Dengar, Kit Fisto, and Tarfull… Plo Koon too, and of course, Jar Jar Binks Unleashed!


7
WHY hasn’t the ROTS crab droid any eyes? Or antennas? It has no articulation at all! I must say it but that figure stinks… -Jens

Yeah, this was quite a disappointment to me as well; total lack of detail, and not much on action features… Like a number of the figures this year, I’m guessing it was initially based on production artwork and not the final CGI model. This would explain the lack of features, like the eyes and antenna. I guess this is just one of the prices collectors pay for having the toys ready before the movie is finished.


8
I still have yet to see the Shock Trooper and Black Clone Pilot in my area (Sherman Oaks, CA). Do you think these figures will still hit the shelves before the holidays? Also what % of these figures are the repainted harder to find figures and what % are the actual white trooper and gray and white pilot. Is it half and half?? Also which version of the Commander Bly is harder to find, the yellow or white joints? -Chad

While we’re all still waiting for some kind of answer from Hasbro, I have heard from a Toys ‘R’ Us employee in France that his store just recently received a solid case of Shock Troopers. There’s no telling at this point if this is some kind of EU (European Union, not Expanded Universe) special, but at least it’s something. For now we’ll just have to watch the pegs, but hopefully both these hard to find figures will resurface before the end of the year.

As for ratios, typically when Hasbro makes a running change it’s 50/50. It may not seem that way due to distribution, but Hasbro has said in the past that they would never intentionally create a rarity in this fashion. Commander Bly: It could vary by region, but I’ve noticed the white jointed figure is much harder to spot in my area, I don’t recall seeing one yet.


9
Where does the Coruscant Commander Clone Trooper come from? The first time
I have seen him was today on the Covert Ops Trooper figure page in the photo
on the bottom of the page. -Chad

That one comes in the second version of the Clone Trooper to Stormtrooper Evolutions set. They’ve been reported recently at Target, and I think Wal*Mart.

10
Do you know if Hasbro has plans for a Gungan Council set from Episode I? Do you know how old R2-D2 is? How many more figures is Hasbro going to make from the first 100 figures?

I haven’t heard anything about a council set, but it looks like there are plans for at least one of the Gungan Reps. As with the flame dress handmaiden, you’ll probably want to buy a number of these to create your own council; I don’t imagine Hasbro will create a figure for each council member. I mean they could, with a few simple repaints, but hasn’t really been their thing. I don’t believe R2-D2’s age has ever been revealed, at least not that I remember reading. How many more figures? I’m gonna have to guess here and assume you mean from the original Kenner line… If so there are at least eight figures that I can think of that have not been updated from the vintage days, and a good chance Hasbro will revisit many of the figures they have already updated in the modern line. It’s a little hard to quantify an answer, Hasbro will continue to make figure for as long as consumers keep buying them, and that could be a good long time.


Until next time...


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