Questions for December 29, 2004
Q&A Archive

Well, another year’s in the history books and what a year it was. Hard to imagine there will never be another Star Wars movie, I think a lot of us are still in a bit of denial over that one, but at least the franchise finished with a bang. As always I wish everyone a safe and happy New Year’s Eve, It’s gonna be busy next week, but I’ll leave you for now with the 200th edition of Question Mark. See you in the New Year!

On with the show:

1
Hey Mark, I have a good question, me and my friends at work were "sitting around the water cooler" talking about the holidays and about all the cheesy Christmas specials that have came out and me being a Star Wars fan was like well at least they have never did any corn ball Christmas special and then my boss was like they did. At first I didn’t believe him but then he took me to the Internet and showed me the pics from it and I was shocked to see Mark Hamill and Harrison Ford and the rest of the original trilogy cast in it. I read some reviews and they were like it was the biggest piece of trash every made and Lucas was so ashamed of it that he destroyed every copy he could get his hands on. I was able to find a bootleg of it online and am waiting for it to be delivered. My question is what is the real story behind this and can we ever expect to see this come out on "real" DVD? –Larry (Ft Pierce, FL)

According to all inner circle reports, we will never see the Star Wars Holiday Special officially released on DVD, VHS, or any other format. Lucas turned the reigns of the special over to an outside production house and was apparently horrified with the results. While the Special’s solitary highlight, the Nelvana animated short, is certainly worth preserving, the rest of it is garbage Lucas would much rather fans would forget.


2
In the new Question Mark section, you state that fans want Padmé figures. Yet in the new (or maybe second to last) SW Insider, Steve Sansweet says that there weren't as many ROTS Padmé figures because during TPM and AOTC Padmé figures did not sell. So I'm confused by the poll and your response. Is Steve Sansweet wrong? -Jason

Steve Sansweet? What does he know…? Actually Steve’s 100% correct (as usual), Padmé figures simply have not done all that well at retail, but there are still some versions of the young Queen turned Senator that remain relatively high on many collectors’ wish lists. Snow bunny Padmé is one of those figures that fan’s have been asking for ever since her Clone Wars appearance. So far Gentle Giant is the only licensee that has offered a version SB Padmé, and it turned out to be one of the fastest selling maquettes they’ve offered. When Hasbro released their Animated Clone Wars line, many people wrote in asking if Padmé would be offered, every time a new set (like the DVD 3-packs) is mentioned, fans ask if Padmé will be included… Noting her popularity, and appeal Sideshow put her on their list, and voila. So yeah, there are fans out there that want more Padmé figures, but they most likely number somewhere less than the average Hasbro production run – which is probably why the figures don’t sell as well as others in the line.


3
I was wondering if the Saga Collection line will release any 3¾” inch figure vehicles, possibly a B-wing fighter? -David

There doesn’t appear to be a vehicle assortment lined up for retail, but several exclusives have been mentioned in the vehicle range. I’m pretty sure the B-Wing has been tapped as an exclusive for 2006, and of course we’ve heard about the AT-AT. At this point I don’t know if anything else has been talked about publicly, but there’s a good chance more are on the way.


4
Back when the Mustafar Duel [figures] came out, I had first heard that they were on shelves as I read the report. I went to Target everyday and nothing. No Darth Vader and No Obi-Wan. When asked, the employees said they had no clue to what I was talking about. I am not going to pay 50-100 dollars online for these figures. How would I get them at store price?

Have you been back to a Target lately? Most Target stores around here have at least a dozen or so of these figures just sitting around. While your store may have not had them at the appointed time, they should have gotten them by now. If that doesn’t help ask them to look up the figures DCPI number (087-06-0298) in their computer. Even if they don’t have them, they should be able to tell which Target stores in your area do.


5
Now that the Limited Edition Star Wars Trilogy is released (December 6th), do you know what is the difference between this 2005 release and the previous 2004 release, aside form the fact that the bonus disc isn't included?

…and

I saw that they reissued the trilogy on Dec 6th. I was wondering if they went in and fixed any of the flaws that were in the other release. My biggest issue was the lightsabers, they looked horrible, I was hoping they would fix them to match the prequels. And there are a few other little things like the blue spot in ANH when c3po and r2 are leaving the escape pod. If there aren’t any fixes do you have any info on when they might be doing so?? - Nathan

As far as I know (I haven’t seen or heard of any reports to the contrary) the new DVDs are the exact same versions as the set released previously. With the exception of the artwork, they’re the same movies that came in the four DVD set. As for when we might see new versions of the Original Trilogy correcting some of the more obvious flaws in the first DVD release, I would imagine something like that would probably show up for the 30th Anniversary in 2007.


6
Dear Mark,
I Live in Mexico, so I have to buy exclusives from the secondary market. In late October I found the Utapau Trooper and it looks legit, but doesn't have the Target sticker on the right side of the bubble, although it does have a small squared Hasbro.com sticker on the back. Then I read this figure was just being released (!) around Thanksgiving in the US and found another one WITH the "Target exclusive" decal last week. Both figs look exactly the same. Where do you think the first figure (non-Target) could have come from? Would it be a more valuable collector's item? -Oscar

The first figure probably came from an overseas source where it was not exclusive to Target. We’ve seen this with several of the U.S. exclusives, most notably the in the U.K. As for whether it will be more valuable, that remains to be seen. Generally speaking these figures have been relatively easy to find. It appears most collectors are more than happy with the version they could find in their market. While we may see demand increase on the non-U.S. releases, that likely won’t come for a few years, if at all.


7
I must ask, how big is the chance to get the Demise of general Grievous here in Sweden? I must say that figure look very cool, and… The TRU exclusive "Endor At-At", will Hasbro use the Vintage/POTF 2 sculpt or something brand new? -Jens, Sweden

Well, not knowing specifically how toys are distributed in Sweden, all I can do is ask how easy it was for you to get this year’s exclusives? While distribution always seems to differ between movie and non-movie years I would think that if you were able to get 2005’s exclusives, you stand a pretty good chance of getting the exclusives for 2006 the same way. One thing for sure, most U.S. exclusives eventually find their way into the foreign markets. They may not show up at retail, but there always seems to be an overseas distributor willing and able to bring them into the European market.

As for the Endor AT-AT, there’s about a snowballs chance in “you know where” that Hasbro would create all new tooling for this vehicle. I expect what we’ll see is the vintage/POTF2 version with a little green paint on the foot pads – pretty much like the Endor AT-ST from a few years ago. I also imagine it will be completely striped of electronics, but we’ll just have to wait and see…


8
What exactly ARE Slideshow Collectables? I don’t understand, are they the 12" of the new wave? And if so, why are they so expensive! Do you think they will ever make any Padmé SSC12"?

ALSO

I am a really big Bib Fortuna fan, and I have almost everything made of him, I even purchased the autographs from Officialpix. But my question is, are they making anything else of him? I think it would be nice to see him as an Attakus, Slideshow Collectable...anything that can lets people see him with awesome detail.

Sideshow Collectibles is a company based out of Southern California completely separate from Hasbro. They have done some of the finest work in the 12” action figure range that the toy/collectible industry has ever seen. Due to added detail, higher level of articulation, and much smaller production runs, the Sideshow line will average around $50 per figure, but is well worth the cost for any serious 12” figure collector. Sideshow has already announced that they’ll be releasing a Clone Wars version of Padmé (winner of their Expanded Universe poll), and I’m sure that will be the first of many to come.

I haven’t noticed many new Bib Fortuna collectibles announced so far; there’s an action figure in the first 2006 wave, but that’s about it. There’s always the chance Attakus, Sideshow, or Gentle Giant could announce something for 2006, but there’s been no word yet.

Oops! Just got an email from Ben in SC, Attakus does have a Bibb Fortuna planned; images can be found right here! Big thanks to Ben!!


9
Did they ever launch the republic gunship in stores?- josh m

Yes, we received a few reports of the Republic Gunship at retail – mostly Toys ‘R’ Us and KayBee – but not many. As one of the harder toys to find this year, we can only hope more show up as Hasbro and the big box stores clear out their warehouses and distribution centers.

10
Can you tell me why Target gets so many exclusives? Also with Target being a U.S. based store, this makes getting these figures very hard for people who live outside the United States. The only way I can get one of these figures is to either travel to the States, or go online and pay out of this world prices. It just [does] not seem fair! In Canada we have stores that are very similar to Target like Zellers, the Bay, and Sears, why don't they get any exclusives? -King Naboo

Exclusives are a perk that Hasbro provides their “retail partners” as a way to lure fans and collectors into specific chains/stores. Target obviously recognizes that there’s an advantage to having exclusive items and really took it to a new level for 2005. I don’t know specifics, but realizing this was the last big movie year for Star Wars, I’m sure Target asked for as many exclusives as they thought they could handle, and Hasbro was more than willing to oblige them. While this can be frustrating for collectors outside of the U.S., there are usually distributors that make these toys available to other markets.

Unfortunately, Canada never seems to be included in those markets… I don’t know what the specific reason is for that, whether it’s proximity to the U.S. is an issue, but I’ve always heard the problem lies with Canadian retail. While there may well be Star Wars fans and collectors living in the Great White North, their numbers are apparently too few to make a worthwhile impression on Canadian retailers; they just don’t see or recognize the demand. From what I’ve heard out of Hasbro Canada, they’d very much like to get more Star Wars toys into that country, but can’t force retail to take what they don’t order… I don’t know if Hasbro Canada has ever offered exclusives to any of the Canadian retailers, nor am I aware of anything that would preclude them from doing so; it just never seems to happen.

11
Is HASBRO ever going to release a new 3¾” R5-D4 figure? The POTF figure was awful, the one that fires the rocket! I would love to see a new / decent mould of this droid, as I’m sure many other collectors would. I can't understand why they haven't.

Yep, a brand new R5-D4 is coming up later this year as part of the Mos Eisley wave.

12
I know you've addressed this before, but I feel the need to bring it up again. Where are the last 9-12 figures for 2005? I must be slowing way up as I age, and I don't have much time to toy hunt these days, but every time I check the aisles, there are no new figs to be found. Am I just too slow, or do I have the worst timing? I thought for sure that stores would stock these for the holidays, but I haven't seen anything past # 55-59 in months. Now I hear of 2006 figures beginning to trickle in. Just wanted your thoughts. -Lynn

You got me… I thought these figures would show up for the Holidays as well, but all we seem to have gotten for the last few weeks are make up cases. A few Wookie Heavy Gunners here and there – maybe a Bly, Gree, or Jedi Hologram, but if you were looking for Cat Minn, Passel Argente, or the white Grievous Guard – good luck! From where I’m sitting I wouldn’t say you’re getting old, I was out pretty much everyday and some of these figures were just never there. I think it’s more a case of Hasbro being a little more cautious with what they put on the shelf at this time of year, and trying to avoid a glut of figures from holding up the 2006 line. I guess from a certain point of view it worked, but I’m sure there are a lot of collectors out there still trying to complete their Revenge of the Sith collection.

13
Gentle Giant had on display a Life-size Yoda at their Wizard World Chicago booth (there were pics online that I have saved – I was unable to attend the convention). I have seen that they were taking pre-orders on this great piece at the show and said the next pre-order they may offer would be thru their online club. I have joined and periodically email them asking about getting on a list for him. Do you know or can you find out what it will take to get one of these? I don’t mind shelling out some money for a piece this great; I just don’t want to miss an opportunity. -Anthony T.

According to Gentle Giant they haven’t quite finalized this offer just yet. Hopefully we’ll know more within the next few weeks, at the very least we’ll be sure to ask about Yoda at Toy Fair in February.

14
Attack on Coruscant Battle Pack: Does Hasbro have any idea how annoying it is to release this five-pack in a box that CLEARLY mimics the republic gunship, then not put peg holes in the damn feet so that you can position the clones in your republic gunship? –jody

and…

Why? Why? Why? Does Hasbro keep releasing some of the figures (Star Wars) without holes in their feet for standing? I just purchase the Attack on Coruscant figure set – and none of the clones have holes in their feet – The Bacara figure has such shallow holes – that they can’t be used with the stand either. Another example is the deluxe vintage style Leia – great figure – but no holes to stand her with. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to get these figures to stand securely – without using super glue?

and…

Okay, I've got one for you. While I absolutely love all of the clone variants that have been released with the Revenge of the Sith line, I do have one complaint - what's up with the foot-peg holes?! They are so shallow that the figures aren't able to stand on the bases that came packed in with the figures, and I haven't been able to find any other base that will suffice. So far the only Episode III clone that has been action figure stand friendly has been the kneeling clone (now that's irony) that came in the 3-pack. Any ideas? -Clint Morrow

On most of these figures the lack of or shallow peg hole seems to have been the end result of some engineering issue. Because they were based on the Action Assortment Jet-pack Clone Trooper, the Attack on Coruscant Clones all share the fact that they have no peg holes. For whatever reason, Hasbro didn’t even attempt a peg hole on this figure, making it a curious choice for the Gunship based set. On other Clone figures it appears Hasbro tried to include peg holes, but was limited on how deep the hole could be in relation to the figure’s ankle articulation. As the Attack on Coruscant Clones have articulated ankles as well, this is probably why a peg hole wasn’t included. In relation to the VOTC Leia figure, it was probably just a matter of how small her feet were…

So what do you do with these figures short of using Super Glue or drilling your own peg holes? There are products on the market specifically designed to anchor loose object to shelves. Products like museum wax and/or earthquake putty are pretty much available at any hardware store or home improvement center. While I have no idea how any of these compounds may affect plastic action figures, they are at the very least options. If you think this might be an option you’d like to use, try it out on a throw away figure first. Off hand I’d be a little concerned about any kind of color transfer, especially with the white Clone Troopers, but if that doesn’t turn out to be the case, or concern then go for it.

15
I was wondering if you have any insight into whether the Grievous that is being released next year will be a new sculpt or a re-issue. I'm aware of the Target exclusive that was just announced but that appears to be a sneak preview Grievous with some flame effects and a bodyguard droids weapon. If I'm not mistaken there is one listed or maybe just rumored in one of the regular assortments.

There is indeed a Grievous figure on tap for the ’06 basic line, we should see it in the Battle of Coruscant wave. According to our sources though this will not be a new sculpt, rather a slightly retooled version of a previously release figure. So far no images of the 2006 Grievous have surfaced; I imagine Hasbro is probably holding back until Toy Fair to reveal this figure (or more likely the Cody figure that come with this wave).

16
Is there any chance of Master Replicas releasing an Obi-Wan Kenobi Episode III Force FX Lightsaber? Maybe the Darth Sidious Force FX Lightsaber? I would defiantly shell out money for those. And lastly, does Hasbro ever plan on re-releasing the 3¾” Mara Jade and Kyle Katarn figures? If not, then why not? They seem to have no problem with re-releasing other figures, some with different features. -Jose Y. (WF, Texas)

Yeah, I’d say the chances are excellent that they will release an Episode III Kenobi F/X saber, because they are releasing one. The piece will suffer the same issue as the Luke ROTJ saber, an ultra thick neck, but it is coming in 2006. Still no word on a Darth Sidious F/X version, but I’m sure the folks at MR are looking at.

We haven’t heard of any plans to re-release these two figures (Mara Jade and Kyle Katarn), but that doesn’t mean Hasbro won’t re-release them. At this point I think I’d rather see all new sculpts, update the figures a little and get them in-line with the work they’re doing now, but there’s probably little chance of that. I think the major issue facing these figure now is how fans would receive them. Is there demand, should they be individually carded or thrown in a multi-pack, should they be an exclusive…? I think there’s just too many unknown factors at this point, maybe if the Expanded Universe figures they have lined up for this year do well, we’ll see Hasbro do something with Mara and Kyle.

17
Quick questions:
Why is it said that Leia "remembering her mother" is assumed to be a continuity mistake? Wouldn't she be referring to Bail Organa's wife, when she says "mother"? Do we know if Bail's wife died when Leia was very young?

Darth Tater and Spud Trooper are great fun. Any chance we'll see Boba Tot?

The Kurt Adler glass Boba Fett ornaments seem to be in at least three different shades: blue, green and grey. Is this on purpose or a reflection of the manufacturing process?

Thanks and happy holidays. -Michael, Ann Arbor

and…

Padmé dies in child birth...ok. Leia is raised by Bail and his wife...ok. But, in ROTJ, Luke asks Leia if she remembers her mother. She says something about not remembering much except for her being sad. OK...who is she remembering? It is obvious that Lucas was referring to Leia's real mother in ROTJ but now after ROTS that conversation does not make a lot of sense. Ok George it is time to start over, remake all 6 movies. That won't happen so someone please help me understand...

It was very clear in Return of the Jedi, Luke asks Leia what she remembers about her “real” mother; this would have to be Padmé. Luke then goes on to state that he has no memory of his mother, that he never knew her. The skip in continuity is that at the end of Revenge of the Sith we see Padmé hold Luke, but we never see her holding Leia. In keeping with the continuity, Leia should have been born first - held by Padmé, and Luke should have been born second – held by Obi-Wan as Padmé dies. Big bummer, but it still fits better with what we know from ROTJ.

Years ago it was assumed that Leia’s real mother was alive for at least a little while after Anakin fell to the dark side. She died when Leia was ‘very young,’ but Leia was at least old enough to remember her. Obviously Luke didn’t remember her because he was whisked away shortly after birth. The events in Revenge of the Sith slightly alter this assumption, but there’s still room to explain that away if the continuity had been maintained. Even as a newborn, Leia being the daughter of a Jedi (the most powerful Jedi ever) could have gained a sense of her mother in the few short moments before her death. Had Leia been delivered first and held by Padmé I think most fans would buy into that. The fact that she wasn’t just makes it all that much harder to understand how she could have remembered her ‘real’ mother all those years later… You know, it’s all just a fairytale, in the greater scheme of things I suppose it really doesn’t matter, but I’m sure a lot of fans would have appreciated it more if all the pieces fit together in the end.

Spud Wars! No word on a Tater Fett (or Boba Tott), but there have been rumors of R2 based Spud. The first two Potato Heads have been pretty well received, I suppose if that continues to be the case anything is possible.

Alder Fett: I doubt this is on purpose, more likely an issue with the production process. Even in my work firing time can alter the final color of the piece, I’m sure it’s the same issue with these ornaments.

18
I saw the announcement for the Fan Choice Poll figure and I was excited that collectors are getting the chance to nominate what they want to see. Is there a way to campaign for a figure other than sending this? (wink, wink) I have been wishing for a non-cartoon Admiral Screed from the Droids series. I am also curious to what others are choosing as well.

Outside of the forums there’s really no way to campaign for a figure for this survey. I guess some guys have tried to get their favorites out there, but with such a broad audience and so many opinions to just seems to hard to come to any real consensus. I can only imagine what kind of submissions Toy Fare must be getting, but I guess we’ll get a pretty good picture once some of the results are made public.

19
With all due respect, I don't buy the argument against "non-exciting" characters such as Owen and Beru Lars because with the Revenge of the Sith line, we were offered figures such as Mon Mothma, Ask Aak, and Tarkin, three of many figures who either didn't have a speaking role or weren't even in the movie at all, not to mention the fact that litigation and battle station construction supervising aren't exactly "exciting." We have seen this in the past with Sio Bibble, Shmi Skywalker, and Mas Ammeda; all three not very exciting, but at least they had lines in the film. With this in mind, aren't Owen and Beru more likely candidates for production, even though they aren't exciting?

Also, I thought about the possibility of more EU figures in the future. Given that some characters have been heavily involved in the Expanded Universe (Quinlin Vos, Mara Jade, Yuzzhan Vong, etc.), wouldn't it be a good idea to maybe re-introduce these characters' claim to fame along with their figure, such as a comic or book deal of some sort? It would be cool to see Nom Anor come with a copy of Vector Prime, for instance. -Powell

When it comes to Star Wars figures there’s a certain pecking order: main characters and troopers are at the top, cool looking aliens are somewhere around the middle, and secondary or background humans are at the bottom. Not that Hasbro won’t dip down to the bottom from time to time, but they don’t tend to do it all that often. Looking at the abundance of Mon Mothma and Mas Ammeda figures sitting on pegs this year, not to mention the earlier duds like Shmi Skywalker, and OT versions Beru and Owen, I can’t see Hasbro being all that excited about adding Prequel versions to their line up. Do they deserve to be included, sure. Will Hasbro ever make these figures, probably yes. Are they sure-fire hits with the kiddies, absolutely not. In putting a line up together Hasbro has to have a reasonable expectation that the figures they choose to make will sell. As we’ve seen with many of the figures mentioned above, fan appeal is not something Hasbro can bank on, and as such they have to be very careful with how and when they fit these lesser known and less exciting figure into the line.

In reintroducing the source material for some of these EU characters you’re talking about a certain amount of cooperation between at least two very different companies. As much as we might like to think of the Star Wars licensees as one big happy family, that quite simply is not the case. Seeing what some other companies have done you could always repackage figures with comic book reprints, or offer sets with re-released games, but then you’re adding cost and in many cases asking fans to double up on product they may already have, or couldn’t care less about. While from one standpoint it may make perfect sense, from another it just brings up too many negatives.

20
I was Christmas shopping for my buddy and I bought him a .45 Windu scaled saber, I didn't check the box because my hands were full and I was in a hurry. When I brought it home and opened it, it was Gold. Did I somehow stumble upon a rare piece? How rare is it? Is there chocolate in it? Okay, disregard the last question; I'm just curious if I stumbled upon a decent find for a good friend. -Mike M.

No, there’s definitely no chocolate, but you did score your friend a nice collectible. Master Replicas issues several gold chase pieces with each of their .45 scaled replicas. From what I understand there is one per case, but only in those cases sold through MR distributors. The cases MR sells through their own site apparently do not include the gold edition. Hopefully your buddy was happy with his gift, if not he could always send it to me.


Until next time...


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