Questions for January 25, 2006
Q&A Archive

1
I am a bit confused about the Titanium Series "treasure hunt" white TIE-Fighter. When I read about this "chase" vehicle, I thought I'd never get a chance to lay my eyes on one, let alone have the chance to actually secure one. However, I seem to be able to find this supposedly highly elusive "chase" item without even trying. Just today I saw two of them (which I bought) hanging on the pegs, and I now have a total of five of them. I thought for once I am incredibly lucky to be able to score rare Star Wars goodies, so I picked up all the white TIE's I ever saw, in hopes that I could trade them for the many ROTS figures I missed the end of last year. Is the white TIE Fighter really not catching the fans, or am I just that lucky at the moment? I simply cannot find a reason why it wouldn't be sought after, being that is it currently the rarest of all titanium series ships, and the original TIE sells for over $15 on eBay. What is your take?

Another Question I have concerns one of the older Star Wars products of last year. I never ever saw a Spud Trooper in stores last year. Not once. And I have spotted all of the Star Wars toys save for one (Tactical ops Trooper) on the pegs last year. Am I missing something here? Was this spud not quite as widely distributed as Darth Tater? -Brendan L.

Yeah, I was pretty much afraid of the same thing you were when the news broke about the chase TIE Fighter, but fortunately it hasn't been that difficult to find. Rather than a true Treasure Hunt piece that's typically packed in 'select' cases only, the white TIE has been packed one per cases. This combined with the fact that the Titanium line probably only appeals to a select group of fans/collectors makes the odds of picking one up pretty good for those looking for it. Still, at one per case they do movie quickly, and I have heard from collectors that are still trying to track this down. In the end I guess it's not so much a "treasure hunt" as it is a short packed item, and to some degree you've just been lucky enough to be there at the right time.

As far as I can tell the Spud Trooper is still shipping. I've seen a number of them on the shelf since the start of the year, though not in huge numbers. We received one report that this spud is packed one per case, I can't confirm that myself, but I have noticed the ratio at retail tends to be about 12:1. Still they're out there, keep looking, and hopefully you'll find one before too long.


2
I'm getting pretty tired of wasting my time going to the stores looking for my Star Wars figures, but I don't want to pay out of the nose online. Do you know what sites I can go to and get my figures?

Well, nobody likes to pay more for a figure than they have to, but when you consider the time and gas money you save by ordering online, you have to be prepared to pay a little more. Depending on how you like to buy your figures, individually or by the case, anyone of our sponsors would be a good place to start. I'd suggest checking them out, compare prices and go with the one that makes the most sense to you. When you look at the convenience of having the figures delivered right to your door step, paying a little more may not seem that bad a deal.


3
I was at my local k-mart, and they still have a bunch of the Darth Vader carry cases. While most of them had the regular obi wan, Darth Vader figures, I noticed one case with Darth Vader and Stormtrooper Bend-Em figures instead. I checked to see if somebody had put those figures in there, but the case was sealed. Is this a rare variant, or what? -Kaleb

As much fun as the Bend-Em figures were at the time, I haven't heard of any plans to bring them back, least of all as a K-Mart exclusive… While it may not have looked like the package was tampered with, I'm sure someone bought the case, took out the Hasbro figures, returned it to the store - with the Bend-Ems, and got their money back. Again, it's something we've just seen far too much of in the last several months.


4
Like its predecessors Action Fleet and Micro Machines, the Titanium Series is my favorite Star Wars line to collect. I am very pleased with the ones being produced this year, but I think a few important vehicles are missing. Do you think they will continue this series in the future? Any chance of an Acclamator class being made anytime soon? Lastly, any chance of EU ships like the TIE Defender and the Eclipse being made? -Scott K.

From all appearances the line is doing pretty well. Turn around time on the pegs is fairly quick, and we hear a lot of good buzz about the line from the community. Hasbro appears to be behind the line 110%; in addition to the two types of vehicles that are out now, we've got figures coming up, and based on what we saw in San Diego last year, the potential for other die-cast items down the line. I see no reason why they would abandon the line after this year, and fully expect to see it continue into 2007 and beyond. That being said, I think the jury is still out on seeing any Expanded Universe vehicles offered. While there are several I'd like to see released, I'm not certain Hasbro is willing to take that chance. The one exception might be the TIE Defender; galoob had one of these in their Action Fleet line, it should be fairly easy for Hasbro to copy that tooling for the Ultra die-cast line, and considering how well the Defender has done on the secondary market it would probably be well received by fans. Other than that, Hasbro hasn't really shown that they are willing to create new molds for non-movie vehicles. Until that happens, I wouldn't expect any original EU ships.


5
I have come across several rumors that the Titanium Series Vulture Droid has also been released in the Episode I paint scheme. I have looked into it and haven't been able to confirm it or not. I was wondering if you knew anything about this?

I've heard pretty much the same rumors, but to date have never seen an Episode I deco Vulture Droid on he pegs. Add to that the fact that no one has sent an image to the site, and noting I've seen has appeared on eBay, and I think we can pretty much consider these rumors to be false. Obviously if something turns up we'll get it posted right away, but for now it doesn't look like such a version exists in the new line.


6
I just picked up 007 Gen. Veers, 008 Bren Derlin, 010 R2-D2, 012 Gen Reikan, and 013 Darth Vader at Wal-Mart. I noticed that all the figures have a "Visit" "Hasbro.com" box on the lower left hand corner of the packaging. The "Visit" box is red on all the figures except R2. The "Visit" box is black. Any word on anything else like this?

That's pretty interesting, the Hoth series is the first set of figures to get this logo, could be Hasbro hadn't really worked out the details when these cards went into production. I did notice a similar logo can also be found on the back of each card, and on all my figures the "Visit" box is black… While this may turn out to something for variation hunters to watch, it's such a minor detail that I can't see many collectors being too concerned about it. Certainly time will tell if this becomes a big deal, for now we wait.


7
I don't know if this has been covered in Question Mark yet, but what is the "411" on the "Bounty Hunt Figures?" Are these short-packed, different kinds of figures? I've seen a bit of conflicting information around various sites and none have answered this question fully for me. -Bruce

So far there hasn't been enough info on these to know exactly what they will be. At this point all we can really be certain of is that whatever they are, they will not be packed in all cases. I expect we'll get a better idea next month at Toy Fair; right now the rumors range anywhere from a packaging variant to an alternate deco… The latest Titanium Series images suggest it could be a return to the Silver Edition figures, we just don't know yet.


8
I am thrilled with everything Hasbro's done so far with the Titanium Series line. I had one question: Any chance they'll release the Super Star Destroyer Executor? To my knowledge, this is the only old Galoob die-cast mold they haven't yet re-used. - Nick

While I believe there are a few more galoob molds that haven't been re-released yet (as well as some that never saw production), I'm sure there's a very good chance Hasbro will get around to these and the Super Star Destroyer in due time.


9
Please can you tell me if any more Miniature vehicles are being planned? As the Rebels will find it hard [going] up against the AT-AT!

I don't believe anything has been confirmed yet, but I wouldn't be at all surprised if WOTC had something in the works. Hopefully we'll find out more at Toy Fair. I have heard that a vehicle version of the game may be coming up soon; not necessarily compatible with the Mini-figure game from what I understand, but it certainly sounds promising.

10
What can you tell me about the chrome C-3PO mini bust by Gentle Giant? Also, were the battle damaged clone trooper Bust Up packs a StarWarsShop exclusive?

I can tell you that one of our readers was sent the chrome 3PO after MBNA apparently ran out of their chrome Jango Fett busts. I can also tell you the piece was just released in the UK to a few select dealers… So far the piece hasn't been offered in the U.S., and MBNA has been unable/unwilling to provide us with any additional information. I assume something will break soon, but for now all we can do is wait… And yes, the battle damaged Clone Trooper sets are a StarWarsShop exclusive, and can still be ordered.


Until next time...


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