Questions for March 24, 2006
Q&A Archive

1
In every fan-site forum there is a "Dear Hasbro" section. Do you think the guys at Hasbro really check out these forums? Exactly, what is the best way to get your suggestions to Hasbro as to what figures/toys the fans want to see? -Jason (Arkansas)

From what I've been told there are indeed folks at Hasbro that cruise the forums, probably not all of them, but certainly the most active ones. Let's face it, they want to offer the toys that fans want to buy, and collecting forums and message boards are a great place to get a feel for what's hot. As for the best way to suggest something to Hasbro, you gotta hit the conventions. There's no better way to get your request across than to deliver it directly to someone on the Hasbro team. They may not always be able to follow through with your request, but at least you know they heard it.


2
Does anyone know if LEGO is going to put out any sets related to Hoth? Possibly an Echo Base, Tantans, Wampas etc. Something other than redesigning a snowspeeder or the AT-AT. -Darren

Well, LEGO 'knows' but they certainly aren't sharing that information with any of us. Nothing like what you've mentioned has been announced for this year, and I really couldn't even tell you if there have been any rumors. I guess we'll just have to wait and see what they come up with for 2007, at this stage most of what they're going to offer this year is already out.


3
Hey, Just received my early bird sets and set one up on the display stand from the envelope. I actually like the figures but I think that the fact that I now have a version of something that until now has been unaffordable is the best part of this item and it really takes me back to my childhood. As cool as it is after placing the figures on the stands I am left wanting more so my question is this.... Is Hasbro planning to make the other 8 figures pictured on the stand available? It looks very empty with only 4 figures standing in front of their pictures and Hasbro did include 12 pegs in the kit. I think that releasing the other 8 figures would also increase the long term value of this early bird kit as there are only 50,000 of each figure produced and much less than that number redeemed. What do you think? -Todd L. (Keystone Heights, Fl.)

I honestly doubt Hasbro will offer additional 'filler' figures to round out the Early Bird display. From this point forward it will be up to individual collectors to decide how they want to fill in those vacancies. Several of the characters on the display card will be available this year, and hopefully whatever is missing will make the line in '07. Like Kenner did with the original Early Bird set, Hasbro got the ball rolling, now it's our turn to run with it. Long-term value of the set is already in question; in essence it's a second edition set, and many went to clearance for much less than the original SRP. It will be interesting to see how this plays out over the next decade or so, and what effect these sets will have on the value of the original Early Birds.


4
A few questions, if you don't mind. With Hayden Christensen now playing the Ghost of Anakin in VI, what are the odds of seeing an updated Ghost of Anakin figure with the likeness of Sebastian Shaw? Should I just settle for the flashback version and not get my hopes up?

Have you heard any rumblings on what may be in the Battle of Endor wave for the upcoming assortments? It seems that Return of the Jedi has been overlooked for resculpts, like Trench Coat Han, Endor Gear Leia and Luke and ewoks.

Lastly, more of a for fun, what are the chances of Hasbro doing a more collector oriented line like we saw with the VOTC. I loved the line and most of the sculpts, and think this would be a great idea to update all the vintage figures to the same standards. Thoughts? -Sean K.

Hasbro and Lucasfilm tend to focus on the here and now. Since Sebastian Shaw's likeness was replaced with an image of Hayden Christensen, I have a hard time seeing an updated version of the original spirit of Anakin being released. More likely we'll see the Hayden Christensen version released from here on out. As such, tracking down either the Flash Back or the Jedi Spirits Cinema Scene versions of the Shaw Spirit are probably well worth looking into.

The latest on the Endor wave can be found in this post by Dan. It looks as if some changes may have been made, based on earlier information, and the set will now include: Chief Chirpa, Moff Jerjerrod, Death Star Gunner, C-3PO (Ewok Throne) and the Emperor. Han Endor is most likely missing from the line up because of the Vintage style Han Endor that's coming up; no idea on Luke and Leia Endor, but if they were coming up I'd rather see them covered in the Vintage line than anything else. Some nice articulation there with soft goods would be a much-needed improvement over the previous all plastic versions found in the speeder bike sets. Ewoks; some fans hate them, others just can't seem to get enough… I guess Hasbro figure the safe bet was to stick with Chirpa and see how it goes. Hopefully more will follow, I love those little guys.

I highly doubt Hasbro will re-do all the figures in the Vintage style, but it looks like they'll at least hit the major characters, hopefully at the rate of five or six per year. We'll have to see what happens with the 2006 collection, but my guess is this very popular line will be back in '07 as well.


5
My question is simple will we ever see another Imperial Shuttle like the one we saw in EIII? Is Hasbro planning to release another one, you know that's the hardest ship to find and one of the most expensive ones. -Jonathan - OH

Unless they have the mold already, new vehicles are pretty much out of the question - at least that's what we keep hearing from Hasbro. The case with the Imperial Shuttle is difficult to gage because while Hasbro has the mold, we've already seen where it is expensive to produce and not something fans are willing to shell out a lot of money for. It's not going to get any less expensive to make that toy, and FAO had a very difficult time selling it at the price it was at a few short years ago. Consider all of that, I'd say the chances for an Episode III shuttle are slim to none.


6
Soon after Master Replicas came on the scene, we were hit with a barrage of Signature Lightsabers from Vader, to Dooku to, Luke; which was fantastic. But right after the Anakin Skywalker signature edition (Hayden Christenson), there hasn't been a signature lightsaber in nearly two years!! Do you know what the deal is with the lack of SE lightsabers from Master Replicas?? Samuel L. Jackson and Christopher Lee signed for them. Are Frank Oz, Ewan McGregor, Ian McDiarmid, Liam Neeson and the rest of the Jedi's unavailable to sign? -FrankieForce (Brooklyn, N.Y.)

I asked Master Replicas specifically about the signature editions last year at Comic Con, the problem with some actors had been availability. No matter how simple it may seem, getting someone to sit down and do a signing can be difficult give an actors busy schedule. They did say they were looking at offering more of the signature editions, but couldn't say whom they had lined up.

In addition to that, there are some actors that quite honestly have no interest in signing autographs. For a variety of reasons some actors just won't sign, which is a hard thing for some fans, but when you look at how a few people have exploited the autograph issue you can see where it's often times easier to just say no. Hopefully a few of these hardliners will soften up over time, but for now it's just one of those things.


7
Please can you tell me if there are likely to be any more miniatures released in the near future? Is there likely to be a Snowspeeder released to help counter the attack of the AT-AT? -Robbo

It certainly looks like the WOTC Miniatures game will roll on in 2006; at least two sets are planned for this year with a couple others waiting in the wings for '07. I can't claim to be totally up on this line, but I haven't heard anything regarding a Snowspeeder yet. There is a line coming up based on Star Wars vehicles, it supposed to be a spin-off game, there's a very good chance that will offer a Snowspeeder but as I said it won't necessarily be compatible with the Massive AT-AT that's out now. Who knows, there's always a chance it could show up in one of this years sets, but at this point I don't recall anything being announced so far.


8
I have started toy collecting in the past few months and have used your site to plan my Star Wars purchases. However, I live in an area in Texas where toys are bought slowly and unpopular or overstocked items stay on the shelves while other cities get and put out the newest stuff weeks before I see them in my local stores. I have placed several orders on websites like Toy Wiz, Toy Globe, EE and Brian's Toys, but I sometimes have to pay more for items I missed or never saw in my local retailers, especially store exclusives. With the upcoming Target exclusives already costing $40-60 online (as pre-orders), would you wait for the figures to hit the street and hope for the best, or would you shell out 4 or 5 times the retail price (per figure) just to make sure you had your copy (or copies) of these highly desirable figures? -Greg M. (Bryan/College Station)

Interesting question… I live in Southern California, where anyone will tell you if you aren't at Target or Wal-Mart when they open, there's a good chance you may never see another 'new' Star Wars figure again. That being said, I would still wait it out before coughing up any extra cash for these exclusives. Target actually did a very good job with their exclusives last year, I have every reason to believe they will follow suit this year. Worse case scenario, even if the scalpers and eBay hounds get a hold of these figures first, there's bound to be so many of them on auction that the price will likely drop below these pre-order prices. Don't give in, I know it's tempting, but in the end you'd probably feel worse if you shelled out that kind of money and then actually found this exclusive hanging at your local toy aisle.


9
Real quick one: Are there only the five Star Wars .45 scale Riddell helmets available? Did I miss one (Vader, Fett, C3P-0, X-wing, and Stormtrooper) What about the TIE [pilot] helmet I read about? Was it ever distributed, how do newer miniatures coming out compare to these? -Borst (TK-602)

Yes, only the five helmets you listed (Vader, Fett, C3P-0, X-wing, and Stormtrooper) were released. A TIE pilot helmet was planned, some samples were made, but the piece never went into production. Compared to what I've seen of the new miniature helmets, there is no comparison. The Riddell helmets were top of the line, finished and nicely detailed inside. The new helmets are considerably smaller, with nowhere near the amount of detail under the hood (pun intended). Without a doubt fans will be able to build a much more expansive collection with the new line of mini helmets, but the detail that went into the Riddell line still unmatched.

10
I've wrote several other times based on this same topic and as I re-read all the other rants and raves about it, I feel I just have to keep harping on it, lol.

I completely understand why HASBRO shies away from larger scale vehicles. . .space on shelves. . .cost of R&D. . .etc etc. . . but would it REALLY be that much of a gamble on the Big H's part to put some decent amount of money into making something that I THINK would do really well? Take for instance an AT-TE. Ever since seeing them fans have longed for one! And if not an AT-TE, why not a new Millennium Falcon that is more to scale and far more detailed? Or even a new AT-AT or Turbo Tank? Until Hasbro makes a quality large scale vehicle and it flops. . .I just have a hard time believing that they wouldn't sell.

And as I've often wondered before. . .why not go the route of the "exclusive"? Mediaplay, in addition to stocking DC DIRECT stuff, seems like a pretty good avenue to offer an exclusive to. YES, a well put together AT-TE would run about $80-$100 or maybe even higher but you know what, if you keep it an exclusive not only would people buy it for that reason alone but I'm sure people would pay the larger price for something that fits in with the 3 3/4 scale line but ISN'T the normal "so-so" vehicles they make.

But like I said, until Hasbro makes a knock-out, totally incredible vehicle and it actually tanks and doesn't sell, I won't believe it. The only basis they have for saying that vehicles don't do well are based on either old vehicles they've used in the past or new ones that aren't "what they could have been." -brent

Well, as tight as things are in the toy industry these days, Hasbro simply can't afford a flop. In a sense Hasbro gambled on the Power-F/X X-wing and look where that ended up. A beautiful version of a classic Star Wars vehicle, and it ended up on clearance at Toys 'R' Us for a fraction of the original price. Again, Hasbro gambled on the Naboo Royal Starship, not the greatest design, but loaded with some pretty cool features. I think KB ended up with pallets of these that they couldn't give away. FAO had the stripped down, and overpriced Imperial Shuttle that eventually ended up being split out to anyone that would take them…

The track record for large vehicles just doesn't impress, and Hasbro just can't afford to put money into something that probably won't return the investment. Even after all this time they can't seem to be able to bring themselves to add electronics to the vehicles the do have. The Republic Gunship is coming up on its forth go-round, and they still can't offer anything more that a new paint job.

Exclusivity for something like this is actually counterproductive, a single retailer can't take a full production run, thus the unit cost has to be much higher than 'normal' and often times higher than what's acceptable (the FAO Shuttle…). Having a toy somewhere like Mediaplay is great for the few fans that know where to look, but you're not necessarily reaching your target market, and you're not catching any additional sales. I hate to point it out, but a lot of these little places had a tough time selling the Sandcrawler.

I know there is a core group of collectors out there that are die hard vehicle fans, I'm certainly one of them. We'd all like to see Hasbro do much much more with this area of the line, but the sad truth is there aren't enough of us on our own to make the investment worth while, and large toys simply aren't as attractive to retail (or most consumers) as they once were. It's hard to take, but we're just going to have to resign ourselves to that fact.


Until next time...


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