Questions for December 7, 2006
Q&A Archive

1
Do you know if the Commander Appo figure has a removable helmet? The unpackaged picture doesn't look like it, but I can't tell if it's been changed in the packaged shot. -Ron

I don't remember seeing this confirmed anywhere, but from the packaged images it does look like the figure will feature a removable helmet.

UPDATE: Philip A. writes in to tell us his Appo figure does not have a removable helmet. The figure is a repaint of ROTS #41, with the added shoulder armor. You can check out pictures of Philip's Appo in our Forums.


2
I have two questions for ya; first of all, do you know if Hasbro is going to produce any figures from the Knights of the Old Republic game series other than the upcoming Darth Revan figure? Perhaps a whole wave? Secondly, Will we be able to expect to find the new snow trooper from the ESB collector's tin as an individually packed figure at any point? -Andrew

I haven't heard anything about additional figures from KOTOR, certainly not an entire wave worth. Right now I imagine it's a wait and see proposition, if Revan does well I'm sure Hasbro will consider that when they start to plan the line for 2008.


3
I know this is the subject of matter that probably comes up way to often, and quite frankly, getting a little tired of hearing about them myself- but I've accumulated so so so many (JEDI MASTER POINTS) and they are not taking up space- but I would really like to see my reward for the hard earned money I've spent and the busted open packages, the reward so so many of us missed out on years ago!!! Is there any shed of light that Hasbro may still yet offer something for us? Even if the offer me $1.00 for all my 7000+ points I would be happy!! Joey O.

At this point I would not expect Hasbro to offer any kind of redemption that honors the Jedi Master Points. Hasbro's PR spin may be that they 'remain an option,' but that's really just giving fans false hope in order to avoid disappointment. It was a nice idea, I'm sure everyone at Hasbro thought there would be ample opportunity to run special programs using the points, but as we all know now with Episode I, things didn't go exactly as hoped.


4
I was just curious if you might have noticed something that I have? I was goofing around with my new Airborne Trooper from the Mace Windu set, and thought that it was the same mold as the Utapau Airborne trooper coming out next year. I went and looked at photos I have of both figs and sure enough, it is the EXACT same fig. Have you looked [at] this too? If not, zoom in on a carded picture of the Airborne around the neck area and you can see his chin poking out of the bottom of the helmet. I know that Hasbro has confirmed that the Galactic Marine is going to have to coveted removable helmet, but no word on Mr. Airborne. -Daryl (Post Falls, Idaho)

I have noticed that, and in fact I think Hasbro confirmed as much in one of their Q&A's. While I'm not totally thrilled with the fact that the chin sticks out, I guess the Windu pack trooper is a nice preview of the much-anticipated Utapau version.


5
I was just wondering why Hasbro is making all the removable helmet imperial figures with the Temeura clone head. I am assuming that that is gonna be the case for the unconfirmed Stormtrooper with rem. helmet, just like the Death Star gunner and the Commemorative tin Snowtrooper. Don't get me wrong, I am a fan of clones, and will [buy] all the Ep III clone variants now, isn't the whole clone thing starting to get out of hand expanding into the original trilogy?

While it really wasn't an issue explored in the original trilogy, it seems pretty clear now that Lucas always intended (or has recently decided) that most, if not all, Imperial Troopers are clones. Hasbro has pretty much taken the lead on this, but keep in mind that Lucasfilm Licensing has final approval on everything. If LFL didn't feel this was appropriate, the figures wouldn't be made. Keep in mind too, that this feature allows Hasbro a chance to revisit each of these trooper characters with a pretty significant upgrade. Where some collectors may look at another Stormtrooper as something they already have dozens of, the new removable helmet version most definitely is not. While it certainly wasn't spelled out thirty years ago, this is the direction we seem to be heading in. I think it's fair to say from this point on, where Hasbro can build the removable helmet feature into a trooper figure, they're going to take advantage of that.


6
As of right now the final four of the Fan's Choice as just announced and I have one major complaint. Why is the voting going more toward the army builder area? There are some great figures that need to be re-released so that collectors that either got into the game late or just flat out missed out on some of them can get them. I have voted for some of my favorites only to see yet another sand trooper and Imperial Officer go thru to the finals. Why not the R2 with holographic Leia? Or R2-Q5? Or Graxol Kelvyyn? Or a thousand other choices? Why doesn't Hasbro see the popularity of the army builder figures and release more of them (either thru an on-line site or thru the stores)? That way collectors that are happy with one or two sand troopers can get more unique figures they want. -David (Westminster, CO)

Yeah, I was a little disappointed Graxol didn't make the cut as well, but to be honest I'd rather see them use the tooling to make a Senator Horox Ryyder figure. I guess when it comes to straight up re-packs the majority of collectors would rather see a figure they could 'use' multiples of than a repeat of a character they already have. The good news is Hasbro got a good look at several figures that a lot (maybe not most, but a lot) of collectors would like to see repackaged. Just because they lost out for next year's Legends line, doesn't mean Hasbro can't work them into the main line, or into the '08 Legends line. Hopefully they've taken good notes, I agree there are several figures that would make worthwhile repacks, we'll just have to see what the future brings.

As for producing more army building figures, it seems Hasbro has gotten better at this than they have been in the past, but it's still a process to get these figures made and it doesn't necessarily mean they can produce more "unique" figures. If anything the time that it takes to make two times the number troopers than a regular figure means there's one less figure they can produce - the second run has to take the place of something. It's a balancing act, trying to squeeze in production time between everything else they have to make. It may never be exactly the way collectors feel it should be, but as I said, Hasbro has gotten better at it.


7
Will there ever be another yak face he was a tall character in jabba's palace had a white fluffy mustache.

About these death star commanders set that is coming out is this something that is coming out to all stores.

Since next year is the anniversary of star wars will Hasbro focus on releasing figures from just that movie. -Mitch A.

As much as I'd love to see a completely new Yak Face figure, I think the most we could hope for would be a re-deco version of the POTF2 Yak Face. The concept of re-releasing this figure was a good one back in the early POTF2 days; the very limited vintage figure was highly sought after. Unfortunately the 1997 version ended up being a pretty significant peg-warmer. With that in mind, I have a hard time seeing Hasbro invest in a completely new sculpt for a character that gained more notoriety as an action figure than it did from the actual movie.

The Death Star Briefing set is a Previews/Diamond exclusive and should be available to anyone with a Diamond account. This would usually mean comic shops, but as we saw with the Sandcrawler the set may also be available through certain on-line retailers and stores like Suncoast (if any of them still exist…).

For Star Wars 30th Anniversary, Hasbro's line will include figures and toys from the entire saga, not just A New Hope.


8
A few questions concerning those sweet "movie logo" display stands that Hasbro is including with their "Saga Collection" figures...

1) Is Hasbro phasing them out when they start the 30th Anniversary Collection?
2) Are Hasbro making any plans to mass-release the stands, sans the silver "name tags"?

For 2007, the Anniversary Coins will replace the movie logo stands. However, Hasbro has said they plan to make the stands available separately in sets. We're still waiting for more details on this offer but at least it sounds promising. As far as the silver printing, I think it's pretty safe to assume the sets will contain blank stands.

9
I recent to a closer look at the figures in the 1997 3¾" Hong Kong Commemorative Pack with Boba Fett, Darth Vader and a Stormtrooper. The Boba Fett in the pack does not have the traditional skull markings on either shoulder. Is that normal for this set or is this a rare variant? Thanks, -Rich in Hawaii

I think, as far as I know, it's normal. I wish I could give you a more definite answer, but after this long I just don't remember there being a variation like that with this set, and I haven't found any evidence of it on the web. I'd check my set, but right now it's buried in storage - something else I need to get back to work on… If I've missed something somebody please write in and I'll pass that info along in an upcoming article, otherwise I'd say the edition you have is the standard release.


10
What can you tell me about the variations found on the Saga Collection Greatest Battles #3 C-3PO? Why so many? Which one of the bases is the hardest to find? What is the correct one that goes with this figure? I didn't know if this was on purpose or one of the glitches that happen. I just want to know which one will be worth more by saving it on the card as opposed to opening and displaying it loose. Mahalo, -Rich S. in Hawaii

I'm pretty sure I remember reading this in one of Hasbro's Q&A's; it all pretty much boiled down to communication hiccups between Hasbro and their overseas manufacturer. Originally the figure was run just as it had been for the Revenge of the Sith line - with the lava base. That was either not what Hasbro wanted or didn't look right so they made the change to the starship deck base. Well, the gray deck looked out of place with the image on the cardback so Hasbro called for yet another change for the deck to look more like the picture on the card. The odd thing now, is that while the base looks more like the deck from the picture, the picture looks nothing like the scene from the movie…, oh well.

As for collectible value it's a little hard to determine at this point. I've seen plenty of each variation and still come across them this far into the line. In general I doubt any of these figure will ever be worth more than the other; so many have been made and there are so many people keeping collections, it's just not going to be the gold mine the vintage line has become.


Until next time...


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