Questions for June 15, 2005
Q&A Archive

1
The Unleashed line is hotter than a summer day on Mustafar, but I've heard no plans to continue this line. It's taken awhile, but I think Unleashed finally has a following. Will Hasbro continue this line? I'd like to see the rest of the bounty hunters (4-LOM, Zuckuss & Dengar) Unleashed. How about you? -Drew Thompson

Hasbro mentioned they had some pretty cool things in store for the line in 2006. No word on that yet, but there are plans. As far as we know there are at least three more figures for the year (Vader, Asajj, and the Sidious/Yoda pair), but we may see more at Comic Con so stay tuned. The feeling I get is that the Unleashed figures have replaced the 12" line in many respects. Both Hasbro and collectors seem far more interested in the line's potential, and so far retail seems more than ready to support it. I definitely want to see Dengar added to the line; next to Boba Fett he's my favorite Bounty Hunter. After that I think Kit Fisto would make a very cool piece - Hasbro could really go nuts with all those head-tails. Plo Koon is one of my favorite Jedi, I'd be extremely excited to see him offered and I'd certainly appreciate an alternate yellow lightsaber blade, hint, hint… Looking at the Obi-Wan and Anakin figures from this year, I'd really like to see Hasbro take the same approach with Luke and Leia from the original Star Wars (ANH) Style A One Sheet - sold separately, but connectible - that would be way cool.


2
Do you know if there is going to be any Attacktix tournaments anytime soon or Star Wars conventions or parties or anything anytime soon?

Hasbro will have something at Comic Con, but there's been no word on individual tournaments outside the conventions. I'd give the line a chance to catch on, hopefully at one point leagues will start to form and at that time we'll see more tournament play. I'm sure Hasbro will do whatever they can to get the ball rolling though, hang in there.


3
I was wondering, will they ever release a Turbo Tank or AT-TE? Will they ever release a posable BARC trooper?

Most likely no; big vehicles are too costly to produce and the chance of Hasbro recouping that cost is extremely slim. It's just not profitable enough for Hasbro at this time. Will they ever release a posable BARC trooper; probably yes. This figure could be one of the twelve mystery ROTS figures due later this year, we'll find out next month.


4
Looking forward to the Evolution sets and the 500th Vader figure. Do you know what retailers will carry them? Can we expect all the major toy retailers to get them, and if so, at roughly what price point? -ARJ

As far as I know these will be available at all retail chains, prices on the Evolutions sets will run around $18 - $20, roughly $15 - $17 on the 500th Vader. We'll know better as the sets are closer to release. FYI - I noticed today that Amazon has changed the release date on the Evolutions set from June 1 to July 1.


5
Any chance that starwarsshop.com will offer all the Burger King toys up at once in one big special pack?

It could happen if BK has a ton of toys left over, but there's been no indication it will, and I kinda doubt we'll see this. The BK toys have sold pretty well in my area, at some point you have to wonder if they could even put a good number of complete sets together… We'll see, I don't think it will happen (certainly wouldn't count on it), but stranger things have been known…


6
I'm a huge fan of the animated Clone Wars figures. Are there any plans for new figures like Padmé, Padmé or Padmé? How bout Shaak Ti, aayal, Ki-adi, Sidious, or the Jedi' that fought Grievous in chapter 24.Maybe even a Qui-Gon and Young Anakin from the dream sequence in chapter 21 would be great. Did I mention Padmé?

Do you have any news on future Clone Troopers to be immortalized in the ROTS line? Commander Bly, Cody, Gree, Appo. How about the 501 Squadron?

Lastly Attacktix. I love them!!! I have a great time battling my 8-year-old son with SW figures. I wanted to know when series II is coming out and are there any plans to continue the line. I hear a lot of collectors aren't into Attacktix and this can dampen any hope to see future figures like a Qui-Gon, an episode IV Obi, or my dream…a redeemed Anakin that can over power the Emperor!

There will be another Clone Wars set, due out about the same time as the DVD release in November. Bad news though - according to Hasbro the set will only feature slightly retooled figures, nothing "new" is expected. Hasbro did ask the fans at C3 which version of the Clone Wars figures they'd like to see: animated style or live action style. The reply from the crowd was "BOTH!" Based on that I'd think there's at least hope for some new Animated Clone Wars figures, but keep in mind Lucas plans to dish out his own animated Clone Wars series. Once that hits the tube any new figures will likely follow that style.

No news, fingers crossed for something good among the mysterious ROTS 12. I'm really surprised we haven't seen any of the Clone Trooper figures released in 501st Battalion colors (this seems like a no brainer), but I imagine Hasbro will eventually get to it. As much as I'd like to see it though, I sincerely hope they wouldn't count this deco change as one of the last 12 figures of the line. Let's hope they make it as a running change to the Super Articulated Clone Trooper…

I hear ya, my kids and I have had great fun with the Attacktix line. As far as I know, no plans for a third series have been made public, but I'm sure they're in place. Series 2 will be on display at Comic Con next month, and probably in stores soon after that. Not sure where you're at, but all the Attacktix pegs in my area are short on stock, from what I see the line has sold, and is selling pretty well. If the numbers are good, I'm sure we'll see plenty more from this line, including many of the figures you mentioned.


7
Just wondering why the ROTS figures have different shades on the cardboard, i.e. blue or purple Vader heads? Any significance?

I asked Hasbro about this at C3, there is no significance inherent to the line. In their words it was just a variance between different print runs. I've also heard it could be attributed to two different manufacturing facilities, but I haven't paid close enough attention to know if there's any evidence to support that.


8
What's the best way to convince Hasbro to make the figures we want that haven't been made yet? Which characters has this worked for? I really, really need Infant Luke & Leia for my collection!

The best way is to build up a really good buzz about the character and maintain it for at least a year. At this point the figures for 2006 are pretty much set, work has already started. If there's a good amount of talk about any character in particular Hasbro usually picks up on it. When it comes time to choose what they're going to do the following year, it really helps to have that fan support there and consistent. Alone I can't see Hasbro making a Luke and Leia as infants 2-pack. In order to get these, best shot is to lobby for a Baru Lars and Lady Organa figures with little Luke and Leia as accessories. Admittedly, they're both long shots, but they could happen.


9
I was wondering if you knew any dates for the Asajj Ventress, Vader and Palpy vs. Yoda Unleashed figures? I see the Aurra Sing, IG-88 and Stormtrooper have hit eBay this month.

Also, have you heard any word on what the future holds for the next waves of Unleashed?

I was very pleased to score a Vader (Power) and Mace Windu this past Christmas, since they slipped right through my hands the first time around. This is leading into my next Q. Do you have any info on other re-releases such as maybe Darth Maul or Boba Fett? Or possibly knew versions of the most popular characters, like the ROTS Vader that is coming out. A Han in carbonite would be sweet, or a Jar Jar in carbonite like the one in the R2 room at C3!

Up until just recently Amazon.com showed these as in stock. I'm assuming this was an error because they have since been removed. Action-HQ.com does have them however, so I assume they'll likely hit U.S. shelves between now and mid July. There was little hiccup there with the Aurra Sing wave, a few on-line shops had them, I found them once at Target, but overall they have been quite scarce. I imagine Hasbro will find a way to get these out again; they are rather nice, most likely near the end of the year. So far no word on what will follow the Asajj wave, I expect we'll see something at Comic Con.

The only rumor that I can recall is a re-release of the Stormtrooper with either a Luke or Han head sculpt. A nice idea to be sure, Kotobukiya gets credit for coming up with it first, but I would have rather had this as an alternate head in the original Stormtrooper release. Still, no firm info on this yet so we'll have to wait and see. A Boba Fett re-release might be in order; I do recall seeing these at retail, but they did move pretty fast. We get a lot of questions about this one in particular so hopefully someone at Hasbro is paying attention. Hard to imagine how they could make a block of Carbonite look 'exciting', though I guess if they had Han busting out of it a la Return of the Jedi that might be something. Pair it up with Leia Boushh and you have two thirds of pretty nice wave… As much as I'd appreciate a Jar Jar figure, carbonite or not, I doubt we'll see one in this line.

10
Are there any plans by Hasbro to package a droid multi-pack, like new colored R2 units? Several new colored astromech droids would be nice addition to everyone's collection.

Here is another question, at the end of Star Wars IV (New Hope), you clearly see Luke/Han/Wedge and another unknown pilot in a Y-Wing fleeing the exploding Death Star. Who was that pilot?

No word on such a product yet, but considering how popular it would be, I'd be surprised not to see one offered eventually. For years collectors have been asking for more droids but Hasbro has held off. Now that they have decent sculpts of all the known Droid types (Astromechs anyway) a set, or sets would be more than welcome. It also goes without saying that this would be a great way to make certain hard to find droids, like R2-B1 and the Queen's red astromech from the Royal Starship available again. In fact, you could probably create a set for each of the Star Wars movies, certainly sets for Mos Eisely, and the Rebel pilots. Heck, they wouldn't even have to be movie accurate; most collectors just want more droids. As popular as the Clone Trooper sets at Entertainment Earth have been, I have to this is at least a consideration, but we'll just have to see if the idea sticks.

I've asked around, but still haven't come up with an answer. As far as I know that pilot was never named in any of the EU books or comics. If anything turns up I'll pass that along… Well, okay; Dave says the guys name is Chuck, but somehow I'm not buyin' it.

UPDATE: I've gotten a lot of email on this already so I'll jump in and take care of this now. According to a couple EU sources, Keyan Farlander is the pilot of the lone Y-wing that survives the Battle of Yavin IV in A New Hope. Thanks to all that wrote - see Dave, I told you you were wrong.


Until next time...


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