Questions for December 18, 2006
Q&A Archive


1
I have a couple of questions that I was hoping you could give me some help with.

First, I was fortunate enough to win the Wal-Mart Revenge of the Sith 1:1 scale Yoda statue. However over the course of multiple moves the removable green saber blade was lost. Any idea as to where I could purchase a replacement?



Second, please see the enclosed image - I'm a fan of most things Jawa related and my wife purchased these for me a couple of years ago. There are no identifying tags, and I wondered if you could give me any information about them, or if they are bootleg/home made pieces. -Harry

The saber blades for these life size figures aren’t necessarily off the shelf items; unless you can find something similar that works, you may have to look into having it fabricated. If I were you I’d check the prop and statue section in the Rebelscum forums, other than that start looking for companies in your area that work with plastic. Sorry, wish I could point you in a more conclusive direction.

Wow, I’m not startin’ out so hot here, 0 for 2… And it’s only the first question. I do not recall seeing these little guys before and no one from the team seems to be able to vouch for them either. Without any tags I’m inclined to think they’re custom made, but I can’t be 100% sure on that. Hopefully if one of our readers recognizes these they will shoot me an email, until then these two will remain a mystery.


2
Dear Mark, I have a question that has been bugging me ever since the release of the 30th Anniversary commemorative tin figure sets - in the ROTS set, the Yoda figure features a soft goods cloak, when I opened it I realized it was the VOTC Yoda cloak; yet in the preview pictures from Hasbro, I saw a hooded cloak - is everyones like mine, and is this just a case of Hasbro cheaping out on us? -D

As far as I know they are all just like yours and they were always meant to be. While I haven’t gotten around to opening mine yet, it doesn’t appear to have a robe with a hood, and I couldn’t find a promotional picture showing Yoda with a hood anywhere. Perhaps you’re mixing this up with another figure? If you could send me a link to the picture you saw that might help.


3
I had ordered a case of the Wave 8 and 9 SAGA figures and wave 8 stated release in Nov. Here it is the end of Nov and no sign of these figures. Do you have an update on when we could start seeing these and the next wave hitting stores? -Tut

Wave 8 has been popping up here and there over the last two weeks, I’m sure it’s only a matter of time now before they show up in your area. As for wave 9, I don’t believe I’ve seen any reports of them showing up at retail yet, but they probably won’t be that far behind wave 8. If I were to guess, I’d expect them early next month.


4
Mark, since the whole Saga Legends Fan's Choice Showdown is over and seemed to be a success. Is it a possibility that Hasbro could do another one of these with play sets in mind? Have Hasbro lay out some play set ideas to vote on and make the one that wins. The figures are great but, I want a place to display them and I'm sure kids want a play set to play star wars with. After all Star wars wasn't just Jedi star fighters or tie fighters. They need a place to chill and have land battles. -Troy H.

Until Hasbro is convinced that a playset would do well at retail, I don’t think we’ll see anything along those lines, least of all a fan choice poll. It’s sad in a way, but the era of the playset is long gone. They’re too big, they cost too much to make, and kids don’t play with them anywhere near long enough for parents to justify the expense… I see it with my own kids; where I played with my Death Star Space Station for years on end, as soon as my kids are over the initial ‘newness’ they’re onto something else. My wife and I got our twins this amazing castle set for their birthday (made in Germany, really big, really cool, and pretty pricey); we figured they’d play with this a lot, share it with their big brother and sister, now it just sits in a corner… It’s been like this with everything; the Thomas table, Spiderman and Friends tree house thingy, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles sewer headquarters, Bat Cave, Playmobile Fairytale castle (although we did get decent mileage out of that one…), today’s kids either don’t have the attention span to stick with a toy like that for very long, or just simply have way too much thrown at them. Hasbro knows this; they did what they could in a movie year, now it’s just way too risky of an investment on their end.


5
I was wondering if Hasbro will ever make another Star Wars action figure carrying case like the old ones that actually would hold the figures in place? The figures always fall out in the new Darth Vader case. -DB

After 10+ years, it seems Hasbro is completely satisfied re-releasing that lame Darth Vader case over, and over, and over again. I’m guessing we’ll see that (or the equally deficient 3PO case) dragged out at least two more times before they’ll even consider a nice vinyl collectors case with stacking trays like the old ones. You know, there’s always a chance, but at this point if they were going to do it I would think they’d have done it by now.


6
What do you think are the chances that Hasbro will create a poll next year offering to re-vamp an existing figure from the new line? I think this would be more competitive competition and much loved by fans

If I were Hasbro I’d go back to a straight up Fan Choice poll and let the fan’s pick whatever figure they want. In my opinion the last two surveys have been duds. What, we got a lack luster Scanning Crew Trooper repack, and a bunch of straight up repacks… Oh boy. Still (and unfortunately) it sounds like a question Hasbro might ask so I guess anything is possible. Hopefully if they do ask this question, something really cool is at stake; like Super Articulation. If that was the ultimate goal, sort of a Fan Choice Vintage Figure poll, that could be interesting.


7
Is there even a remote chance we'll ever see Bespin Interrogation Han Solo w/ chair? Seem that a disheveled Han figure w/ interchangeable heads (much like Dagobah training Luke a few years ago) would be a no brainer. I hope I'm not alone in wanting this figure. -Craig

Great idea, I’m sure you’re not alone in wanting it, I know it was suggested back when Hasbro was developing the Luke with Bacta Tank, never heard anything more about it, and now that Deluxe/Ultra assortment seems to have been abandoned indefinitely. Maybe the whole torture rack thing just didn’t resonate well with a kid’s toy line…, but it sure would make a cool collectible. If the Deluxe/Ultra figures make a come back, or Hasbro gets into releasing limited environment type playsets, we might see something like this. Until then, I would think the chances for this type of toy would be very remote.


8
I noticed that the newer designers at Hasbro have taken a close look at the old bulked up POTF2 versions of figures and hence redesigned a lot of them in the past few years. Don't you think now would be a good time to redesign the old bulked up POTF2 versions of the Emperor's Royal Guard (this is horrible!) or AT-ST driver or at least put the Ep. 2 Royal Guard (that came with the New Imperial shuttle) on its own new ROTJ card? How about re-issuing the Imperial Forces TRU 4 pack AT-ST driver sculpt on a new card also? At the same time we could add a Sim Aloo and a Death Star 2 Luke Jedi and put them all in a new Endor ROTJ wave. Your thoughts? -Mario

If it’s just a matter of slapping the figure on a Return of the Jedi card then I guess repackaging the Revenge of the Sith Royal Guard would be just fine. For my money I’d like to see Hasbro try something new with the robes, maybe a fabric similar to what they recently used on the Crimson Empire Comic Pack, but not as shinny. I’d also like to see the fabric cut like Kenner did with the Vintage figure, a single slit up the right side… More like the guards actually looked in the film. For the AT-ST Diver I’d like to see a more articulated sculpt or at least a new head with removable helmet. For the Imperial Forces set the figure was a nice little bit of kit bashing, but I wouldn’t be thrilled to see it dragged out now and thrown on a card as is. Still sounds like a decent enough wave; two troopers, a Luke everybody seems to want, and long over due update of a much requested vintage figure. We’ll see.


9
Correct me if I'm wrong but didn't Hasbro mention something about realistic-style Clone Wars figures coming out in '07? I think I remember reading something about it at some point, or is that all in my head? Either way, the new Ilum Battle Pack looks great, and it would be fantastic if they continue with that concept. And if they do create more figures from the Clone Wars, how expansive do you think it will get? A whole Wave maybe?

I think basically what Hasbro said was if they were to do any more Clone Wars figures they would be in the realistic style. Supposedly this keeps them all in the same ‘realistic’ play pattern and doesn’t confuse kids or consumers… Kit Fisto was just re-released, we saw Foul Moudama earlier in the year, the Ilum pack and a few other rumors on the horizon; it certainly looks like we’ll continue to see a Clone Wars presence in the line for the time being (probably much more so once the animated show starts to run). I don’t know if we’re to the point where we’ll see an entire wave dedicated to it though. So far it’s just a little here, a little there, almost like an add on to an existing wave. Maybe that just makes the most sense at this stage, pepper the line with a little EU from time to time. Hey, if it gets me a Saesee Tiin in battle armor I can’t complain.

10
Is there a carrying case for the Galactic Heroes line? If not, do you think we’ll see one? I have these little guys lying all over the house and a case for them would be great especially since there seems to be no end in sight for the line. -Joe B. (Evansville, IN)

Nope so far there’s been no carry case for these little guys, but I hear Hasbro is planning to re-release the vintage Darth Vader carry case in Galactic Heroes packaging to make up for that. Sure the figures don’t fit all that well in the old style slots, well actually they don’t fit at all, but when has that stop them before… Yeah, no carry case so far, nothing has even been mentioned. I suggest doing what I did; run down to your nearest Container Store and buy a clear sweater box. It ain’t fancy, but at least you can keep them all in one place.


Until next time...


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