Questions for January 31, 2007
Q&A Archive


1
What are the chances of us seeing Amidala's Star Skiff and the Grievous starfighter being made into full size ships? Man, those are some bad looking ships. -Shawn D.

I would think the chances of seeing Amidala’s Star Skiff in the 3¾” line are slim to none. To do it justice it would have to be at least the size of the Republic Gunship or ARC-170, and it appears that’s not an option for Hasbro these days – for new vehicles anyway. Besides, it doesn’t really fit the boys toy hero/villain range that Hasbro has been drawing on for the mid sized ‘fighter’ vehicle line. General Grievous’ Fighter on the other hand does fit that range, and with the new animated Clone Wars adventures coming up, probably stands a better chance than some may think. I know a lot of people are scratching their heads wondering why Hasbro has chosen to cover the animated Clone Wars characters in the ‘realistic’ style. The upside to doing this is that it gives some of the movie vehicles Hasbro didn’t/couldn’t cover in previous lines a second chance. Once the Clone Wars cartoons start to run, there ‘should’ be renewed kid interest in the line and with it a more realistic opportunity to market more vehicles – even large ones. I would think if the show is a success, we could even see an AT-TE or Turbo Tank… Assuming they’re featured in the series (and why wouldn’t they be).


2
Maybe you can help me. I've never quite known how to look at the Wol Cabashite thing from that Ultra Jabba's denizens pack before. Now that I've gotten the larger and more detailed one from the Sideshow Salacious Crumb creature pack though, I'm even more confused. So, to your eyes, is the Wol Cabashite just some slug arching its head back and sticking its tongue out or is it umm... just some weird slug-like upside-down head thing? -Fraggle

From what I’ve seen of Wol Cabashite, he’s a weird slug-like upside-down head thing attached to the archway just above Jabba’s Throne. Either way, that is his tongue sticking out, trying to lick the air or C-3PO.


3
First off, in Question Mark # 231, Chris S. had asked about the upcoming live-action TV series and said that he had heard that Madonna would be playing a Sith Witch. I had read that to on Rebelscum as well as Force.net, and realized that the date both sites announced this was on April 1st. April Fool's Day. I figured it to just be a joke...

Now here's my question. With Hasbro taking over the Marvel franchise, I've read where a lot of collectors were asking if we would see Star Wars Build-A-Figures that seem to be very popular for the Marvel line. (I think it was in the Hasbro Q&A.) Which Hasbro has responded, in short, "no."

Personally, I can't think of any character in SW that was "big" enough for a build-a-figure. However, what about sets? You could release Tatooine figures (Luke, R5-D4, Jawas, etc.) and each comes with different parts to build a moisture vaporator. Tuskan Raiders could each come with a part to build their tents. Jabba's Court figures could come with parts to build his dias/ throne. Etc., etc., etc.

What are the odds of ever seeing this become a reality? -Randall T. (Greensboro, NC)

D’oh! You’re right – that was an April Fools joke – even I get caught by those sometimes…

While I like the vaporator idea, I can’t see Hasbro getting into really large items like Jabba’s throne, or a Tusken Raider tent. Maybe for smaller set decoration items this could be feasible, but if Hasbro isn’t even considering it then the chances are still pretty slim. At some point you have to think this kind of thing would have to add to the cost of the figures. Mini holograms and coins are one thing, but I don’t think anyone wants to see anymore money added to the price of the basic line just to get a vaporator. Obviously there are ways to get items like these out there (Battle Packs for instance), I just don’t think Hasbro believes the basic figure line is the way to do it.


4
I just wanna say I love the excitement and curiosity/suspense that "Question Mark" brings to me with each of its updates. Anyway, I was curious on EU vehicles. As we all know the first round of EU figures and vehicles back in POTF2 era were short lived but freakin awesome at the same time. And this year brings a whole new arsenal from the EU world straight into our collections. I've heard the rumor about the V-wing for 2007 and it made me wonder if Hasbro will continue or eventually jump-start a whole abundance of EU vehicles. There is a relentless amount of choices for them that people have heard about or read (even seen in comics) that would not be so foreign to our eyes. Ships like TIE Crawler, AT-PT, and the Lars family speeder would be outstanding creations. Even some vehicles from Bounty Hunters would be cool like IG-2000, Punishing One or especially the Hound's Tooth.

I know that Hasbro can't make all these bad boys to scale but still, vehicles are not a burden for the company are they? I mean they sell well right? I don't know, it is just interesting to think that with this EU explosion that we could possibly see some crazy things. What do you think/know about any of this? -Geoff (Houston, TX)

Well, first off the V-Wing is not an EU vehicle; it was in fact featured at the end of Revenge of the Sith (albeit briefly). Assuming it will also carry over into the new Clone Wars series, it’s relatively safe for Hasbro to invest in the new mold. They can sell it now as a “movie” vehicle, and repackage it later for the Clone Wars animated series. IF (and that’s a big if) other movie vehicles are featured in the new series, they probably stand a better chance of getting made than an EU ship from any other source. Despite the fact that the vehicle line seems to be doing well, and that Hasbro appears ready to offer two all-new vehicles this year, they are still going to have to play it safe moving forward. As much as I’d like to finally have an AT-PT or an IG-2000, it’s still too risky without some solid product support in the new show(s).


5
Do you know if the titanium speeder bike with Paploo is still around? I've yet to see one in the stores but the 07 waves are starting to show up. Why is it so hard to find?

Does anyone know how to fix mis-shapen starship battles miniatures? The shuttle and X-wings are all deformed. -RT (Arizona)

I have only seen the Paploo on speederbike ONCE, never again (…or I would have bought it). I’ve seen plenty of other ships in that assortment over and over again, but I have no idea why Paploo is apparently so rare. Maybe some assortments were held up around the holidays, maybe there was an issue that took it out of the assortment, at this point I just don’t know. Bottom line it appears to be the rarest of the Titaniums yet, no word whether more are on the way or not.

I used a hairdryer to correct a little warping problem I had with one of my miniatures. It seems to work on small problem areas, but when I tried it on one of my T.I.E. Fighters it was totally useless. I think to do a ship like the X-Wing or Shuttle you need something to hold the parts to the shape you want, and then try a blow dryer… Otherwise I’m not sure what to do; I’m still trying to figure this out myself.


6
So after reading that each figure will come with that characters coin, does that mean if a figure has a coin that does not match that figure it would be considered an error? -Clark

Yep, I guess that would pretty much constitute a factory error.


7
I am a small-time collector who has never used the Internet to purchase figures on a large scale. With the TAC series coming out I need to finish collecting some of the prior series I have missed. What sites would you suggest as being a good place to start that are trustworthy? Furthermore, I really don't like any Palpatine except for the Vintage sculpt. The Evolutions Palpatine was horrendous looking and the ROTS one was thin. Do you see Hasbro resculpting an Emperor anytime soon or making some more dignitaries? -Keith

If you’re looking for on-line sites to finish off your figure collection I would highly suggest you take a look at a few of our sponsors (left-hand side of the front page). Each of them is reliable and held to very high standards; otherwise we wouldn’t endorse them.

I agree, there have been some pretty bad Emperor Palpatine figures in the modern line, especially 2003’s Throne Room version (yikes, that hood…). To be honest though, if Hasbro were to do a little work on the robe, and resculpt a new head or two, the Evolutions version isn’t all that bad. While I would like to see a ‘Showdown with Yoda’ version first, I guess it’s not out of the question that Hasbro could do a ‘new’ version of the regular ol’ black cloak Palpy. Still, I kinda think they might touch up the Evolutions figure before creating an all-new sculpt.

Dignitaries? I think there’s a pretty good chance we’ll eventually see Hasbro revisit the original Imperial Dignitary figure (aka Sim Aloo), but I’m not so sure they will go beyond that. We have two dignitary figures so far in the modern line, after adding Aloo I would think that should pretty much seal the deal for most fans. Heck, anything could happen, but that’s the feeling I get.


8
Looks like the Star Wars inserts site has been shut down, so I was wondering if you know any other site from were I can download vintage Star Wars inserts and instructions, in other words, another site that more or less has what swinserts.com had. -Ariel A.

I do not know of another site that currently hosts or maintains this type of information. I know we’re working on adding to our current Vintage Archive, as we do we will include this content when available. I know I have a bunch of vintage instruction sheets and inserts berried in storage, as soon as I can dig them out I’d love to include them on the site. But just ask Jeremy, something like that could take me some time…


9
Hello, maybe this has been asked before but here goes. Why do all the Vintage style figures from O.T.C and Saga 06 have such shallow holes in their feet? It makes them very hard to put on stands.

On account of the ankle articulation, Hasbro had to move the peg holes on several of these figures to the middle of the foot, where there just isn’t a whole lot of plastic to work with. Because the foot is typically thinner in the middle, Hasbro couldn’t go as deep with the peg holes as they usually do.

10
I was lucky enough to get my hands on the Target exclusive Imperial Shuttle. I was wondering who piloted the shuttles for the Empire? I am not sure that I have every seen this in any of the movies. Just wanted to know who I should put at the controls of my Shuttle (other than Han and Chewie). -Matt

Actually, in the opening scene of Return of the Jedi you see the ‘pilot’ and ‘co-pilot’ of Darth Vader’s shuttle. Unfortunately, we really don’t have an appropriate figure in the line to fill these two positions. The ’02 Imperial Officer will do in a pinch, but it really should be something closer to the Vintage Imperial Commander with the tunic, not a jumpsuit.


Until next time...


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