So many questions, so little space... Many other
Star Wars collecting sites also submitted questions you need answered, so if you want to know the latest answers from this week's Hasbro
Star Wars Bi-Weekly Q&A Session, here's a handy guide to help you get all the info.
From Action Figs: 1) Two awesome sets released recently were the Death Star Conference set and the Rebel Commando set, and both had 7 figures. ROTJ offers another potential cool set like this, the Ewok roast scene with perhaps Chewie, Han and Luke (on spits), R2-D2 (tied up), Leia, Chief Chirpa, a Logray resculpt, and a mother Ewok with Wokling would be a wonderful way to get several figures that may not be as feasible if individually carded. Similarly, from AOTC, Shmi's funeral scene with Cliegg & Owen Lars, Beru Whitesun, Anakin, Padme, gray C-3PO, and R2-D2. Any chance of getting more sets like the Rebel Commando and Death Star Conference sets, as well as these new ideas?
2) n the upcoming A-wing Pilot figure, he is packed with the incorrect helmet worn by Y-wing Pilots in Return of the Jedi. This error was also made on the Arvel Crynyd figure included in the '98 Rebel Pilots cinema scene, and that figure was repainted and repacked with the green A-wing a few years later. Is it possible for the new figure's helmet to be changed to the proper one (as seen, for instance, on the vintage figure), or if not, why is the error continually being made?
3) Recently in Q&A you said that figures in Battle Packs can be sold cheaper in large part due to savings made on packaging multiple figures together and due to the tooling for most Battle Pack figures already existing. Many collectors, both adults and kids alike, take their figures out of the packaging to jump immediately into play and display patterns, sending the packaging into the garbage chute. In the past, we've seen troop builders and mail-away figures come in simple white cardboard boxes, which have logically cut down on your costs. While that would not work for mass-retail, what about setting aside figures for online sales that would be packaged in simple baggies and cardboard boxes, without the printing and pack-in complications of the mass-retail figures to offer them at lower prices? Please consider this for both individual figures where they could be sold individually or in a set with a few other figures from that wave, and army-builders where the tooling already exists and those costs can be exploited in greater numbers.
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Boba's Bounty:1) With the rerelease of many of the ships from the Star Wars line with new paint schemes, is there a chance we will be seeing Jabba's Skiff making a reappearance?
2) You may have addressed this in the past, but are there any plans for a Jabba the Hutt. Let's face it, its been since the late 90's since a halfway good version of the figure was done, and he is such a core character to the story.....
3) Not exactly Star Wars, but all of our readers are interested....can you give us some hints about Indiana Jones and what we'll see from that line?
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From Galactic Hunter: 1) Is there any figure that you guys actually dread the idea of making? If so why? (Character, cost, size, etc.)
2) Now that Hasbro has established a serious online e-tailing presence with HasbroToyShop.com has there been any discussion about using that presence to offer limited runs of, say, existing figures with enhanced packaging and deco? (We know a few collectors who would pay a premium for truly movie accurate Clone Troopers and other concepts.) Is this something Hasbro might consider down the road? [Note: We're not suggesting new sculpts, just enhanced deco, accessories and/or packaging.]
3) Have any of the newsies' speculative lists and spy reports (at Galactic Hunter, Rebelscum, JediDefender, etc.) ever actually led Hasbro to consider a figure/concept? (If so, who, what...?) [While I'm on the subject -- I really want an R2-D2 figure zapping that ugly little Ewok on his backside. Can someone get on this for 2008?]
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From Jedi Defender: 1) Everyone seems to love the new "Vintage" IG-88 figure. Any chance we'll see him used as the base for a Clone Wars IG Lancer Droid? IG-88 seems like the perfect base for a nice kitbash figure the next time you need some line filler.
2) Since the Saga Legends line was first announced, we've seen and heard that some figures were juggled around. Can you give us a rundown of how many variations we can expect to see for the Battle Droids and the Pit Droids? At first it sounded like there would be 4-5 variations of each, is that still true?
3) OK, last time we asked, you couldn't say. But, now that the cat is out of the bag thanks to the LFL press release, what can you tell us about your upcoming Indiana Jones IV toy line? Scale? Vehicles? Playsets? New and old movies? Will we see a preview at Comic Con? Will we have to wait until Toy Fair '08 for our first glance? (as you can tell, we're all pretty stoked about Indy toys ;))
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From Jedi Temple Archives: 1) There has been a large number of Biggs (Tosche Station) figures that have a strange stain on the back and shoulders (mine included) that appears to be from the cape. Is this a widespread problem? Is this warrented enough to have the figure replaced?
2) Can we ever anticipate in the Comic Packs the making of the cult-favorite Tyvokka figure in the foreseeable future? Maybe he can pair-up with an existing Plo Koon or a young Dooku repainted in black hair-do? If not Comic Packs, has Hasbro ever considered a store-exclusive re-release of the JEDI COUNCIL SCENE with Tyvokka and other past & present members, maybe a comic to top it off? Tyvokka is so unique and so very popular. A web-search attest to the truth of this cult-favorite among fans, customizers, and auctioners making and selling everything Tyvokka (from custom figures to beautifully sculpted wooden lightsabers). What do you say?
3) Since the action figures have blended into one mega line encompasing the entire saga, including EU, will that trend continue in the future with the release of the Clone Wars cartoon figures, being mixed in with everything else? Or, will we see the Clone Wars offered in a separate side line like we did with the past Clone Wars line?
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From Sandtroopers.com: 1) Why can't you make a removable helmet figure that looks like the person still has a neck under the helmet? Or that actually looks natural? On every one of the removable helmet figures I can think of, the helmet either a) sits right on the shoulders, so it looks like there's no neck or b) the chin sticks out from the bottom of the helmet.
2) Can you give us anymore information about the General Grievous concept action figure that was shown at Celebration 4? It looks like it was originally intended to be an SDCC exclusive, but appears not to be one anymore. Is it going to be exclusive to another convention, or perhaps a retailer? And will it come with a TAC coin pack-in?
3) Any plans for making a Luke and Han Stormtrooper with removeable helmet now that we have the TAC Stormtrooper with removeable helmet figure available as a base?
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From Sir Steve's Guide: 1) Undersized heads are becoming more and more common with the 3¾-inch figures. For instance, the Vintage-style Biker Scout and Han Endor figures both have heads that are scaled just too small in proportion to their bodies. And it's not just limited to Star Wars, some of the figures in the upcoming GI Joe 25th Anniversary line seem to be suffering pinheaditis as well. What causes this issue? Is this a conscious design choice, and if so, why?
2) Many collectors would like to see modern-day updates of the original Kenner figures from the '70s and '80s. Hasbro has made great progress in redoing those figures and, by any count, there are not many left needing updates. However, collectors don't always agree which Kenner figures are left to be done, nor what counts as a remake of an original figure - for example, Kenner did 2 separate Klaatu and Bespin Security Guard figures, but only 1 of each is currently represented in the modern line; or the Imperial Dignitary where we got a different dignitary character altogether in the modern line. We understand that Hasbro's stance on the remake issue is that, while it is not a stated specific goal of the line, it will likely happen in the line organically over time. That said, what classic Kenner figures does Hasbro consider have not been redone in the modern line yet?
3) Why is there a slowdown for Titanium Series 3" vehicles? There's only a handful of new vehicles from Spring till the end of the year, and based on what you told us in the last round, only 2 more waves for the entire second half of the year. The line still has a lot of great new ships to do, and that's not even including entries from Battlestar Galactica.
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From Star Wars Action News: 1) We recently polled our site to see what they felt was the best source of Expanded Universe Star Wars materials. By a large margin the most popular source of EU was Star Wars novels, 62%. In second place was video games with 16%, and comics in third at 10%. However, while Hasbro has toyed (no pun intended) with characters from video games such as the Republic Commandos and the upcoming KOTOR figures, the majority of your EU offerings have been from the comics, both Dark Horse and Marvel. We understand that with the comics you have the unique packaging opportunity to introduce buyers to the character in comic book form at the same time they buy the figures, but is there hope for the large number of book fans to get some figures in 2008?
2) The upcoming Mara Jade figure has generated a lot of chatter on our web site. People were wondering, is this just a retooling/repaint of the original Power of the Force Mara, or is there a new head sculpt, added articulation, etc.
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From SW Collector: 1) With the announcement of the upcoming Concept Art General Grievous action figure, could we see more Prequel Trilogy concept figures in the future? A lot of fans--especially figure customizers--were particularly impressed with the "battle weary" concepts for Ploo Koon and Ki-Adi-Mundi in REVENGE OF THE SITH.
2) Following up on a previous question, since the character of Jedi Master Tsu Choi was depicted in several comics other than PURGE, might he still be considered for a future Comics Pack?
3) For the record, what are the twelve McQuarrie Concept Art figures, as is mentioned on the cardbacks for the CIV exclusives?
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From TheJawa.com:1) We recently got confirmation via the Q&A sessions that Baron Fel would be offered up in one of the Comic 2-pack offerings. We've been able to discern that the comic will be from a Rogue Squadron comic, but throw us a bone...who's the other pilot in the 2-pack?
2) Has there been any discussion on producing a movie accurate Emperor Palpatine from ROTS from the duel between him and Yoda? I like the purple on black cloak scheme, and was disappointed it wasn't made in the last two years.
3) What if any consideration has been given to incorporating a soft goods skirt/kama (as seen on the vintage snowtrooper) into the design for Clone Commanders and ARC Troopers? This would add greater poseability to those figures.
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From Yakface: 1) Obviously the Star Wars saga is a timeless story with at times, very adult themes including politics, human cloning, creationism, pregnancy, mortality and war.
With that, was there any misgivings about developing and releasing the Han Solo with Torture Rack figure which boils down to kids/collectors recreating a disturbing scene from ESB given the subject matter, today's political climate and a portion of the populace's view on such practices?
2) Any chance of the paint operations being reworked for Darth Malak's eyes? While the sculpt of the figure is excellent, his shocked, "deer-in-the-headlight" look is very distracting.
3) I'm seeing the new Comic Packs everywhere and it's great to see new figures with these cool sculpts on the pegs - and for the most part, they seem to be selling rather well. I am wondering if you are considering expanding this into perhaps video games? I would think that a few video game 2-pks would be another way to get some of those characters made into plastic that fans would like to see... perhaps some more KOTOR characters, Dark Forces, etc. As for a pack-in, you could replace the comic book with a fold-out poster from the game or something.
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