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 4-inches.de: 1) Could you possibly decide to overthink your managing-concept that goes with the battle packs assortment? It really is a nice assortment concept that provides sufficiant possibilities for realising figures or accessories that would not run with a basic figure card, that combines former concepts like the cinema scenes, deluxe and ultra figures or screen scenes, that we loved very much. And at the same time battle packs allows you to resell existing figures again and perhaps again and again. As you stated in former q&a sessions you manage them double tracked, either compiling existing figures in a more children perspective or combining repainted or kit-bashed figures with some new big accessory that would be more collector-related. The most battle packs in the recent past seems to be straight repacks but with their theme specificity offer quite a range of possibilities to do them in a collector-related way. For an example the Betrayal on Bespin Battle Pack would have been a nice opportunity to releasing some environmental accessories like the dinner table and chairs that are just hinted with the cardboard realisation. Another examples would be the Jedi vs. Darth Sidious Battle Pack with its just hinted statues and so on. We all agree that those environmental accessories never would be realised in other ways. I know that this suggestion implicates more plastic and more production costs but it similarly would be another inducement for collectors to buy those Battle Packs like children will do. Could you think about this to come to a conclusion that allows more than just two options, not just beeing children- or collector-related but beeing something in between that anyhow holds costs balanced?
2) There is a significant number of figures that undergone some kind of changes after or during releasing state. Your term for that seems to be 'running change'. But with that term in mind it is unclear for us whether this happens because of an error (such as ROTS/#53 Palpatine blue and later red lightsaber) or because of a subsequent decision that the corrected version would do better (such as ROTS/#57 Commander Bly yellow and later brown stripes). A third alternative would be that there are intended more than one versions of a figure (such as the four Clone Trooper Officers from the Saga Legends line). Which of that was the fact with the ROTS/#43 Wookiee Warrior (tan and redbrown color scemes) and ROTS/#28 Anakin with or without sith eyes?
3) In ROTS, there were apparently different sized Crab Droids, with some being tank-sized and some person-sized. Hasbro has previously done the tank-sized Crab Droid as a deluxe figure. Would they consider doing a person-sized version that could be carded as a basic figure? It would go great with the upcoming Octuptarra Droid.
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From Action Figs: 1) Now that we've gotten updated versions of Luke Endor, Leia Endor, and the Biker Scout, that is everybody who has ridden a Speeder Bike in ROTJ (minus Paploo if you want to get technical). While asked before, now all the other pieces are in place so it bears revisiting: can we get an updated Speeder Bike vehicle for these guys to ride on? The one used most often is nearly 25 years old and the mold's showing its age with the legs and flaps, plus the giant incorrect handgrips and t-bar. Even more importantly, the Saga Ep 2 Speeder bike is already close enough and hasn't seen a major rerelease - adding clear positionable stands to go with it would be the icing on the cake. So, new Speeder Bike chances?
2) While we've gotten Evolutions sets for some pretty major characters, and now we're seeing more Evolutions concepts coming down the pike, how about Evolutions sets developed specifically for the 2 main protagonists of the saga, Obi-Wan and Luke? Obi-Wan Evolutions could have Ep 1, Ep 2, and Ep 4 versions of the character with all the deserved articulation and accessories (which would fill some pretty big voids in the modern line); while Luke Evolutions could involve Luke perhaps in his Snowspeeder pilot outfit, Dagobah with removable jacket and holster belt, and Jedi covering all the accessories and articulation these versions could need.
3) Unleashed 7" figures are now found in Transformers; both Attacktix and Galactic Heroes-styling is now found in Marvel, Spider-Man, Indiana Jones, and Transformers; Titanium Series is now found in Transformers, Spider-Man, Marvel and Battlestar Galactica -- all these lines started as Star Wars offshoot lines before branching out into new franchises. How did this happen? Is this intentional, is Star Wars a guinea pig for Hasbro's testing of new ideas?
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Boba's Bounty:1) Does Hasbro have any plans for a super-articulated Battle Droid, similar to the TAC Super Battle Droid? All previous BD sculpts have been lacking,and this army builder would greatly benefit from an update, especially with firmer plastic used for the limbs.
2) I believe you previewed a 12" Indiana Jones figure at SDCC. Are both Hasbro and Sideshow Collectibles going to make 12" Indy figures or will there be an arrangement similar to the 12" Star Wars figures which Sideshow produces?
3) There are some really great figure customizers out there in the collecting community. Have you ever considered some type of contest for customizers where the winner gets his/her custom figure mass produced?
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NEW: From Galactic Hunter: 1) With all the talk lately in Q&As about lost tooling preventing the reproduction of older toys, I was wondering if that is the real reason we've never seen a re-release of the TPM Eopie creature? If the production tooling still exists, then is there any hope for seeing this creature repacked at some point in the future since it was never widely distributed back in 2000? It seems like an ideal choice for the centerpiece of a TPM or ROTS Battle Pack. Given the difficulty and expense some collectors went through in getting the original release and the continued demand for this product (currently averaging at $40-60 on auction sites), the Eopie would be a sure winner on toy shelves if you ever released it again.
2) How plausible would it be to do a figure of a background alien - such as Cane Adiss or Dice Ibegon - that do not have a pre-existing body design? You did an admirable job for Hem Dazon, so has there been any thought to doing these fan favorite characters as well? On Wookieepedia there has been much discussion about the characters' possible alien physiologies so perhaps you could refer to those discussions for design inspiration?
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NEW: From Jedi Defender: 1) With the popularity of the Force Unleashed figures rising, have you considered taking a look at another character-rich video game from the past, Jedi Knight? The Dark Trooper is obviously being asked for again, but a new Kyle Katarn, Jerec, or Jan Ors would be nice too.
2) At SDCC, you showed off the new 30AC Droideka with the half-shield. Any chance you've got a pic of the Droideka surrounded by two shield halves so we can see how they fit together?
3) The Rebel Pilots and their droids are pretty popular character offerings, but many of them wind up as pack-in figures with ships. Since some collectors avoid the vehicles, is there any chance the pilot pack-ins (Zev, Lepira, etc) could be offered in some kind of a Battle Pack or some other set?
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From Jedi Insider: 1) At SDCC, you showed images of a new evolution pack with Darth Bane wearing his Orbalisk Armor. Will the armor or at least the helmet be removable on that figure?
2) If you had the opportunity to re-design the Millenium Falcon toy from scratch, what is one thing you would want to incorporate that was not on the original toy?
3) Will the series of figures with 2-1B and Po Nudo be the last series of Anniversary figures?
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NEW: From JediNews.co.uk: 1) Will Hasbro ever revisit the Jedi Council again? This could be made as two Battle Packs or like the forthcoming Battlefront II Multipacks. Each would include 6 figures and the relevant bases. It was very hard to get all six of these when released and it would be nice to get a complete set from Episode I, II or III rather than the mixed characters we now have (over the six sets). Also, a lot of the Jedi’s released on single cards do not include knee articulation so this would be a great way of updating some figures and allow them to sit on the council chairs.
2) There are a couple of items only available on the Hasbro Shop website in the US which don’t ship to the UK. The items in question are the new 3¾” figure stands (40 stands per pack), first made available at Celebration IV, and the figure clamshells available in packs of 10. Many UK fans would like to get their hands on these but have no chance other than having to resort to eBay. Any chance you’ll bring these over to this side of the pond?
3) Would you ever consider doing a “build your own Clone set” in 3¾” size. This could be in the form of a Kamino Battle Pack that could include
a few different pairs of arms and legs, different torso’s and helmet’s. You could also include different accessories and weapons. This would allow you to build the ultimate custom clone and would be a big hit with fans.
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From Jedi Temple Archives: 1) Are the vintage style figures still shipping to stores, are have they run their course? How long will the mail-away promotion last? The last promotion was extended beyond the deadline, any chance of this one doing the same?
2) Any chance we will see the first Clone Wars figures at Toy Fair, or even sooner?
3) You stated before that we would see many of the older case assortments from the TAC line in later assortments, particularly the concept figures. As of yet, I've still not seen these showing up, and many people are still looking for some of them. Now that the coin problem is fixed will these start showing up in higher quanities?
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From Sandtroopers.com: 1) Do you track secondary market demand/prices for recent/currently shipping action figures to see which ones should be re-released in future waves? I see that the new Wave 3 cases are shipping with 2 Galactic Marines and 1 Airborne Trooper snuck in from Wave 1. They were fairly scarce at the time of the original release, so I think it was a good idea to re-pack them. It would be nice to see the McQuarrie figures (Stormtrooper, Boba Fett, and Chewbacca so far) get another release, since they have been so scarce at retail and are commanding a high premium on ebay and at toy shows, just like the Galactic Marine and Airborne Trooper were at one point.
2) Why can't there be any kind of consistency with the amount of new figures per wave? I see from the casepacks at Entertainment Earth that one upcoming wave has 7 new figures in it, the next has 10, and the wave after that only has 4? Can't we get it down to a point where each case of 12 figures contains 2 each of 6 new figures with no repacks? And then if you want to do the revised cases that EE seems to have an abundance of listings for, you can toss in a few figures that seem to be selling well, or some extra army builders. Making each case pack of 12 contain 2 each of 6 new figures would help out collectors like myself who order from EE and just want 2 of each figure.
3) Do you have plans on releasing a repaint of the Gunship Pilot to match his color scheme from the Clone Wars series? He had blue marking and was flying the ARC troopers Gunship while attacking Muunlinst.
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From Sir Steve's Guide: 1) We appreciate the extra attention that Jabba's Palace has been getting recently, however there is a group of characters from Jabba's henchmen who have been seriously underrepresented in action figure form: the Skiff Guards. They are featured in one of the primary action sequences in ROTJ, but we haven't seen a new sculpt of any of these guys in over 8 years, and a majority of them have never been made in action figure form. Out of the 5 skiff guards on the "prisoner skiff" (the one bringing Luke, Han, & Chewie to their doom), we've only seen one made into a figure - Weequay - and even that figure is over ten years old. Any chance that we'll get figures of the other four and maybe an update of Weequay at some point in the near future?
2) Seeing as how we're getting obscure, non-canon figures in the Comic Packs such as the Dark Woman and Infinities Vader, what are the chances of getting figures from the early Marvel storyline about the Star-Hoppers from Aduba-3, particularly a figure of Jaxxon? You could even base their appearances off the cover of the Star Wars Gamer magazine from a few years ago that featured them, which showed many of them in a less cartoony way.
3) Since the AAT has been rereleased with the mid-sized vehicles, will the similarly-sized TX-130 Saber-class tank - seen in the Star Wars: Clone Wars and Battlefront videogames - ever be made? The vehicle was even used for both Republic and Imperial troops in Battlefront II.
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NEW: From Star Wars Action News: 1) With the upcoming TIE Interceptor at Toys R Us sporting a red stripe, are there any plans milling about to release the Royal Guard TIE Interceptor in 3.75” scale?
2) To date the only figure to have a built in sound-effect is R2-D2. Are there any other figures under consideration to have sound effects, like perhaps the gonk droid?
3) With the current round of Saga Legends figures voting it was said that Jorg Sacul was not eligible for consideration as he was to be kept “special”. To my knowledge Toy Fair Vader is being kept equally “special” and these are good things making exclusives truly excluives, as compared to the San Diego Comic Con 2007 exclusives which were readily available online. What is the reasoning behind keeping some figures as “special” and why have the more recent exclusive figures not been kept as “special”?
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From SW Collector: 1) Are there any plans to make ARC Troopers in their phase II armor? Fordo appeared in the later part of the Clone Wars animated series in his new armor, as well as Alpha had appeared in the comics in his new armor. With the popularity of clones it just seems like a good chance to make some popular figures.
2) With the upcoming Jedi Starfighter (Episode II) with Hyperspace Ring coming out, is there a chance that the Episode III version of the Jedi Starfighter will eventually have a version made with a Ring of its own?
3) A lot of clones and droids have come out in different variations lately, but the Crab Droid hasn't been released since the ROTS line two years ago. Is there any chance this figure will be re-released soon? It would be pretty cool to see it in the camo colors to match the Kashyyyk Battle Droids and Super Battle Droid that were released in The Saga Collection.
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From TheJawa.com:1) The modern Vintage line has covered almost all of our favorite heroes & villains from the OT, almost to the point of exhaustion. Army builders have found a niche in this line as well. But with the choices beginning to dwindle from Kenner's original character lineup, how is Hasbro prepared to meet the challenge of keeping a very popular line like modern Vintage going? What did the responses to polls on this subject reveal at Celebration 4?
2) Given the fact that the Whiphid Jedi, K'Kruhk has appeared in comics set in both the Old Republic, Clone Wars and Legacy eras, it seems likely that we will eventually see a figure of him. The real question is will you give us his awesome hat as well?
3) Let me start by saying the Marvel Legends Icons series is fantastic! they're huge, super-articulated, well-sculpted and superbly detailed. Dr. Doom's soft-goods cloak, in particular, is an impressive feature for a figure his size!
Since the Unleashed concept has begun to diversify, what are the odds of expanding the Icons series into your other lines, i.e. the Star Wars universe? Would it even be possible, or might this undermine the efforts of other licensed Star Wars vendors and cause a legal dilemma? Would the the fact that the figures in the Icons series are nearly 24 inches tall somehow be a loophole?
If not Star Wars, why not the upcoming Indiana Jones line? (I personally wouldn't mind having a two-foot tall Mola Ram on my desk at work clutching a flaming human heart) What about for Hasbro's other popular collectible lines? I see some brilliant (and lucrative!) potential here!
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From The Private Universe:1) Is there anything you can tell us about plans for toys accompanying the new Clone Wars series? Will toys be in the animated style, or movie style?
2) Might we see more of the packs such as the Mandalorians, Droids or the Death Star briefing room in '08/'09. Can you give us an idea of what sort of thing might be being considered, such as the ANH pilots briefing room or the Rogues Gallery from the front of the Dark Horse Rogue Squadron Encyclopedia for example?
3) Considering their cardbacks, plastic bubbles and the figures themselves, how large a carbon footprint does an individual action figure generate? Have you considered reducing package sizes, or do you think you've achieved an optimum balance between function and environmental cost?
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NEW: From TheSithEmpire.net: 1) There have been many requests by people from countries outside of the US (such as people from Germany and Australia) for an exclusive figure for their country. Will we ever see one?
2) Will we see more non-animated figures from the clone wars series? Such as Tarr Seirr, Jasper McKnives, Sha'a Gi, K'Kruhk, or even Trandoshan warriors from the Republic Commando games?
3) What are the chances of seeing more of Jabba's henchmen, such as Kithaba, Wooof, Cane Adiss, and Loje Nella?
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NEW: From Yakface: 1) Dear Hasbro, how do you come up with the character illustrations on the cardbacks of the Thirtieth Anniversary collection if there is not photorealistic version of a particular character? I'm especially thinking of Roron Corobb, Clone Wars Yoda, and the Nelvaan Anakin. There are even cases where the character is in the films, but you've created a new image for them, such as smuggler Lando. Do you cobble together existing images or do you have an art department that uses new photographs?
2) Now that the Indiana Jones figures have been confirmed and a few revealed at Comic-Con (which look great by the way, I'm extremely excited). Will you be accepting any questions about this line in future Q&A sessions as well?
I know it's the Star Wars Q&A, but SW and Indy have always gone hand- in-hand down through the years, and since they're being worked on by the same team, I'm hoping you'd be willing to field a few questions about this exciting new line.
IF so, let me attempt to be the first by asking whether or not the "vintage" playsets will get an update (Well of the Souls, Streets of Cairo, Map Room) as well as vehicles (German army truck w/ Ark crate). The flying wing with shredible German Mechanic would also be a cool new addition.
Finally, IF the playsets and vehicles get an update, will they utilize the molds from the vintage toys like many of the current Star Wars vehicles or would they be all new sculpts?
3) Dear Hasbro I recently purchased the McQuarrie Luke in TRU (in the UK) and heard rumour that the McObi Wan/Yoda will be coming to the UK as an exclusive and what i want to know is will that and the Shadow scout, Concept Grievous, Mc C3-po/R2 and R2-KT be coming to the UK and Europe through stores? Especially the R2-KT because many non-Americans would like one and to support the cause without a scalper or seller making profit off a charitable figure.
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From Yoda's News: 1) Is it a possibility we will see a re-release of the Sandcrawler at retail? I had a tough time finding one back with the OTC series. I think it would be cool since the release of the Jawa with LIN Droid in wave 3 of the TAC series. I know I would buy another one.
2) Has Hasbro been given access to upcoming Star Wars projects, like the new tv shows, to begin working on products that will be released when the projects debut? Any tidbits of information that you can share, if so?
3) Are there certain Star Wars characters that Hasbro is simply not given permission, or allowed, by Lucasfilms to manufacture?
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