In order to make it easier for you to check out all the different Hasbro Q&A's that are posted around the Internet,
we have gathered up all the questions with links to the actual sites where you can easily go to and see the answers. Here is the round-up for the April 8 batch of questions. There were none for JI this round because we missed the deadline by a few hours, but we will have a round for next time.
Rebelscum.com
Rebelscum: Now that Toy Fair has come and gone, could you possibly list for us which 10 figures are going to be the "Greatest Hits" repackaged figures for The Vintage Collection 2010 line and possibly even which particular movie wave each figure will be in? On a similar note, can you reveal which repackaged figures this year's Saga Legends lineup will include?
Rebelscum: The use of soft goods has come a long way in the last few years, with BD34 Ben Kenobi and BD39 Emperor Palpatine being some of my stand-out favorites of late. Given your improvements in this area, do you think the time is approaching when you can do some justice to the Emperor's Royal Guard? The last one was pretty good, but the cut of the cloth was all wrong. Notice I'm not asking about this particular character's release, I just want to know with your recent strides in this area you think you're able to give us the definitive version.
YakFace.com
Q1: By the time this question is answered, many collectors will have started finding the final wave of Clone Wars figures in the Red/White packaging consisting of Cold Weather Gear Obi-Wan, Cold Assault Gear Captain Rex, MagnaGuard and the Firefighter Droid. Sadly, we have also found that Cad Bane in Clone Trooper Disguise was dropped from this wave as evidence by the sticker covering him up on the back of the packaging. Can you explain his removal from this wave and what future wave we might find him. Also, an interesting thing about this particular wave is that you've decided to create an all-new Cold Weather Gear Obi-Wan rather than recasting the existing Cold Weather Anakin body. In these days of trying to save tooling dollars, why devote precious resources in such a way?
Q2) Rumors are swirling of a new Oola being offered as a pack in for the new Jabba the Hutt battle pack, I for one surely welcome the idea. Hypothetically, if that is the case, would/could she be in a reclining sculpt similar to the recent Slave Leia or do you plan on offering a fully ambulatory sculpt? If not, what if you had a the reclining version as the battle pack pack-in and then offered a fully articulated one in the basic "Vintage" line later down the road as you'd already have a completed sculpt for the head, arms and torso? Also regarding the Jabba Battle Pack, would it be out of the question to throw in one or two of those court denizens from the 2004 Ultra/Deluxe Saga pack namely Bubo and/or Wol Cabasshitte? Jabba needs his buddies!
Han's Hideout
1) Looking ahead to next year - please tell me that the Bespin Han scheduled for 2011 will be all-new. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind the occasional re-use of parts, it's just that some folks are getting a little tired of seeing the VOTC Han parts re-used again and again for "new" Hans (like the re-used parts on the Echo Base Hangar Han).
2) During Toy Fair, we only got a small sampling of the card backs, so we only managed to get a few of the figure numbers - VC01 Dengar, VC05 AT-AT Commander, and VC10 4-LOM. Any chance you can give us a list of the numbering for the first wave so we can all get our checklists updated before July? (Can you tell we're anxiously awaiting the Vintage stuff?)
JediDefender.com
1) Recently one of the sites asked you about the Vintage Hoth Rebel getting an update, and you said you felt the recent Legacy figure was sufficient to cover that figure. We believe the Legacy figure is outstanding, but we're Rebel Soldier fans at Jedi Defender, and so we are really curious if that means you feel the Echo Base Trooper (The brown vested soldiers) the original vintage Rebel is based on is completely off the table then for a modern update? The uniform is pretty significantly different, and the Echo Base Troopers do have that nifty cut scene fighting Wampas, so we're hoping you're still considering making the brown vested Hoth Rebels even if not considering it a "Vintage Update".
2) Again you confirmed another figure in the last round of Q&A, and fans were immediately curious how you would go about said figure. You mentioned a new Senate Duel Palpatine figure is on the table for 2010, and as a front-runner in polls done at our site, that's incredible news. The question now on everyone's mind is; how exactly are you planning to execute the figure? Will Palpatine sport softgoods or plastic robes? Will the articulation count be there for hanging out in his office as well as flipping around the Senate like a madman? Inquiring minds want to know (and sure, you can send us pictures too!) on this one!
Dewbackpatrol.com
1) Recently we started a new feature on DewbackPatrol discussing if Hasbro has created definitive versions of figures. One group of figures that have gotten a resounding no is the Endor Rebel Soldiers. It has been quite some time since we have seen these figures updated and in our experience troop builders are great sellers for Hasbro. Have you discussed revisiting these soldiers? If you do, can we have more generic non-facial hair troopers? It seems that many troop builders have been coming out with beards and/or mustaches and it makes the figures too distinct to be generic army builders (i.e. Hoth Rebel Soldier, mustache Cloud Car Pilot). - Empire1980
2) The Scramble on Yavin Battle Pack was probably the most successful battle pack in recent memory and it's due to the Rebel Technician. Are there any plans to either re-release this Battle Pack (I saw it in the stores only twice and on the secondary market this set sells for $80-$90) or sell the Rebel Technician single carded? He's an easy enough figure to release in 2 versions just swap the heads. Given all the rebel ships produced over the years many fans would buy multiples to tend to their vehicles - I'd buy a ton! What are the chances that this figure hits the shelves or pegs again? Or how about putting all the troop building figures that you could be releasing in one giant 10 pack: Rebel tech, Hoth rebel, Bespin guards...etc? - Redleader76
Jedi News
1. Would you consider utilizing the current Deluxe assortment to release larger sized figures on cards that would otherwise not fit on the Vintage Style cards? Both Kal'Falnl C'ndros and Cane Adiss could benefit from this sort of release and you could pack Kal'Falnl with C-3PO as a Mos Eisley set and Cane Adiss with Slave Leia or another smaller Jabba Palace Palace denizen; this would also be a great way to get Ephant Mon or Graxxol Kelvyyn out there again.
2. With the announcement that in the US the last wave of Legacy (Build-a-Droid) is a Toys R Us exclusive and the last wave of Comic Packs is going to be in short supply, are there any plans to bring these products to the UK and Canada?
Imperial Shipyards (Scroll up)
1)Having just seen the Iron Man 2 Mini-Head playsets I am left wondering if there is any chance we might see Star Wars Mini-Head playsets again? Is there any hope we can see the Action Fleet Line revived too now that the titanium line seems to be over? I am hoping this heralds a new Action Fleet / Micro Machine era!
2)Would you ever consider releasing a wave of Saga Legends with nothing but hard/impossible to find figures from the past? Figures that are going for extravagant amounts of money on Ebay(examples:Darth Malek, Darth Reven, Scorch, Shadow Stormtroopers, etc...)?
JediTempleWarRoom.com
QUESTION: Back in an August 2009 Q&A session Hasbro stated that an upgraded Original Trilogy Y-Wing was in the works for 2010. Might this version finally represent the Grey Squadron from RETURN OF THE JEDI, or could this version be from A NEW HOPE with a mission to "Stay on Target"?
QUESTION: Expanded Universe fans must be having some mixed feelings right now. We've seen about 3 years worth of solid EU releases. But the cancellation of the Expanded Universe comic 2-packs has been a disappointment for a lot of people. Still, there are comic 2-packs that were revealed to fans through some cardback art, hard samples at the Comic Con booth and more at the Star Wars presentation. And there were also some recent listings for previously unmentioned comic 2-packs posted by a UK e-tailer that included Ysanne Isard, Baron Fel, Montross & Jaster Mareel.
However, the overall message from Toy Fair also seems clear: that we can expect a strong focus on the movies and specifically EMPIRE, with EU taking a hiatus. But in the past there have been statements from Hasbro to the effect that if a toy or figure gets shown to collectors that there is a strong motivation to eventually release those items. Given the fact that collectors have seen the following comic 2-packs in either prototype form or Hasbro imagery:
Knights Of The Old Republic #6 - Jarael & Rohlan Dyre
Legacy # 7 - Deliah Blue & Darth Nihl
Heir to the Empire #TBD - Noghri Warrior & Ralrracheen
...how likely are we to see these offered as exclusives, or potentially split out into the Basic Figure line?
Galactic Hunter
Galactic Hunter: This two-year(+) foray into the realms of Vintage Resurrection figures will strip collector-aimed figures down to the bare bones: a figure, a weapon or two, stuffed into a coffin-style blister. That is a neat and tidy package, all said. Can we "movie-based" collectors hope to see a few lush accessories in The Clone Wars series to pick up the slack?
Galactic Hunter: The Vintage era produced some truly unique figures: Death Squad Commander, Blue Snaggletooth with his KISS-style platform boots, the "cheap" vinyl-caped Jawa, and the almost dead-to-rights Hoth Rebel Soldier. We know that some of these are en route, but are these guys "in the mix" for this upcoming two-year run?
DroidsandEwoks.com
1) It seems like now that the line has gone vintage that it would be the ideal time for updates to some of the rarest vintage figures ever: Yak Face and Vlix. While neither of these guys from the end of the Kenner line originaly came on the style of cardbacks that you will be using, is there still a chance that either of these characters could be updated in the vintage collection?
2) I lost my R2-KT figure a while ago, and after days of searching was still never able to find it. I'm guessing that this figure will never be re-released, but I'm sure hoping that you can add a new Clone Wars R2-KT to the line so I can at least partially replace my poor lost droid!
ToyMania.com
1) There has been talk of "another" Boba Fett figure due out this year as part of the Vintage Collection. Will this be Fett in his Empire or Jedi colors? Will he have a firing rocket like the mail-away figure?
2) There has not been a newly-sculpted kid Anakin from Episode I in nearly a decade. As Anakin is the main character of Star Wars, it seems strange that we have never gotten an "ultimate" figure of this version of him. Is there a sculpt of Episode I Anakin that is considered by Hasbro to already be "perfect", or is a newly-sculpted, super-articulated version being held back for another reason?
Sir Steve
SSG: With the reveal of the Vintage Collection cardbacks using the classic Kenner styling, there's one oddity which doesn't fit with modern retail. The previous Vintage-style cardbacks came in clamshells that had J-hooks, but this new line has no clamshells and the samples you've shown have no J-hooks, only punch-through hanger holes with plastic reinforcement on the back. Isn't this a risky gamble, making it harder for consumers to get to product and for employees trying to restock? Was this considered, and if so, why was the decision made to stay with the old-style hangers?
SSG: Snowspeeder Luke is an amazing figure, but collectors have numerous issues and are wondering if they might be addressed on a future re-release. Issues including the awkward hand poses, the wrong saber hilt (again), no lit lightsaber, no way to plug the saber hilt into the belt, no way to hook the grappling gun onto the belt, the thermal cap on the head that disappears and reappears throughout the character wearing this costume on Hoth and Dagobah, the raised helmet visor in the AT-AT attack, and even Luke not wearing his gloves in the costume on Dagobah. Let me state again, fans love this figure overall, it's just that they love it so much they've taken a hard look and see the issues as they stand. So, will any or all of those issues be addressed on a future re-release of this figure?
JediTempleArchives.com
Q. Expanded Universe fans must be having some mixed feelings right now. We've seen about 3 years worth of solid EU releases. But the cancellation of the Expanded Universe comic 2-packs has been a disappointment for a lot of people. Still, there are comic 2-packs that were revealed to fans through some cardback art, hard samples at the Comic Con booth and more at the Star Wars presentation. And there were also some recent listings for previously unmentioned comic 2-packs posted by a UK e-tailer that included Ysanne Isard, Baron Fel, Montross & Jaster Mareel.
However, the overall message from Toy Fair also seems clear: that we can expect a strong focus on the movies and specifically EMPIRE, with EU taking a hiatus. But in the past there have been statements from Hasbro to the effect that if a toy or figure gets shown to collectors that there is a strong motivation to eventually release those items. Given the fact that collectors have seen the following comic 2-packs in either prototype form or Hasbro imagery:
Knights Of The Old Republic #6 - Jarael & Rohlan Dyre
Legacy # 7 - Deliah Blue & Darth Nihl
Heir to the Empire #TBD - Noghri Warrior & Ralrracheen
...how likely are we to see these offered as exclusives, or potentially split out into the Basic Figure line?
Q. The collector media only got a brief look at what's coming in the Saga Legends line at Toy Fair. One figure that a number of troop builders are hoping that may return in this lineup is the Legacy Red AT-AT Driver. It's been tough to come by, but would certainly complement the new AT-AT that's on the way. And while we're at it, what's might the numbering scheme be for the first wave or two of Saga Legends in the new SHADOW OF THE DARK SIDE packaging?
ToyArk.com
Toyark.com: Is there a possibility of re-issuing vintage versions of the Kenner Star Wars figures similar to what has been done with Transformers Generation 1?
Toyark.com: What does the future hold for miniature scaled Star Wars vehicles like the Action Fleet and Titanium lines?
Actionfigurenews.ca
AFN: A few sites on the net have preorders up for some of the cancelled comic packs, more specifically Jaster Mereel and Montross. Now, considering Entertainment Earth scooped up the previously cancelled comic pack, will we be seeing this set at some point, either in the stores or through some sort of online retailer like Entertainment Earth, or even as single figures, or will this comic pack never see the light of day?
AFN: We have yet to see The Clone Wars Wave 1 (Ayala Secura, Bly, Honda Ohnaka) from 2010 at Canadian retail although we've already had Wave 2 for some time now. Are we going to see this missing wave? Does Hasbro plan to produce every wave with Canadian packaging, or has this Ayala Secura wave been skipped like a couple previous waves seem to have been?
Allspark.com
1) For the Expanded Universe figures last year, what decisions - outside of fan polls and the Force Unleashed video game - went into deciding which characters you chose? Hasbro produced obvious, high demand characters, but then they also produced more obscure figures that honestly had some fans taken by surprise. Such as the Lt. Sunbers/Amani and other comic packs.
2) In the Star Wars Crossover lines, we now have robot modes that are Droids. Such as the Battle Droid/Clone Wars AAT Tank, Magna Guard/Magna Guard Fighter, and Battle Droid Officer/Episode I AAT Tank. At the beginning of the line, it was said that Hasbro was hesitant to make robot modes that were robots. However, it seems that something has since changed. Would Hasbro ever then reconsider "Beast Mode" Crossover figures? Such as Dewbacks, Wampas, etc. that convert similar to the recent "Transformers Universe" Cheetor and Dinobot figures?
Asmzine.com
1. Could we get a properly-sized Mouse Droid in the modern line? The old one is way, way, way oversized, and hasn’t been available for years to boot. The “Micro Machines” version of the droid is a perfect-scale iteration, and that’s ven harder to find. It’d be just fine as a one-piece, unpainted black-plastic add-on “accessory” that should fit into the Vintage bubble easily.
2. Snowspeeder Luke’s grappling gun is designed a little confusingly. Is the string supposed to attach to anything? What about the clip at the end of the launcher?
Collectorstation.com
CollectionStation.com: The Dark Trooper, across its 4 figures and 3 phases, always seems to have underwhelming release scenarios. Both phase II releases (the '98 EU wave, and TAC's re-release Saga Legends wave) were headaches to track down; the phase III was spread across expensive exclusive sets so it cost $85 to build, and its repaint was canceled; and now the phase I is stuck in the end-of-the-line wave that has been repurposed to low-production TRU-exclusivity. Clearly, the Dark Trooper has among the worst luck of all Star Wars figures. Has there been any thought to releasing a multi-pack of the 3 Dark Trooper figures together so that collectors finally can army-build the characters they want? Or if that won't fly, maybe you could pack in that new and also hard-to-get Kyle Katarn figure with them and have a Dark Forces theme set?
CollectionStation.com: The Resurgence of the Jedi battle pack has a new ANH Luke Skywalker and already fans are enjoying the new likeness and the torso design, but the other elements have some issues. The VOTC Luke's legs were used here, and they seem too small for this figure, underproportioned compared to the upper body. Also, the plastic "skirt" is rather stiff, preventing the figure from sitting down, extra frustrating since this scene he's sitting down most of the time. And the head deco is odd, cast in white plastic and then painted. Might a future ANH Luke figure address these problems while still using the head and torso sculpts?
CollectionStation.com: It's been 6 years since the last Luke Hoth Gear figure. While that was a nifty item for its time, its sculpt and articulation is specific to 1 part of the movie. Any chance of us getting an updated Luke Hoth, perhaps with a swappable likeness to represent before and after the Wampa attack? We know you usually would prefer to do this via a running change, but after the myriad of running-change-figure problems you had recently, that seems like a troubled route to take, especially with an important character such as this.
CollectionStation.com: In a recent Q&A, you stated that you weren't going to be bringing back the POTF collector coins for the foreseeable future, which meant no reusing the POTF card style. This shoots down hope of seeing vintage updates of the "last 15" POTF figures on their original cards. While we understand the reluctance to revisit coins, if you were planning to update any of the original POTF figures under the "Vintage Collection" line, would you merely put them on their corresponding movie cards? In other words, figures like Yak Face, Barada, General Lando, etc., would be placed on ROTJ cards; while figures like Luke Stormtrooper or an Imperial Gunner could go on 1978-styled Star Wars cards? Or are those "last 15" POTF characters off-limits to The Vintage Collection because of their original cards?
Echo Base
ECHO BASE FORUMS: In the last session you said that although it is unlikely we will see figures of characters from the Clone Wars online comic, you would consider other sources, and you specifically mentioned the Dark Horse Comics Clone Wars series. So we'd like to point out the appearances of Kit Fisto and Plo Koon in the In Service of the Republic story arc, in very cool (no pun intended) cold weather gear. With the popularity of the "Trespass" episode of the TV series among kids and collectors and the recent inclusion in the line of Anakin, Obi-Wan, and Rex in their cold weather gear, would you consider making those unique versions of these two fan-favorite Jedi?
ECHO BASE FORUMS: We have a three-part question (and please forgive us if something similar has been asked already in previous sessions). Everyone is sad to see the Build-a-Droid pack-in go later this year. The Build-a-Droid concept gave us a wide variety of awesome droids from throughout the Star Wars universe, and the pieces also had tremendous customizing potential for both kids and for the large number of collectors who are into that sort of thing. But perhaps the most important thing about the Build-a-Droid pack-in is that it if kids and collectors wanted to have a complete droid, they had to buy an entire wave of figures, even if there were one or two characters that they may otherwise have passed on. So the first part of our question is do you think that ending such a popular pack-in will hurt sales? Also, would you consider bringing the Build-a-Droid pack-in back to the line in the future, even though no other pack-in has ever been brought back after ending? And last but not least, what's YOUR favorite pack-in in the modern Star Wars line's fifteen year history? One of our forum members ran a poll across several different sites, and Build-a-Droid was the clear favorite, but we're curious which one you liked working on and bringing us the most (Commtech chips, Force files, coins, etc.)?
Lichtgeschwindigkeit
1) What ARE the chances of getting an updated speederbike in the foreseeable future?
It wouldn't have to be a completely new mold (although favoured). The Vintage version is still quite good if you could get rid of the “T-bar” which is a relic of Kenner Vintage articulation, redesign the food-pedal, the handle-bars and add some kind of transparent stand to mimic the floating effect.
However, using the Vintage mold instead of a completely new mold would mean figures like the Bikerscout, Endor Leia, and Endor Luke should definitely be updated with the “state-of-the-art” ball-jointed hip articulation.
This would even be a great idea for more than one “Endor speederbike chase” battlepack, with different combinations of figures like Endor-Luke, Endor Leia, Scout-Troopers, Ewoks, Rebelcommandos even Han Solo and Chewie, respectively with one or two Speederbikes. I think this would be appealing to collectors and children alike, since you could offer core characters and Troopbuilder figures in combination with vehicles from a very memorable ROTJ scene.
2)With the success of the "BIG" vehicles in mind, when can we add a Jabba's Sailbarge and Rebel Transport to our collections? We were happy to find out that the Cloud car is near, and hope that a Rebel Transport isn't too far away either. The already released Tatooine skiff is screaming for a Jabba's Sailbarge to complete the ROTJ scene.
Mousedroid
QUESTION 1:
Are there any plans to include the A99 aquata breather, which was included with 2007's Obi-Wan Kenobi (TAC#05), with the Episode 1 version of him and Qui-Gon Jinn?
QUESTION 2:
You have said in the past that "non-agressive" characters will not play a huge part in The Clone Wars line, but can we expect a few of the important or recurring ones such as Bail Organa, Palpatine, Dutchess Satine, Orn Free Taa, or even a Padme in non-adventure gear? Would your position on doing these types of characters in the line change should it continue beyond the run of the TV series?
Snowtroopers.ca
1) Could Hasbro (Hasbro Canada) please update us on the status of
> whether these following products will be coming to Canada or not?
>
> Star Wars Legacy Collection Action Figures Wave 11 (RotS)
> US Assortiment # 92144 / 87535
> US Availability: Now
> Canadian Availability: r2d
>
> Star Wars Legacy Collection Action Figures Wave 12 (TESB)
> US Assortment # 89027 / 87535
> US Availability: Now
> Canadian Availability: r2d
>
> Star Wars Legacy Collection Action Figures Wave 13 (EU)
> US Assortment # 93301 / 87535
> US Availability: June 2010
> Canadian Availability: r2d
>
> Star Wars Clone Wars Action Figures Wave 11
> US Assortment #: r2d
> US Availability: Now
> Canadian Availability: r2d
>
> Star Wars Clone Wars Action Figure 2010 Wave 3 Round 1
> US Assortment #: r2d
> US Availability: March 2010
> Canadian Availability: r2d
>
> Star Wars Legacy Action Figure Comic Packs Wave 7
> US Assortment #: r2d
> US Availability: April 2010
> Canadian Availability: r2d
>
> TRU TFU 5-packs
>
> Exclusive Vintage packaging for the Big AT-AT
>
> TRU Deluxe Figure and Vehicle Packs - Stap w/BD, Speeder Bike w/Scout.
2) Several TCW vehicle repaints seem similar to appearances from the
> Dark Times comic story arc The Path to Nowhere issues 1-2,
> specifically the TRU exclusive Imperial V-Wing, the Shadow Squadron
> ARC-170 (not so much) and the recently revealed Clone Interceptor
> Tank. Were the Dark Times comics the source/partial inspiration for
> these vehicles? Can we expect other EU inspired vehicle repaints such
> as the blue marked Turbo Tank in issue #2?
YodaNews.com
YN: I know many collectors still want the B.A.D concept to move forward, you, Hasbro, have admitted that this was one of your best and favorite pack ins of all time. So why not include the B.A.D. concept in the Saga Legends? I know you are going to say it is because it is a Kid Targeted line, but what kid wouldn't love to put droids together, not to mention, you would draw collectors into this segment as well, increasing sales, you can include new droid parts creating new characters, and recycle some of the older ones per each wave of figures.
YN: Are the boxed items [non-single carded figures] going to be released in vintage style? At Toy Fair you did announce that the AT-AT would have the Vintage Décor as a TRU Exclusive but will others boxed items get that treatment?
If you don't see your site listed and have a Hasbro Q&A Round posted and would like to see your site added to our Round-Up, just shoot us an email at Questions@ENewsi.com.
