Here's one for Mother.
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1 Do you think Hasbro will ever make a dianoga figure? I know there was one made with the original figures series, wasn't there? I think I recall seeing it on sale at a toy convention. It would be pretty cool to get a figure of that. Wish I had bought it then... -Pjh123
An unpainted all-green monster was released in the Death Star Space Station set way back when, thousands of years ago back in the late 1970s. It had four extremeties and an eyestalk, and was a pretty imaginative little critter. Considering it can be had pretty cheap-- $15 or so-- I'd say start your hunt for one soon. The price is certainly not a bad one.
As far as a new one goes, well, the future's wide open and full of as-of-yet unproduced aliens and monsters. I wouldn't mind seeing this one done, myself. Heck, a playset to go with it would be totally awesome...
2 Ok, I have a hypothetical question. Now I don't know how retail works too well, or how they go about ordering product, but here goes. Could any store (like a Walgreens, or some local chain of gaming store, or a comic book store) order any case assortment they wanted from a toy company like Hasbro? Like say I worked for a local drug store (that's not part of a big chain) that sells a few action figures in its toy ailse, and I convinced my manager to order, oh I don't know, one of those POTF2 Commtech cases with an R2-D2 with Holo-Leia. Would he be able to do that? -Brian
Theoretically, a store can order a case from one of the "Collections." Most smaller chains I know don't have the ability to order specific case numbers, and I have yet to find the national chain that can request it. A local grocery store started getting Star Wars in 1995. For some reason, they've got a reasonable toy area, but that's not really important to this particular situation. While they could order a case of Star Wars from their distributors, they could not order one from Hasbro directly. Their distributors often repacked the cases, so an assortment might not be what was expected. For example, they didn't get any Darth Vaders in their first cases, and the first waves of POTF2 all each included at least two Vaders.
Now, a local (and purely local) drug store with, say, under a half dozen locations could probably order from Hasbro, although the minimum order is around $5,000. It's rare that a specific case can be ordered, unless they've changed their policies on this in the past six months. While they might still be able to order cases of POTF2 CommTechs, the guarantee of what'll show up is not there.
3 Why were the new Y-wing and 12" speeder bike released on POTF packaging at the same time the other new items in the line were being converted to new Power of the Jedi packaging? -YAYOGAK46
These items were originally expected much earlier and were more or less completed a long time ago. Since the packaging was finished months in advance, well, here they are.
4
Uhh...
I've been asked this a lot, and well, I flat out don't know where to get 'em. I've really been wanting to get them just for the droids, myself, and haven't found a place where I could buy them. If anybody out there knows, please write in, and I'll post it. (And, as always, "ebay" is not the right answer.) They look pretty cool, and I think a lot of collectors are looking for these as well, but sadly, I have no idea what to tell ya.
5 I was recently browsing the toy magazines and found an updated pictorial directory of all the POTF2/E1 3 3/4" figures. It listed a bunch of carded, non-articulated figures based on the "Men Behind the Masks" tours. There was a photo of a Kenny Baker action figure, and it listed numerous other Star Wars actors. The magazine indicated that these had only been available at a convention somewhere.
Can you provide more information about these figures? Who made them?
(Obviously not Hasbro.) Any guesses where I might find them? I've had no
luck with eBay.
These little resin buggers have shown up online in the past, and I think I've seen them in a past issue of Toy Shop (a newsprint tabloid-size publication for the uninitiated) and a few other places, but again, I don't have any specifics to offer you. The production runs were pretty low, so you've got your work cut out for you.
As fan-made items, they're basically mass-produced customs. Nifty, sure, but another part of that "neat-but-not-completist" type items like the Jedi Spirits set from Asia.
6
While there has been some buzz about them a while ago, nothing has been said since that 1997 official poll on Hasbro's website. The interest sure seems to be there, but this doesn't seem to be where Hasbro wants to go just yet. Hopefully soon, though, as I think a great many of us would love to see a totally new style of Vader.
7
While mine isn't readily available to double-check the date, I'm 99% sure what you've got is the vintage 12" Star Wars Stormtrooper figure.
The earliest days of Kenner Star Wars products were labeled with the General Mills Fun Group brand, ending before ESB. It's a neat item you've got there, especially if yours is lucky enough to be free of the oh-so lovely yellow deco gained over the years.
8
Uniform packaging is very, very important these days. One big unified look, while ugly when 100+ figures hang on a wall, tends to have a strong market presence. A tidal wave of green says a lot more than a bunch of photos, unfortunately.
As far as the originals go, well, apples and oranges. There were people out there that simply adored the clip-n-save bio cards, believe it or not. While collectors typically love the vintage packaging, well, this is an area where they still cater to kids. (After all, we'd buy the dumb things in plastic bags. C'mon, admit it. You'd buy that new Bespin Han figure if it were in a sheet of cling wrap stapled to a comic book backer board with a hole in it.) Getting attention of buyers at retail is all important these days, and for some reason, the bright green/yellow hues of the POTJ cards draw a bit more attention in an aisle of cardboard and plastic than random photographs.
For the record and those new to the column-- I do not like the new cardbacks that much. (If you dropped Obi-Wan and the "POTJ" surname, though...) I open my stuff so ultimately, it don't botha me. While I'm sure there could be a more striking packaging, well, this did take a while to develop and I'm sure it wasn't cheap. Maybe we'll get something unique in Episode II.
9
Short answer: no and no.
Long answer: I've got a similar problem, although mine has the clip and tends to pop out. It stays put if I spend some time with it, so I haven't touched it in about a year now. As always, if the readers have advice, don't hesitate to send it in, I'll post it.
10
Not only are there no plans for more Shadows of the Empire/Epic Force sets, there are no plans for ANY Star Wars Micro product in the immediate future. A true shame, as this was one heck of a great line during its brief run.
As far as I know, there were no plans to continue it before the line more or less fell flat last year. When it comes to wholly original designs, there were six Epic Collections (paperback book sized boxes of figures and vehicles), three Shadows of the Empire collections (on clearance at fine stores everywhere), three Action Fleet ships, one Action Fleet Battle Pack, and something else I'm forgetting that I'll remember in about five minutes. (Sorry about that.)
I've never heard anything other than very, VERY brief rumblings on Tales of the Jedi toys. But I totally agree, a Nomi, Ulic, or especially a Thon figure would make a great toy.
FIN See you on Friday, probably. In case you haven't noticed, there's been some question lulls, many of which are simply coming through as blank (which I really need to investigate because there's no way this many people could send me a blank note.) So as long as your question isn't about the current Target/Wal-Mart exclusives or the just-released Power of the Jedi toys, please feel free to send it on in and we'll see what we can't do.
You've probably been asked this before, but why hasn't Hasbro brought the Marmit figures to the US? -Lindell
While it is obvious the demand is there, Hasbro/Kenner has been a little odd in the past when it has come to the importing of toys designed for other regions of the world. (Japanese Beast & Post-Beast TransFormers, so far at least.) Heck, remember the li'l wind-up R2-D2 from the olden days? Odds are it's licensing, but Hasbro typically just releases their own stuff. If they could get these kits out here for around Japanese retail-- $60 or less-- they would probably sell quite well. It looks like Gundam kits have shown people that kit-based toys need not be feared, so it'd be a neat experiment to release a couple over here.
2 Is there any indication of Hasbro and/or TRU/Target/Fan Club/etc. implementing a pre-ordering system? It would only seem to make sense for everyone, they would know what people want (fewer pegwarmers), we would get what we want (without dealing with the scalpers), doesn't everyone win? -John
Theoretically, sure. Toys "R" Us has been nothing short of magnificent when it has come time for me to preorder a video game there over the past few years. So the infrastructure in the store is there for something like this to work.
Of course, the key word here is work. Extra time spent by employees pulling figures from the assortments would probably be seen as a bad thing. Assortments are still a problem for many, after all, a good chunk of figures in each case are retail poison.
So, long story short: to make this work-- and mind you, there are no plans to do something like this-- the assortments would probably have to be radically adjusted to the point of allowing stores to order a case of one figure. And given the genuinely flighty attitude of many collectors (i.e., collectors not caring the second they realize they can get something), it does have potential problems. After all, I'm sure the stores love the fact that we keep going back every week/day/few days to find something in hopes we purchase something else.
So while we would win, and odds are it'd help Hasbro avoid excess figures, there are a lot of other issues to look at. Some figures are expected to sell only/mostly to collectors, and preorders could mean that if interest in a figure is low enough... well, you see where I'm headed. Maybe this could work in 1997, but today, I don't really think most parties other than people like us would go for it.
3 With all of the rumblings over which figures should be made in the future I have yet to hear anyone mention the figure that I would like to see made. I think the reason why is because the majority of SW collectors are male and don't want to admit they think that baby fuzzy animals are cute. That's right, I'm talking about baby ewoks. I think that a mother ewok w/2 baby wokletts would be very cool. At least it's a figure we have not seen yet and we only really have the two pack of ewoks carded. I'm thinking it's ewok discrimination mayself...out -Jay
Believe it or not, woklings have been on a lot of collectors' wish lists. Mine included.
It's genuinely surprising that from July of 1995 (POTF2's premiere) to today, we've gotten three ewoks from two different sculpts. From their introduction in 1983 to the line's end in 1985, there were eight.
Something isn't adding up.
Cute? Well, we all have different definitions of cute. I think availability is the real problem here. If they were made available, say stick a couple of the little furballs with Paploo or something, it'd totally fly. If there's room in the line, I'd love to see more of these... but that's the key. Most of if not all of next year's line has been determined at this point, and the year after next is Episode II and Boba Fonz and whatever else is new. So there's always a chance if they do another "vote for your favorite" poll or another exclusive or something... but odds are the reason we ain't seein' 'em is the whole Ewok Backlash of the Early 1990s.
4
Considering the current trend of the 12" figure, you'd think so. From the amazing Dragon Models figures to the great 21st Century Toys replicas to the OK GI Joes and the more or less unacceptable bodies used on Star Wars, sales are up on these guys. And all three companies have marketed some sort of accessory pack. Just nothing on licensed characters.
Since I think that Hasbro thinks that nobody opens their 12" figures (and the 4" accessory packs tanked [they wouldn't have done so poorly had they been classic]), I really doubt we'd see anything like this. I mean, look at the standard assortments of 12" SW in 1998 and much of 1999. The figures were existing figures with a new accessory, and that's it. Considering they all sold pretty well, I wouldn't hold my breath for accessories at this time... but I know I'd buy some if they were done well, even though I haven't been buying as many of the 12" figures these days.
5 With all the (tentative) future waves of POTJ figures posted on the web, I see one glaring omission: What the heck happened to the 3-3/4" Biker Scout, which Hasbro teased us with ages ago??? -Brian
It's still on tap for next year. When next year? With the shuffling assortments, that remains to be seen, but I'd bet on a release early in the year. (Well, before June anyway.)
6
It... erm... moves the arm...
7
If you mean the figures molded onto the bottle caps, there were plenty. And by plenty, I mean enough to justify a checklist. Unfortunately, I don't have one ready. (I got lazy tallying this stuff around Episode One, if you hadn't noticed.)
There were a lot of neat Pepsi items released in the land of the rising sun, much of which is around at importers, toy shows, and elsewhere. Since many people don't seem to care... well, prices can be low at times.
8
I've been asked this a lot, and I never saw it. I did some looking around, and I too could not find any for sale.
If anybody out there's got one, feel free to swear at me and verbally explore my lineage. But I'm gonna hafta go with a "no" with an asterisk.
9
Well, after ANH, they're basically just cannon fodder. I expect that's the detail that explain the situation.
10
Uhhh... sure.
FIN
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