Q&A's 2001 Run Begins
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1 Where are you? Why aren't you updating like you said you would? -[Several emails from several people]
Well, as some of you know, this is the season of giving, love, and goodwill toward man, and other things which no reasonable human being actually believes in. (C'mon, be honest, you're only here for this time of year for the goodies.)
And, well, there was this announcement that a break was coming at the bottom of Q&A, but hey, I never read this column, so I guess I can't reasonably expect you to do so either.
THE GOOD WORDThe one thing that you should know is that very litle seems to have happened in the dead time. Well, other than new Lego releases, a few new 4" and 12" releases, the Fan Club being bought by Wizards of the Coast (who is a Hasbro subsidiary) and a few other happenings. (Hopefully the latter of which will cause a change of venue for the 2002 SW convention. I'm sorry, the air museum in Colorado totally sucked as a venue, and I mean that with love.) The new Wizards of the Coast RPG has hit stores in decent numbers, proving that Hasbro is fully capable of getting new product out and in decent numbers, plus you do get a fair amount of stuff in that box. (How cool would it be for them to take a really highly anticipated character and do something like that, just to make sure we can all get it real quick? Wouldn't mind seeing one of these kinds of things every year, personally...) And for 2001, what I would like to see is a new kind of hooded sweatshirt that replaces a traditional hood with a Ninja mask. I'd buy one.
2 How would you feel about Hasbro doing a limited number of vintage-style figures, say 10. I'm talking about figures never made in the vintage line, not resculpts (after all, that's what the new figures are for). If they did make a series like this, I would suggest the following ten figures: Luke ceremonial, Leia slave, Han Stormtrooper, Vader w/removable helmet, Cantina Band member, Grand Moff Tarkin, Rebel Trooper, Garindan, Owen, and Beru. How about you? -t
I've been wanting to see a few like that for some time, but I'd like to see Episode One done that way as well. The only problem is, the vintage figures looked the way they did for a reason, due to the technology and aesthetics of the time... it might be hard to really capture the style properly again.
I think it'd make a neat anniversary or promo thing, but as far as your choices go... um... well, taste varies.
3 I was wondering how much input does Lucasfilm have with Hasbro? Does Lucasfilm get to suggest any figures, vehicles, or a new marketing line or is it all Hasbro? -Paul
LucasFilm-- being the license owner-- more or less gets what they want. They do get grand veto power (and have used it), and while I'm sure they do make suggestions from time to time, the bulk of it comes down to what Hasbro wants to do. I mean, there's no reason to kill an as-of-yet-unmade character as a figure idea, and Hasbro (more than likely) will eventually get all the figures from everybody's want lists on shelves, except for BoShek, as we've previously established, because he totally sucks.
4
Last I heard he showed up on a Hasbro price list for a 2001 appearance. What does this mean to you? Essentially, it means he's being considered and probably made it quite a ways into the development process. Will he come out? It's likely, but not definite. Stuff gets shuffled around a lot, like Shmi Skywalker's delay until some date in the future, and if I recall my history (and by history, I mean urban legend) properly Grand Moff Tarkin's release in 1997 was originally gonna be the Ewok 2-pack until Hasbro opted to swap 'em around after fans went Tarkin-crazy.
As far as time goes, well, to all you readers out there: don't bother asking. I don't know, because releases are pretty random. Delays happen, often. And stuff shows up early, too. So he'll be available some time after a picture is made available.
5 Why is Admiral Motti so hard to find? Is he only one per case or something. I have yet to see him anywhere. -Nils
Motti, along with many figures near the tail end of the Hasbro CommTech assortments, were not shipped to many stores and those that got them found themselves receiving small quantities. He was 2 or 3 per case, so he wasn't shortpacked or anything, but not many cases were shipped. Meaning that he could always show up again, sometime.
He was released... geez, almost a year ago. Time flies.
6
"Based on" in a very vague sense. Some elements of the figure are definitely based on the conceptual art, and some are taken from the final version of the character. So it's almost-but-not-quite an "Expanded Universe" or "Alpha" figure, depending on where it is you get your nomenclature from.
7
The Fambaa's Gungan is a real, separate figure that's as articulated as one might expect from Hasbro-- six points. It's OK... not as nice looking as the carded one, but not bad.
The Fambaa is a sad, sorry toy. It's big, and I do have to give it points for that, but big doesn't cut it when the toy doesn't do anything. The big lizard has absolutely no articulation, making it pale in comparison to 12" exclusives and a lot of other Hasbro items. If you don't play with or open your toys, well, you won't mind. But if you do, don't expect a lot from this nearly $90 (unless it's on sale) exclusive.
8
Well, question #4 more or less touches on this...
Basically, when it comes to release dates, it's hard to tell, and well, the lines of communication are not what they once were. In a nutshell, delays happen, problems arise, and sometimes, we hear about 'em. And if something comes out early... well, don't complain.
9
As far as everything I've heard goes (including asking quite a few people), it seems that the Ric Olie set ain't gonna happen anytime soon.
Now what I want to know is what happened to those ultra-cool Japanese palm talkers that were slated for release over here...
(Yes, this is a joke.)
10
Stop smoking?
Some of you might be saying "hah hah, Adam's being cute again." I'm serious. Smoke and toys don't mix, in a way not too different from irons and bathtubs. Anything that can turn the color of toys is bad (and yes, I include sunlight in this.)
Off-site storage might be your best solution, or perhaps smoking outside. It isn't a terribly convinient solution, but might be good for your stuff in the long run.
FIN Q&A is back on track. There'll be another update this week and depending on the flow of the Q, it'll be twice a week for a little while. (Unless enough stuff comes in to do 3. [None of this five times a week stuff for a while, though. Maybe April or May.]) The next update is planned for Thursday, January 4, assuming there's some questions to be answered.
I understand the difference between VCD and DVD, but if you had the choice of buying the SW Trilogy & Episode I on VCD would you buy it or just bite your lip until a DVD version is released? Is this a good buy or a waste of money? -Boba Brett
This is, without a doubt, the absolute WORST incarnation of the trilogy I've ever had the misfortune to see. It's grainy, the sound is atrocious (and I rarely complain about sound), the color is washed out, the cropping is bad, even as pan-and-scan* goes.
Some say VHS is better. These are good, smart people. If you absolutley must see these movies today, get the VHS or if you're technologically able (unfortunately, I am not) LaserDisc(s). The VCDs are just really, really unimpressive. If you've ever seen a bad MPEG, you probably know what to expect. (Of course, after all of this, I'm sure your reactions will be a wee bit more positive.)
As a collectible/keepsake/something cool to put on your shelf, you could do worse. As a way to experience three of the most beloved sci-fi/fantasy films of recent memory, you couldn't do worse.
Thedigitalbits.com (a terriffic li'l site) posted a blurb in their rumor mill that they had more or less confirmed Episode One's DVD release for the end of 2001. I would assume this means the original films are on the way as well, but *when* is a question to which we're still without an answer.
*=Pan-and-scan is the name for a non-widescreen release of a film, in case anyone out there has yet to hear this term. (See, I did something productive. I'm giving myself a cookie.)
2 Of course, you are aware that Star Wars Insider was purchased from Wizards of West Coast. Do you have any idea if Wizards of the West Coast plan to offer the Carbonite Freeze Playset for sale? -Avery
First, the Fan Club has NOT been terminiated. That said...
We have received no word on the plans for this piece either way, yet. Considering final packaged samples have surfaced, and Hasbro owns WotC, this item being dumped seems like an impossible scenario at this point.
Unless I missed the explaination, the publishers of the club were Fantastic Media and are now Wizards of the Coast. Essentially, we're most likely looking at new management and maybe some other restructuring stuff.
Fan speculation (for what it's worth) believes that this could lead to a smoother release of exclusives and regular product through the Fan Club's mail order division, and I would tend to agree. Assuming that's what they want to do... Hasbro's a tough nut to crack. (I mean, why not release more images of your product early to get fans excited?)
3 Here is my question, what do you think was the best and worst Star Wars figure of 2000? And why? -Jason
Best? There were many, many teriffic figures, especially as the year came to a close. Han Solo (Bespin Capture) has sculpted stitching (I retyped this word several times and it still looks wrong) on his legs, good articulation, and is just so incredibly detailed that not mentioning him would be a crime. Darth Vader (Dagobah)* is also really, really great. Good sculpt, good action feature, arguably the best looking Vader yet.
Worst? Either the Tiger Electronics Darth Maul figure (new dirt, whopee) or Anakin Skywalker (Naboo Pilot) due to the rehashiness. But for worst ORIGINAL figure... a lot of people really hated the new Fode & Beed, which appears to be an original sculpt. (I was OK with it.) I'd have to say Porkins, as I genuinley don't care about the figure, and in the few areas where he's made available, neither does anyone else.
*= Funny story. I saw no less than 40 of Vader and a dozen or two of Porkins (and he was the only Collection 2 figure, save for a Tusken or two) at a Wal-Mart tonight, just miles from a Toys "R" Us with dozens of Beast Wars Transmetals II Blackarachnias. (Well, maybe not funny. Notable.)
4
Also - Were you a fan of the Cinema Scenes? I really hope Hasbro
reconsiders not producing them any more. It was a great way to get 3 new
figures and a way to display them in a pre-made diarama setting.
On the first, well, the last Jedi Luke we got was with the Skiff, and before that, Complete Galaxy. There haven't been many, and I think there's a lot of fans wondering where their cloth-cloak-with-new-sculpt Jedi Luke is as well. It wouldn't be too hard to assume that Hasbro got soured on the idea of holographic figures with the cancellation (temporarily or otherwise) of Amidala and Obi-Wan Kenobi. As far as dioramas go... well, fans will always argue over what "needs" to be done. (I was fond of making long tirades in favor of Wuher for quite a while... it was one of the few diorama-y figures it seemed ridiculous to not have made. Like Jabba's Palace without an ROJ Jabba.)
I don't think there's a fan out there who didn't at least like the Cinema Scenes, but let's face it: their distribution was always bad. If the piece stank, it came out early when stores placed orders. If it was good, it came out when stores were cautious. Plus more often than not, we didn't care about 2 of the figures. I'd prefer they stick with carded figures, assuming they can do something about making them available.
5 Do you think Hasbro will ever make more fig's with slides? -Quigonjames1
Nope. Personally, I hope they just drop the little "bonuses" entirely if they opt to stray from ForceFiles. They just aren't all that interesting... they are kinda neat, but eh. When it comes down to 50 slides or 1 figure, I'd rather see the effort put in a figure.
6
I've seen pictures from those magazines at The Star Wars Collectors Archive, that would be the ideal place to start looking for information on these.
Basically, for those who don't know, old women's magazines included patterns/directions/whatever for various SW-esque playsets, including a pretty generic Space Station, a swamp sort of thing, and a Hoth-inspired base, to name a few.
7
I've heard two schools of thought on why mail-in figures exist in the first place.
One is as a "thank you." Send in the flag/robot/whatever points from your stash and some loose change and get a new toy. It encourages brand loyalty and adds a new dimension of exitement to buying these toys. If a kid can buy a toy and get another toy down the road, the kid may stick with that line a little longer, and it may inspire a few extra sales to get those last few points to score that special figure. (Of course, when I sent for my Anakin Skywalker back in the day, I had an envelope full of the Proof-of-purchases which I almost never used because I thought they'd offer something really cool for a whole bunch of them. [Hey, you were young once too.])
The other, more popular one (or at least the modern mindset) seems to view a mail-in as an incentive to move product off the shelves. Mace Windu, for instance, was at least partially offered to get people to buy up stuff that wasn't moving. (And any fan can tell you that it isn't hard to find a way around "dated cash register receipts.")
With Power of the Jedi, it seems that with a few exceptions there is very little problem with product just flat-out not selling like 1997 figures in 1998. Plus kids aren't buying Star Wars like they used to (or so sez what I've heard) making a kid-friendly offer like this just plain ol' not worth doing.
I think it's worth doing some form of mail-in just as a way to promote the toys. I *really* want to see another cereal/food mail-in offer. A repaint, a holo figure, anything. I like getting stuff in the mail, and it would be a nice boon in cereal sales. Right now, today, I do not think Hasbro should introduce a mail-in in the traditional "buy six figures" sense. Now, I do think it's something we should/will see in November, with Episode Two just around the corner...
8
The pattern changes, but essentially the date stamps can tell you the week and year of production if you decode them properly. (I forgot how to tell when they moved to 5 digits.)
9
I got one recently, and I have to say that unless you're a completist, you will feel ripped off. I was charged like $8 for tax & shipping on top of the $25 price tag, and I think that was too much considering all I wanted to pay for one was $8 total. It's small, it's kinda lame, and nobody else has these. Well, not now. If you want one, buy one now-- if you don't... then don't.
You won't be missing much.
10
There were, in fact, six books in the set. The rundown on the second series (books, contents, etc.) appears on our Checklists area. The second set is rare. Not "ooh, look at me, I got a new Scout Trooper, it's rare" rare, but "good luck, and I mean that" rare. I got mine direct from Galoob, and I don't believe I've seen them offered up for sale elsewhere, ever. (Well, maybe in a collection once.)
The books were: Dark Force Rising, Courtship of Princess Leia, and Dark Apprentice. They were pretty cool, but well, they're hard to get.
(Speaking of "hard to get", anybody got the mini-head set with the Snowtrooper to sell/trade out there?)
FIN KB Kids marked down their 12" electronic Vader/Obi-Wan set to a paltry ten bucks. Not a bad price. They've also got the Trophy Maul set for $1.99 (a steal for such a nice piece), and some other stuff ta boot. More next week.
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