Q&A's 2001 Run Begins
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1 Adam, Just looked over the toy fair scans, and they do look great, but have you or any of the numerous sales reps in attendance nailed Hasbro's butt to the wall concerning improving the availability (like Hasbro direct) of all these little treasures? More than anything else, this is still the collector's biggest issue and the first question to be forgotten while in the presence of cool, new stuff. -Gus
As said last week (or sometime,) Hasbro's POTJ distribution has been pretty good for the most part. It might take a month or two, but so far, pretty much everything has languished on shelves for a few weeks eventually.
As far as official word from Hasbro, keep watching Rebelscum. (And keep in mind I wasn't there to ask anybody.)
2 Are we ever going to see the long-rumored Shmi Skywalker figure? I know many fans claim she'd be about as exciting as Aunt Beru...but I personally like the character. Shmi seems to know a lot more about her sons origins than she's letting on and her "don't look back" line still gives me chills. He ultimate fate will most likely be part of what drives Anakin to the dark side in EP2. If that isn't enough, she has more screen time that many of the current figures combined. So why no Shmi? -Willy
While not at Toy Fair, she's still on tap for this year.
3 Do you know what the status, if any, is on Star Wars trading cards? Not the CCG, but actual trading cards. ie Shadows of the Empire, Galaxy, Finest etc. A New Jedi Order trading card set would be pretty cool as far as reference pics. -Chris
Having just gobbled up what's left of FanTastic Media (former owners of the Fan Club), Decipher still seems to have plans for more Star Wars CCG expansions. Topps hasn't done much in the way of trading cards since Episode One, and I'm not expecting anything until Episode Two. Non-sports trading cards are D-E-A-D. Comics were floundering, but this is a market that seems to be far beyond any chance at a decent revival. While I loved the three Star Wars Galaxy series and most of Topps' lines over the years, I'm not hopeful for a future in original Star Wars trading card art.
4
Next time you get a Q about Canada getting the shaft, ask yourself howmany 'real' canadian collectors haven't already bought everything from US collectors/ Ebay yet. And at the $12 a pop they're advertised at being, it's still cheaper to buy wholesale cases from Newforcecomics.com.
"Green Greedo", haveing grew up in the UK (left for Canada in 1987), i've NEVER heard of it been called that.
OK, my Q........
Dunno if it's me brain that's wilting, but i remember seeing a BLUE bandaged Dengar in the old vintage line? Info, or should i just admit my self for being senile now?
He's got a good point, folks. I don't consider myself to be a die-hard TransFan, but I have imported my share of toys from the Land of the Rising Sun because *I wanted them.* The english speaking world isn't entitled to everything from every other part of TESW. (Or in my case, Tnon-ESW.) If you really want something, sometimes you have to work for it-- even collectors in the USA never get American product handed to them on a silver platter.
For your Q, I have never seen any actual toy variations on Dengar that were significant enough to be seen without the utmost scrutiny. If anyone out there has actually seen this-- and in my many years of following vintage stuff, I never have-- please write in. Sounds to me like a modified figure or something similar.
5 O.K., I'm breaking down and claiming stupidity on this one. What is the big attraction to the "graflex"/cell lightsabers? I see these on EBay going for hundreds of dollars. To me they look like tailpipes with a button stuck on them. Do these actually do anyting? do they produce a beam of light or anything? I see some with a round "dish" on top of them. Don't know much about them, so any information or description of what they do would be helpful. If they don't do anything, my opinion is they are a huge waste of $ and just look rediculous. -bobafett14
It's "art." The Graflex tubes were what the original props were made from, and are the best ingredient for new ones. Some people like original designs, some don't. I don't much care for them, but everybody loves something different when it comes to collecting.
6
I got a set of these from a mail-in offer on a Pepsi Cube during the SW:SE era. You had to send in a UPC and, if I recall, a few bucks in exchange for the posters. They most certainly did come in a tube, mine got a little beat before they got to me.
7
i was wondering if the vader TIE was originally designed to be an
electronic toy. those guns look like they were designed to light up.
had you ever heard any rumors from hasbro's people along that line? (it
also seems the vaderTIE is scaled to the FX x-wing.... wouldn't that
have been cool?!)
I've had a few Vader TIEs, and none of them had translucent plastic. I had one with guns molded in blue, and another molded in blue with green paint... so maybe I missed a variation somewhere.
When I first got rumors of the DV Tie in late '95/early '96 (along with the Tauntauns and other toys), all reports pointed to non-electronic. So I'd say nope, it wasn't meant to be that way, especially considering the midsize vehicle assortment never contained any electronic ships.
8
I have, in my stash, every mini-head except for the Snowtrooper. (Neener, neener, neener.)
Three packs of all the sets were incredibly hard to come by, and I've never owned them myself. Most of the heads were available at Pizza Hut, and those that weren't were packed in a hard-to-find follow-up to the boxed set with Darth Vader. A C-3PO box set had the title character, a few of the Pizza Hut guys, and 4-LOM and Luke X-Wing.
They're out there... but they're rare.
9
The first version of the figure included deco on his helmet that more or less mirrored that of the first X-Wing Luke. The second was pretty much Wedge's actual helmet.
10
You can tell your friend he's full of crap. (With love.)
FIN Cold Weather Ninja Action MoFo Snowbi-Wan Kenobi (before your hatred pours in, I like this figure) is based on a Dark Horse comic that got axed. So there's an origin explained. Ketwol-- as said last week-- appears in the Star Wars Special Edition. (ANH, if you didn't guess.) Check Yakface's Realm for pics of the figure with the pants removed (you're disgusting) which shows the prosthetics in all their plastic splendor. Gary from Autographcentral.com mentions that he keeps a newsletter of Star Wars actors' addresses... so there ya go. Due to the onslaught of new stuff showing up this week, this is a great week for a brief Q&A vacation. Q&A will resume, as usual, next Monday. Have a great week, and be sure to check out every site you can for Toy Fair coverage. (My side project 16bit.com will be posting links to various stories that pop up on the various sites, so if you're wanting to not hunt down your info, don't hesitate to take a look there.)
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