Ultimate Q&A Week!
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1 Are the breath masks removable from the Mynock Hunt Han, Leia & Chewbacca? Did Hasbro use the same Tauntaun for both Han & Luke? If they are different Tauntaun, what is the difference? -SMDLAK
The Mynock masks are removable. Chewie (without the mask) is probably the best Chewie figure to date, so I highly reccomend picking up one of these sets to open if you have the means.
The Hantaun Tauntaun has a different head and mine (at least) tends to stand differently than Luke's. Still, the two toys are very, very similar, and for the most part come from the same molds. But they are different enough to make you mad.
2 What do you think about a POTF2 Tie Interceptor (any chance of Hasbro making it)? -Jccavie
Not any this year, and not likely anytime soon. It could happen-- I'm not saying it won't-- but as you may have noticed, vehicles are relatively uncommon in the POTF2 line.
(And just FYI, everybody: I do not typically answer "when is XYZ coming" questions because the answers are on this page. If it's not on the checklists area, our previews page, or on another web site [in photo form], it probably ain't coming anytime soon.)
3 Has the Fan Club ever had any discussions with Galoob about producing some of the hard to find items like the Action Fleet TIE Defender and E-Wing or the Collector's Fleet Super Star Destroyer? If not, is there any chance of there ever being a deal between the two companies to bring us these items? -Michael
No plans at this time have been made to sell any classic Galoob product through any such outlets. While those last 3 Action Fleet vehicles were a little hard to find, they're nothing compared to the last 3 Epic Force packs, the last 3 X-Ray Fleet sets, and the last few packs of the mini-action playsets. (All of which a lot of us would like to see somewhere, sometime soon since almost everybody missed them.)
And just so ya know: Collector Fleet was always a Hasbro line.
4
Let me start off by saying that is totally wrong.
While POTF2 is far too young to say what will be rare in the long term, there are a lot of things that just didn't see high production numbers. I stand by the notion that the RC Speederbike with Luke is rare as none have shown up pretty much anywhere, ever, with very few exceptions.
As far as figures go, the minimum run on each figure through at least early 1999 was like 250,000. Not rare by any stretch of the imagination. This is more or less what I've always said... some are hard to get, and a lot are being hoarded, but there are a ton out there.
As far as Green carded figures versus Freeze Frames, no numbers or even hints have been disclosed. It could go either way, since it looks like we're still seeing more Freeze Frame figures show up on clearance on a fairly regular basis. FFs never really were that rare, just scarfed up quickly and poorly distributed.
Are there any rare POTF2 figures? I'd say the US versions of the Freeze Frame Sandtrooper & Weequay would be on that thin line between "scarce" and "rare." Enough of the line is showing up on clearance or at the Fan Club that for the most part, anybody could easily scare up a complete set of figures (variations aside). Well, maybe not the Holo Leia R2-D2, otherwise known as the greatest single carded R2 unit ever made that nobody can freakin' get.
5 I was wondering if you or anyone else out there knows of a way to take the bends / creases out of the bubble on my carded Wuher? -Scott
Well, if you can't pop out the dents, you're gonna need to buy a second. Or just complain that the item arrived damaged.
6
The three Hoth beasts were relatively hard to find in that they were never extremely common. Luke's Tauntaun is the easiest of the three to find, followed by the Wampa and Han Tauntaun.
As far as getting them, they have been showing up-- infrequently-- in the recent clearance sales accross the United States. The various sponsors and advertisers of Rebelscum have 'em from time to time, but I can assure you that 4 to 5 times retail is too much.
7
It's really no different from how it was in 1997/1998 except now it's a lot of resculpts instead of new, cool, awesome figures (with a few resculpts).
As far as the Bespin guard, what's your beef? It's really not that bad. Granted, it isn't AMAZING, but it's a Bespin guard, there's not much in the way of innovation here. And I would say it does look a bit better than the vintage ones, but the hat does seem a wee bit too small.
Exclusives??? Please, this is nothing. 1997, that was ugly.
8
These were offered as a mail-in offer from Wal-Mart and Hasbro in late 1998. Basically, send in some UPCs and a coupla bucks, you get a poster. So it was an exclusive mail-in, which when you get right down to it is a pretty stupid kind of offer.
As far as it what it goes for now... trust me, you don't wanna know.
9
Elmer's Glue Sticks always work well for me, believe it or not. Other solutions exist, but they don't get much easier than those buggers.
10
Good question.
My understanding is that Hasbro said they have no plans to do more. In SW-lingo, this means "maybe we'll do more, maybe we won't, but we ain't tellin'."
Why not more? Why indeed. I still believe Hasbro is nuts for not having a widely available Mara Jade figure, with the character's surge in popularity and a widely unfilled demand for the character. (I'd love to see a new one that doesn't look so... well, worthy of a resculpt.) Heck, toss in a new Jedi Master Luke, make it a 2-pack, sell a billion.
I would assume there's at least a small market who would buy the likes of Kir Kanos from Crimson Empire, Expanded Universe outfits of main characters, a bigger Darktrooper, or even some characters from the PC games. Since they'd be all-new figures, I'd be more jazzed about new Expanded Universe toys than any other film-based character at this point. Sadly, it seems it is not to be, at least in 2000.
So Hasbro-- we know you're reading-- and if you've got a minute, we'd like more EU. Or just more of the first EU so the rest of us can finish our sets.
FIN In other words, I'll be doing an update every weekday until there are no questions in my backlog. So send yours on in awready. (Oh, and BoShek still sucks.)
1
I agree, J'Quille is a great alien figure and would be awesome to see in plastic. The poll is just that-- a poll. Sometimes Hasbro makes stuff according to them, sometimes not. I wouldn't rule out anything yet.
2 Are the lego figure packs seen at the fan club exclusive? The sets of three, Han, Luke, and Boba, and Vader, Maul, and Emperor? And are you dying like I am for a proper cantina? -Wedgered2
Actually, I'm told we can order these during the summer from Lego Shop-At-Home for a paltry $4.99 shipped (per 3-figure set). And there's gonna be more.
As far as Cantinas go... Lego or Action Figure? I'd LOVE a Lego Cantina, but hey, they don't seem too big on playsets. As far as POTF2 goes, I'm actually quite happy with the paperboard one... it's not perfect, but hey, it does the job and now that it has a Wuher to go with it, it doesn't look quite so sad.
3 i've seen at some places on the web about some upcoming potf figures, in particular, bespin han sol and ig-88. have you in all your wiseness seen or heard any truth to this? -ace
I've heard the same stuff you have... so while it probably is happening, I have yet to see pictures or anything like that to back it up.
4
Challenge of collecting? This is a problem. Collecting 20 year old toys should be challenging. Collecting props should be challenging. Collecting new toys should NOT be challenging. If we have a problem getting this stuff, that means kids can't get it at all most of the time. And I want to say I HATE that. I don't collect this stuff because it's collectible, never did. I crack open these toys and set 'em up, basically playing with them. These should not be rare, scarce, or even as hard to
find as they often are for most people. Now I'm off the soapbox.
As far as resculpts go, the market is there, Hasbro's just ignoring it. Example? Darth Vader. Until the mass waves of clearance, there weren't any Vaders available from around May of 1999 (when the Flashback started to dry up) until what-- April? The CommTech resculpt-- which people WANT-- is virtually impossible to find at retail. It's not rare, it's just not there. If a kid wanted a Darth Vader, he's out of luck. Ditto with Boba Fett, the Stormtrooper, and many others which would sell if the
y were on the market, resculpt or no. While the market is fed up with Tatooine Luke, Jedi Duel-ish Obi-Wans, Anakins, and a few others, there is still room for a lot of other resculpts because the characters are basically unavailable. While some collectors are sick of some figures and would never shell out good money for some characters again, who doesn't want to see a resculpted ultra-spiffy Chewie? Or an R2-D2 with holographic Leia? (What? They made one? Are you kidding me? You must be kidd
ing me!)
While the line won't die because the "obscene amount of money" Hasbro paid for the license covers all six Star Wars films and you know they're gonna milk it (and rightly so), it may dwindle. While there is a strong collector interest in minor characters, they would be best done as exclusives, or dare I say it, as exclusive Cinemascenes. Episode One is still a goldmine of unmade background (and foreground-- let's get some more Amidalas, OK?) characters, however Hasbro seems to be making far too few of th
e really nifty figures. (While it may have not been clear before, I LIKE Episode One figures, I just wish there was a greater variety. The past two waves of Collection 1 have been resculpts.)
POTF2-- that is, classic figures-- will continue for some time. Since the two lines are consolidating into one, dropping the distinction between the lines, it may curb unnecessary resculpts (did you know we're getting ANOTHER R2-D2 this year?) and it'll always leave the door open for more toys from either line. Which I like. Right now, (best Criswell voice here) I predict that by the year 2007, that Star Wars Action Figures will only be seen in Kay-Bee clearance bins, and will be produced in a factory
under New Mexico.
5 Hello Adam. I was wondering about those One posters that were released prior to The Phantom Menace. You know, the posters that had one of the characters on them with a short phrase, "One (fill in the blank)". Were they ever available in the states? I don't think I've ever even seen them on eBay (maybe I'm not looking in the right places). Anyway, just curious. -Dan
I got one of the Obi-Wan posters off of eBay last year, and I gotta say, it's nice to see that the oversas markets got significantly better advertising than we did. Kudos to their ad agencies.
As far as US availability, I could be wrong, but I don't believe anybody has marketed these to American customers. I'm actually kinda surprised the Fan Club didn't sell these, because this is something I'd actually buy. I have seen them around, but I pretty much just tripped over them. Best of luck, eBay's gonna be your best bet unless the Insider grabs some of them.
6
An amazing amount of people bought vintage stuff when it was new and it ended up being stowed in attics. From talking to the people who sold these oddities, I typically get two answers. The most common is "I bought it for my son's birthday and he outgrew the stuff, so it just sat there and now I want to get rid of it." The second most common answer is "I thought it'd be worth something." The second answer is typically adjoined to Rancor Keepers and beat-to-kingdom-come Imperial Attack Bases, but has
been heard near 12-backs and other goodies. Plus there are countless millions of vintage Star Wars toys.
New Ewoks? We can dream. I'd love to see any new Ewok that isn't a Wicket repaint. I'd say chances are good, but not this week.
7
Also what are the differences between the Millenium Minted Coin
Emperor, and the Flashback Photo Emperor, aside from the coin and base?
And finally, Does the Power Fx Emperor have a soild bottom like the
first Emperor, or were the legs sculpted on this one?
The game Vader is identical to the Removable Helmet figure except for the head. It's quite good, I'm surprised more people haven't jumped on it at its relatively low-low price around the country.
Emperor differences: Flashback is a totally different sculpt, totally different lightning, different pose, well, let's just say it's really significant and warrants picking up both figures.
The coin & Power FX figures, however, are quite similar. As far as the Power FX Emperor's bottom, well, that just sounds smutty. But he does have a uni-leg.
8
Good question. Most people will tell you the answer is "Because Hasbro is smoking crack." These people need to be beaten severely. The answer is women don't sell well. Well, not always. Female figures have a history of doing badly at retail, and while there are exceptions, there are not many.
As of now, there are 4 Portman-y figures out there. Which isn't that bad in a year's time, considering only two look similar. I mean, look at Anakin... there's 7 of him, one has a different outfit, the rest have different hats. Plus there's like 9 Mauls, heck, most of the major characters have had more resculpts in under a year than some entire toy lines have different figures.
There is at least one 4" Portman-y character on the way, Sabe. Now, I'm under the impression that there's two: one on a card, and a different one for the Wizards of the Coast exclusive, but I could be wrong. I'm hoping to see some generic handmaidens or something some time soon, as long as it isn't another "battle dress" version.
9
I believe so. And the Fan Club is charging-- I believe-- $450 + $75 shipping, give or take a few bucks. It's a bit much, but considering how awesome this piece is, it's a pretty good deal.
10
Good question. It's one of the few vintage things I still need to pick up one of these days.
This is the (in)famous Palitoy Death Star Playset. It was offered in England, and I believe Canada, Australia, and a couple of other countries. It's basically just a big chipboard playset. It's neat, it's expensive, and I'd kill for one. Watch Toy Shop, eBay, and local collectible shows for a shot at one.
FIN
Will they ever release a second E1 CD with all the music not included in the original? -JSolano199
We can hope. No plans have been announced as of yet, but I'm still hoping we see a 2-CD set some day with deluxe liner notes and the whole ball of wax. Stay tuned to Rebelscum or your favorite SW web site for news, though... I think there's a lot of us that want to see something like this some day.
2 I found a Ceremonial Luke on action slide card that has "Admiral Ackbar, Leading the assault against the second Death Star" printed on the slide frame. The slide picture itself is correct: the award ceremony at the end of SW. I was just wondering if you've encountered this or if anyone else has. -SSandpipe
A common error. Sorta. Quite a few POTF2 Freeze Frame figures have goof-ups regarding the slide, be it the wrong writing, the wrong picture, or the wrong slide with the wrong picture on the wrong figure.
It happens, and as far as errors go, it's not that uncommon. Some people will tell you errors like this are worth less than a regular figure. I'd say it's neat enough to command something cool in trade, but definitely not worth big bucks. It's neat, and a nice piece for any collection.
3 You may consider this a loopy question, but is it safe to store figures in cardboard boxes? Like, does the cardboard perish and have an adverse effect on the figures? -John
Everybody out there has a story on this one. From my experiences, anything that keeps them dry, cool (not cold), and out of the sun is good. Odds are keeping the figures safely in cardboard boxes would insure they outlive you. (Not accounting for natural disasters, wanton destruction, or acts of Dog.)
4
Lego's pricing is the one thing about it that just plain stinks. I like the product, kids like the product, apparently most of you guys like the product. But it ain't cheap.
The prices you've seen so far are above what Toys "R" Us, Target, and the Marts will charge. It could very well be $89.99 or even less at these toy discounters. And it's entirely possible we're seeing a price increase: Lego does really well in the USA, and if I recall correctly, 1998 was not a good year for worldwide Lego sales. While the price will be most likely a wee bit lower than Lego's Shop-At-Home charges (and WILL be cheaper than the Fan Club), don't expect it be like $60. I think $79.99 woul
dn't be THAT farfetched, but hey, that's why we wait for those wonderful "buy one get one half price" sales.
5 I have been seeing some advertisments for upcomming figures with "softgoods", ie: Qui Gon w/softgoods. What are softgoods? -Scott
At Kenner back in the old days and modern day Hasbro, "Soft Goods" are well... soft goods. Things like cloth or plush (or "girl toys") get lumped as "soft goods" quite often, and in this case, since Qui-Gon has a cloth piece around his waist, that's what he got called.
I don't know if it holds true for all toy lines at Hasbro/Kenner, or the industry as a whole, but in Star Wars, that's how the words are typically used (as far as I can tell).
6
Nope. This is something that would have to be dictated by the buyers, like the "Marts", the "Toys", and anybody who can afford to haul the stuff over from Hong Kong. Many smaller stores really want cases with nothing but new product, and to be frank, it could do wonders for the line in the long run (I'd be more likely to pick up a case if I knew I'd be getting 2-4 of a new figure.) So far, petitions just nudge Hasbro along a little bit faster-- lots of product ideas are considered, and our input grea
ses the wheels. As far as how they ship things... that's really entirely up to them, and I hope they're getting wind of the fact that collectors are not happy when they can't get new figures.
Having new figures-- any figure-- at one per case isn't going to do anything but cause problems. I don't care if it's Anakin #27, shortpack it and people will want it. Especially if it's good, like the last two "one per" figures, Naboo Swamp Jar Jar Binks (which I have never seen other than in pictures) and the CommTech POTF2 R2-D2 (which someone was kind enough to assist me with, thanks much.) If it's all part of Hasbro's plan to get people nervous, well, from the email I get it seems to be working.<
p>
7
Well, good question. It was my understanding that the bulk of Galoob was axed except for a few people on a few key brands, Star Wars being one of them.
If anybody from the original teams are left, odds are they're still working on the Action Fleet and MicroMachines lines. The company itself is now part of Hasbro, so technically, there is no more "Galoob" remaining in the world. But I hope those guys are still working, as I eventually found pretty much every classic Galoob item produced-- they were among the best, and now that they're on clearance, I reccomend everybody snag a $20 bill and grab some goodies from Toys "R" Us or Kay-Bee. You'll thank me
later.
8
Actually, I update those lists within the first 10 days of every month. (Sometimes I forget to change the date, but I assure you, the changes were made.)
We don't keep our lists by waves. Why not? Well... there's a lot of argument on what constitutes a wave. A new cardback? A new release? Who knows? I think that Wave 2 of POTF2 is just Boba Fett, X-Wing Luke, and Lando. Some people insist it includes the TIE Pilot, Dagobah Luke, Hoth Han, and Yoda even though they hit in February/March '96 and Fett & Co. showed up in late December 1995. (If I recall correctly, I got my Fett like two days after X-mas.) But I digress.
I know I found TC-14 and R2-B1 a month or so before I saw the "Crappy Wave" (Ben, Maul, Anakin rehashes), but hey, that's me. I believe they hit before those Collection 1 guys, but hey, you can always just mix 'em up too. (Just be thankful you've got sufficient space to display all your figures. What I wouldn't give for that right now...)
9
With it being now almost a full year since the release of Episode 1, and
assuming you had a chance to see the film again on videotape (Rented, I know
you refused to buy it until it comes out on DVD) do you think we, as fans,
have been to critical of the Phantom Menace? Since the movie's release, the
majority of comments I've heard about it by so-called "fans" have been
criticism of it of one kind or another. From "I hate Jar Jar," and "Jake
Lloyd was terrible as Anakin," to the more nasty "Lucas sucks!" and/or "The
script sucked" to the just plain ridiculous "They made Star Wars into a KID'S
movie!" (Hate to have to point this out, but since Lucas based Star Wars on
the Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers serials he watched as a kid, they ALL very
much ARE "Kid's Movies.")
Personally, I enjoyed Episode 1. Was it the best Star Wars movie of all time?
No, to me that still is Empire Strikes Back. But I don't think that makes
Menace a bad film. Was Jar Jar annoying? VERY! And as I tell my friends, I
can tell you the exact moment the he went from being amusing to annoying to
me. (In the junk shop, when, after Qui Gon tells him not to touch anything,
we see him juggling a dozen different things he's picked up and lost control
of. At that point the "fun" of having a comedic SW character wore thin.) But
Jar Jar doesn't "ruin" the movie for me. As to the acting ability of the
various members of the cast, I would point them to Mark Hamill's film work
before and after Star Wars and ask them to compare. I think one viewing of
Corvette Summer would end any criticism of Jake Lloyd's acting ability.
In the final analysis, the film WAS a success, financially at least. It did
make it into the top ten highest grossing films of all time, displacing The
Lion King.. And as I've said, I DID enjoy it. What do you think? Have fans
been to critical, or am I out of my mind here?
Originally I had a REALLY long answer here which I cut because I decided that even I wouldn't want to read it.
So the short answer: Fans should be critical, but the problem is I only see extreme ends of the spectrum most of the time: people who hate the movie are very vocal, and people who love the movie are also very vocal. Personally, I have a bigger problem with people who like the movie a little too much-- these are the people that laugh (and quite loudly, might I add) at the slightest hint of humor in a Star Wars film-- there's a funny story about this, but I'll skip it because, well, odds are it's too long.
It's good to have a critical eye, but I don't know if anybody realizes how tired "Jar Jar sucks" sounds right now. If you've seen the "I Didn't Do It Boy" Simpsons where Bart gets on TV, you might have a good idea what I'm trying to say. Those who love it, great. Those who didn't, great. Just as long as both groups stop regurgatating the exact same arguments (usually not their own), I'm happy.
I like the movie, but I'm not ga-ga over it. Sure, it did well. Lots of movies do. (Independence Day, anyone?) Sure, lots of us saw it fifty times (I think I probably saw it less than anybody reading this, only 5 times), and that had to help. It did well as a movie, but to be honest, it's next to impossible for any Star Wars film to fare poorly at the box office. I mean, they'd really have to do a number with Episode II to see a really significant decline... if it doesn't do $250 million, I'll b
e very surprised. Ditto with E3. May the acting suit the story... and to be honest, I don't really see a problem with it given the series. It works. Like any movie, there will always be a few things that could use a little improvement (except This Is Spinal Tap, of course), but there are better things for me to complain about than a movie that pretty much everybody complaining will buy eventually anyway.
10
I've been getting these questions a lot since the beginning, and for the most part, have avoided 'em. But now, well, here's some answers.
I've been in the hobby for a long time. When everybody's brothers in my neighborhood decided to sell their old toys, I bought 'em up. During the "dark ages" of 1985 and beyond, I had a heck of a great time getting this stuff cheaper than you can get Ninja Turtles today. So I've been doing this for a while...
My Star Wars writing resume: Adam's Star Wars Newsletter (ASWN) ran from 1995 to 2000 (technically 1999, but who's counting?) It was a widely-circulated free email newsletter that went from 4 readers to around 400 in its first couple months, topping at around 5,000 or so (I think) before the day where I decided there was no way I'd ever manually update that mailing list again. It was filled with lots of news, special features, and weird behind the scenes toy information. I never kept much of an archiv
e of it, so the information that doesn't get rewritten and reprinted elsewhere is pretty much gone. There are no plans to start it again, but if given the chance to do it for a job (part time or otherwise), I'd be all for it.
Internet: I've done guest articles for the AOL SWFC (the 'zine was once called the HoloCroN, dunno if it's still around. It was awesome, lemme tell you, those guys knew their stuff.) Also wrote like three or four articles for Auction Universe, some for our sister site "Fandom Menace", and wrote a lot of stuff for Entertainment Earth, including maintaining a database of web site reviews from 1996 to 1999. (We might start it up again, it's still there for your perusal, and can be searched: it's great fo
r finding prop customization info and all sorts of things.) Right now, I'm doing some special articles for them, which get posted to their news semi-regularly. I did Jedinet's collecting page for a while, which eventually became the ASWN web page, which was pretty much abandoned earlier this year. Aside from what I pen for Entertainment Earth and here at Rebelscum, I'm working on a new website that's covering other toy lines and a few other things, and will be showing some stuff in a level of detail y
ou don't see here. It's called 16bit.com, and will launch, ready or not, on June 1. (After nearly two years of delays.)
Print: Not so many things. I did go figure! Magazine's Star Wars section from issue 4 to... whatever the last one was in 1998, and this was probably the most fun I had actually writing since the first year of ASWN. If you see a back issue (often available at Borders), please, take a look. Humor me. The last article I wrote for a magazine was for the Topps Star Wars Galaxy Collector's big Episode One issue. (Did the video game thing.) Right now, I am not working for, freelancing for, or associate
d with any printed media. (However, if you need to hire someone who knows their stuff and can write a lot and quickly, lemme know. (Shameless? You bet. 'tis what I do best.)
OK. That's who answers the questions here. Oh, and the background on my Mac is a slightly-enhanced-by-me live shot of a truly great band, "The Causey Way", that I found on the web. OK, enough with the frivilous questions, back to the good stuff tomorrow.
FIN
Earlier this week you mentioned that POTF2 figure runs were typically around 250,000. Any idea what the body count was for EP1? What about the vintage lines? (SW, Empire, ROTJ, POTF, & Droids) -Jedieb
I don't think I've gotten specific numbers, but I think that Steve Sansweet's awesome From Concept to Screen to Collectible book mentioned that in year one there were over 12,000,000 figures sold in 12 varieties. That probably carried for at least a little while, and the absolute lowest run of any toy action figure used to be around 35,000... so somewhere in between 35K and several million units for vintage. Kenner isn't known for widely available facts and figures lik
e this.
E1? Well, good question. Considering much of what we see is unsold stock, it could be lots more than 250,000 or even less... I doubt less.
2 Is there any chance of finding a copy of the Journal of the Whills? I've seen it referenced on several occasions, but I have yet to ever see it. -Steve
In the original novel of Star Wars, the actual novel *Star Wars* was part of the larger Journal of the Whills. A "Journal" does not exist outside George Lucas' head, and I think he dropped the concept of the actual book prior to ESB. So, well, sorry to report that there's one less book to look for.
3 Just curious...where was all these POTF2 figures and vehicles that have shown up recently at TRU and KB? Was it all sitting in a Hasbro warehouse? Also, seems like every vehicle was available, save the Snowspeeder (circa 1996). Whats the story on this?
Finally, thanks to popular demand, the EU troopers, Kyle Kataarn and Mara
Jade have been/are being reissued thru the Fan Club. Any reason that the FF
Weequay/Sandtrooper/Tie Pilot figures can't be?
Ships and everything are ALLEGEDLY from a giant deal between Hasbro and Kay-Bee where Hasbro sold off every unit (i.e., ship, figure, whatver) for $0.03 US each. Please note the use of the word "alleged" along with "most likely a crap rumor" and "Hasbro won't comment on this sort of thing." It's not unprecedented, though, as there were some deals about this good at Kenner's warehouse clean-outs roughly 10 years ago. And believe it or not, we have gotten a few (few being yet
another key word) reports of sub-$10 Snowspeeders showing up. I'd buy a couple if I saw 'em, but alas, it was not meant to be.
As far as EU & FF, well, real reasons? Not realy. I would say it's safe to wager that most of the demand for those FF figures is artificial, that is, "I can't have it and now I want it." While a lot of collectors really want those frames, I really doubt that we'll see them reissued as they're just package variations as opposed to actual figures being hard to find. Personally, I'm genuinely surprised Hasbro hasn't tried to offer the harder to find frames through alternative outlets yet. A set for $
50 or so would sell pretty well, methinks...
4
I don't know what that is.
The Collector Fleet Super Star Destroyer had a handful of sounds and was marred by translucent blue (not grey, BLUE) plastic making up part of the top of the ship.
5 Do you know if Hasbor has any plans to make 3 3/4" figures to scale? For example, In the film, Chewie is a full head taller than Han. Is the Chewie figure? No. Also, Vader is quite a bit taller than Luke. Is the Vader figure? No. Wouldn't this make sense? At least for collectors? -Greg
This has been an issue with us for some time... especially with figures like Prince Xizor and the Rebel Fleet Trooper. I think I'm seeing improvements (Cantina Han next to Mynock Chewie, for instance) but I doubt we'll ever see perfectly scaled action figures out of any company.
6
One might expect to find what's out here, now. Maybe, and that's a big maybe, you can get some early release figures. Don't expect too much.
7
I asked Steve Sansweet this one a few years ago (he's popular today, ain't he?). Royal Guards have this amazingly intricate outfit involving layers of fabric, intricate tassles, and detail the likes of which ye hab nebber seen. Unfortunately, nobody's bothered to shoot these, so we've never had a chance to know how cool it is.
In Crimson Empire, hero Kir Kanos has a red set of armor under his robes. Some red Stormtroopers have been connected to Marvel Comics character Lady Lumiya, a female Rebel Pilot turned Dark Lord who played a significant role in the series' final issues (and would make an awesome Expanded Universe figure.) I recall them being elsewhere, but my comics are out of reach until next week. (Grumble.)
8
It was on coming soon lists, confirmed by Hasbro, and eventually totally denied by Hasbro. Why this is, I don't know.
As far as I know, Talon Karrde was never considered seriously for the Expanded Universe. I remember hearing that Arden Lyn (Masters of Teras Kasi) was considered at one point, but wasn't meant to be. Which was probably for the best.
9
What is going on?!?!?
These are some items that fell through the cracks in some areas. Jabba's diorama, though, showed up en masse last year around May in stores all over the place, including online. So check out a few places around the internet for this one. Now, I have seen ONE Jabba with announcer in stores. Of course, I snagged it. I think a few online toy stores got 'em, but they aren't cheap.
10
Cutting back, perhaps, but a "retailler is dropping SW" rumor floats around at least once every year. If a Target employee told you this, he's currently sitting at home laughing so hard milk squirted out his nose... while it may come off sounding rude/elitist/or whatever, I do not reccomend toy store employees as valuable sources for information. Even at what's coming in on the truck, fact is most of them will tell you something so you go away. There are many nice folk, though, h
owever there are not many. And the great people are really, really great, and I want to salute all those fine folk who do know what's going on, especially in times like today.
So in other words, no, no store has announced a total ban on SW products on their shelves as of yet. Every now and again shelves go bare for reasons unknown, but it doesn't mean a cancellation is afoot.
FIN
Do you think they will ever release a set of the Episode 1 commercials featuring the different characters? The only time I saw a few of them were on the Rosie O'Donnell show. You know, "One Hope", "One Will", etc. As far as I can remember, they each contained dialogue that wasn't in the movie. I'm pretty Darth Maul had one also. -Matt
These would be the tone poem ads. They're on the official site, or more accurately, here.
(I meant to include this one yesterday, but I got up to flip a Talking Heads LP over, then wanted a soda, and kinda forgot.)
2 Has hasbro ever considered making "Star Tours" figures? After all, lots of people have seen those little droids that always talk to the people in line, yet hardly anyone has seen figures such as orimaarko and others who can only be seen by putting the movie on pause at just the right moment. Just wondering. -Smokey
Anything's possible, but not photos or info ever leaked my way.
3 Do you happen to know if the new furby-style Interactive Yoda uses Frank Oz's voice? -Brian
I think I answered this, but I might not have. So here goes.
In California's Pamona toy show, they had the little bugger on display. And I heard from someone who I put a lot of stock in that it does not use a voice that fans will be happy with... so no Oz for you. (And this is why I've decided to pass on it.)
4
I've bought all of them at retail. 3 of 'em on clearance for $1 in December of 1998. Beru showed up for $3 in many places over the past few months... as to why they're hard to find, well, they just are. :)
5 I remember awhile back Rebelscum announced that Ploo Koon would be seen in plastic possibly as a yet another exclusive. Is Hasbro still gonna make this fig or has it gone like many others into the maybe but probaly not bin? -Jermy
Hasbro has NEVER stated it was an exclusive. Someone heard a rumor about a Zellers Exclusive Canadian figure (which turned out to be Applause, I believe) and ran with it.
Yes, a Hasbro Plo Koon is coming, but the word "exclusive" was not attatched to the announcement.
6
I heard about these. It's kinda neat, but to be honest, well, I wouldn't say ripped, but footwork could've gotten you those cheaper over time. Spirit Bens don't go for more than $5 these days (if that), and the mail-in Action Masters Gold C-3PO (which is very cool and not all that common) typically sells for under $10.
It's neat. That's for sure. But it's probably worth more as a neat packaging oddity than it would be as the sum of its parts.
7
Well, Hasbro just doesn't like that weird 51st state with the double language thing.
Seriously though, the word I heard through the grapevine is that Hasbro Canada is loaded with so much overstock of May 3 figures that it can't unload that it does not want to import more. As far as why during POTF2... who knows? I'd say it isn't that Canada is disliked, but the USA is priveleged... we get pretty much everything.
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here's the url:
http://www.synicon.com.au/sw/mf/mandible.htm
it's a great site by the way, lots and lots of detailed information about
the size and proportion of the ship.
This was shown in issue #2 of the now defunct Star Wars Galaxy (NOT SWG Collector) Magazine, which featured the best article ever written on the post-POTF toys that never saw production.
This was one of those unmade toys, along with a desert-ready Snowspeeder, and lots of information about a toy line surrounding a Kenner-invented character responsible for the Clone Wars. If you have access to it, even if it costs you $15 or more (which it shouldn't, it's a $3 mag these days) you MUST BUY this issue of the magazine. It's that cool.
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Adam doesn't quit. Adam gets bitter. (Compare my writing from 1995 to what I do today, here.)
I'm always looking for stuff. Just not always with a smile. I kept buying SW from ESB until... well, now. :) There were dry spells... but any good scavenger knows that when the wolves are done, there's still a lot of decent meat left over. Quitting means you'll miss some particularly interesting things, and while I have taken a "namoore of this" period from the middle of December '99 to some point in January, that's about as bad as it got, and that was mostly from getting cussed out from some unruly
readers of this page. There's always something out there to look for, and since I'm usually buying another line or two casually (or not so casually, like Beast Wars last year) I'm almost always on a toy run and I go ahead and look for Star Wars anyway.
(Plus this is not only my hobby, it's also a sort of semi-job... quitting means that all of the web stuff I do doesn't get updated, and I try to keep up for you guys. You guys who like it, anyway.)
10
No.
Last I heard, Shmi is up for Collection 3 some time later this year.
And just so everybody knows, THERE ARE NO CONFIRMED 4" EXCLUSIVE *INDIVIDUAL FIGURES* AS OF YET. There's one that's been heavily rumored, and since it is just a rumor, I can't talk about it... but word could come up any time. (Nothing you've heard of, and unfortunately, nothing I'm at liberty to discuss since it is... just a rumor. No point making things worse.)
Yes, there is an exclusive Sabe for a Wizards of the Coast Star Wars RPG. Yes, there are going to be a few exclusive-to-vehicle figures. And yes, there will be another tie in or three. But none of the figures listed as individual figures (except Wuher) are slated to be exclusives from what I've had slipped under my door.
FIN The next update will be Monday morning. See you then!
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