So many questions, so little space... Many other
Star Wars collecting sites also submitted questions you need answered, so if you want to know the latest answers from this week's Hasbro
Star Wars Tri-Weekly Q&A Session, here's a handy guide to help you get all the info.
Don't forget to check
Rebelscum's Q&A Session as well!
From CollectionStation.com: 1) Does Hasbro have any plans to update the Dianoga in the near future? We need one that is better detailed, better articulated and perhaps featuring multiple bendy tentacles. If you were to update the Dianoga, what format would you release it in: Battle Pack, a basic carded figure, Ultimate Battle Pack, something else?
2) Premiered at your Comic-Con booth this year was a new Luke Snowspeeder pilot figure that looks fantastic. However, the figure is sporting a thermal cap sculpted to his head, yet in the film when we see him get in and out of the snowspeeder, he's not wearing the cap (although when we see him piloting, he is), and since the figure sports the grappling gun he uses when he gets out, it's a mixed situation. Will there be an alternate version of this figure released with a head that doesn't sport the thermal cap?
3) At your SDCC panel, you mentioned that the Imperial Scanning Crew Technician would be coming as 2 figures via a running change, that each figure would not only have its unique head but also their own part of the scanner as seen in the film, one coming with the scanner trunk, and the other with a type of dolly the scanner was wheeled out on. Both accessories were even shown off in your booth. However, recent official Hasbro images of the first Imperial Scanning Crew figure has been released both carded and loose, and in neither image do we see any scanner whatsoever. Are those images correct and this figure isn't coming with either part of the scanner? If so, why is this? Will the running change figure get either of the accessories? If it's only the trunk, will there be a way for fans to get that second accessory?
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Dewback Patrol: 1) Hasbro made a number of Padme's outfits last year, but this year seems particularly lacking... with the large number of costumes still yet unmade from both ROTS and AOTC, can you tell us if you have any plans to release at least a couple/few of the remaining ones in next year's lineup?
2) Hasbro, how about this for a battle pack - bespin guard white head, bespin guard mustache (vintage style), and the two ugnaughts painted in the lighter colors as seen at toyfair and with their heads switched. In the last q and a someone mentioned repainting the Han Solo carbonite block (so that it is not melting) and this might make a nice accessory for this pack. It would be a nice set for someone who wants multiples of these troop builder style figures.
3) Let’s say theoretically that the Clone Wars cartoon features an action packed episode where some clones go on a mission to Tatooine to save someone (anyone!) kidnapped by bounty hunters held up at Jabba’s Palace. On their mission their ship is destroyed and they have to steal Jabba’s Sail Barge to get away. This of course leads to an all out race for their freedom as they are pursued by skiff necessitating the need to unload all that hidden firepower Jabba had installed on his sail barge. I think you know where I’m going with this. Can you lobby Lucasfilm for an episode with the sail barge and in turn of course make a sail barge for us fans? This has been a dream for some OT fans!
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From Galactic Hunter: 1) OK, so with next year being the 30th Anniversary of The Empire Strikes Back, if you are forced (this could get ugly) to make an all-new Imperial Probe Droid, do you:
...give it super articulation and try to fit it into the Mini-Rig-esque price point?
...give it super articulation and its launching pod for the $20 Vehicle price point?
...give it super articulation, toss in Han Solo and Chewbacca, and Battle Pack it?
... or?
2) Why are you repacking the Evolutions Attack of the Clones Padmé on a basic card rather than retooling her upper torso/arms as the Geonosis Arena torn-shirt version many of us want? Do you plan to offer that version anytime soon?
3) With The Force Unleashed multipacks coming out for the Fall Season, why weren't they unveiled at Comic-Con? Would now be a good time to ask for a photo or two to illustrate these cool sets? (It's 1:30am, and I'm totally pandering for photos.)
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From Han's Hideout: 1) Since it looks like the Winter'09 ESB wave has more figures than needed for a 6-piece droid, can you shed a little light on which pieces will come with which figure in that wave?
2) If the Hasbro Star Wars team was able to contribute to the current "Fans' Choice Poll" with none of your usual worries (like costing or case make-up or whatever), what would your collective top five look like?
3) Our Galactic Heroes Sandpeople need a beast of burden! When are we going to see a nifty GH scale Bantha? Pack in a couple Sandpeople, Ben, Luke, and the Droids and you've got the makings of a great scene!
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From Jedi Defender: 1) The new Dressellian Commando is really great looking, and it brings to mind a potential update to a POTF2 figure. Will we get a re-use of some of the new Dresellian Commando to make a new Orrimarko with his eye patch? It seems like the groundwork is there to get the original Pruneface redone semi-easily, and with more articulation and detailing!
2) You've knocked out a couple Rogue Squadron pilots in comic packs recently, and a couple more are on the way in future packs. What I'm wondering is, now that you've got these great base sculpts of pilots, are you going to look to fill out as many of the Rogue Pilots from the comics as you can? Or, will you look at doing more film pilots (or updating older pilots that use an inferior sculpt)? A lot of fans seem interested in Pilots with their Astromechs from both the films and EU.
3) The Scanner Technician seems like a surefire base figure for a number of redecoes, or slight changes, that could crank out super articulated "new" figures. Will we see this figure eventually in the black jumpsuits, maybe with a helmet, like the Death Star Troopers working on the 2nd Death Star and shield generator? What about a new AT-ST Drive to compliment that spiffy new ride he has coming? There's a lot of Imperials wearing that pretty basic jumpsuit, and it just seems like something we could easily see updated into pretty desirable army builders.
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From Jedi Temple Archives: 1) A question on Star Wars TV characters: In a previous Q&A session you indicated that some of the unique Holiday Special cantina aliens like the Y'bith and the early Nikto could someday be made into action figures. I personally think this would be a great idea since they had a really nice character design and would fit in seamlessly with the Episode IV cantina figures. I hope these guys really do have a shot. But what I'm really wondering is if there will ever be any new figures based on the Ewok movies, Ewoks cartoon or Droids cartoon (beyond the awesome new Boba Fett and BL-17 of course!) It would be an absolute shame if you didn't at least give it a try. At least for the cartoon series characters, couldn't the the idea of a figure two pack with an episode on a DVD be tried? Apparently there was an issue with rights to the cartoons when the DVD's were still in distribution, so this couldn't be done in the past. Perhaps the situation has changed now since the DVD's have been off the market for a few years?
2) Is there anything that can be done to ensure that battle-damage or dirty markings are included more often with our action figures again? While we don’t know everyone’s opinion on this, we do hear clamoring that many collectors would like to see these “dirtied” figures in lieu of extra accessories (and even the big missile-firing ones). It is such a shame sometimes to get a beautifully sculpted clone trooper (for example) that is bright white, especially when he appears dirty and banged up in The Clone Wars TV show. We are sure that something could be done to save cost somewhere else and give us the beautiful paint application back that our figures once had. The same is true for the Sandtrooper and Dewback WAL*MART exclusive. Are we really getting a clean Sandtrooper? Please say it isn’t so! Where are the amazing paint ops as seen on the Evolutions Sandtrooper? We need this back, give us less plastic parts and more art please!
3) The new AT-ST looks fantastic! And the demos at Comic Con really helped this vehicle shine. It seems perfect. But the driver that's packed in looks frankly, a little lonely in that new, spacious cockpit. We have not had an AT-ST Driver in the basic figure line (with the exception of Han Solo in his AT-ST Driver disguise) since the POTF2 days. Can we expect a new AT-ST driver in the near term? Or perhaps some AT-ST hijacking Ewoks? If my memory serves me correct, they're named Widdle and Oochee.
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From MouseDroid.com: 1) I recently picked up the HYENA BOMBER and Cad Bane's XANADU BLOOD Titaniums. Can we expect to see these in the 3 3/4 inch assortment? As the Xanadu Blood is just a repainted Magna Guard Fighter, I'm gonna assume that this one is a 'lock'.
regards
2) I really like the looks of the upcoming Waves of figures from The Clone Wars, however, I was wondering if you had any other female Jedi in your lineup? Namely Aayla Secura and Luminara Unduli.
3) We've all seen the brand new card design for 2009. While it looks great aesthetically with all those edges and corners, I foresee that MOMC collectors, are going to have a difficult time finding mint examples of their favorite carded figures. Next time you design a new card back, could you take us MOMC people into consideration please?
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From Raving Toy Maniac: 1) When you release a new line of Star Wars action figures and come up with a new design for the backer cards, do you have to make sure that they will fit into the "Star Wars Official Action Figure Protective Cases" or are you allowed more leeway as far as size or shape?
2) Will any of the build-a-droid figures see re-release?
3) Given the relatively low production numbers on the HK-47 droid wave, will we ever see HK-47 released again? Perhaps in an online exclusive with Darth Revan, Malak, and some other KOTOR characters?
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From Sandtroopers.com: 1) The McQuarrie box sets are being listed on StarWarsShop.com for $55.99, and feature 13 different McQuarrie figures - including 3 previous "exclusive" figures that originally sold for $20 each. Why do you keep re-issuing these so-called exclusives a year or so down the road? Why should we, as collectors, continue to pay $20 for a figure that's supposedly exclusive to an event when we can wait a year and get it - plus a dozen other figures - for much less money? The box sets basically breaks down to around $4.30 per figure. That's 75% of the cost of the exclusives originally, and almost 50% of the original retail on the others. Isn't there some sort of agreement that you sign with the events in question for these exclusive figures that should prevent you from re-issuing them down the road?
2) Does anybody at Hasbro even realize that EVERY Clone Trooper figure made thus far in the new Animated Series line is wrong? Every Clone has incorrect armor on the forearms and biceps. Did any of the designers even watch the animated series or at least look at reference photos of some sort? Every figure made thus far has the elbow armor extend down from the bicep. That's wrong! In the animated show, the Clone armor elbow armor extends up from the forearm. The only figure to get this right is the awesome General Kenobi and the awful new Mace Windu - and neither of them are Clones, yet somehow you got the armor correct for them.
I'm sure it's futile to ask this, but do you have any plans to correct this mistake in the future? Obviously you already have the tooling from the General Kenobi figure, all you would need to do is to replace the forearms from the Clones with the forearms from Kenobi.
3) Dear hasbro what was the main reason to going back to a glue on bubble for the new legends and clone wars figures? Was it to try and stop the slash and returns that have been going on since the ROTS line? I applaud the idea of doing this hopefully it will stop all the slash and returns that occurred over the last few yrs, which was part of the reason I stopped collecting very hard to get excited about a figure when you look at it and it isn't what it should be.
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From Sir Steve's Guide: 1) Wookiees have consistently been some of the most popular Star Wars aliens since 1977, but haven't had a lot of great non-Chewbacca figures. Fans were very excited to finally be getting a Wookiee battle on Kashyyyk in Episode III, as well as the promise of more Wookiee figures, but figures of Tarrful and the 2 Wookiees we got didn't fully deliver on detailing or articulation, and 2 of them were hampered by action features. Since then, we've gotten updates of Kashyyyk clone troopers, but no more of their Wookiee "brothers in arms". And now with The Force Unleashed we have 2 full levels on Kashyyyk with Wookiees to fight with, but no toys to recreate this. When will we be seeing new and varied Wookiee warrior figures to live up to these great sources?
2) Now that you've shown off the new Slave Leia with alternate sitting lower body, it's got fans hungering for 2 things: a new ROTJ Jabba the Hutt, and Jabba's dais. We know you've heard plenty of these requests and are considering Jabba for a possible new design, up to the point that we almost just sent you literally "blah blah blah Jabba's Dais! blah blah question mark". But hypothetically, if Hasbro were to do a new Jabba with Dais, what pricepoint and format might this be released in for all that new tooling, and would the set include the existing railing and hookah or just assume that enough collectors have the piece and leave it out? Would you go back and use the Kenner vintage throne tooling? Could we convince Brian Merten to get it done as another fantastic exclusive, and if so, does that mean Jabba would have an awesome new cockpit sculpted inside his head?
3) In '08, the Clone Wars figure designs were hybrids of the animation appearance and their live-action counterparts, especially Obi-Wan and Anakin. Sculpts were a bit bulkier, bodies were less lengthy and tapered, likenesses a little more grounded. For the red card '09 line however, we're seeing designs that are closer to the show art, such as Obi-Wan Space Suit with a more angular face with larger eyes and a skinnier body that's got longer legs than the '08 figure. What brought about this change, and why? Will we be seeing updates to those '08 figures with this more show-accurate style?
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NEW: From Snowtroopers.ca: 1) Hasbro, would you consider using the idea of various hair colours to make new Imperial officers that a) had more up-to-date articulation, b) grey uniforms instead of black? You could use the hair to differentiate the figures, and also use the rank badges, which we see can now be removed thanks to Captain Needa, to further differentiate.
It wouldn't be too hard to do this - you could use Needa's body, have different heads and at least three different rank badges (maybe Lieutenant, Captain, Admiral). You could also do this for female officers, with the hair and the rank badges, using Deena Shan's body and adding the rank badges.
Or, at the very least, you could do three bodies with the rank badges attached, but have interchangeable heads.
2) So how do you go about picking out characters for comic packs? Are people working for Hasbro assigned to read stacks of old and new comics, or do you browse through the various fan site forums to get the buzz on which comic characters are the most popular at the moment? Or does direction come mainly from Lucasfilm? However it's done, I hope you take a look at the recent Knights of the Old Republic comic (#42) which features Jedi versions of Revan and Malak!
3) Hasbro has gotten a LOT of good use from the Evolutions Emperor/Sidious mold. And the recent TESB Emperor finally came with a plastic hood that fixed the terrible "pointy elf" look that used to occur with the raised softgoods hood. But to my frustration, the softgoods cloak on the Evo Emperor still remains the biggest flaw in this figure.
Unlike the Jedi figures, who mostly walk around with their (softgoods) cloaks open, or not wearing them at all, the RotJ Emperor is all about the black cloak. Using softgoods here, rather than the nice subtle folds and texture of fabric that gracefully drape over his body, what we get is a puffy cloth nightmare - he ends up looking "fat" and goofy. I LOVE softgoods but in this case I want to see a plastic cloak sculpted in a similar manner to your excellent TPM Darth Sidious figure (who resembled the RotJ Emperor better than any other Emperor figure that came after).
How about it? Any chance of an Emperor with plastic cloak as the next upgrade to this figure?
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NEW: From SWCollector.com: 1) We will see any more R4 units in the BAD line? Three good ones that have never been made are the black & white one from Echobase hangar, the one with orange & silver panels with black squiggles all over it from AOTC, and John D.'s droid the Death Star assault, which is similar to R4-M9 but in black instead of green. B.) Now that we're getting Ahsoka's starfighter, when are we going to get her droid, R7-A7? It was very prominent in the Ryloth trilogy, when she also flew with it in a Y-Wing.
2) I am really glad that the concept art figures have returned this year, but I am a little puzzled by how it was handled. To me
the Anakin figure makes sense since he is is a main character, but the other three, two being secondary characters and one being the second concept Snowtrooper seem like odd choices. With all the various concepts of main characters that were made, I would think that you would want to focus more on those than relaunch the concept art subset with mostly
secondary characters. Sorry to be a complainer, but it was also disappointing to see the way they were packaged, especially on the new red cards. Wouldn't it make more sense for the picture of the character to be of the actual concept art and not a modern realistic version? I liked how the 30th Anniversary line presented the concept art figures as something special with unique packaging that stood out from the rest of the figures. Now they just look routine and could easily be confused for average EU characters. That being said, I hope you do continue with the concept art series in the future, as there are many
great choices yet to cover such as Lando, Leia, Count Dooku and the Kenner concept Clone Warrior.
3) With the release of the upcoming Target exclusive Geonosis 2-Packs, we are now getting the last two Jedi that appeared in
the Arena's "survivor's circle", Joclad Danva and Roth-Del Masona. With these Jedi being released, what is the likelyhood of other backround Jedi being made into action figures (or possibly in the 2010 Geonosis 2-Packs), such as Sarissa Jeng, or Sar Labooda?
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From TheJawa.com:1) I was wondering where a new Ghost of Yoda and Ghost of Obi Wan are on your "parking lot" list? We need the pair to go with that fantastic Ghost of Anakin you released in the Anniversay Collection!
2) In the last Q&A, you mentioned you were trying to talk to the China vendors again about standardizing on the ball-joint of the neck (but that they often tweak the ball size to meet needs like fitting a helmet and this alters the neck size by the time of the finished figure). Is there any possibility of using Hasbro's own GI Joe 25th Anniversary line as a future guide? I've never really had any problems swapping heads on my Joes due to their standardized neck ball and if there's one thing I hope Hasbro realizes from the success of BaD it's that kids (and adults!) like swapping around heads and limbs to make their own custom SW figures. There's huge play value in making your own Jedi/Sith characters, or putting an Anakin head on a different Jedi body essentially giving Anakin a new costume. In fact it encourages kids to build a large collection of SW figures in order to have a big library of heads or bodies to swap amongst. That said then, it'd be nice to have GI Joe and SW heads be cross-compatible to not only have even more opportunities to customize new characters, but from Hasbro's point of view, it could encourage spillover sales from one line into the other.
3) I'm wondering if you can clarify an issue about Star Wars vehicles, or the reissue of. Why do you reissue the Imperial Shuttle and the AT-AT about every 10 years or so. but with other vehicles you reissue those within no time and even repaint constantly.
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NEW: From The Private Universe:1) With the much enjoyed and highly appreciated pilots series continuing, single packs, 2-packs and evolutions, I thought I'd ask about some more characters - Gen Evir Derricote (pictured in the Making of Baron Fel), Telsij Cayr (Injured Y-Wing pilot from the same series), Horton Salm, Grizz Frix, Herian I'ngre, Avan Beruss, Fey'lis Ardele, Xarrce Huwle and famously Gavin Darklighter who would only need a new head sculpt from that of his cousin.Also Koyi Komad the RS engineer would be a fantastic addition with some tools to add to the various ship sets and the scramble at yavin battle pack.
Also with so many appearances from pilots in the Legacy series how about the following - Andurgo, Anj Dahl, Jhoram Bey, Hondo Karr, Monia Gahan, Ronto and of course 'Gunner' Yage, Cade's half sister.
2) How many figures can we expect to see in 2010 for the non Clone Wars collectors, and how many Comic 2-packs?
3) The Cantina scene is a long standing fan favorite and collectors lap up figures made from that scene, however so far the Outlanders Club scene from AOTC has not seen as many figures made from it's patrons. Are there any plans to make more characters from there?
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From Yakface.com: 1) A quick follow up question regarding the Imperial Scanning Crew figure. Solicitation imagery has shown up online showing the packaging and loose shots for this figure and the collecting natives are restless to say the least as neither show the scanning equipment being included! Please tell us that this isn't another issue regarding cost and those accessories haven't been dropped.
2) It is evident that the clone trooper figures in the Clone Wars line are huge in terms of popularity, due in large part to their superior sculpt/articuation, accessories and general "coolness factor". One can assume they are equally huge in terms of profitability since the same super-articulated base figure can be repainted and re-accessorized to create virtually any generic clone or clone commander with minimal retooling dollars. Are there plans to use some of that profitability to continue to upgrade more of the other non-clone characters? For example, it seems that Kit Fisto, Plo Koon, Mace Windu, Asajj Ventress and Cad Bane continue to suffer from "knee and ankle joint envy" when compared to the new Space Suit Anakin, Speeder Bike Dooku and Freeco Speeder Obi-Wan figures. Will those figures with articulation dysfunction get the action they so deserve in 2010?
3) Reports are circulating that Hasbro reps are participating in their own version of Order 66 and are wiping out certain "pegwarming" figures from the aisles (namely the Yarna's, a few of the Cantina Patrons and others). Will this "purge" continue to include some of the survivors in the blue/white Saga Legends line (Saesee Tiin, C-3PO, Plo Koon) as well?
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From Yoda's News: 1) Since the Expanded Universe has proven to be successful on store shelves, are there any plans to expand the TIE fleet to include 3.75 inch scale versions of the TIE Advanced (from the mid-90s LucasArts game "TIE Fighter") and the TIE Defender?
2) Some early pictures of the Luminara Unduli figure (The Clone Wars) show an error with the character's facial tattoo. In the pics, she is sporting a zigzag line; but in the show she has more of a "dot"configuration on her chin. Will this error be corrected before the final product hits the shelves?
3) The Galactic Heroes are a huge bit with adult collectors as well as the kids. Any chance we will see some more Episode 1 characters like Pod Racer Anakin or Watto? Or some of the other characters, beasts and vehicles we have yet to see like Queen Amidala (Senate), Lobot, Ughnaughts, Emperor Palpatine (w/cane not lightsaber), Grand Admiral
Thrawn? Vehicles like the Imperial Shuttle and Anakin's Pod Racer?
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