Questions for April 4, 2006
Q&A Archive

1
Galactic Heroes: I've heard that they are coming out with a green clone trooper, red battle droid, Obi-Wan Episode I, Darth Maul, and shock trooper with Palpatine (black cloak). In fact I've seen pictures of them on the Internet. But I have not seen them on the shelves. Did I miss them or are they taking a little longer to come out? If you know a guess of when I would love to know. -jaxon

You probably blinked; this wave has been out, sold out quickly, but as far as I've seen has not been restocked since that initial shipment. Everywhere I go these days the Galactic Heroes pegs are empty, I'm sure more are on the way to retail, but there's no telling when they'll arrive. Hopefully soon, my three-year-olds are begging me for that green Clone / red "Roger-Roger" set!

FYI: It looks like these are shipping again, I found a set for the boys this AM at Target…


2
This past week, for the first time in about two years, I checked in on my vintage figures, which are loose and stored in the original "suitcase" style cases in my finished basement. Two or three of the figures had a fuzzy white/gray substance on the legs. Is the plastic deteriorating, or do I have a mold/fungus that is growing on the figure itself? Is there a way to clean these figures and, more importantly, a way to prevent future outbreaks of this strange phenomenon? -Jon

That does sound like mold or fungus, which is commonly found on vintage figures. I'd suggest using a very mild soap and warm water to remove the spots, and while you're at it preemptively washing the rest of your collection as well. Be sure to take care if any painted surfaces are involved; the last thing you want to do is rub through to the plastic. Cleaning the figures should reduce the chance of another outbreak, but check in with them from time to time to make sure the fungus doesn't come back.


3
Hey man, I was wondering out of the droids in the Entertainment Earth exclusive "astromech droid series" 1 and 2 which of the droids are actually in the movies? Are all of them? ALSO: Where is Sun Fac in AOTC? I have yet to find him. Is he just one of those made up by Hasbro figures? -Dan T.

As far as I know, all of the droids in the sets were based on images from the Lucas Archives. Meaning at one time they were most likely used in filming, but may have eventually been cut in the final edit. As many of them are little more than set dressing, even if they are in the film there's a very good chance you won't see them if you don't know where (and when) to look.

If I remember correctly, Sun Fac was featured in one of the cut scenes from Attack of the Clones. I believe he can be spotted in the scene where, after being captured on Geonosis, Anakin and Padmé are offered a chance to join the Separatists. Other than that I'm not sure if he appeared on screen, but he was developed as a character.


4
What happened to the Jedi Force line? Was the OBI-WAN KENOBI with BOGA an overseas release only? -Kevin

It looks like the Jedi Force line was dropped or cancelled; after the clearance sales it did not make it into the new store sets for 2007. Evidentially whatever was made and left over from the line has been offered to 'smaller' markets. While not intentionally planned as a UK exclusive, it does appear that the Boga will only be available in that country.


5
Couple questions for you. First, I have seen a few (3 to be exact) of the Galactic Hunt silver foil figures. With two figures per case it will take forever and several million trips to every store in a 50-mile radius to find all 10. Should we give up the search and just use eBay$$$$$ or do you think we'll see a lot more of these? Next, do you have a release date for Target exclusive General Grievous and the VOTC figures? What is going to be the next line released for 3¾"? Is it Tatooine? And when can we expect to start to see it? And last but not least the greatest hits figures will we see them before any other wave or a release date? -George (slightly obsessive)

Ultimate Galactic Hunt (UGH; and I do mean Ughhhh…): I would not rush to eBay to scoop these up, give it a little time and they should become easier to find. As far as I know they will continue to ship throughout the year, once the scalpers have gotten over the initial frenzy, you'll probably have a better chance of finding what you need for your collection.

No release date on the General Grievous Target Exclusive yet, but it appear as if it has departed Hong Kong. Be sure to keep an eye on the front page, as soon as it's reported at retail here in the states we'll be sure to pass that along. Same goes for the new Vintage figures, they are expected to hit in April, we're just waiting for them to show up.

The next 'new' wave for the basic figure line should be the Tatooine wave. Though I've seen where it is estimated for June, with the way everything else has shipped this year, I'm going to assume we can expect to start seeing his assortment around mid April or May.

According to Entertainment Earth the 'greatest hits' wave is supposed to show up in May, which means it will probably hit retail in April. It certainly looks like this wave will preempt the Tatooine wave, let's just hope it doesn't jam up the pegs and push everything back.


6
How rare are the galactic hunt 3 3/4" figures? I found the newest wave last week at my local Target and there were 4 silver galactic hunt figures. These included the new Anakin, Obi-Wan, Boba Fett, and a Snowtrooper. Besides being in shock at finding the new wave, I found this also rather odd. Is one of these "silver" figures rarer then the next, or is there a couple in every case? In the long run, will these be worth any more than a regular figure? -Harlan F.-Illinois

From what I understand there are one or two Ultimate Galactic Hunt (UGH; and I do mean Ughhhh…) figures per case, but they're not guaranteed to be in every case. They are rare, but with the same ten figures shipping throughout the year, collectors should have a decent chance of finding them. As it's still very early, it's hard to tell if one figure is more rare than any of the others, but I imagine over time equal numbers of each will be released. In the long run these particular figures stand a pretty good chance of being worth more than a regular figure, but until we see how the line plays out it's impossible to say how much more they will be worth.


7
1. Now that we have repaints of shu mai, passel argente, and poggle the lesser what are the chances we might see a san hill carded?

2. Is there really a difference between the camo scout trooper from rots and the rotj scout trooper? Many people have told me there is but I just don't see it (other than the camouflage).

While San Hill alone on a card hardly seems worth the average cost of a basic figure, I guess I wouldn't put anything past Hasbro… Still, no plans that we've heard of, but anything could happen.

I have not seen a side by side study of the two uniforms, but something about the Revenge of the Sith trooper does seem different. Something about the helmet being longer… I don't know. If you look at the BARC Trooper (that came with the BARC Speeder) there are some clear differences, but I'm not 100% sure if that sculpt is 100% movie accurate. Needless to say the costumes are very close in design, but I don't believe they are identical.


8
Although the new paint job looks awesome, why is the new Clone Wars Gunship selling for $45? What happened to the previous $30 tab on Gunships? Will this exclusive be rare (worth pre-ordering on Amazon)? As for the other Amazon pre-order, what exactly is included in the "Defense of the Galactic Senate" battle pack? Also, why doesn't Amazon have the "Hunt for General Grievous" battle pack for preorder if it is supposed to come out at the same time?
As an ewok fan, I am excited to see Cheif Chirpa again, but disheartened at the absence of his lizard advisor - what's up with that? Also, any plans for additional ewok action figures in the near future? -Gergo

I think it's fair to say the additional cost is related to the vehicle being released as an exclusive, and produced in fewer numbers than a standard release. A lower production run has to cover all the costs associated with set up and manufacturing; fewer pieces to spread that cost over equals a higher unit cost. At this point it's hard to say how rare this piece will be; there are fewer Toys 'R' Us stores, but I imagine the run will be the same as in previous years. Pre-ordering might not be a bad idea, but I wouldn't panic over it. There's a very good chance that plenty of these will hit stores, and supply won't be an issue.

The contents of the "Defense of the Galactic Senate" Battle Pack are (as far as I know) still unknown at this time. I believe this may be the set that is rumored to contain Mace Windu and his 'troops" but that's mere speculation at this time. To add to the confusion, the Windu set is also rumored for Target, which just throws everything into the air. I guess at this point it's just best to wait for some kind of official announcement, with a May 1st ship date, we probably won't have to wait much longer.

Not sure what to tell you about the "Hunt for General Grievous" battle pack, plans could have changed, it may have been pushed back or cancelled… Again, we're just going to have to wait for more official information.

Chirpa has a lizard advisor…? Um, I guess Hasbro figured people would know he had a lizard advisor… That's just a guess.

So far we haven't heard of any plans for additional Ewok figures. While an army builder set filled with repainted, kit-bashed Ewok troops would be more than welcome in my book, it just doesn't seem to have hit Hasbro's radar yet. As for the remaining Ewoks from the vintage line, no idea whether Hasbro will get around to updating those or not.


9
I know you get ship questions a lot and one of the questions another reader asked got me thinking. I think the reader's comment was that Hasbro needed to come out with a Millennium Falcon that was more to scale, and of course you repeated Hasbro's line about "no new molds", "too expensive", etc. Anyway, I kind of passed over it without thinking, but this morning I remembered that my local Toys 'R' Us had a Millennium Falcon store display that hung above the Star Wars aisle for several years after the Special Editions came out. It was nine or ten feet up in the air, and had a couple of regular-sized TIE fighters hanging behind it. I remember thinking that the detailing looked very much like that of my vintage Falcon, but of course the ship was five or six feet long. Do you know anything about these particular ships? Did Hasbro make them for Toys 'R' Us? I seem to remember that there was some type of giveaway associated with them. Were they finished inside at all? Was it based on the original mold? How many were made? And most importantly of all, do you think there would ever be a time where this would be available again in any fashion as a consumer product? -Karl Wiggins

Sure, while I'm not 100% positive on the specifics, I do remember these well. The six-foot Falcon was essentially a hollow shell based on the vintage Kenner design (the same one we've seen in the modern era) and made by the same company that has done other large displays for Hasbro. As I understand it there's a plaque on the top of each Falcon that indicates it's from an edition of 500, though the final number of displays produced may actually be higher. Might Hasbro make these available again some day? Probably not; I can't see a reason why Hasbro would commit to another large display like this, and certainly can't see them bringing something this large (finished or not) to the consumer market.

10
I am new to collecting. I have found that the cards on my ROTS figures have started to bend forwards, on the sides of Vader's helmet and the top of the card. Is this common with carded figures? What could I do to avoid this happening? -Scott

It can be common, depending on how you store your carded collection, even more so for the Revenge of the Sith figures due to the shape of the cardbacks. The best way to prevent this; a protective clamshell. Several shells were available last year that accommodated the odd shape; Target offered a set of cases by Hasbro, Rebelscum had their own cases made up, and I believe the guys who make Star Cases had a ROTS design (version #3). At this point it looks like only the Star Case is still available; try heading over to Wholesalecases.com and checking it out.


Until next time...


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