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[Gold 5]

JTA - HASBRO STAR WARS Q&A ROUNDUP - WEEK OF FEBRUARY 3rd, 2010


Thanks for dropping by and checking out JTA's roundup of all of the Hasbro Q&A sessions from around the web.  This week's answers come in a little late as Hasbro has slid back the time to answer.  The roundup is continually updating as we get more and more responses posted at the participating websites.  If you know of a site that's participating in the Q&A's but isn't represented in our roundup, please drop us a line with a hyperlink to that site's Q&A.

Take note that with this session there are some new conditions by which Hasbro will be conducting their Star Wars Q&A.  Sessions will now be limited to once every month.  And sites will only be permitted to submit 2 questions per session.

You can check out each site's postings by clicking on the website title.  And please do, as some of these websites need the traffic.  The Star Wars Q&A's are posted alphabetically.

Also be sure to check back as we distill the Q&A's down to the real nitty gritty with out Q&A Headlines.  That is where we give you real news that comes out of the Q&A:  newly confirmed items, assortments, exclusive details, etc.  And feel free to post about what Hasbro is saying in the Q&A process here in the Jedi Temple War Room.

That being said, let's start of at home:


JEDI TEMPLE ARCHIVES


QUESTION:  Questions about everyone's favorite Jedi librarian seem to be on the rise.  Especially since Jocasta Nu made the top five for ToyFare's online poll for this year's Fan Choice Figure Poll.  But we've also seen comments from Hasbro to the effect that "an old lady librarian" might not go over well with the figure buying fanbase.  And Jocasta Nu's dismissive attitude scene in ATTACK OF THE CLONES led to mixed feelings from some about the character.

But fast forward to the debut episode of season 2 of STAR WARS - THE CLONE WARS.  And Jocasta Nu is back in the mix, albeit not quite herself.  In the episode (sorry, we don't mean to spoil but the episode debuted on October 2nd) bounty hunter Cato Parasitti shapeshifted into Jocasta Nu, to the point where she even had a lightsaber duel with Ahsoka Tano while still disguised as the Jedi librarian.  Given this scene's departure from Jocasta Nu's matronly demeanor, might we at the very least see a Clone Wars rendition of Jocasta Nu at some point?

ANSWER:  Clone Wars is first and foremost a kid-targeted line, so this is the last place where we would do a figure of Jocasta Nu.  As for Legacy, despite her showing in the poll, we believe that she would really struggle as a figure.  We'll learn a lot of Willrow Hood on whether the fans' choice results can translate into solid support for obscure figures like this.

 
QUESTION:  The Droid Factory build-a-figure program has easily been one of the best received value added pack-in's that Hasbro has ever offered to collectors.  It has provided droid fans an outlet to get a wide range of droids from a variety of sources, both from the film saga as well as a number of EU sources.  We also recently read the news of the end of the Droid Factory program and were some what disappointed by this development.

It seems that Droid Factory is one of so many good things in the Legacy Collection have suffered from bad timing due to the current state of the economy.  It has forced a number of collectors to scale back on their purchases, and some to stop collecting entirely.  

We've seen some sort of value added pack-in packaged with the basic figure line for most of the history of the modern basic figure line.  But with the current economic conditions in mind, could we see the value added pack-in dropped altogether in an effort to bring the MSRP of the basic figure line down to a price point that might bring more collectors back into the fold?

ANSWER:  The pack-ins have been dropped from the new Legacy-type line starting with this Fall.  They will still continue on in the Clone Wars and Saga Legends figures, though, in a new approach that will allow kids to play with their figures in a new way.  The replacement for Legacy, a new Vintage line, will not have pack-ins.  Nor will it have a reduced retail price.  The only way to continue to bring significant newly tooled figures to collectors is to keep the price where it's at.  Unless many of the collectors who have left the hobby come back, the new reality is that we are dealing with smaller release numbers, which means that our tooling is a bigger proportion of the cost of everything we do.  Price decreases would not be possible unless we dramatically cut back on the number of new figures, which we do not think collectors want to see.



And now to continue on through the online Star Wars collecting community:


16 BIT


QUESTION:  The most commonly asked question we've been getting is regarding the build-a-droid tooling and their future use, specifically if Hasbro will use these molds for individually carded droids or other figures in the future. Will we see the U-3PO mold and Astromech mold from the build-a-droid series used to make other characters in the future?

ANSWER:  The answer is yes, with a qualifier. We certainly would like to use these tools again for future droids, but we don't have a lot of slots open for non-C3PO or R2-D2 droids right now (although the appearance of both of those characters using the buildable droid parts is intriguing itself). If and when we do get to add some more as-yet-unmade protocol or astro droids, we'll certainly look to use our part library.


QUESTION:  We just got the animated Clone Wars Commander Stone figure which is notable because it seems to be an entirely new Clone Trooper mold. Can you walk us through the changes made and why? Of particular note are the revised elbow pads, the swivel (but not as articulated as normal) wrists, the swivel (but not quasi ball-jointed) waist, and the legs which seem to have a harder time sitting than before. However, we've noticed the shoulder joints seem to be way better than previous versions, and the overall look of the figure seems much improved. Is the older, arguably more fun to play with 2008 and 2009 Clone Trooper mold going away in favor of the new model?

ANSWER:  We needed to add additional Clone tooling to our lineup, both the add more capacity as well as start to replace tooling which is starting to wear out. We took the opportunity to sculpt an all-new Clone with what we thought was a better aesthetic over our first generation Clone. One noticeable difference is articulation - it does not have as many points as the original Clone, which you have noted in detail. Clone Wars is primarily a kid-driven SKU, so this approach is done with the biggest audience in mind. Going forward, this is something that we will be looking at carefully with Clone Wars figures since more points of articulation greatly affects the cost. We will still be using the existing Clone Trooper body in rotation throughout the line, so he's not going away, but we will be phasing in more figures that use the new Commander Stone body.




ACTION FIGURE INSIDER

QUESTION:  I’ve noticed the many of the "space suit" Clone Wars figures (like Anakin and Obi-Wan) have Jango Fett styled jetpacks with little removable/shootable rockets. How close are we to having this tooling applied to the number-one character on any Star Wars action figure fan’s wish-list: Rocket firing Boba Fett?

ANSWER:  Since the tooling is done in Clone Wars styling, it would not be applied to a figure such as a rocket-firing Boba Fett.  If we were to do that figure, it would be a done in a different style.


QUESTION:  What criteria would determine whether a character cannot be improved on any more? Super articulation? 100% reference accuracy sculpt? You think about characters like Boba Fett and Darth Vader – they’ve been remade so many times, it’s hard to think of what could be improved on them.

ANSWER:  Outstanding question, and one that we have been thinking about ourselves.  Sculpting, articulation, and features that deliver play but match the modern aesthetics would be the three primary considerations.  For instance, looking back at many Episode I or Saga figures, such as the Queen Amidalas of the time, Dexter Jettster, Boss Nass, and the line, we are hard-pressed to produce a sculpt that was a strong leap over those, and would not add any additional articulations or features to those figures since, in our opinion, there is not a strong desire or pull to see those figures re-done (and for our consideration, it’s the tooling budget and figure slot that those characters would occupy that are strong considerations since they would displace new or more important characters to update).  Along with the understanding that we would devote any figure slots to new figures (or different versions of Amidala/Padme, for example), then we are really looking at figures like this as "definitively done" against the modern sculpting aesthetic and they would not be resculpted.  Other figures, like troopers, have been systematically updated but in some cases, not perfectly (most Rebel Troopers fall into this category) so we have plans to update them over the next several years.  Still other figures, like Jango, Zam Wessel or Darth Vader, which have features like removable helmets or pop-out weapons, have versions that we feel we can update and deliver better with newer versions over time.  So there is no easy answer to your question, in general we will pursue updating a character if we feel there is still a story to be told with them in a way that collectors will respond to.



BANTHA SKULL


QUESTION:  What do you think of the recently leaked photo's of the Force Unleashed multi packs? The figures look good, but it's really gotta suck to have something leaked by non-official sources. What about all those leaked presentation slides that have been all over the web?

ANSWER:  We can't comment on leaked materials. These assets are property of Hasbro, and in the case of figures who may not have been announced yet, Lucasfilm. We wish that sites would not traffic in these obviously stolen images, but at the same time we realize they are newsworthy. Until Star Wars becomes unpopular as a collectible (which we obviously wish never comes to pass!) then the likelihood is that we'll continue to face, and be forced to deal with, leaks like this.



QUESTION:  After the debacle that was the Beardless Hoth Rebel Trooper, you have reassured collectors that the figure WILL be available sometime next year, in a battle pack, or something similar. Will there be any other army builders to help sway collectors to make the purchase? With Toyfair two weeks away, this question may be moot, so we're taking a mulligan on the next round.

ANSWER:  Yes, the Battle Pack that will contain the beardless Rebel trooper will be designed with the collector in mind. Consistent with our approach to other collector-targeted Battle Packs, all of the figures will be new and different to some extent. This set is slated for late in Fall, so we will hold information on it until Comic Con or
Celebration V.




To be continued

[Gold 5]

JTA - HASBRO STAR WARS Q&A ROUNDUP - WEEK OF FEBRUARY 3rd, 2010 - PART 2


COLLECTION STATION


QUESTION:  With the new deluxe vehicle assortment consistent of the ARC-170 repaint and the Clone Wars Y-wing, there seems to be a focus on raising prices in the line across the board, though that scale's jump from $30 to $60+ is especially noteworthy. Basic figures are $8 or more now, comic packs have gone up $4, battle packs and vehicles are going up around $5, deluxe figure & vehicle packs are a pricey $16+, the last dribs and drabs of Titanium Series are over $8, Force FX sabers have gone up $20, and exclusives pricing is all over the map. Clearly, the economic turmoil over the last few years has hit the Hasbro Star Wars brand exceptionally hard, but don't these prices seem harder and harder to justify for both hardcore and casual collectors? We know you are trying to do your best to keep the line alive, but right now collectors are very concerned about the brand's future, and they see the price-hikes as a major culprit to its possible downfall. Raising prices is a downward spiral, isn't there some way to better split the costs hikes between customers and profit margins, before there are virtually no customers left to eke profit margins out of and the line folds?

ANSWER:  In the five years since Episode III, when the ARC-170 was first launched, the world has changed dramatically with both labor costs and commodities costs. We have done our best to keep the costs down, but taking price increases was inevitable; likewise, retailers can only absorb so much before raising prices in turn. The only way to keep the costs down would be to redesign the line and reset the standards for figures and vehicles, for example eliminating articulation or producing vehicles and figures in a smaller scale. These are directions that we do not feel that we want to go in, but if the economics of our costing worsen, or the collector base shrinks further, then these are types of choices that we will be increasingly faced with. For now, though, we feel that we are offering great value across the line for the newness and excitement that we are putting into the line. We hope that this dedication shows, and that we will be able to attract back some of the collectors who have been sitting on the sideline to enable us to hold the level of quality that we have been striving for.


QUESTION:  Will we ever get more multipacks from the Star Wars: Battlefront series? There are Original Trilogy factions that still need to be boxed up, and they'd have tons of cross-consumer interest from gamers to army building potential to kids who want a battle in a box, and just OT fans in general. Most of the figures exist as it is, with only the Rebel Smuggler, and the Rebel Sniper who could be retooled based on existing Leia figures, there are tons of variations from Hoth and Endor, and then there's also the Ep 2-era clones that show up in Battlefront 1 and 2 that could tie in with The Clone Wars. So, any chance of seeing anything more like this?

ANSWER:  Yes indeed, we have been looking at this for future possibilities. The Battlefront packs have proven to be very popular, and both the timelessness of the game itself and the troop-building format of the multi-packs build a strong case for looking at more of these. We will be putting our 2011 exclusives plan to rest soon, and if all goes well, there will be at least one new BFII pack in the mix.



DEWBACK PATROL


QUESTION:  Can you give us the story behind the blockbuster 2-packs?

ANSWER:  As we have talked about in numerous Q&As, we release figure assortments far in advance of when they are scheduled to hit retail, but because of the slowdown in Legacy we were left with a glut of figures. These packs, which consist of two blue/white line look Legacy figures lined up back to back with a "Blockbuster Value" sticker, consist of those figures. Knowing that we have great waves of red/white Legacy coming for last Fall that we had to get in to retail, we pulled aside all of the remaining blue/white cards to make way for the red/white. As some collectors will note, these packs consist of figures that received scant distribution at retail in Spring 2009, which might lead some folks to think that we re-released figures for the 2-packs. That's not the case...in fact, what happened is that the slowdown was so severe that a sizable part of our production run for some figures ended up in these packs. Rather than scrap or close them out to the discount channel, we worked out a deal with the major retailers to bring them in before the holiday in the 2-pack format.


QUESTION:  Is it possible to get 3-packs of figures like those that you do for the Joe line (a small box with figures in clear tubes) - a Commander and 2 soldiers of sorts? Or, perhaps even something like the 5-figure trooper battle packs for G.I.JOE at TRU - 5 Crimson Guards in a box or the 5-packs of generic Joe troopers? It would be great to see things like 3 figures of AT-AT drivers, AT-ST drivers, and Tie Fighter Pilots. Or, a Biker Scout, a Stormtrooper and a Death Star Trooper. For the Rebels you could do a 5-pack of a Rebel blockade Trooper, a Ceremonial Guard, a Hoth Trooper, an Endor Soldier and a Rebel Flight Tech, I could go on.... These are great sets for collectors and kids and they have a lot of iconic figures. I'd by them all. – Redleader76

ANSWER:  We have attempted to make out Battle Pack format a home for troop builders, and many of our sets have followed this exact formula with numerous Clone Trooper sets, the Tantive IV set, etc. While we keep many OTC troop builders in rotation in the mainline basic figures (Stormtroopers, Snowtroopers, Sandtroopers, Scout Troopers, etc), we realize that demand exists for virtually every other OTC troop builder as well so we are thinking about some additional ways to bring more troops out to fans. We should have some news later this summer about some new exclusive packs in the Fall, and hopefully we will have some more exciting ones lined up for 2011 if all goes as planned.




DROIDS AND EWOKS


QUESTION:  Looking back over the Fan's Choice figures that have been made in the past years, I'm wondering if there are any that you would like to update someday. Most of them are nice sculpts, but characters like Amanaman, Darth Revan, concept Stormtrooper and Ellorrs Madak could benefit from a modern articulation upgrade. All of these guys are lacking knees and ankles, plus it would be nice to have some of the fan favorites back in circulation again after so many years. So, is there any hope for new and improved versions of any of these characters?

ANSWER:  Amanaman was basically upgraded in a Comic Pack last year. He is one that we would hope to one day bring out on a Vintage figure card, so it's possible that future updates would be made. The others, though, we do not have plans to re-release at this time so upgrades are not likely.


QUESTION:  In the TV movie Ewoks: Caravan of Courage, there are a couple really interesting looking Ewoks in the film named Chukha-Trok and Kaink. Their cool and unique costume designs seem like they would make for some really great Ewok action figures. Are you aware of these characters, and if so do they stand a chance of finding their way into the action figure lineup someday?

ANSWER:  We are aware of these characters, and we have tried to get Chuka-Trok into the lineup in a pack we were working on. Even though a sculpt was completed, that pack has since been put by the wayside. Still, we remain committed to trying to get more great Ewoks out there and we are convinced that one day Chukha-Trok will make it out.



ECHO BASE FORUMS


QUESTION:  After her recent appearance in "Holocron Heist" and her second place finish in the Toyfare Fans' Choice Poll, would you say that everyone's favorite Jedi librarian has a pretty good chance of being released? Also, if you were to release Madame Jocasta Nu, would it be in the animated line or the realistic line?

ANSWER:  Jocastu Nu remains out of any of our lineups.  Despite her appearance in the show, we remained convinced that she would be a figure for whom actual demand would be very low.  If we eventually did add her to the line, it would not be in the kid-focused Clone Wars line but would be as part of the realistic, Legacy-style line.


QUESTION:  Why have the original Rebo band members, as well as the cantina band members, never been released individually? They are all in major need of an upgrade. They seem like they are popular enough characters, so any chance that you could be making some new versions of these guys in the near future? An original Sy Snootles would be really nice too!

ANSWER:  Based on the sluggish response to the 2007 Max Rebo Band re-release, demand for these figures appears to be very low.  As such, we don't have any plans to update them any time soon.  If we did do a new version of any of these figures, the Cantina Band members would be the first choice




To be continued.

[Gold 5]

JTA - HASBRO STAR WARS Q&A ROUNDUP - WEEK OF FEBRUARY 3rd, 2010 - PART 3





GALACTIC HUNTER


QUESTION:  Hasbro is going to unveil some "huge" toys at Toy Fair 2010, but sometimes the devil is in the detail. Big or small, animated or "real" (i.e. Episodes 1-6) what is the best/favorite detail from the 3¾" lines (with or without naming the toy/toys)?

ANSWER:  The cat is out of the bag - we allowed the super-cool AT-AT (SC-AT-AT?) to be discussed, but not photographed, at the U.K. Toy Fair.  So we can confirm it is real, and it is spectacular.  Perhaps most amazing is just how many features we were able to put into this epic piece. For large vehicles like this, we typically send them out for kid testing, and the AT-AT has come back with glowing reviews about just how many different things there is to do and how overall engaging it is.  This is one magic piece, folks — the best combination of playset and vehicle. We wish we could show pictures, but we have to wait until Toy Fair. To get to one of our very favorite features, it's a simple one: the retractable line that you can use to get Luke Skywalker into the AT-AT so he can do his damage. Takes us back to our childhood!


QUESTION:  Only encompassing the "classic" Kenner line (now owned and carried on in the Hasbro line) what toy (from figures, playsets, vehicles, and "other") either as a new SKU or as a one-off would the "Star Wars Team" most like to revive for the modern line — especially items that are not in the forthcoming Hasbro plan for 2010?

ANSWER:  There is one that has interested us for a while, even though it didn't get to the prototype stage, is a modern version of the Droid Factory.  Given that we have built up a library of  Droid Factory parts, it made sense to look at this and the combination of Attack of the Clones inspiration-meets classic Kenner Droid Factory was a fun mash-up. Ultimately, though, the slowdown in the Droid Factory caused us to put this aside although it's something we still have heart for. We would like to make use of our droid part tooling library some day, so it's possible that a set like this could eventually come out. For now, though, it remains far off on the horizon.



HAN'S HIDEOUT


QUESTION:  The 2010 Saga Legends basic figure line - will the cardbacks look like the recently revealed Clone Wars "Rex and Sky" cardbacks or will they look like the uh, "well-kept secret" 2010 movie line cardbacks? Or will they have a look all their own?

ANSWER:  The Saga Legends cardbacks - a primarily kid-targeted line - will follow the new black/blue line look. The return of Vintage, in a new format without the clam-shell, will have its own standalone line look. Many of the classic characters appearing in Saga Legends will also, if they have not already, appear in the new Vintage line which is planned to be an ongoing line that will run at least two years.


QUESTION:  Man, the comic pack situation is getting harder to track with all the cancellations and moves. Any chance you can give us a definative list of which Comic Packs *are* coming in 2010 - basic releases, Walmart exclusives, and 2010 convention exclusives included?

ANSWER:  Thanks for the interest and we glad to provide an update. Unfortunately, sales on the Comic Packs really fell last Fall, so the situation has become more dire. What *will* be released: the final Fall wave, shown last year at Comic Con, including the Republic Tholme/T'ra Saa pack, the Tales of the Jedi pack with Exar Kun/Ulic Quel Dromis, the Republic Kashyyyk "Bogey Squad" Clone pack, the Star Wars Early Adventures Black Hole Trooper/droid/Black Hole figure pack, and the Routine Valor Commander Cody Battalion pack. Look for this wave approximately March. The Spring '10 wave has been cancelled, which included the Legacy Delia Blue/Darth Nihl and Knights of the Old Republic Jarael/Rohlan Dyre. We will look to bring these two out in some format in the next couple of years.

The Wal-Mart Fall '10 Comic Pack exclusive assortment has shrunk to two: Star Wars Tales IG-97 and Rohm Moc, and Star Wars X-Wing Rogue Leader and General Weir. These two will be at retail sometime in February. The X-Wing Rogue Squadron pack with Plourr Illo and Dllr Nep has been pulled from the Wal-Mart packs and will be made available through another retailer or as an additional Convention item. It was pulled not to be an exclusive at the shows, but because of the subject matter. There will also be an exclusive Comic Pack debuting at both Comic Con and Celebration V this year. We have not announced them yet, but these will be revealed at Toy Fair.



IMPERIAL SHIPYARDS


QUESTION:  Will the new sculpt on Commander Stone be used for all of the new clones or is it just a new idea you tried?

ANSWER:  We needed to add additional Clone tooling to our lineup, both the add more capacity as well as start to replace tooling which is starting to wear out.  We took the opportunity to sculpt an all-new Clone with what we thought was a better aesthetic over our first generation Clone.  One noticeable difference is articulation - it does not have as many points as the original Clone.  Clone Wars is primarily a kid-driven SKU, so this approach is done with the biggest audience in mind.  Going forward, this is something that we will be looking at carefully with Clone Wars figures since more points of articulation greatly affects the cost.  We will still be using the existing Clone Trooper body in rotation throughout the line, so he's not going away, but we will be phasing in more figures that use the new Commander Stone body.


QUESTION:  Since you have confirmed a cloud car and new snowspeeder sculpt are coming can you tell us if these ships will be exclusive to one store and will we see new pilots for each vehicle?

ANSWER:  Both the Cloud Car and Snow speeder will be released as part of the Starfighter Vehicle collection so will be available to all retailers. There will be one caveat to that, that we will announce at Toy Fair. There will be a new Cloud Car Pilot, along with Dak Ralter to pilot your Snowspeeder.



JEDI INSIDER


QUESTION:  Are there any plans for the new Super Tank as seen in the "Weapons Factory" Episode of the Clone Wars Animated? This tank has a very similar shape to the MTT while perhaps meeting the "more dynamic" qualification for the vehicle assortment. Hopefully it could be made to fit into a higher than star fighter price point so it wouldn't be too small, while not needing to be as big as the MTT which should be AT-TE sized.

ANSWER:  We have no plans for this one right now. If it becomes a more pervasive presence in the show (more episodes and battles), we would consider it, but right now it just doesn't have enough screen power for its size to justify putting it into production.


QUESTION:  Rebelscum reported a rumor earlier this week that a new Jabba the Hutt figure was in the works and that it will include the dais and throne, plus an exclusive pack-in figure. Can you confirm this and are there more details you can share, like how big will it be, what will the pack in figures be, how much will it cost?

ANSWER:  We can confirm that there is a new Jabba and Dais coming this Fall, and that it will have a pack-in figure. Beyond that, we do not have more details. At this point it looks like late Fall, so complete details will be revealed at Celebration V. Stay tuned!



To be continued.

[Gold 5]

JTA - HASBRO STAR WARS Q&A ROUNDUP - WEEK OF FEBRUARY 3rd, 2010 - PART 4



JEDI NEWS


QUESTION:  The Galactic Heroes AT-AT has been solicited and shown by Hasbro several times over the last few years, including the UK and Canadian Toy Fair last year.  When will this awesome product see the light of day (it seems like 2010 would be a great time to tie in with the 30th Anniversary of Empire)?

ANSWER:  The Galactic Heroes AT-AT finally will be coming out to retail this Fall, scheduled for availability around August 1st.  It's a really nifty vehicle that is a perfect addition to the cute world of Galactic Heroes.


QUESTION:  It looks as though we're going to see the demise of the Build-A-Droid pack-ins very soon.  These have been a fan favourite compared with some previous pack-ins.  Will we see any of these Build-A-Droid parts being reused in the future and will you make additional Droid parts available in some special Battle Pack or homage to the Vintage Droid Factory Playset?

ANSWER:  There we some thoughts along this regard, and work had been done to develop something like the original Droid Factory that would have had elements of EpII but a feel like the vintage set with places for parts, etc.  However, the fall off in Legacy/Droid Factory figure sales led us to drop this idea.   Even thought the Droid Factory buildable figure mechanic is going away after a two-year run, it doesn't mean that this cool and fun slice of figure place is any less relevant going forward.  There is a lot of heart for it, and if we are successful in getting collectors back with the Vintage launch this Fall, the idea of doing a playset or reusing these parts in some fashion could be restarted.



JEDIDEFENDER


QUESTION:  Why do you keep sculpting new heads for certain characters when you have really good likenesses already made? Can't you simply re-use existing head sculpts for some characters instead of creating new ones constantly? (example - that Resurgence of the Jedi Luke head would be great on a new Ceremonial Luke)

ANSWER:  It's not that easy. There are two reasons. First, since we don't use a consistent figure buck, each figure in our library has differences that may preclude heads being used with every other body. We have been trying to address this for some troopers, by specifying a universal neck post size, but overall our library is not aligned to a standard size. Second, we have several different factories so our figures are scattered across these, preventing us from being as flexible as we'd like to switch parts.


QUESTION:  Is the Jedi Mickey Mouse & R2-MK 2-pack planned for April the 2010 Star Tours exclusive that you teased in a previous Q&A or can we still expect some sort of "non-droid" figure set this year?

ANSWER:  That figure pack is produced by Disney, not us. There is another pack in the works which we'll reveal at Toy Fair.



RAVING TOY MANIAC


QUESTION:  Any chance we'll see a re-issue of the old Saga TRU exclusive Land Speeder? That was a great looking vehicle.

ANSWER:  Yes indeed, we are looking at getting this back out, likely in 2011.


QUESTION:  I know playsets are off the table, but what about props from the movies - these would be iconic and action-oriented things like the Death Star anti-aircraft gun, a redo of Jabba's barge deck gun, a new Han Solo in carbonite block, Rebel base battle table (the thing General Dodonna, Leia and Threepio stand around at the end of New Hope) - these could be great additions for figure displays!

ANSWER:  We like these scenic elements too. While there are no plans for these specific props right now, we think that a few of them have a realistic chance of being made in the next several years.



REBELSCUM


QUESTION:  Now that Bastila Shan has won the Fans' Choice Poll, will we be able to follow the production of this figure? When Ephant Mon was being created, we were treated to wonderful updates along the way, from the first concept illustration, to the initial sculpt, and finally the finished figure. Can we follow this as well? And if so, how? Will you post it on your website, share it with the collecting community, or release the updates through ToyFare magazine?

ANSWER:  We do have plans to provide periodic updates on the progress of Bastila Shan. The plan is to get them out ToyFare first to provide the readers with updates; the response to the Fans' Choice Poll was very strong and we think that there will be a lot of interest in following this very cool
female Jedi through development.


QUESTION:  Many people have noticed that the new Commander Stone figure has an updated sculpt with inferior articulation to the previous clone troopers. I am sure collectors would agree that the previous clone sculpt would suffice if you could updated the arms to be screen-correct (perhaps give it Argyus’s arms with a new left bicep section?). I am sure collectors would even agree that the old clone sculpt without ANY updates would be better then this new mold you have given us with Stone. Will this new sculpt become the standard for all clone trooper figure, or is this new sculpt a one off? Also is there any reason why this figure is missing articulation (budget, too many figures in one wave)?

ANSWER:  We needed to add additional Clone tooling to our lineup, both the add more capacity as well as start to replace tooling which is starting to wear out. We took the opportunity to sculpt an all-new Clone with what we thought was a better aesthetic over our first generation Clone. One noticeable difference is articulation - it does not have as many points as the original Clone. Clone Wars is primarily a kid-driven SKU, so this approach is done with the biggest audience in mind. Going forward, this
is something that we will be looking at carefully with Clone Wars figures since more points of articulation greatly affects the cost. We will still be using the existing Clone Trooper body in rotation throughout the line, so he's not going away, but we will be phasing in more figures that use the new Commander Stone body.





To be continued.

[Gold 5]

JTA - HASBRO STAR WARS Q&A ROUNDUP - WEEK OF FEBRUARY 3rd, 2010 - PART 5



SANDTROOPERS


QUESTION:  Hasbro has announced (much to my disappointment, btw) that its production of EU-related items will be very limited in the future (it seems to me it was pretty limited already). Meanwhile, in the recent fan-figure poll, you pointed out that most of the characters from past polls, including many that were EU-based, had eventually been produced as figures. Clearly, this is something in which Hasbro takes great pride (and rightfully so). In addition, several options in the newest poll were characters from the EU, such as C'boath and Jaxxon. So, how do you plan on addressing the obvious desire on behalf of collectors to produce EU figures? What if the top vote-getters in the figure poll are EU characters? If you are, indeed, proud of your record of giving fans what they want, why stop now?

ANSWER:  There are no doubt fans who want to see every EU character made eventually (including us!) but the real issue here is how EU demand stacks up against movie-based figure demand, and where we place our focus.  Luckily, it's not an all-or-none proposition.  The challenges we've had with collector dollars leaving the hobby has had a tremendous effect on where we need to place out bets. Looking at the figure lineup starting in 2006, you see a real expansion of the EU concept, which really grew in 2007-2009 to including figures from numerous video games, a huge number of comic, concept figures, and novels.  All told, it has been a large and unprecedented run.  While the gamut has run from major EU characters to the more obscure, in general the movie-based figures had much deeper collecting interest than EU, with only the strongest EU figures (Revan, Quinlan Vos, Republic Commandos) approaching the levels of movie-based figures.  So in times like these, our focus has shifted to a strong movie-based core focus with occasional, rather than systematic exploration, of the EU. We have to have a strong foundation first before we can expand out into the EU once again like we have been.  That is not to say that we won't be doing some tasty EU...the upcoming TFU packs are sensational, and there will be Comic Pack exclusives for Comic Con and CV. In addition, select EU will remain in our sights for 2011 as well. As far as the Fans' Choice poll, it's interesting that there was a strong showing of EU figures only among the top 6. After that, it was a long run of film-based figures.  This tells us that there are a few iconic figures that fans still want to see, but after that general interest for EUover all is secondary.


QUESTION:  Will you be making any the other characters from the "Dagger Squadron since you have the stickers to make the other four ships. Will this concept be revisited with future B-Wings anytime soon?

ANSWER:  We did have planned an exclusive Comic Pack to make two more of the Dagger Squadron pilots, but the decline in the Comic Packs caused us to put this wave on hold.  We hope to re-use this development at some point, but right now we don't know when that would be.



SIR STEVE'S GUIDE


QUESTION:  Lightsaber Launching R2-D2, one of the little guy's coolest moments. The most recent figure wasn't very good, and was 11 years ago. We understand that safety regulations prohibit a spring-loaded projectile from being under 3 inches, so how about a few compromises instead? How about an R2 that can have a removable panel and can hold just the ROTJ Luke saber hilt (in the film it's facing upwards anyway so the blade would be sticking out the top), and if you still must have the gimmick, it can be replaced with a full-length Luke saber with blade that goes all the way through the body and a hole out the bottom and fires that way. R2 wasn't using his middle leg in the scene but kids will hold the figure during play so it doesn't matter that the blade goes past his feet. This would also be a great excuse to finally get a nice new Luke ROTJ lightsaber accessory out after 13 years of suffering imitations. So how about it, isn't it time we get a decent Lightsaber Launching R2-D2?

ANSWER:  We agree and intend to take a new approach to an EpVI R2-D2 soon. However, because of the limitations you outline, he won't be a lightsaber-launching figure but instead have a hilt that can be hidden inside his dome.


QUESTION:  In a recent answer, Hasbro revealed that the Spring 2010 EU wave will be the only group of non-Clone Wars new figures until the Fall. Granted, we have seen gaps in the line before - most recently in the break between The Force Unleashed wave in Spring 2008 and the ROTJ wave in July 2008 - but this news has many collectors worried. With the Legacy line apparently in poor shape, is it the wisest idea to put it on hiatus for over 2 quarters this year? Granted, we'll still have The Clone Wars figures to look forward to, but such a pause might cause even more movie-based collectors to walk away and further undermine the line, perhaps into completely folding. Hasbro stated recently "We are working hard to get [collectors who have left the line] back, and we think that what we have lined up next year will be our best attempt." We know full details will be revealed at Toy Fair so we won't ask specifics, but can collectors look forward to some movie-based products in those lean 6 to 8 months while the basic Legacy-style line is on hiatus, enough stuff to hold their interest? And is it too late to get out a repaint wave, perhaps with some of those already-tooled variant figures like the Hoth Trooper, Imperial Scanning Crew, and Utai, perhaps some tooled but canceled Comic Pack figures, maybe even some kitbashes like Han Solo head on an Imperial body, to keep collectors interested during the break?

ANSWER:  There is literally nothing that can be done to get more figures to retail sooner. It's not the way we want it; ideally, new waves would flow in to retail every 6-8 weeks like clockwork. We originally set out to have more figures after the EU wave, but it became apparent that we would never get to them so they became the Toys 'R Us exclusive multi-packs. Legacy sales have been so far off the mark - and retails have enough inventory - that even the EU wave has become a Toys 'R Us exclusive in May, with some online retailers having access to the last of the run in June. Once we start fresh with Vintage, we will be able to manage the line to the new collector baseline and make tight releases to keep waves flowing regularly.



SW COLLECTOR


QUESTION:  Will we be seeing any new figures based on The Force Unleashed: Ultimate Sith Edition and The Force Unleashed II games?

ANSWER:  We don't have anything planned for "TFU: Ultimate Sith Edition" beyond what we are already doing for Toys 'R Us later this Spring, which includes two boxed sets with additional as-yet-unmade characters from TFU. As for TFU II, we don't have a lot of information on the game. When we get more, we'll take a look at what can be done. Our approach to the games will be a little different in the future, in that we will not trying to align figures with the release date of the game. Instead, we'll look to follow-up some time later with figures if we do decide to pursue them.


QUESTION:  I [recently discovered] the “Lego Digital Designer” where you can design your own set and also the box it comes in, then order them directly from Lego. Could we ever see a “Hasbro Digital Designer” where you could make your custom SW figures and order the parts for them? Preassembled or maybe in Unassembled form to cut down on costs? I do know not all current sculpts and parts are fully compatible but is an idea towards the customizers of the fan base.

ANSWER:  Unfortunately, our library is not compatible in this way and we would not be able to pursue this sort of approach.



SNOWTROOPERS


QUESTION:  In one of the last Q&A sessions it was mentioned that Hasbro would be delivering the complete line of 2009 Clone Wars figures up here to Canada as not to leave us snowbound collectors in the annual lurch of the missing last wave or two. I pretty much did a back-flip when I read that. Well, December is right upon us and we have just received what appears to be Wave 10 with Adventure Padme at all our major retailers (WalMart/Zellers/Toys R Us) and I'm looking forward to seeing Wave 11 in the next few weeks.  Can you sense I'm building up to something?

What happened to Wave 9 with Luminara (who has been very prominent in Season 2) and Argyus? Only a few weeks ago we got Wave 8 but now we've jumped to Wave 10. I live in a major market and I'm very diligent with my scouting habits so I'm pretty certain it never made it here or if it did it was a very small amount. Any ideas where those cases might be or what the chances of seeing Luminara and folk repacked in a different wave assortment?

ANSWER:  Add another routine to your gymnastics, then, because we have some good news.  The 0422 case pack version which includes Luminara and Argyus just arrived in our Montreal warehouse.  However, it will be in English language packaging so will not be distributed across all of Canada (Quebec, for instance).  Happy hunting!


QUESTION:  What are the chances of seeing delta squad or omega squad remade with the articulated legs of the new evolution commando? would they ever be released on single card, like scorch?

ANSWER:  It is certainly something that we have been thinking about, although we are also aware that fans would like to see us update the torso as well before re-release.  We do think demand would be there for these guys, but we haven't found a good opportunity to slot them into the lineup yet.  Hopefully one day.  It's more likely that we'll do a boxed set again, since the last one proved very popular.



To be continued

[Gold 5]

JTA - HASBRO STAR WARS Q&A ROUNDUP - WEEK OF FEBRUARY 3rd, 2010 - PART 6




THE JAWA


QUESTION:  I'm wondering what your thoughts are on doing a small subset series in the Clone Wars line, similar to what was done with the concept art figures in the Legacy line. Since there have been lots of renderings of Star Wars characters in animated form over the years, an idea could be to include four figures in the line over the course of a year of characters that have appeared in animated form, but not in The Clone Wars TV series itself. With resources to draw on like the Boba Fett cartoon from the Holiday Special, the Ewoks and Droids cartoons, the original Clone Wars and the Acme animated character keys, there would be no shortage of figure possibilities. By the way, I can't resist putting in a plug for the animated Stormtrooper with force pike from Droids. He looks like he belongs in the Clone Wars line!

ANSWER:  The Clone Wars line is a kid-targeted line so we will be focusing on the Clone Wars animated figures there.  While there is collecting interest in these cross-over type figures, there are many more collectors who follow the Legacy line than Clone Wars, so we will continue to focus our collector-targeted efforts in the realistic style.


QUESTION:  The new "Resurgence of the Jedi" battlepack has the best Tatooine Luke Skywalker done to date! This figure begs to be carded individually! The same thing goes for the R2D2 from this pack. Any plans to do so?

ANSWER:  We're glad you like them. Right now, there are no plans for a single carded figure release.  Even if they did become carded basic figures, it would not be for several years.  We recommend that any folks who are waiting for a carded release instead pick up this pack.  True to the nature of Battle Packs where it's either an "all or none" approach, we have made each of the figures updated and fresh to make significant additions to everyone's figure collections.



TOY NEWS INTERNATIONAL


QUESTION:  Hasbro Catalog scans of a new AT-AT toy leaked out online a few weeks ago and since then we have heard rumors this toy will be much larger than the old AT-AT toy. Rumors are saying this toy will be almost 3 ft in size, a larger cockpit, come with A AT-AT driver and come with a speeder bike. Can you confirm these specifications, are there any other specification you can provide such as a price point and are there any images you can provide or will this be revealed at Toy Fair next month?

ANSWER:  Well, we can confirm that there is indeed a great new AT-AT coming this fall. Set to hit shelves on 8-1, it will be offered at a $99.99 SRP (same as the AT-TE and Turbo Tank) and will be an all-new version, rethought from top to bottom with great new play features, a lot of room for figures, and a huge number of electronic phrases and sounds. It has been designed with both collectors and kids in mind, and we think that it will wow both audiences. As for size, we don't know the exact height off-hand, but it is much bigger than the vintage Kenner version when all three dimensions are considered in person. Look for more details, and photos, at Toy Fair. Bring your tape measure!


QUESTION:  While we are on the subject of leaked catalog scans, there was also a scan showing that the Vintage Collection figure will return in 2010 and that for the first time Episode 2 characters will be included. I won't ask for details since I don't want to spoil everything for Toy Fair, but what are the odds we will get to see a Empire Strikes Back Bespin Han Solo figure for this line in the coming year?

ANSWER:  We can confirm Vintage is back, but with some important consistencies and differences. The card format, following our previous three Vintage series, will remain the same with the Kenner logo on front, narrow blister, identical card punch. Gone will be the $9.99 price and the clamshell, which has been eliminated to help last the collection at a more consumable $7.99 SRP. After the first EpV wave, there will be waves based on both the Prequel Trilogy and OTC. There will be a new EpV Han, but it won't be Bespin....it's a cool version that we think fans will love. We'll have the complete collection in our presentation at Toy Fair. Stay tuned!



YAKFACE


QUESTION:  As of this writing, new Clone Wars figures have started to hit the shelves and they are shipping with the Nahdar Vebb offer that confirms rumors of the return of the "Vintage" line. Now that you've officially released the line look of the new "Rex" Star Wars packaging, care to give us an exclusive sneak peek at the Vintage line look as a teaser for Toyfair?

ANSWER:  We don't have any teasers of the new Vintage line look except we will confirm that they will be individually carded figures, but without the clam-shell at a suggested retail of $7.99. Otherwise the figure fronts will be identical to the modern Vintage runs. Any promotional stickers that we do (figure mail-ins, etc.) will be low-tack adhesive so they can easily be peeled off. Any characters that are updates of true Kenner vintage figures will use the original photography, and any new figures produced in the vintage-style line (such as EPI, II, III, or new characters who were never produced originally by Kenner) will use photography to fit the Vintage card style. Look for the new packages in a couple of weeks.


QUESTION:  Last session you confirmed the release of the Cloud Car in the vehicle assortment for later this year. Will their be a new Cloud Car pilot released to man this vehicles then either as a pack-in or on a Vintage-style card?

ANSWER:  Yes there will be, there will be no pilot packed in with the vehicle. This is consistent with the Starfighter Vehicle asst, which will be the assortment in which the Cloud Card will be brought to retail. The pilot will be brought out on the Vintage card style.



YODA'S NEWS


QUESTION:  I love the OTC figures you've been doing lately, specifically the cantina aliens. Keep up the good work. I display the new stuff and some vintage Kenner stuff as well in my collection. Recently I was comparing my robust collection of modern cantina aliens to the 5 (Blue Snaggletooth) vintage cantina figures and realized how sorry a lot they are. I would love to fill out the old Kenner cantina playset with some more figures. To that end, do you think it would ever be possible to produce new "Kenner" style figures (5 points of articulation) of some different cantina aliens as either a pack in to a battle pack or a mail away figure? I'd love to see your take on what Dr. Evazon or Brainiac would have looked like if they actually were produced in the original Kenner run with some 70's deco. I know that this would mostly be collector focused and that it could be argued that figures like Wuher and Dr. Evazon could already be considered in that style in their current form but they're not really the same. Give it some consideration.

ANSWER:  We have looked at this numerous times over the past couple of years, and have decided that we would move forward with the new sculpting, deco, and articulation, rather than look back. The reason is that there are a lot of diverse collecting interests in Star Wars, but we need to keep focused on the heart and soul of collector demand, which is the realistic-style modern aesthetic. There will be one important exception to this that we will announce officially at Toy Fare in a couple weeks, but there will not be any return to the simpler style of figures we grew up with.


QUESTION:  The Deena Shan in Imperial uniform disguise variant (with the sculpted hair bun) was pretty difficult to find. While it would seem unlikely to ever be reissued in a comic pack at this point, would it be possible to consider adding this figure when putting together an Imperial troop builder battle pack? Or even just changing the hair color so that we could have this sculpt?

ANSWER:  It's unlikely that we would issue the female trooper again unless there was a specific storyline context given, since any female Imperials remain a strictly an EU-based concept. Our focus for the next couple of years will be on the movies with only occasional EU forays, so we don't see this one coming back out for a long while, if ever.



Keep checking back as more sites continue to post their most recent Q&A sessions with Hasbro's Star Wars team.  And be sure to check for our Q&A Headline report for the news you can use from this latest Hasbro Q&A session!

[Gold 5]

The roundup has been updated!  And we've also got some new participants in this round:

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