HASBRO STAR WARS Q&A HEADLINES - WEEK OF FEBRUARY 3rd, 2010Check out the news you can use from the latest Hasbro Q&A session! We've distilled down the Q&A process so that you can get right to the heart of the matter. There's a lot of news from this particular session, so read carefully!
HEADLINE - VINTAGE COLLECTION WILL NOT INCLUDE VALUE ADDED PACK-INJEDI TEMPLE ARCHIVESQUESTION: 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.
GOLD 5: Rumors have been abounding in recent weeks about the upcoming Vintage Collection. With this response Hasbro confirms that this new basic figure assortment will not include any kind of value added pack-in. Additionally, the loss of this pack-in will not translate to a decrease in basic figure prices.
HEADLINE - ANOTHER BATTLEFRONT II MULTIPACK IN THE WORKSCOLLECTION STATIONQUESTION: 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.
GOLD 5: Hasbro has offered a number of Battlefront II multipacks that have been available as exclusives through both Diamond and Toys R Us. Most of the figures in these sets have come from existing tools, like Clone Troopers, Battle Droids and the like. As such, the tooling expense is on the low side for Hasbro. What could a new series of Battlefront II multipacks have in store for us? Stay tuned.
HEADLINE - NEW AT-AT CONFIRMEDGALACTIC HUNTERQUESTION: 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!
TOY NEWS INTERNATIONALQUESTION: 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!
GOLD 5: JTA first got firm indications of the new AT-AT in this article last month. Further information made it's way to JTA reporters from a number of sources giving further creedence to the rumors. JTA's reporting hit so close to the mark that Hasbro requested that articles related to the new AT-AT be removed from the Jedi Temple Archives front page. All the while rumors had been circulating around the collecting community for many months.
The most notable new development in this story was Hasbro's revelation at the UK Toy Fair that the new AT-AT was confirmed. And now, these responses from Hasbro indicate that the new AT-AT has been in development for some time. It's reported to be significantly larger than the vintage mold that collectors have known and loved since 1980. And the price is the same as the other recent large vehicles, at the $99.99 plateau.
HEADLINE - MORE CARDBACK INFORMATION REVEALEDHAN'S HIDEOUTQUESTION: 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.
GOLD 5: Hasbro offers a significant ammount of information with this response. First, there's the Saga Legends line. Based on Hasbro's response both Saga Legends figures and Clone Wars basic figures will be on cardbacks similar to this one which was recently revealed as a sample in this official site article
The vintage line will be more reminiscent of the Vintage OTC figures, but without the clamshell cases. And as mentioned in the JTA Q&A there will be no value added pack-in with the Vintage Collection.
HEADLINE - DETAILS ON REMAINING COMIC 2-PACKSHAN'S HIDEOUTQUESTION: 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.
GOLD 5: Hasbro clears up the situation with both the general release comic 2-packs and the WalMart exclusive comic 2-packs. Here's the rundown:
These 5 comic 2-packs are still slated to be released as mass retail some time this spring:
REPUBLIC with Tholme & T'ra Saa pack
TALES OF THE JEDI with Exar Kun & Ulic Quel Droma
REPUBLIC with Kashyyyk "Bogey Squad" Clone 2-pack
Star Wars Early Adventures with Black Hole Trooper/droid/Black Hole figure pack
ROUTINE VALOR Commander Cody's Battalion Clone 2-pack
These general release comic 2-packs have been cancelled. However, the figures may be released at a later date in some other format:
LEGACY with Delia Blue & Darth Nihl
KNIGHTS OF THE OLD REPUBLIC with Jarael & Rohlan Dyre
These comic 2-packs are still slated for release as WalMart exclusives:
Star Wars: Tales #4 - IG-97 and Rohm Moc
Star Wars: X-Wing Rogue Leader #2 - Storm Commando & General Weir
Originally, WalMart had been slated to release THREE comic 2-packs as exclusives. Hasbro cites a content concern for the cancellation of that third 2-pack, which had previously been announced as follows:
Star Wars: X-Wing Rogue Squadron #1 - Dllr Nep & Plour Ilo
Hasbro goes on to say that they will attempt to release the Rogue Squadron #1 pack through different means at a later time. They also say that there will be comic 2-pack exclusives offered at both the 2010 San Diego Comic Con as well as Star Wars Celebration 5. Check back with JTA for more on ALL of these comic 2-packs in our 2010 Toy Fair coverage and beyond.
HEADLINE - NEW CLOUD CAR PILOT & DACK RALTER CONFIRMEDIMPERIAL SHIPYARDSQUESTION: 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.
GOLD 5: Hasbro confirms that there will be new figures to go along with the new vehicles in fall 2010's starfighter vehicle assortment. Those being a new Cloud Car Pilot for the Bespin Cloud Car, and a Dack Ralter figure to man the gunner's position in the upcoming Luke Skywalker Snowspeeder.
HEADLINE - MORE JABBA THE HUTT DETAILS CONFIRMEDJEDI INSIDERQUESTION: 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!
GOLD 5: Good news on the Jabba the Hutt front. Hasbro confirms that for the first time since 1983 collectors will not only get a new Jabba the Hutt, but his throne as well. Additionally there will be a figure packed in with this new version of Jabba. Who is it? Rumors and rumblings have it that it may be a resculpt of Jabba's twi'lek dancer, Oola. However we're all going to have to wait until it's revealed at Star Wars Celebration 5 in Orlando, FL this coming August.
HEADLINE - SAGA LANDSPEEDER LIKELY TO BE REISSUED IN 2011RAVING TOY MANIACQUESTION: 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.
GOLD 5: Luke Skywalker's landspeeder got a serious redesign in 2002's SAGA line, and Hasbro indicates with this answer that this vehicle is likely to be reissued in 2011.
HEADLINE - FAN'S CHOICE WINNER PROGRESS REPORTSREBELSCUMQUESTION: 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.
GOLD 5: Hasbro and ToyFare magazine appear to be poised to continue their partnership in the Fan's Choice Figure Poll process. Keep checking back with ToyFare magazine as they follow the development of the Bastila Shan figure from the design stages to the final product. Hasbro stated that Bastila will make it to market in late 2011.
HEADLINE - DAGGER SQUADRON COMIC 2-PACK CANCELLEDSANDTROOPERSQUESTION: 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.
GOLD 5: As far back as the release of the TLC BLUE Daggeer Squadron B-Wing with Netrum Pollard, Hasbro had been saying that more of the Dagger Squadron pilots might be available at a later date. That's especially notable since Hasbro included multiple sticker schemes with the B-Wing so that collectors could customize their B-Wings to suit individual members of Dagger Squadron. Will these other pilots see the light of day in some other format? That remains to be seen.
HEADLINE - TLC RED EU WAVE TO BE EXCLUSIVE TO TOYS R USSIR STEVE'S GUIDEQUESTION: 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.
GOLD 5: This is easily some of the most remarkable news to come in this or any other Hasbro-Star Wars Q&A session. The EU wave which features the following figures:
___ BD56 – Dark Trooper – Phase I
___ BD57 - K'Krukh
___ BD58 - Spacetrooper
___ BD59 - Jacen Solo
___ BD60 - Jaina Solo
___ BD61 - Shaak Ti - The Force Unleashed
...will now be exclusively offered through Toys R Us stores and online retail. Other mass retailers will NOT be receiving this last wave of the TLC RED line. This wave will arrive at TRU stores in May, some three months from now.
For those fearing a figure drought, there will still be some Clone Wars basic figures in the pipeline. And there will also be some comic 2-packs and battle packs as well.
HEADLINE - ECHO BASE HAN SOLO INCOMING?TOY NEWS INTERNATIONALQUESTION: 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!
GOLD 5: Hasbro lets a few more details slip out regarding the upcoming Vintage Collection of basic figures. And they drop a hint about our favorite Corellian Smuggler. There is a new version of Han Solo in the works from THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK in one of the first waves, but it will NOT be the much sought after Bespin version. Conjecture around the collecting community has it that it may in fact be an Echo Base version of Captain Solo as seen in this screencap from Empire:
HEADLINE - VINTAGE COLLECTION CARDBACKS & PROMO STICKERSYAKFACEQUESTION: 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.
GOLD 5: There we have it. Prequel characters will be presented for the first time on the vintage style Kenner cardback. Characters that had been previously offered in the Kenner vintage line will feature the same cardback artwork as the original Kenner offerings. And other characters offered on this type of cardback for the first time will follow the general Kenner cardback style. Expect samples to be revealed at Toy Fair.
Keep checking back for more Q&A Headlines as sites continue to post their sessions with Hasbro over the coming days.
Latest News From the Front Lines