SSG's Bi-Weekly Hasbro Q&A - April 4th

[JediTricks]

3 answers and a clarification make up Hasbro's answers to SSG questions for April 4th, 2008. Thanks again to Hasbro for the answers, to all the folks who sent in questions and especially those who voted on them.

Hasbro Q&A for the week of April 4th

SSG: Regarding Luke Jedi in his Death Star 2 look, the only basic figure of this is from 5 years ago, is preposed, has an action gimmick with floppy arms, and a likeness somewhere between "caveman" and "Harpo Marx". That despite Luke DS2 being the only OT main character figure in the last Fans' Choice poll's top 25 - 10 of the 14 figures above him are made or confirmed, as well as 4 of the 9 figures beneath. Hasbro's past answer on this matter was "theming issues, it may be a while, hang in there," yet since the 2003 DS2 Luke figure there have been 7 ROTJ waves and 2 Vintage-style lines with ROTJ figures; as well as 4 more Luke Jedi with Jabba's Palace outfits and Toy Fair has shown yet another ROTJ wave, this time with a Jabba's Palace-styled Luke Jedi from a deleted scene; and the previous new Luke Jedi figure could have fit the bill with its removable vest and outer belt yet was designed specifically against making it into DS2 Luke. Fans want Luke DS2, most of the other Fans' Choice poll results have been made or confirmed, Hasbro's had several opportunities, now we have sandstorm Luke coming - a deleted scene figure - over Luke DS2 which is baffling. So what's the full story here, why no Luke Jedi DS2 yet again? When can collectors finally get the last main OT character's significant costume yet to be done as an action figure?
Hasbro: We chose the deleted Sandstorm theme to bind several core characters together. We had long planned to do both versions, but the Sandstorm scene came first in rotation because of our desire for the new Han and Chewie, so a new Death Star II Luke was slotted into the next Episode VI wave. We are pleased to announce that if our schedule holds, you will see the next Episode VI wave in late Spring 2009.

SSG: Back in 1996, Kenner/Hasbro was developing a Virago vehicle toy for the Shadows of the Empire figure line to go along with the 2 other vehicles the line produced. Several pieces of concept and packaging art were produced, a retailer-enticement sheet describing some cool features was found not too long ago, as well as a prototype model, but the vehicle never materialized. The Galoob Action Fleet Virago remains one of the most sought-after vehicles on ebay, as this ship makes for a unique and exciting Star Wars toy. Did your Virago design ever get turned into a mold? Does Hasbro still have any molds or prototypes of it? What would the chances be of seeing a Virago released today?
Hasbro: The Virago was never tooled, as the somewhat ambitious plans for the continuation of the EU line at the time were scaled back. While it is a different story to do, we are committed to figures and have not gone the vehicle route for EU aside from repaints. It is doubtful we will get to the Virago in anything other than perhaps Titanium.

SSG: The current R5 droid mold (used on R5-D4, R5-J2, and R5-F7) is close to "perfect", but there are a few glaring issues that should be addressed before this mold becomes the all-purpose version. They include the antenna, which comes out and may be lost easily; the pop-up motivator, which worked on R5-D4 but had diminishing returns on later uses; and the chest plate being a separate piece, which has been a problem on every figure to use the VOTC R2-D2 body. The head could just be retooled and used on the more-accurate R4-G9 body. Will these issues be addressed, or will we continue to get more less-than-perfect R5 figures?
Hasbro: Most often it is a capacity issue - which tools are available when, etc. Certain elements, like a pop-out chest plate, are necessary parts of the design, but we will take your comments into account the next time we release.

SSG: Also, could we get clarification on the Ishi Tib answer we received last round since there actually is no vintage precedent that we're aware of?
Hasbro: (Thanks for giving us a chance to update out answer. We obviously misremembered the PotF version as vintage). While no new Ishi Tib is planned, we would probably do a Jabba's Palace one first. However, we're not sure on that…. given that the Ishi Tib have been fairly prominemt backgrounders in many places, it's possible we would do an entirely different version first.

- -

And the questions at ActionFigs.com:

• Many collectors have noted that Moff Jerjerrod was not a great seller and can still be found in stores, while it seemed as though Admiral Ozzel, Captain Piett, and Grand Moff Tarkin seemed to have sold better. There are times where Hasbro really nails a likeness, but unfortunately Moff Jerjerrod did not look like the actor and had an angry facial expression not seen in Return of the Jedi. Would Hasbro ever consider resculpting this figure or does the perceived poor performance of the Jerjerrod figure make it unlikely he would ever be revisited. Do you agree that if this figure sold poorly it may have been in part because of a poor likeness?
• A number of fans would like to see more figures from the SW Holiday Special, which you've stated is not a priority for Hasbro. One of the characters from it, Ackmena, played by Bea Arthur, has been getting some traction lately in the collector community as a figure they'd like to see made. Before fans get too fired up, might you comment on if Hasbro even HAS the licensed authority needed to make a Bea Arthur Ackmena figure? (If by some miracle the answer is "yes", could you posit on its chances of being made?)
• Has there been any thought about doing a few deliberate variations to some of the figures this year as running changes offered in later assortments, like you did with the ROTS line? For instance, the new '08 Anakin-as-Vader figure could be repainted with Sith eyes, or the '08 Obi-Wan could be redeco'ed with battle damage.

[JediTricks]

Woo! Luke DS2 confirmed!!! Now I kinda feel like I wasted all my frustration and time rewriting that question over and over until it was so pointed it could put your eye out just looking at it.

[Kidhuman]

Wasnt really a huge fan for most of the questions posed this round. Is it me or did that answer for Moff Jerjerrod make no sense? I am really tired, so it might be me.

[Mr. JabbaJohnL]

Sweet, a new DSII Luke will be awesome. I'm not completely happy with the R5 issue but at least we brought it to their attention. And they pretty much said "forget it" to Ackmena . . . I wish they would have done so more forcefully, as people will still ask for it.

I thought the Jerjerrod answer was fairly clear; they thought his sculpt wasn't as bad as many of us did, but said they simply made way too many of him.

[bigbarada]

I've always figured that they couldn't possibly avoid that version of Luke forever; but expectations are going to be pretty high when he finally does come out.

Maybe they shouldn't have even bothered with the Holiday Special Fett, to keep from getting peoples' hopes up for other HS figures.

I don't think the Jerjerrod answer bodes well for collector focused figures. They basically blamed his pegwarming on us implying that either we didn't buy this "collector-themed figure" that they were nice enough to make for us, OR there aren't enough collectors in the hobby to really sell a figure of this kind in large numbers. They completely avoided the likeness question. Does this mean that upcoming "collector figures" will be even harder to find?

[El Chuxter]

Originally Posted by bigbarada

Maybe they shouldn't have even bothered with the Holiday Special Fett, to keep from getting peoples' hopes up for other HS figures.

Or Zutton, for that matter.

Thing about the Holiday Special is, everyone knows it sucks. No one is disputing that. But some of the new characters were incredibly toygenic.

[Tycho]

Originally Posted by Hasbro

The Virago was never tooled, as the somewhat ambitious plans for the continuation of the EU line at the time were scaled back. While it is a different story to do, we are committed to figures and have not gone the vehicle route for EU aside from repaints. It is doubtful we will get to the Virago in anything other than perhaps Titanium.

Forgive me, but did I just imagine the V-19 at Toy Fair?

Originally Posted by Hasbro

(Thanks for giving us a chance to update out answer. We obviously misremembered the PotF version as vintage). While no new Ishi Tib is planned, we would probably do a Jabba's Palace one first. However, we're not sure on that…. given that the Ishi Tib have been fairly prominemt backgrounders in many places, it's possible we would do an entirely different version first.

So, let me see if I understand this correctly? They're NOT going to make the Ishi Tibb (Shasha Teil from Jabba's Palace) that everyone wants first? They'll make some random Ishi Tibb that walked around the background of the podrace hanger first? Well, technically, they first made one from the Rebel briefing on Home One who I still can't spot in the movie or even the picture included on that figure's cardback.

Make Shasha Teil, Hasbro. And don't waste my time!

[JediTricks]

Originally Posted by Kidhuman

Wasnt really a huge fan for most of the questions posed this round. Is it me or did that answer for Moff Jerjerrod make no sense? I am really tired, so it might be me.

Makes perfect sense to me. They're happy with the likeness, and attribute his failure to making too many of him for the collector-themed character he was. I think it failed because nobody really wants this guy except hardcore fans, he was a do-nothing sniveling nobody who died having meant nothing in the film.

I personally didn't love most of the questions this round except Virago & Luke, and while the former was no surprise, the latter got a positive response so I don't mind that it didn't actually address the issues.

Originally Posted by Mr. JabbaJohnL

And they pretty much said "forget it" to Ackmena . . . I wish they would have done so more forcefully, as people will still ask for it.

Agreed.

Originally Posted by bigbarada

I don't think the Jerjerrod answer bodes well for collector focused figures. They basically blamed his pegwarming on us implying that either we didn't buy this "collector-themed figure" that they were nice enough to make for us, OR there aren't enough collectors in the hobby to really sell a figure of this kind in large numbers. They completely avoided the likeness question. Does this mean that upcoming "collector figures" will be even harder to find?

They didn't avoid the likeness part, they feel he's fine. I feel they're nuts. But I think their answer was the latter interpretation you have there, and I totally agree with them that some figures like this or Yarna aren't meant to be packed heavily in multiple cases because that can quickly translate to pegwarming. It's called balance.

Originally Posted by Tycho

Forgive me, but did I just imagine the V-19 at Toy Fair?

It's supported in animation, that's not "EU" anymore, once it's a TV show or movie that people want to watch (unlike Droids, Holiday Special, or anything Ewok) it's got a good amount of exposure and therefore a good chance of selling.

[Mr. JabbaJohnL]

Originally Posted by JediTricks

I feel they're nuts.

Excuse me?

Perhaps "think" might work better here.

[Devo]

Originally Posted by Mr. JabbaJohnL

Excuse me?

Perhaps "think" might work better here.

His use of "they're" instead of 'their' is important here...of course when you say these in your mind they sound the same.

So DSII luke confirmed for next year...'but its a whole 'nother year!!'...excited but apprehensive, it could end up like TAC jedi Luke.