Gold? Silver? Bronze? To heck with them, it's Hasbro's answers to SSG questions for August 15th, 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 August 15th
SSG: Many folks feel the big Millennium Falcon to be a true masterpiece in Star Wars toys, but speaking with the designer at Comic-Con, one of the things learned was that the original design for the toy was even bigger than what we got before budgetary realities found its current size. Were there arguments about what features could be packed into the final version? Did Lucasfilm have any specific requests of ideas to do or not to do? What features were on the bubble and barely made the cut? What features (beyond voice recordings, as we know Leia and Lando didn't make the final results there, along with about 40 more minutes of "vital" Falcon dialogue that was originally considered), if any, didn't make the final cut?
Hasbro: JT - sorry, out designer is not here to answer your question this week. We will have to follow-up with this answer.
SSG: Back in November of '06, you answered a question about the canceled Yavin Accessory set and its Rebel ground crew tech by saying that you liked him but he wasn't exciting enough to do at the time. Now with the Scramble on Yavin battle pack, you have a new, much better version of that Ground Tech coming out, but the original pack's ladder, crates, lights, and direction baton accessories are still missing in action. Those accessories seem like they'd fit perfectly with this new "Scramble" battle pack, but alas no. Did you make molds for those accessories, and if so, could you run them and find a way to get those awesome and much-desired accessories into fans' collections in the near future?
Hasbro: We did make tools for those accessories, but they are at a different factory and were not available for this accessory set. We are looking at how to use them in a future set.
SSG: In the event that Hasbro collaborates with ToyFare Magazine or another outlet on a new open-entry official Fans' Choice poll, could you provide the voters a short list of characters that Hasbro absolutely cannot do - such as the Tonnikas - to ensure that the poll results are as useful as possible rather than having unusable entries? Hypothetically, if you were to do that, what characters might go on that list?
Hasbro: You hit on the only characters that would be a waste of time on the list. Everyone else is fair game.
SSG: Follow up from the last round, the Y-wing Droid Slot Q&A exchange (
see the previous round -JT) left us a little confused as the bomb-dropping gimmick has been on that toy since its inception in the Kenner ROTJ line when it had the aforementioned droid slot, and were hoping to get clarification on what happened here...
Hasbro: Yes, it was our mistake on that one. Very sorry. The answer, as it turns out, was not mechanism-related, but aesthetic-related. The Power of the Force droids would not fit into the vintage droid slot, and it would have had to have been made bigger to accommodate. At the time, the Lucasfilm team did not like the aesthetic, and the direction was to tool it over. As a result-- (
and then, mysteriously, it cut off in mid-sentence. We'll get back to them and hopefully get that last segment soon. -JT)
SSG: Speaking of follow-ups, Hasbro also sent the final word from the SDCC 1-on-1 Q&A on the Titanium Outrider, it's added to
that article.
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And the questions at ActionFigs.com:
- From your Comic-Con slideshow image, it's impossible to tell, so what's the articulation like on the upcoming Legacy Collection ANH Obi-Wan Kenobi? Some fans fear it will be a repeat of the under-articulated VOTC Ben Kenobi. And might there be any way to release the TLC Obi-Wan's table accessory through alternate means, perhaps in a "Viewing of Leia's Hologram" battle pack with Obi-Wan's foot locker accessory, or maybe bribery & blackmail?
- We're aware that Hasbro's license for Battlestar Galactica expires at the end of the year, and many collectors are saddened because the BSG ships are often highly thought of (and most are highly sought-after!). Might Hasbro pursue future BSG licenses? Has the BSG Titanium line been doing as strongly as hoped? How did it rate compared to Star Wars Titaniums? We've seen listings for the BSG Titanium Basestar, will this piece be released before the license is up, and will there be any other new BSG Titaniums released (like Hasbro's previously-mentioned Cylon Heavy Raider)?
- While your Comic-Con display showed new Star Wars Transformers with Grievous' Starfighter, the TIE Bomber, and the V-19 Torrent (which didn't have the correct tag on it in the display unfortunately, and we've yet to see the vehicle mode - could we get a photo of that?) with their minifigs inside the cockpits, it appears the newly repackaged SWTFs have no minifigs at all. Have you guys really removed the minifig concept from the line, and if so, why? Doesn't that detract from the whole point of the Star Wars characters piloting mechs aspect? Will the minifigs displayed with the 3 new SWTF molds displayed at Comic-Con not be included with those sets?
And with a bunch of new cantina denzions slated for early '09, Wuher might need another hand to serve a drink.
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