Hasbro Q&A Sessions

[Nicklab]

WOW!  Hasbro surprises with a Q&A session just before Christmas.  There's a little more info on Coleman Trebor.  A possible new Nein Nunb.  Some details about the Super Vulture Droid.  Hints at a Tank Droid.  An updated Stormtrooper.  And the Evolutions Clone Pilot is on the way back out in Saga Legends.

[Darth_Anton]

And the Evolutions Clone Pilot is on the way back out in Saga Legends.

Which one?

[Nicklab]

The AOTC Evolutions Pilot.  A very underrated figure in my book.

[Brian]

The AOTC Evolutions Pilot.  A very underrated figure in my book.

Agreed, I was just going through some figures this weekend and looked at that one again.  Really a nicely done figure, and a great choice for the "Greatest Hits" treatment.  Pretty much an "ultimate" AOTC-style Clone Pilot, well done.

[Jayson]

The AOTC Evolutions Pilot.  A very underrated figure in my book.

Agreed, I was just going through some figures this weekend and looked at that one again.  Really a nicely done figure, and a great choice for the "Greatest Hits" treatment.  Pretty much an "ultimate" AOTC-style Clone Pilot, well done.

Although it is a nice figure, I'm not a fan of the non-articulated torso and waist. If they included just the Pilot helmet with the SA EIII Clone body I think that would be a better figure.

[Darth_Anton]

The AOTC Evolutions Pilot.  A very underrated figure in my book.

Sure. I like the other one too, though.

[Darth_Anton]

Nice round of questions on JD's part this week. Great to know about the Canon and Sled.

[Captain Piet]

The AOTC Evolutions Pilot.  A very underrated figure in my book.

Completely agree.

[DoctorPadawan]

My favorite "Vintage Hasbro Evasion" answer from the latest Q&A (specifically from TheJawa.com:

With oil being so much cheaper of late (under $50 a barrel) will Hasbro forgo it's decision to include only four figures per battlepack and return to including fifth figure?

And Hasbro's response, which should now rank right up there with that 1998 classic of "We understand there is a great desire for (insert character here), and we are exploring ways to incorporate him/her/it into the line in the future":

There are many factors, not just the price of commodities, that affect what we include in packs (labor, packaging, cube size, and pricing are all critical elements).  Suffice it to say Value is an important attribute of Battle Packs, and we try and include as much as possible to be as appealing as possible.

In other words, "You'll take your four figures at 23 bucks and you'll like it, peons!  By the way, have you seen our 75 dollar ARC-170?  HASBRO = VALUE!"

 

[Daigo-Bah]

A couple interesting tidbits from this latest round:
1) New Gamorrean Guard in the next 2 years
2) New Han in this year's later ANH wave
3) A couple new cantina aliens in that same wave (neither of which is Bom Vimdin)
4) BG-J38 (from Jabba's Palace) will be a BAD in early 2010! Link: http://banthaskull.com/forums/showthread.php?p=89128#post89128

[Brian]

A couple interesting tidbits from this latest round:
1) New Gamorrean Guard in the next 2 years
2) New Han in this year's later ANH wave
3) A couple new cantina aliens in that same wave (neither of which is Bom Vimdin)
4) BG-J38 (from Jabba's Palace) will be a BAD in early 2010! Link: http://banthaskull.com/forums/showthread.php?p=89128#post89128

I was glad to hear that a new Gamorrean is at least on their radar.  That's a figure that I think could really get knocked out of the park these days (not that the POTF2 is all that bad either).  Glad to hear there's another new Han on the way this year, although its disappointing it won't be the "ultimate" Bespin version yet.  Since its the ANH wave, it almost has to be the ceremonial Han, doesn't it?  We're already getting the Stormtrooper one in the current wave, and unless they are (finally) repacking the VOTC Han, there isn't a whole lot else to do for Han from ANH.  I really think that the VOTC Han, Leia, EB Chewie, and even VOTC Luke should be rotated into either the Legends assortment or packed in as "Greatest Hits" figures alongside waves like this.

I noticed in one of the Q and A's (I don't remember the site now for sure) asked about OT vehicles, and it sounds like there wouldn't be anything "new" released in 2009, but some exclusive stuff later in the year (probably things like the rumored Wedge X-Wing, etc.)  Not that I'm surprised, but I was sort of hoping for some more re-done OT ships.  Of course, you can never know with Hasbro's answers anymore, since the Imperial Shuttle/Falcon/etc. situations.  I'm still holding out for a re-done Snowspeeder in 2010 for Empire's 30th Anniversary.

One trend I've noticed in this round of Q and A's is a lot of Hasbro talking about how great the CW line is doing, and how much attention it will be getting.  I can totally understand it - the show is great, and with kids getting into it too, it makes sense for it to be getting lots of attention.  I just hope that we don't start seeing less and less of "Legacy" type stuff, until we're just barraged with CW merchandise and almost nothing else.

[iFett]

Do we get answers today?

[Jeff]

In theory, as long as the schedule hasn't slipped again, there should be answers to the questions submitted between Jan 16th - Jan 30th.

It will be interesting to see if we get any actual "news" from the answers since the questions are all 4-6 weeks old at this point... 

[Daigo-Bah]

I wonder if any site asked about the Hoth trooper's skirt and Hasbro graces us with a pic.  Also, some hints about which cantina aliens are coming in the next ANH wave would be cool too!

[Darth_Anton]

Scum had a blurb about the skirt, no picture though.