Hasbro Q&A Sessions

[David]

He's on Obi-Wan's starfighter to Utapau.

I think that's actually R4-G9.

Wow, I'm such a nerd. 

[Keonobi]

I think that's actually R4-G9.

Wow, I'm such a nerd. 

Darnit, that nerd beat this nerd.

I think R4-P44 is a mostly silver deco with a green-blue dome.

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/R4-P44

Though instead he'll be the R4 unit that was transferred into a Protocol droid's body as will be newly established by LFL.

[Diddly]

Is R3-A2 the clear domed droid Hasbro put in one of the very first battle packs from 2002/2003? I think it was some kind of TRU exclusive Hoth set

[Keonobi]

That's the same designation, whether it'll be the same design, i don't know.  I've watched the droid on ebay and he's kind of pricey.  If this is the same droid, I wonder if that old design will drop in price.  I'm sure a lot of the droid collectors won't be too excited about that, i think they'd like to have a new one instead.  I'll be ok with it since it'll let me get this guy one way or the other...

[Nicklab]

Is R3-A2 the clear domed droid Hasbro put in one of the very first battle packs from 2002/2003? I think it was some kind of TRU exclusive Hoth set

Yup.  It came out in 2003.  That set was called the Battle of Hoth.

Obviously the design is going to be different.  The bodies of BAF astromechs all have 4 leg sockets and the removable center leg.  Plus, Hasbro has yet to do a clear dome astromech in the BAF droid series.

[P-Siddy]

He's on Obi-Wan's starfighter to Utapau.

I think that's actually R4-G9.

Wow, I'm such a nerd. 

Oops, misread the info on him. While he wasn't on the starfighter (I thought that wasn't right), he was assigned to Obi-Wan's forces to Utapau.

[Darth_Anton]

Thanks for the info and the entertainment guys!

[Brian]

I noticed in this week's Hasbro Q and A at RS, they confirm that there will be a couple "new takes" on C-3PO on the way later this year and 2010 (although the TPM one is not one of those versions).  Hopefully we'll see a new SA 3PO (maybe using the build-a-droid and/or 4-LOM as bases/inspiration) and I think we're well overdue for a nice AOTC version.

[Pete_Fett]

One of the things that has me disappointed from this week's Q&A's is the response to the question regarding any more Clone Wars astromechs - especially droids for Obi-Wan's new Jedi Starfighter.

Their response that we could just use the realistic line's R4 with the ship totally proves to me that just don't understand why collectors were so negative about the two different styles before the lines premiered. If I want to display the new Obi-Wan starfighter with my Clone Wars figures, I want the astromech to be one of the animated style droids. I mean really, how hard could it be to pump out a couple of repaints of the Goldie figure?

[evenflow]

I thought this was one of the more interesting answers this week from SSG:

SSG: When it comes to prequel Senators, we haven't seen much lately. The most asked of them is the Senator Grebleips figure, the E.T. alien - will we ever be getting this figure, is it just unlikely because it's a background alien, or is it totally off-limits because it's an easter egg from another film? Also, what about seeing senate figures from Ep 1 like Edcel Bar Gane, Sei Taria, Toonbuck Toora and Mot-Not Rab?

Hasbro: Senator and Separatist figures have been very slow sellers for us, so while we're not ruling them out, they are not high on our list of figures to target. We're confident that we'll get around to more some day, especially if the collector base rebounds as these figures are 100% collector-targeted. Until then, they'll stay on the sidelines. Grebleips is off limits per Lucasfilm, joining (among a few others) the oft-asked for female Cantina denizens, Holiday Special live action figures, and Tyvokka as figures we cannot/will not pursue.

It sucks but i had heard we could not get the ET figure and the Holiday Special figures, and we knew about the Tonnika sisters but why Tyvokka. Whats the story with not being able to get a Wookie Jedi?

[Nicklab]

Apparently Lucas has something against Wookiees being Jedi.  There's supposedly an edict for the EU that the only Wookiee Jedi will now and forever be Tyvokka and Lowbacca.  And apparently this extends to Hasbro not making a Tyvokka figure.

[stan]

Lt Sheckil, Williard Hood, Bespin Security Guard, Luke Snowspeeder Pilot are coming later this year!!!  Trying to find out the last two figures in the ESB wave. 

[Ryan]

Lt Sheckil, Williard Willrow Hood, Bespin Security Guard, Luke Snowspeeder Pilot are coming later this year!!!  Trying to find out the last two figures in the ESB wave. 

Fixed. 

[stan]

Thank You, Ryan

[Brian]

One thing that was a little concerning to me in this week's batch of Q and A's (and seemed fairly prevalent across the sites), was Hasbro mentioning how much sales had slowed on Droid Factory/Legends stuff (basically anything non-CW).  I read in a number of Q and A's at JD, GH, and a couple other places that while the line as a whole is doing well, it is mainly due to kids and the CW stuff.  As you can see here at JD's Q and A, the Force Unleashed wave is now going to be an exclusive battle pack or something, and other "collector focused" releases are going to be more scaled back.  I don't think we're going to lose the Legacy figures or anything like that, but it really seems like Clone Wars stuff is going to get the bulk of the focus for the next few years.

I wouldn't say that the Legacy/movie-based stuff has sold poorly here locally, aside from a couple of pegwarmers (Yarna, Legends Plo Koon) - and the entire line seems to sell through here pretty well for the most part.  Has anyone else noticed a big lag in sales of the "realistic" stuff in the line overall?  I can totally understand the focus on CW right now, but I hate to see less and less movie stuff being made.  I can see any non-CW vehicles or beasts being exclusives from now on, and less focus on Legacy stuff.  It often seems like when Hasbro mentions something across several Q and A's like this, they are sort of "preparing" the collector base for changes in some instances.