Hasbro Q&A Sessions

[Daigo-Bah]

No sign at all of wave 6 here in my part of Louisiana.  I'm not worried, but it would be nice if we could catch up with the rest of the country.  Also, I greatly prefer the head on the second Hoth trooper.  It seems more iconic of that trooper type to me.

[Jeff]

Hooray for a "we'll get to it in a few years" confirmed Echo Base Hoth Han! 

3. Here's another Han Solo for your "parking lot" - what about combining the parts of Hoth Han and Bespin Han to give us an Echo Base Hangar Han Solo figure? One where he's wearing his brown pants (with yellow stripes) and the notorious Blue/Brown winter parka (hood down). Part Hoth Han, Part Bespin Han, but all good.

** Good spotting. That is one that we have our eyes on for a future version as well. Expect to see him within the next couple of years, most likely in the basic figure lineup.

[Brian]

Nice question Jeff, and glad to hear that we'll likely be getting that figure in a couple of years.  Cool!

[Jeff]

From the gang at Rebelscum:

Rebelscum: You've stated a number of times that there will be 4 concept figures this year. We know the first one is the Anakin concept figure in the AOTC wave. Without mentioning which figures you have on tap for the other three, could you let us know which waves they will be in and can we expect to see the other three concept figures this year, or have any been pushed back to 2010?

Hasbro: The three will be coming this year, in the last three waves slated for 2010 (EpIV, EpIII, and EpV respectively). The first two red/white line look waves (EpI, followed by the epic EpVI wave) will not have concept figures.

Based on the other info they've given us about the concept figures (1x McQuarrie, 1x Johnston figure, 1x Jun, 1x Thompson), it seems to make the most sense that the Thompson concept piece will come in the Ep3 wave while the McQuarrie and Johnston pieces come in the ANH & ESB waves.

I hope Concept Lando is one of them... also wouldn't mind seeing Thompson's Wookiee Jedi concept turned into a figure, but that seems unlikely with the whole "we can't make Tyvokka 'cuz Lucas hates wookiee jedi" thing that Hasbro said a while back.

[Brian]

I noticed in the Q and A over at SSG this week, Hasbro basically said that the AOTC wave might be a tough find at retail.  They mentioned that it was a shorter run since it was the last wave of the blue/white packaging, and that if people want to make sure they get it, they might want to head online.  I haven't seen this wave at all at retail (or the ESB wave for that matter), but got what I needed online so it isn't a big deal to me I guess - but it does stink when the last wave gets "left behind" like this.

[Pete_Fett]

I noticed in the Q and A over at SSG this week, Hasbro basically said that the AOTC wave might be a tough find at retail.  They mentioned that it was a shorter run since it was the last wave of the blue/white packaging, and that if people want to make sure they get it, they might want to head online.  I haven't seen this wave at all at retail (or the ESB wave for that matter), but got what I needed online so it isn't a big deal to me I guess - but it does stink when the last wave gets "left behind" like this.

While I admit that I'm too lazy to go find it, I'm pretty sure that Hasbro has stated this before with regards to the AOTC wave.

It was the reason I ordered this wave by the case from Entertainment Earth - it felt better having the Blue/White Legacy Collection figures out of the way as opposed to sweating it out whether or not my local stores would even get in a case AND I'd be lucky enough to be the one collector to find it.

[Jesse James]

This week's questions from Jedi Defender:

-What are the odds we get a couple new Endor Rebel Soldiers like the trenchcoated "Sergeant", and the open camo coat guy the Vintage Figure is based on?

-Any likelihood of "The Old Republic" MMORPG figures?

-Can we PLEASE get the Yavin Tech in the Legends Line?

Head on out to the front page to check out the Q's, the A's, and all that stuff.

[David]

-Can we PLEASE get the Yavin Tech in the Legends Line?

Nope. Kids want more recognizable, iconic characters, like Saesee Tiin.

[Jesse James]

I'll give Hasbro their notion that Jedi are more kid-friendly, but sometimes I think they overlook us a bit too much, and this is one of those cases.  I mean, the Technician is a big reason I think that set's moved as well as it has.  Maybe I'm overly optomistic there, but that's a damn good figure.  I'm glad I bought 5 sets or so, but man it was costly.

Either way, I hope they are happy with how well the figure is done, and that it sees the light of day again.  That's a lot of money put into a figure that really isn't common.  I know those packs are "rare" around me.  I've seen one in the last month at retail.  That seems uncommon to me.

[Pete_Fett]

Ok - so the Clone Wars line is aimed at kids. That's fine. But the Saga Legends line is for kids too?

I was in a TRU on Monday night and this mom came into the Star Wars aisle with her two young sons.

One of the boys was trying to look through the figures, but since he was small, he couldn't see much, so I asked him what he was looking for and offered to help him look. He told me he wanted to get two figures - one good guy and one bad guy.

The "good guy" he wanted to get was the 501st Clonetrooper. So now he's on a quest to find a "bad guy" - based on what was on the pegs here was his options:

Darth Vader (Legends) - nope already had a couple of him
Darth Maul (Legends) - nope already had a Darth Maul figure
Super Battle Droid (Legends) - nope already had a bunch of those
Battle Droid (Clone Wars) - nope, same as the SBD
IG Assassain Droid (Clone Wars) - nope, already had one of him
Destroyer Droid (Clone Wars) - nope, already had a pair of them
Asajj Ventress - ABSOLUTELY NO "I don't get the girl figures!"

The kid ended up putting back the 501st Clone and saving his money for another day.

Ok so whatever play pattern, scheme, concept, idea Hasbro thinks they are serving with the Saga Legends line having Darth Vader, Darth Maul and the Super Battle Droid constantly in circulation - they lost a potential sale because they DO NOT provide enough variety through the Saga Legends line.

And what are they doing with the first wave of the Red/White Saga Legends - bringing out the EXACT SAME "bad guys" that this kid already had. Now I'm sure this kid is more of an exception than the norm, but the kid who buys or gets more than one Star Wars figure should be the core audience, not the kid who gets one figure and throws it in the closet. Hasbro should want kids to make repeat purchases (or nag their parents to make repeat purchases for them).

I think if Hasbro would consider packing in a better variety of figures as the Legends line progresses instead of the same core 12 figures over and over again, even when aiming the line at kids, they will end up being much better served. Making a blanket statement like the Yavin Rebel doesn't fit is just being ignorant of the market or lazy, I can't figure out which. Afterall, if there had been a generic Stormtrooper and a Yavin Rebel on the pegs, I could have shown him both of those and offered them as his potential mix of "good" and "bad" guy figures.

[commandernarra]

I think we'll see a rerelease of The Yavin Tech, especially if Hasbro has to do a repaint wave further down the track. Surely their internal marketing shows this set to be a hit ? It hasn't be released yet downunder, but I've bought 13 loose tech of ebay as really good prices. I'd buy at least another ten if was single carded...

[Rob]

I think we'll see a rerelease of The Yavin Tech

I hope so.  Literally, the last FOUR of that Battlepack I've stumbled across in stores has had the Tech swapped out for another figure and had been returned.

It's getting comical how often I'm running into that.  And it sucks too, because I want to buy the things but all I can find are tampered-with Yavin sets or Jabba sets.

[Jesse James]

I hope so too, as they're simply not common here.

That said...  And not to move on abruptly, but no love for the Endor Rebel quesiton?

They're toying with us likely getting TWO new Endor Soldiers in the future?  And one is the trenchcoated Sergeant/squad leader!?  That friggin' rocks.  And Vinty guys have to love the notion of the open-camo coat guy from the vintage line also on the to-do-list!  He's seen best walking out behind Han from the Bunker when they all get caught.

I'm giddy at getting both...  I'd like to see the guys without the camo-coats redone too (with just the vests on), but really that's a great start to getting some Endor diversity for certain.

[Nicklab]

I think you might be reading more into the question than the actual response...

QUESTION:  It's time for some love for the Endor Rebels. We're curious to know if a possible future Endor Rebel figure could maybe be modeled on the "Sergeant" with the trench coat (like Sideshow's recent 12" figure). Also, the vintage Kener Endor Commando (with the opened camo coat) has never technically been recreated for the modern line. He'd make a good unique looking Endor Trooper in the future too! *hint hint*

ANSWER:  Hints taken..those are excellent figure selections. Right now we don't have a new Endor Commando slotted into the lineup, but it's only a mater of time before we get to them. We feel confident that at some point, one or both of those will see the light of day.


I think that means they're considering the Endor Rebels, but the way I read it they're in the proverbial "parking lot" and not in the production pipeline.

I think we'll see a rerelease of The Yavin Tech

I hope so.  Literally, the last FOUR of that Battlepack I've stumbled across in stores has had the Tech swapped out for another figure and had been returned.

It's getting comical how often I'm running into that.  And it sucks too, because I want to buy the things but all I can find are tampered-with Yavin sets or Jabba sets.

Oh, you've got a repeat swapper in your area, huh?  I've been dealing with one of those around me lately.  And I might have actually nailed him.  I pointed out some swapped figures to some Target employees a few weeks ago, and they actually pulled the swapped figures off the pegs.  And because some stores actually take personal info now regarding returns, they might have flagged the swapper in their system.  Because I haven't seen swapped figures in that particular store since then.

[evenflow]

I love that they are not against eventually making a Princess Kneesa figure. I have wanted one since i was a little kid.