Here’s a story you won’t get on other sites.
I was in the Hasbro booth this morning, taking pictures of the 3-3/4” line for the site, when one of the Hasbro line marketers came up to the display unit I was next to. He pulled out his keys, unlocked the cabinet, and proceeded to rearrange the figures according to hand-written notes he was holding. I asked him if he had the final assortment and names for the new 12, and was told that yes, he did, and he was arranging them in accordance, and could give me the names and numbers in a moment.
As he was setting up the last figures, and I was tinkering with my camera next to him, out of the corner of my eye I caught someone approach the cabinet, to the left of the Hasbro rep, but thought nothing of it – until the Hasbro rep turned suddenly, slightly confused, and immediately angry. Looking back at the case, Commander Bly, the figure farthest to the left and closest to the front of the display, was gone. Disappeared. Stolen. Right out from underneath him, someone reached in, grabbed the figure, and took off. I had noticed someone approach and leave, but didn’t know who it was, or see him swipe the figure.
There was a moment of confusion, and what I’m sure for him was absolute anger, and then the realization that he was gone, and so was Bly.
Here’s where things get complicated. Apparently, this Bly was the “master paint reference,” and the figure was in a state where it had been approved by LFL and was on its way to manufacturing. The hitch being, if the factory needs paint reference to start the run, there is no hard copy of the approved figure to instruct them on. A new one would have to be created. (My assumption here is that a newly repainted sample would need to be resubmitted to LFL before being OK’ed for manufacture). So, if there are any problems or questions overseas on specifications for the paint apps on the figure, they’re out of luck. That could cause a delay in the release of Commander Bly.
That’s what he explained to me. Perhaps, and I hope this is the case, that that line of thought is a worse-case scenario said in the moment. I hope it works out for them, because the whole event was pretty damn low, and lame.
So if you’re wondering where good pics of Bly are on JediDefender, it’s quite simply because someone at Comic Con is a rat-fink dirtbag, who may have well screwed us out of a figure for this year. Thanks, *******.
We’ll hope for the best and Hasbro doesn’t run into any snags because of one complete moron.
J