Hasbro Q&A/Presentation At Celebration IV

[Jesse James]

Reid, I think you're confused on the way Sir Steves worded/wrote their story.  It was done from the floor I heard and so it blends stuff together in a confusing fashion at times.  The Tarkin is definitely a Galactic Heroes figure...  It's paired with the black tunic Imp. Officer GH figure.

Our rundown of the Q&A is linked above and we have it listed a little more clearer as part of the GH news Reid, hope that helped.

[Vator]

Oh man! I come home from Pirates of the Caribbean to this? That's no AT-PT at all! And here I was, hoping to finally get vehicles from the Thrawn Trilogy...  Woe is me.

[Jesse James]

It's an AT-AP actually, but Hasbro lists it as an AT-TP (All-Terrain-Toilet-Paper?) in their slideshow...  That's been something of a bit of confusion.

[JediMAC]

Well if you can pass on a favor. If anyone has the time, can they possiby try to get some info on Yarna?

We asked 'em (again), and yes, she's indeed coming, but obviously not this year.  It'll be tight for '08, but if she doesn't squeeze in there, then definitely in '09.  You'll get her eventually, but you'll just have to be patient a little longer...

Even moreso with the Tonnika Sisters, who still aren't quite out of the "issue" that they've been embroiled in for years now, unfortunately, despite what Christine Hewitt said at C3 a couple years ago.

Cantina distillery coming (which we already knew).  Hopefully '08.

ICMG IS coming.  Probably '09.  Serious debate between two of the main Hasbro reps on whether it'll be carded, or kitbashed into a BP (hence our conflicting news with 'Scum's).  Quite entertaining to watch them argue over it in person (after I asked them about the conflicting info).  Nice to see Scott's original idea is finally going to make it to fruition!  We joked that they should include him as the pilot figure in a new Cloud Car... 

That AT-PT is surprisingly supposed to be at the mid-sized vehicle price point of only $20, and not more like that AT-ST was a few years ago...  It'll hold 3 figures.

The coins from Waves 1 and 2, many of which were badly scratched up, can be returned to Hasbro for better quality replacements soon.

Grievous actually FITS into his Starfighter (as will Obi-Wan).

Serious discussion on the direction of the vintage line, which could be all over the place at this point.  It might have prequel figures in it (god forbid), which we said should be put into the basic line, but still be highly articulated.  It might be the exact original vintage Kenner run, which would be hard, after putting recent vintage-esque figures into the basic line (like the upcoming 4-LOM).  Might just be popular select key characters not redone yet.  Might include OT figures that should've made it into the original Kenner line, but never did (Tarkin, Slave Leia, RFT, Sandtrooper, etc.)  It might include re-released figures on new cards (ANH/ESB/ROTJ).  Who knows where this line will wind up?  Hasbro certainly isn't sure yet, since they're handing out questionaires at C4 on it's future, and running the polls on RS right now as well.  But they're definitely listening to our thoughts!  Even if they're practically evenly split across the board at this point...

It sounded pretty solid that Hasbro's finally realized that at the very least they need to pump out a POTF carded vintage wave.  Pretty good bet they will.

They weren't sure what the currently MIA 12th (and final) concept figure was, though it's likely to (unfortunately) be the Greivous, which is obviously not a McQuarrie design, though it'll be on the same "Concept artwork" styled cardback.

I know there were several other tidbits of interest from some of our private discussions, but my brain is mush right now and I can't remember any more.  Post any additional (intelligent) questions in here and I'll try to get them asked/answered down at their booth this weekend.

[evenflow]

Well if you can pass on a favor. If anyone has the time, can they possiby try to get some info on Yarna?

We asked 'em (again), and yes, she's indeed coming, but obviously not this year.  It'll be tight for '08, but if she doesn't squeeze in there, then definitely in '09.  You'll get her eventually, but you'll just have to be patient a little longer...

Well, that doesnt sound too bad. Here's hoping shw squeezes in for 08. Thanks for asking again.

[DoctorPadawan]

Wow, I'm practically drooling over all the stuff shown and discussed.  For all the **** I have given Hasbro over the last 12 years, this is probably the best stuff they've done.  Quality seems to be high, selection is great, and if distribution is at the same level, these next few years could be a SW collector utopia.

Matt, I do have a couple of (probably redundant) questions that I was hoping you could ask:

-Are there plans to repaint the EU Comic Pack ARC Trooper into a red ("Fordo") ARC Trooper at some point?  I would assume this might fall under the upcoming CG CW cartoon, but I'm just continually impressed with the "Alpha" version and would love a red one to go with it.

-Now that we're getting the AOTC JSF with the hyperdrive ring, is there any chance we'll get a ROTS style Hyperdrive ring, possibly with a more accurate Utapau JSF? 

-Just a general question that someone could probably answer there:  what kind of articulation does the Han on Torture Rack have?  Is this a vintage-quality Han, or did the articulation get the shaft in favor of the detailed accessory?  Would the head be swappable with the Vintage Hoth Han so we can have a non-stressed Bespin Han?

[Daigo-Bah]

Questions:

1) Will Hasbro consider going back to non-themed waves next year or the year after?  I've loved the battle or planet themes, but then again I loved back in the late 90's when waves would have a mixture of characters from different movies and scenes in the same wave.

2) Is the new A-Wing pilot based on production photos, making the vintage and POTF2 versions inaccuarte, or did this one have more artistic license?  For example, the yellow band on the boot and the different chest harness.

3) Will there be a switch to a new X-Wing pilot body soon (either a new sculpt or vintage Luke's), or at least resculpted arms to give some variety to the various pilots out there?

[Artoo]

Why wouldn't Grievous fit? All the figures areudner-sized.

[CorranHorn]

Matt, you're doing an excellent job of getting our voices heard by Hasbro at C4, kudos mate! Here's a follow-up thought on the whole "vintage" issue. Has Hasbro considered scrapping the "vintage" line in favor of putting these kind of quality efforts consistently into the "Basic" line as well as the "Comic" line?