Q&A answered questions

[James]

Round 1, February 3, 2010

1) Looking back over the Fan's Choice figures that have been made in the past years, I'm wondering if there are any that you would like to update someday. Most of them are nice sculpts, but characters like Amanaman, Darth Revan, concept Stormtrooper and Ellorrs Madak could benefit from a modern articulation upgrade. All of these guys are lacking knees and ankles, plus it would be nice to have some of the fan favorites back in circulation again after so many years. So, is there any hope for new and improved versions of any of these characters?

Hasbro: Amanaman was basically upgraded in a Comic Pack last year. He is one that we would hope to one day bring out on a Vintage figure card, so it's possible that future updates would be made. The others, though, we do not have plans to re-release at this time so upgrades are not likely.

2) In the TV movie Ewoks: Caravan of Courage, there are a couple really interesting looking Ewoks in the film named Chukha-Trok and Kaink. Their cool and unique costume designs seem like they would make for some really great Ewok action figures. Are you aware of these characters, and if so do they stand a chance of finding their way into the action figure lineup someday?

Hasbro: We are aware of these characters, and we have tried to get Chuka-Trok into the lineup in a pack we were working on. Even though a sculpt was completed, that pack has since been put by the wayside. Still, we remain committed to trying to get more great Ewoks out there and we are convinced that one day Chukha-Trok will make it out.

[James]

Q&A from Feb. 22, 2010

1) If you add any more concept art figures to the line in the coming years, who would be some characters that would be at the top of your list? Of the two characters at the top of my list, one would have to be the Kenner concept Clone Warrior. Being developed in the mid 80's, this is probably the earliest Clone Trooper concept ever. Here's a link so you know who I'm talking about: Clone Warrior. The other would be Count Dooku. In this picture he looks a lot like he is from the same species as Ventress: Count Dooku concept. Whoever you choose to make, I really hope that you are able to continue the concept line in the near future.

Hasbro: Wow - that's a crazy version of Dooku - thanks for the heads-up. It looks like Ventress did basically spin off from that concept. We have put
concept figures on the back burner. One day we could return to them, but
we are going to focus on the movies for a while, with more narrow exploration of the EU.

2) I am absolutely delighted to see Vintage becoming the main line and I hope it has a long run, but at the same time it's sad to see the buildable droid concept come to an end. Do you think that the droid factory will return at some point, or are you looking for different ways to get more of those obscure but cool droids out there? There are still so many great droid models still waiting to be made like Marvel's Z-X3, a GE3-series protocol droid from the Knights of the Old Republic games, a Junk Droid from the Force Unleashed, Han's old droid ZZ-4Z, and of course some of our favorites, Proto One, BUN-Dingo, a Pirate Droid and comedian droid LIN-D from the Droids TV series!

Hasbro: While the Droid Factory concept is likely not to return as a basic figure buildable droid concept, there is a strong possibility that the current
library of parts could be reused to some extent. Your list of droids is excellent. We ourselves would love to see Proto-One someday - he would be our #1 choice. We have a long list of others we'd like to see as well, and hopefully someday we will.

[James]

Hasbro Q&A round 3 - March 17, 2010

1) Although EU figures may not be returning until 2011, I'm wondering if you can give away any details about what the EU cards in the vintage collection might look like? Personally, I'm hoping that you can draw at least some some inspiration from the original vintage EU cards (Droids and Ewoks). Traditional art, in the style of what was done on the Droids cards sure would be nice! A few updates to some of the vintage EU characters would be nice too!

Hasbro: We haven't created one yet, so we don't know the direction we are going to go in. Most likely, it will be true to the source material of the figure. So if the character is from the comics, that's what their card will be based on. Bastila Shan, for example, will likely be based on the artwork created for the game if not game imagery itself.


2) Unless I missed it, I don't recall hearing from all the Toy Fair coverage if there were any updates as to the status of the Jarael and Rholan figures from Knights of the Old Republic. I'm a big fan of the KOTOR comic series, so I'm really hoping that you can find a way to get them out there. It would be nice to get Zayne and Gryph someday too, and even though EU has been scaled back, I hope those two will have a secure place in your parking lot until you find an opportunity to make them. But in the meantime, I'm anxiously awaiting Jarael and Rholan, and hoping that they will be available soon. By the way, do you have a picture of Rholan with his helmet on that you could share?


Hasbro: Unfortunately, these figures have been canceled and there is currently no plan for their release. As with most of the canceled comic packs and exclusives, we will look for a way to bring them out someday. Zayne was on the comic pack list should the line have continued through Fall 2010 and some work was done on him before the project was scuttled. It's unlikely, though, that he will ever come out.

[James]

Oops! Looks like I removed the round 4 Q&A from the front page without archiving it here. Anyway, here's the news that came in round 5 from April 27, 2010

1) In the past you have said that you like some of the classic TV characters such as Princess Kneesaa and Proto One. Considering that you are scaling back on EU figures for the time being, combined with LFL's desire to have classic animated characters made in animated style, what would it take to get characters like these made in action figures? Could they be candidates for EU two packs (without comic) if you end up going that route?
A: There is virtually no chance that we'll be getting to these any time soon. We do not have plans to go back to any animated style figures that are not in the Animated Clone Wars, since these would be, in our opinion, target a more niche collecting interest than we would like to go after. We would feel more comfortable doing these in the realistic style, which would not consume a great deal of tooling. When Lucasfilm gave us the direction on animated-style only, it sealed our decision not pursue them.

2) When can we expect to see a new figure of Luke Skywalker in his Hoth outfit? Being that it's a big year for The Empire Strikes Back, it seems like he would be a good one to have in the line. If he is in the works, can you share any details on the figure?
A: He will not be the in the lineup this year. This year we have the new Bespin Fatigues Luke. We do have plans for a Hoth Luke at some point, but work hasn't started yet and it's not certain if we can fit him into the 2011 Vintage lineup or not. He is high on our priority list though, and he'll be out within a couple years.

[James]

Here's what we got from round 6 on June 2, 2010:

1) At one time you indicated that Widdle & Ooche were scheduled to be released as an exclusive - is that still the case and if so when can fans expect them? If not, will they be making their way to fans by some other means in the near future?
Answer: Unfortunately, the pack with Widdle & Ooche was scuttled. Work (sculpts) had been completed, so we are going to try and find another spot for this pack. It won't be out until 2011 at the earliest at this point.

2) After the very disappointing news that you wont be pursuing animated characters like Princess Kneesaa and Proto One - can you instead give us a few more realistic Ewoks from the made-for-tv movies? We're very excited to be receiving a Teek figure, and while Kaink is good to see - she leaves much to be desired. Can you include a few more characters from the movies, like Chukha-Trok, Kaink (in proper movie attire), or Deej? We realize you making any of the human characters is slim - but how about one of the cool aliens, like a Sanyassan Marauder? King Terak and his soldiers would make really cool figures!
Answer: Right now, no more Ewoks-themed characters are in the line-up past the ones that appear in the Star Tour set. Beyond that, the best chance for any (such as Chukha-Trok) would be if we could get them into a multi-figure Ewok set. Such a set was slated for this year as an exclusive, but it got cut. We are hopeful that it can get out eventually. We think Ewoks are a strong theme for future years, though, and we would like to get to updated EpVI Ewoks, new ones from EpVI, and additional ones from the Ewok movie as well if we can.

[James]

June 28, 2010 - Round 7 is in! Here you go:
1) In recently revealed case assortment details, we see Wicket is listed as coming with Kneesaa - can you confirm this? If so, you'll be making many fans very happy. Did you include a second figure because collectors have previously stated that a single Ewok might not do well at retail because of its perceived value?
Answer: Unfortunately, Kneesaa was dropped due to some production issues; we did not replace Kneesaa with another figure. Instead, Wicket is comes with his movie version poncho as well as a version inspired by his animated series appearance. He is a very cool figure.

2) Have you considered re-releasing the Clone Wars version of C-3PO painted in his Droids TV series color scheme, or do you feel that such a figure would require an all new sculpt?
Answer: We have not considered this. With Lucasfilm's desire that we pursue only animated-style figures if we pursued Droids figures, and no other figures (save for perhaps R2-D2) we could do with current tooling, these "orphan" figures don't have a natural home in our lineup. We're hopeful that one day we could convince Lucasfilm to allow us to pursue some of these figures using our Saga tooling library....but that is a conversation for th efar distant future as Droids is not a priority for us right now.

[James]

Here's what we got for round 8 on July 15, 2010

1) Can you share any more information on the canceled Ewok multipack that Chukha-Trok was going to be a part of? Would it have been made up mainly of EU Ewoks? Would any female Ewoks like Latara, Kneesaa or Malani have been included? It's too bad this had to be set aside, but I hope you can find a way to make all those Ewoks available sometime soon. We can't get enough of them!
Answer: The collecting world does seem Ewok crazy lately. We are not going to release more details on the (hopefully temporarily) scuttled set right now, and we will be looking for a potential retail home for it. We can confirm that it was *not* all EU Ewoks, though.

2) Back when I was a kid, I wondered why we never did get a Mungo Baobab figure in the vintage line. Turns out one was indeed sculpted, but never did see production. I know his chances are not great at the moment for making it into the modern line, but seeing how every year I am surprised to see figures that I never thought would be made (BL-17, Teek, Willrow Hood), I'm going to hold out hope for Mungo and give him a bit of a plug at the same time as well. Hopefully he can be a candidate for a slot in a future EU wave!

Answer: Sorry James, very high probability that he will never get done at this point.

[James]

September 14, 2010 - Here's the latest from the Hasbro Q&A:

1) Seeing that Wicket is coming all by himself on the card with some bonus accessories, I am wondering if the Ewok with multiple accessories format will be permanently replacing the Ewok two packs. If so, our readers have been brainstorming just in case, thinking of cool accessories that future Ewok figures could come with to make up for that lost figure. Some ideas are Deej, Weechee and Widdle with the ceremonial wing headdresses that they wore on their hoods in Caravan of Courage, Logray with an alternate headdress and cloak from the cartoon and maybe his crystal image spinner or sunstar, Kneesaa with Baga the Bordok, a new Kaink with plastic cloak and staff, Shodu with Winda the wokling, and an Ewok with the Han Solo roasting spit or drum. More animated series hoods would be great too! Any accessories that we missed that you guys would like to see?

Answer: Thanks for the thoughts. You are right in surmising that future Ewok packs will be singles, rather than multiples. The Wicket pack has certainly seemed to make a lot of fans happy, so it's possible that we could pursue this for future Vintage Ewoks. Thanks for the comments.

2) If at some point you decide to make Evolutions sets again, would you consider making animated evolution sets that could be part of the Clone Wars line? Since animation has been part of the saga since the Holiday Special, it seems like this could be a way to bring attention to the changing styles of Star Wars animation over the years. A couple example ideas are a heroes set and a villains set with three characters per set drawn from either the Holiday Special animated segment, Droids, Ewoks, the original Clone Wars and of course the current Clone Wars series. A dream Evolution set, at least for some fans, would also have to be one featuring R2-D2 and C-3PO, since they have appeared in each animated series or special (except Ewoks) but to date only have animated style action figures drawn from the modern Clone Wars.

Answer: This idea, while inspired, is not likely to be something we would execute. In general, the animated figures are appealing to a narrower subset of collectors and we would not want to "mix media" as it were across packs.

[James]

October 28, 2010 - Here are the latest answers to our questions from Hasbro. Prepare yourselves for more disappointing Droids news, as well as some encouraging news about some of our favorite movie droids!



1) As a fan of Droids and Ewoks, I'm wondering if the Hasbro team checked out the articles about the 25th anniversary of these two TV series at starwars.com (check one of them out here: starwars.com article) or if perhaps you have taken a special interest in the "Droids or Ewoks toy you wished had been produced" part of the article? There are some great hints in that article as to what fans are still hoping for. Come on, give us some encouraging words!

Answer: Actually, we had not checked out that story; thanks for pointing it out. Sorry to break it to you, but we have not planned anything additional for the shows.

2) It's been a long time since we've had a new EV-9D9, 8-D8 or an Original Trilogy 2-1B. Are new figures of these droids anywhere on your radar? The ROTS 2-1B figure from a few years ago is nice, but we still need a droid that looks like the one from The Empire Strikes Back.

Answer: Thanks for the question. Yes, these droids (especially the first two) are on our radar screen but have yet to be slotted into the lineup through 2012. All three, being in the original Kenner line, have that extra cachet of being figures we want to see updated for the modern line. It's a matter of time before we get to them; ideally it will be on a Vintage card should the Vintage line continue past 2012.

[James]

November 22, 2010
1) Based on the season 3 trailer, it appears that the Blurrg beasts will see more action in the Clone Wars series. Can you produce a toy based on these creatures for the deluxe line? The deluxe line is almost entirely made up of small vehicles, when collectors and kids alike would also enjoy seeing small beasts, it helps make the line more diverse and keeps us interested.

Answer: We are open to doing more beasts for the line, and we have looked at the Blurrg. It helps that Clones actually ride them, but it doesn't help that their form is a little funky and the fact that beasts just don't sell as well as vehicles on a per-character basis. Still, the Blurrg is in the mix for consideration and could crack the lineup some day, especially if the Clone Wars team continues to use it.

2) Thank you for the new Wicket with his animated hood and pouch. Could you tell us what other Ewoks, if any, will be coming in 2011? Will they be all new Ewoks?

Answer: Right now, we only have one Ewok planned for 2011 - an update to Logray. It looks like he will be all-new but we don't know yet if we will need our tooling budget elsewhere and will look to other existing Ewok parts for help. Even though Logray is the only Ewok for next year, we are still looking for opportunities in exclusives in '11 and '12. Ewoks are something that we would like very much to keep exploring - both updates to core characters, as well as new Ewoks, since fans have shown a great appreciation of all things Ewok in the last several years.

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