This week's Hasbro Star Wars Q&A is a little testy, as we try to expand upon the Sandstorm Wave; more vintage vehicles; and, as always, playsets. (Sorry there were no recycling questions this week. We'll buy a few carbon credits or something to make up for it.) Happy springtime holiday everyone.

Galactic Hunter: What prompted the unusual creation of figures based on the Return of the Jedi sandstorm scene, which fans have never even seen aside from a few fuzzy still photos, and why wasn't Slave Leia in sandstorm garb (or the less significant Skiff Guard Lando) included among the group? (From reader ShabbyBlue)

Yes, Yarna d'al' Gargan survived Jabba's Sail Barge destruction.

HASBRO: When we learned about the existence of the deleted sandstorm scene, we were very intrigued and thought we had the nucleus of an intriguing wave. As you know, a key to our basic figure wave strategy is to look for new versions of core heroes, and this scene was the perfect opportunity to deliver some original, if not in the movie, concepts for these iconic characters.  We do have plans to do a sandstorm version of Princess Leia at a future date.

Galactic Hunter: We (Brian Wilke and I) discussed this a bit at Toy Fair, and the "big tuna" Rebel Troop Transport is seen in all three "Classic" Star Wars films. It's not the most exciting vehicle, granted, but it's a nice sized freighter. Why not resurrect it with more "playset" styled features in its belly and lid? (We modern collectors would just be happy with the piece as-is, but extra features never hurt.) What do our friends at Hasbro think? (It's cooler than the Cloud Car, at least.)

HASBRO: This vehicle has been suggsested numerous times in Q&A over the last couple of years, primarily because it (and the Cloud Car) have yet to be updated for the modern line.  Despite that, we do not feel that either of these are the best candidates for our (precious and limited) vehicle slots. They are not overally aggressive vehicles or in the case of the Rebel Transport, visually interesting.  If we were to invest resources and tooling in a vehicle/playset combo as you suggest, our choice would probably not be the Rebel Transport.

Galactic Hunter: For each of the prequel trilogy Hasbro developed one large playset. First we saw the Attack of the Clones Geonosis Arena Playset recycled as the G.I. Joe: Attack on Cobra Mountain Playset. Now we're seeing the Revenge of the Sith Mustafar Duel Playset being recycled to create an Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull playset. Is there a contractual obligation with LFL to make at least one big playset per film? We've been told time and again that they don't sell, but we see "our" sets used for other lines, and it leaves Star Wars fans a little bitter. So what gives here?

HASBRO: There is no contractual obligation to produce a playset; we tackle the best line-up for the movie on a case-by-case basis.  For example, there is no playset for The Clone Wars… unless you consider the AT-TE a playset on legs as many kids probably will.

[Editor's Note: There is no playset for The Clone Wars at this time.]