Q&A For August 2, 2004

1. Will the Sly Moore wave, Padmae Celebration wave and Cantina wave be 05 releases or will they be relased sometime in 04? With the ROTJ wave of the VOTC scheduled to appear around Oct., I have become curious. Will these 3 waves along with a cartoon wave and a sneak preview wave be all we get between OTC/VOTC and Ep.3?
--Simdog

Hasbro stated that their 2005 figures could show up in late 2004, but most stores may not get them until later. It's like the 2004 figures which showed up, disappeared, and didn't show up again until later... the later shipments are the normal ones, the early ones were flukes brought to your courtesy of e-stores' great distribution or the insanity that is Wal-Mart. These will probably be all we see before Episode III, but to put things in perspective, it's not much different than how it went for the months before Episode II in which we got maybe 7 figures and a preview wave. Also, it's likely the ROTJ Vintage wave will be out in September, but, as always, this may change.

2. I'm just excited to have the opportunity to have the Jedi Council scene packs... just to see the whole set put together will be just awesome... and so to the technical part... maybe in this case the lesser part, but important. Please if you could, describe how the Jedi Council Floor (center) pieces works... e.g. is there 4 pieces? or 6? and since no center pieces came with scene packs 1 and 2 released last year... then will they be part of the new releases that we are now seeing at TRU? Has there been any rumor to a "One piece (center)" being offered by Hasbro? that would really shimmy up the center piece of the flooring!
--Clint

This is a six-piece circle, so you get 12 chairs, just like in the movies. Center pieces are supposedly packaged in the later TRU sets.

3. I have a quick question regarding the upcoming DVD's. I know that the final details are unknown as of yet but I am confused about something. In the announcement about about the Ewoks/ Droids, Ewok movies etc upcoming release there was a statement to the effect that aside from the Holiday Special all TV material will have been released on DVD. Does this mean the Making Of, Classic Creatures etc are going to be on the Trilogy set? I know there is a new documentary which is 2.5 hours out of a supposedly 10 hours of extra material. Are the old documentaries from the 70's and 80's going to be released as well?
--David

Right now, we know nothing about these other TV shows besides the announcements made at Comic Con. Basically, there will be three sets-- Ewok Movies, Ewok Cartoons, and Droids Cartoons. There are no known plans to release any of the other television programs, especially not the holiday special. I think we'll see the original cut of the trilogy before the holiday tale of Chewie's family makes its way to any authorized release. (Although if Lucasfilm wants some easy money, they should post it in chunks to Hyperspace.)

The new documentary looks most excellent, but, as you just read, there are no plans for the old ones at this time. We will be seeing some old TV spots and there's always talk of a few surprises, but who knows what those might be? I certainly don't. So, stay tuned.

4. Do you know if Hasbro will be re-releasing both Darth Vaders? I've yet to see the Red Unleashed CloneTrooper anywhere at retail. my local Toys R Us got 2 cases back in February and haven't seen unleashed in 5 months there. Many collectors claim that Unleashed is Hasbro's best selling Star Wars line, yet they ship very sporadically to stores.
--HellSpawnofHate

Hasbro has confirmed the upcoming repackaged Darth Vader will be the original version, not the one with the two interchangable heads.

"Many collectors claim" lots of things. When it comes to looking for solid information, I advise you not trust most collectors. I don't mean that as a demographic, we're idiots, but there's a lot of uninformed pundits out there who wield their status on a message board as if they were Superman. The line is selling very well for Hasbro compared to previous efforts in a 6-8" scale and they will continue doing more new figures and obscure characters, and yes, even more repackaged figures because the demand is there-- but it isn't the same demand we give the basic figures. Hasbro confirmed that Target and Wal-Mart will be ramping up their orders of Unleashed in the coming months because of this, meaning there will be more places to buy them beyond Suncoast, Toys "R" Us, and the Web.

If you want a red Clone, they're shipping like crazy right now-- but not to toy stores. Check your malls at places like Sam Goody, Suncoast, and Media Play. I've seen a dozen between a couple of Suncoasts in the past week, $19.99 per, and odds are you won't see them any cheaper.

5. With so many online retailers taking pre-sale orders for the trilogy DVD set, Who has the best deal? I know some places like walmart are generally a few cents cheaper, but is there any place doing a special pack-in or other special offer along with it?
--Justin

Ah, the wonders of the presale. How does one decide? Price? Speed of delivery? Or the liklihood that a store will goof up and ship them out early?

All too often, my friends who preorder discs online that absolutely must have them first get burned-- it ends up being days or even a week after the street date before the movie arrives. As copies of the disc HAVE leaked to the Web, and they most certainly DO have new footage in them (despite the non-answers given earlier), odds are you won't want to wait.

If you're going on price alone, and want to order online, Amazon.com is trying to be the low-price leader here with prices under $42 before shipping (which may or may not be free depending on what offers they have that week.) Most normal brick-and-mortar establishments seem to be gunning the $45 mark, which means it could be as low as $39.99 on the magical release date of September 21, 2004.

But if you're smart-- and you are-- you'll wait before you place a preorder. Last year, Best Buy sold the Indiana Jones set with a bonus, exclusive disc with an old 10-minute making-of featurette offered nowhere else, and had a price that was either the lowest or $1 over the lowest. I forget. But a lot of stores do wacky promotions to get you to come to their establishment, pick up the DVD, and maybe something else. Does anyone else remember Toys "R" Us' insane price for Attack of the Clones? It was $9.99, and nobody could beat it. (Well, that's a half-truth-- all Wal-Marts will ad match, so technically they'd meet it.)

6. what is the seating arangment for the jedi council in episode one and episode two
--John

This question, and many others like it, can be answered via StarWars.com's vast image bank or the DVD that's undoubtedly no more than 12 feet from where you sit right now. As such, next question.

7. Any word on any more Ultra Figures for this year? I would really like to see the redone Ewok catapult that was a rumor awhile back. The two Ewoks with it would be nice as well.
--Seanwallaced

Hasbro has opted to only have one "type" of $9.99 figure on the market at any given time-- hence, after the Clone Wars packs stopped, we got Ultra figures. And after those, Vintage. I wouldn't expect any more deluxe or otherwise tricked out plastic men until Revenge of the Sith toys hit shelves.

8. I've been buying lots of Heroclix and Marvel Mighty Beans lately and wondered if they would make some Star Wars ones someday.
--Joey

Due to licensing issues, chances are pretty minimal. The upcoming Star Wars Miniatures game from Wizards of the Coast is shaping up to be nifty, but obviously is not the same thing. If WotC buys WizKids, who knows. As far as Mighty Beans, I don't believe we'll see Star Wars ones anytime soon due to the fact the fad might end before they make them (although that didn't prevent POGs from happening), and well, Star Wars is presently not the most popular things with the kids. But, who knows? It could happen.

9. I wrote you in asking about if you would be excited if Hasbro re-made a blue Snaggletooth figure. Now that it's been confirmed, are you excited and what figures do you wish to see in the rumored third set??
--Paul

Honestly, I don't expect there to be a third set. While I am thrilled we're getting a blue Snaggletooth (seriously, you have no idea) I have to say the other two figures have me less than elated. It's good to put out a decent Obi-Wan figure, of course, but Ponda Baba again? Didn't I just pass on them by the bucket at Wal-Mart in 2002? Zzzzzz. At least the rescultped Momaw Nadon was really slick...

If it were up to me to pick three figures for a new Cantina set, I'd like to see pretty much anything but Muftak and Kabe at this point. Actually, seeing how many bar sections we now have, I don't even know if I'd want more of those at this point. I think it would be nice to see BoShek shipped again, maybe, if the demand is out there for him. After all, he was one of the shortest shipped figures as far as I can tell... just nobody cares. I wouldn't mind seeing the Labria figure from the three-pack repainted in better colors, and for my third figure, I'd want somebody new. We're already getting the Gotal, we're already getting the pipe smoker... so who can we do that might be reasonably easy and can use some existing molds? Why, Baniss Keeg, the other Duro of course! (Or the other ANH:SE Cantina alien made from the Ketwol mask turned around. That'd be cool.)

10. The OTC are hitting the shelves, jumping over the never-seen General Lando, Madine and AT-ST Han wave. Is this another pit droid 2-pack, Sio Bibble situation? Will these three figures (Madine and co.) be repackaged in the OTC?
--Paul

As announced by Hasbro months ago, yes, these three will be coming to stores as part of the OTC. Hasbro is still burning off old Saga stock and many stores are just now getting the Bossk/Dengar/Ozzel wave, meaning the first editions of these are still in the pipeline and maybe coming to a store near you soon. Just keep checking, like often, and odds are you'll happen across them. (Unless you're one of those lame collectors that makes only one or two toy runs a week. Hah. I laugh at you lame collectors.)

FIN

Boy howdy, we got some good ones this week, a few good ones for next week, and then we're going to need some more. Like, for next week. So if you have a question that you can't answer yourself via eBay, please do send it on in, we'd love to answer it.

Would you believe Boba Fett, the Scout Troopers, and the Stormtroopers on the ROTJ DVD are not dubbed over?

I went to a Neil Hamburger/ Phantom Surfers show on Saturday night. It may be the most eclectic combination I've ever heard of... but it was held at a dog track to benefit an up and coming Phoenix-area Roller Derby league. What can I say, it was all for a good cause. Go see Neil or the Surfers if they come to your town, they put on a good show if you like this sort of thing.

Some of you have lamented you don't like how Gentle Giant makes busts exclusive to the conventions, as it alienates additional customers. Well, having gone to the convention with two close personal friends, I can safely say that it ain't so hot for those of us who go, either-- we all got tickets and nobody got one. Bummer, no? I don't collect the busts as a rule but this time I wanted one, and well, didn't quite work out. As such, empty spot on the shelf.

That's all for this week. So get those questions in for next week, and if you could put "Q&A" in the subject line, that would greatly help my email filters find your message. Just email me with your inquiry, and we'll see what we can do.