Q&A For September 13, 2004

1. So here's something that hasn't happened in a while: I'm excited about a new TRU 4-pack. The redone Kaadu and Tarpals is something I've wanted for a long time, and a sort of new Battle Droid is always nice. Although I wish they had given the Naboo Guard a different head or something. But anyway. Has there been any other 4-packs accounced (officially or otherwise) after this one? I was worried for a while with the Jedis and now the truly ridiculous Endor pack, but now I want more.
--Brian

For the time being, this is it. There's no new announcements and no new rumors we've heard of as of today, but you know how these things go-- sometimes they're good at surprising us. I'm hoping for another Imperial Forces pack myself... toss in another Stormtrooper, maybe another Imperial R2 unit, an Imperial Officer... there's a lot of promise here.

2. What happened to the 12 inch ARC Trooper? Will we ever see one?
--Washington

Well, never say never-- but do remember a lot of 12" figures, especially exclusives, we've heard rumored or even seen in an early form have never come out. I'd put this in that column for now, but you never know what'll suddenly show up with Clone Wars starting up again in the Spring.

3. What do you think the chances are of us seeing a Queen Jamillia figure post Episode III? After the final movie, I would think that Hasbro will go back and fill in some gaps, and I think this is one that deserves to be made.
--Glenn

Well, the issue of "deserving" and fandom is always interesting to me because characters of nearly zero story significance end up being viewed as the most important candidates for plastic. While I agree the new Queen would make for a good figure, as would nearly any female figure seeing how few get produced, I don't see this one as better than any other figure. Like any of the dozen Padme figures we still don't have.

Since Kenner's plan in the old days post-Power of the Force 1985 included some old, unproduced characters as well as brand new ones, it stands to reason they'd do the same thing again this time around.

4. Hey Adam, hope you are doing well. Quick question, any chance Sideshow Toys will get the license to do the Star Wars 12" line. I'm talking fully poseable here not the 1/4 scale satues already on tap by Sideshow. Maybe Hasbro can buy Sideshow and make this so? thanks for hearing all of us
--Dave

Well, there's actually no reason that Hasbro can't make figures as good as Sideshow. Except Hasbro wants to keep costs down and believes the market for this line has really shrank, when the truth is most fans that really love the 12" line would be willing to pay more for a better figure. (I have zero doubt that Hasbro could make super high quality $40 figures that would sell-- just in limited quantities.) The chances of Hasbro buying Sideshow are about nil-- with their various artwork, prop replicas, and overall high-end business model, it's not the business Hasbro wants to be in. (Although Hasbro did make some nifty cold cast statues under the Cinemacast brand name a few years ago, it seems that this experiment has long since come to an end.)

5. I have a question regarding the Saga/OTC Jedi Luke Skywalker. I think it's a good figure, and many have bad paint jobs, but my gripe is about the black cloak. It seems the black cloak stains the figure's face and neck areas more times than not, right out of the package.

I have bought 8 Luke's (I am not a horder, I'm simply looking for a good one. I've bought 2 in the states and 6 in Japan where I currently live, and they just sit on shelves and nobody wants them, so I consider them fair game) and most of them make it like Luke hangs around too many chimneys.

My question is, do you, or does anyone know of a solution to clean the black stains? I have tried water, paint thinner, and goo off but nothing even puts a dent into it. Any suggestions?
--Ryan

I believe the expression goes "You're SOL." Given the increased shipment of OTC Lukes, all you can really do is keep looking. There may be a way to clean the figure, but if it's stained-- and it looks like it is-- that's it, you're outta luck. Some Lukes have shipped with the hood behind his head, so go get one of those if you can find one. That, or paint the figure's head yourself-- this may be your best bet.

6. I recently a review on the Anakin & Padme Wedding Ceremony, which reminded me about Padme's balcony/stand accessory. I was curious if you knew if having 2 of the Padme accessory stands would fit together. I've looked at my one over and over and determined that it looked like they wouldn't fit together correctly. Hence, at the time, I had always assumed they would create another Anakin with the 2nd part of the balcony. Do you have 2 stands or know anyone that does? Do they look good together or do they either fit at an awkward angle or the patterns on the balcony not work well together? Finally, do you know of any site that has a picture of 2 balconies together?
--Pat

You can combine two stands together, but the resulting formation isn't exactly good due to, as you say, an awkard angle. Like you, I assumed an Anakin would come with a stand, but this did not come to pass. So unless you want to do some cutting to get the bases to sit next to each other well, you're out of luck here.

7. First of all, I couldn't help but notice that there is no basic ESB Lando Calrissian or ANH Luke Skywalker in the basic OTC. What's up with this? I mean, that Luke is like the main figure that most kids would want without having to pay $10 for the VOTC version. The HOF Luke and POTJ Lando could have easily been repacked. Secondly, I've purchased two of the Jedi Lukes... one from the initial Saga wave, and the second from the OTC. I've noticed a difference in the capes of both figures. The early Saga version that was packed with the hood down has a wider hood. This hood actually covers his entire head, unlike the later Saga and OTC versions. His cape is also a bit longer than the more recent releases. Why were such unfortunate changes made? It's not fun having a Luke whose hood doesn't cover more than half of his hair.
--Geo

Hasbro's choices may seem odd, but when you think about it, it kinda makes sense. For example, there are, as of today, three different outfits for Lando Calrissian. Two of which are in the basic assortment. So I understand a lack of desire to do another Lando, and Hasbro has commented that Luke has been a little overdone-- so they wanted to do something new instead of recarding him yet again. (Besides, leftover Saga Lukes are still out there.) As far as capes go, Hasbro loves to do running changes to make the product better or, in some cases, desirable for us to buy a second time. That, or the pattern got botched at the factory. (I have yet to open my OTC Jedi Lukes.)

8. I have a hard time understanding the psyche of some collectors that write in to Q&A. When POTF II first hit pegs in 95, I was all gung ho about traveling all over the place looking for the latest releases, Greedo was a campaign in and of himself. I'm a little older now, and just don't have the time to enjoy the "thrill of the hunt" as I once did. I don't understand why so many agonize over being able to find each and every figure at retail? Sure in a perfect world that would be the way to go, but in today's "everything is limited edition, a collector's item" society it just isn't possible, let alone financially feasible. I mean, people drive all over the place searching for an elusive gem to plug a hole in their collection, when you could save the time, and gas going to ebay! Just like you said, a lot of the stuff goes for less than retail!

Nowadays, I collect almost exclusively on ebay, with the exception of Brian's Toys. They had those elusive foreign Pit Droid 2-packs. I bought all three, the rust colored one with Darth Sidious (Hologram), etc... They were fairly expensive, but without them I couldn't consider my collection complete. My question concerns the Tiger Electronics Darth Maul Sith Speeder game. How many of these things are actually out there? I couldn't for the life of me find one anywhere so I made a custom of the Darth Maul figure to use as a "place-holder" until I can track one down. The custom is impossible to tell from the real thing. I would really like to find this HOLY GRAIL!
--Scott

As far as hunting goes, some of us literally have nothing better to do for fun. Some people enjoy tennis, others enjoy haunting the aisles of retail. I find a lot of weird stuff by going to stores all the time and some really killer deals-- like $1 Stormtroopers, $2 Xevoz figures, $4 Armada toys... you'd be surprised what's out there if you hunt a lot. Plus for every fifty common items, one ends up being insanely hard to get-- nobody wants to miss the next Ephant Mon.

The actual quantity of the Darth Maul game is unknown but presumed very low. Rumor has it that in the USA, the quantity distributed was in the hundreds, and only FAO stores definitely got them. In the UK, a few places got them, but they vanished pretty quickly. (I've both versions, the UK one has a special sticker and is otherwise no different.) I've seen one on eBay in my searches over the years and it actually didn't go for all that much-- maybe $80 or so, which considering the chances of your seeing one is pretty low. Especially when compared to those Pit Droids.

9. Herečs another question if youčve got the time. A few years back the local Factory 2 U outlet had several dozen Muftak and Kabe sets for about five bucks a pop. About three weeks later I popped into the store and there were still about the same amount there. The next day, they had all disappeared. Being that I live in a relatively small town, the likelihood of all of them selling is pretty slim. Since Factory 2 U is a discount store geared at clearing out old stock from other stores, what do you figure happens to them after that?
--Patrick

Some stores send product to other stores, and some stores even donate items to Goodwill-- it happened with a bunch of 12" Target Exclusives a few years ago. What's more likely is some collector saw them, assumed they were rare, and cleaned the place out-- it happens a lot more than you think. Although it's not always a collector, sometimes it's just someone who makes a living selling junk on eBay and assumed they had something special.

10. Could you also elaborate more on the VOTC 12" Boba Fett. Just how many versions actually exist?
--Paul

While we once thought three, it turns out it's only two because Hasbro seems to have made a mistake when speaking about them. We were told that in addition to the regular version, a version from Return of the Jedi would come out. Well, they showed the error "blue" suit when they mentioned the ROTJ version, so it's more than likely they just called the error suit by the wrong name-- although if we're wrong here, odds are we'll be corrected shortly.

FIN

Well, we finally saw some basic OTC figures at a Toys "R" Us last week. And they sold out. These seem to be the hottest things in ages and will come to an end all too soon, so be sure to snag the ones you want while you can.

It's my birthday this week, so I'm going on my traditional annual huge toy run to see what all is out there. I'm hoping to find some OTC Jawas or something, you know, new for once.

Also, if you're a Transformers fan, and I know like two of you are, I've posted a esction to 16bit.com on the Japanese Robot Masters line. If you're unfamilliar with the line, the idea is that it's partially repaints and partially all-new molds of old characters-- like all-new versions of Starscream and Optimus Prime from the original line, but with their Japanese names. Neat stuff. Click here for the work in progress. The review for Beast Wars Convoy (aka Optimus Primal) goes up Tuesday.

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.