Q&A For October 4, 2004

1. I have always wondered.There are 2 vintage Darth Vader TIE Fighter that were avalible back in the day in the late 70's and 80's.One was the original Vader Tie fighter the onther was a re-release of the original called the "Collector Series" which came out in 1983.The Star Wars Wish Book by Geoffrey Carlton has the 83' version booking more then the 79' one.Three other vehicle were offered in 83':the Dewback and Landspeeder were part of this series.Did these items come out in a limited run?Even Lee's Action figure and toy review dosn't list the Collector Series of these vehicles.

Another question is,I have seen some geniune vynal caped Jawas MOC on Ebay for 1000 + dollars.No one has ever answer me how these people knew these figures would pay there way though collage.I was only 3 years old back in 1978 and my and my older bother played with our stuff.They were toys I thought that was what they were for.I would have ripped this figure right off the card.I am curious as to how people had the for sight to keep stuff carded and how did they keep their kid and what ever from getting to their vintage collections.You know 21 back Fetts,MIsb Sandcrawlers,MISB A-wings follw into this catagory.I was a kid back then.The value was play not monitary.
--chad

The Collector's Series trio of vehicles was an interesting set that I remember seeing at the Toys by Roy as a kid and being confused by, and demanding. I wanted (and got) my Landspeeder... with the other two to follow around 1989. Price guides don't list "variations" and that's what a lot of people consider these to be, despite the fact there was a four year gap in the production run, give or take a bit. As far as the values go, check eBay for the latest market value, but these were a fairly limited run-- as in, limited compared to the normal ANH boxes. Of course, a lot of comic book reprints are more limited than the originals, but usually not as sought-after.

I've found numerous answers over the years as to why people collected the packaged toys, the most freqent of which was an accident. Either they were bought for a kid that never received them as a gift, or were left in an attic when the kid was "too old for toys." Back in 1978-1983, these weren't widely collected, so if a kid ripped open a figure, to most people, it was no big deal-- although I have met collectors who realized some figures, like a Return of the Jedi carded Leia was really hard to get back then and tracked one down just to see if they could. Also, most people didn't collect for the investment-- it was meant to be a fun hobby, something to do for a good time. That's why I collect, although I get a lot of email from people telling me they plan to do this through Episode III and then cash out. (Hahahahahahahahahahhaha.)

2. As most collectors are aware, the pre ROTS wave is due early 2005. This wave consists of Pablo Jill, Rabé, Amidala, Yarua, Sly Moore, Myo, Dannik etc.

I've pre-ordered mine from a local online toy dealer here in Australia. After I placed the pre-order, I checked the page again, and noticed at the bottom, there were listings for more OTC; this time it's Sandtrooper, Stormtrooper, Scoutrooper, Han Solo, Chewbacca and Yoda.

I know that the Sandtrooper is new to the OTC line, but my question is, are the others POTF2 repacks? or are they simply re-inserting older OTC figures that we already have, into the last cases of OTC?
--kenobi

While numerous stores have supposedly received this list we do not yet know what it is. If it weren't for the Sandtrooper, I'd say "oh, this is obviously just more OTC." As such, we don't yet know because nobody received the case and Hasbro hasn't made any announcements here. Either way, it's good news if it happens-- the OTC figures can't be kept in stock around these parts for more than a day or two and I really do hope Hasbro continues to ship them to stores until Revenge of the Sith hits.

3. I have been hearing about sound errors with the Star Wars DVDs but I ran across one I haven't read anywhere else.

During the commentary on A New Hope, right about where Owen is talkign to C-3P0, it simply locks up and freezes the whole movie. I have to skip tot he next track to get it to resume.

Have you heard of this problem from anyone else?
--Evan

Lemme tell ya a story.

Nope, but this sort of thing happens with DVDs and players all the time, especially older players, most likely due to some oddball issue with how the player was created just a tiny wee bit off spec. Try it in another player and see if it freezes again.

4. Got the new SW Insider, which includes photos of the post-OTC figures (Feltipern Trevagg!), Clone Wars Animated Wave 3, Holo Emperor, Battlefront Scout Trooper, etc. All looking good. The Battlefront Scout Trooper pictured in the SW Insider has a blaster shot on his torso. My Battlefront Scout Trooper arrived today (exquisitely packaged I might add--10 rolls of bubble wrap, packing peanuts, fragile stickers all over the box) and he has no blaster mark. Are there two versions of the Battlefront Scout Trooper shipping, a clean and a dirty version? Or is the advertisement dirty, but the shipping product clean?
--David

There are several versions of the Battlefront Scout Trooper-- with and without the warning label, clean and dirty, with the warning label but covered up, and combinations thereof. All I can say is, prepare for an insane time putting together a set of 'em.

5. I wanted to write you about one of the questions in the last Q&A because, well, I have a little too much time on my hands. The one I mean is the one about why in the new ESB Vader asks Palpatine how it is possible that Luke is his son. I think I know the reason why, and it's right there in the Episode III sneak preview on the bonus disc. When Ewan McGregor is going into the reasons why Anakin goes to the dark side, he includes that he (Anakin) is going to be a father. This would seem to indicate that Anakin knows that Padme is pregnant, and of course why wouldn't he? Therefore, he must somehow in Episode III be tricked (or not) into believing that Padme and I guess also the children are dead. Hence his confusion when he learns that they aren't in ESB. Makes sense to me, anyhow.
--Nick

More than likely, there's a lot yet to be revealed in Revenge and some people claim to know the score. Return of the Jedi tells us that Anakin knew there were kids and the Emperor knew that the kids would ultimately be a bad thing for his rule over the Empire. So odds are something like that could happen, but the thing is Darth Vader is "sure Skywalker is with them" before he even gets to Hoth. (Unless they cut that line and I missed it.) But the thing is, it's confusing a lot of fans because we don't like change, especially not when it worked the first 25 years.

6. I've posed this question to other collectors, and they were overwhelmingly against it. Maybe I'm a glutton for punishment, but I thought I'd get your take on it.

As a child of the 80's, the 3 3/4 inch scale was as much a part my childhood as Summer vacation. In the SW universe (Where it was invented) it worked particularly well, allowing Han to have his falcon, and the Empire their AT-AT's. But as we reach the release of ROTS and the possible beginning of another "Dark time" in SW figure collecting, it got me to thinking about the future.

Let's face it, almost every character has been done. From Amanaman to Zutton. What could Hasbro do to offer us an incentive to buy another 3 3/4 inch Chewie? That's where my idea comes in. Offer a new scale. Not do away with the 3 3/4, but supplement it with a super-articulated line of 6" figures in the mold of Toywiz's LOTR line. They could be limited, ala the VOTC and of course carry a slightly higher price point.

As always, cost is the overriding factor in these things, but do you think there is an interest there from collectors? Would Hasbro be wise to cancel or outsource their 12" line and replace it with these?
--Donald

Well, for starter's LOTR is Toy Biz, but the thing with the 3 3/4" line is that it's Hasbro's bread and butter right now. Hasbro hasn't done every character in this scale, especially not from the Prequels which have numerous "hey I still want so-and-so" requests from the fans. (My top choice, Yarua, is just coming out now.) Fact is, the 3 3/4" figures sell and sell well-- every time Hasbro makes a new Vader or recards an old one, it sells extremely well. Yoda? Sells well. Luke? Usually sells well. This is a cash cow, even with the repackaged figures selling through so fast it would make your head spin.

Limited figures are not the best source of revenue. You don't want to put all your eggs in the "available now and never again" basket because some fans, like myself, may wish to buy more Stormtroopers. And as such, we don't like having "collectibles." I buy toys, if I wanted to deal in collectibles you'd have been reading some crap like "Adam's Hummel Newsletter" back in 1995.

Of course, when it's all said and done, there's one very good reason why Hasbro will not drop the 3 3/4" or 12" line of figures for a 6" scale. And that's because since 1998, Hasbro has had three 6" scale figure lines on the market. (Epic Force, Mega Action, and Unleashed.) Unleashed has performed very well with collectors and Hasbro has realized that they are interested in a bigger, alternate scale as long as it's done properly and not oversaturated on the market. As such, yes, we'll probably see the Unleashed line continue for a few more years because more people

7. Hi, Adam. I recently purchased the Wal-Mart exclusive Star Wars Multipacs. When you tilt a package, something that feels like a disk moves inside the back wall of the package. Is it a pack of figure stands?
--Gary

To my knowledge, nobody has reported getting stands with these.

8. I looked all over eBay for the so-called "exclusive" Playskool stuff that reader "Jim" posted about, but I cannot see any such thing. Although, I did find to my surprise that Playskool has it's own "store" there.

What's the deal? Are these already gone, or some kind of Jedi mind trick?
--JediTray

Glad you asked-- basically, Playskool has a store, just like you found. Originally they sold the first units of the Jedi Force large chunky figures, and later they're going to sell an exclusive X-wing variant of some sort. Just keep checking back and we'll let you know as soon as it goes live. With 5,000 units to sell through eBay I have my doubts that they'll go through them all, but if they do I wouldn't be at all surprised to see eBay used as a distribution method for exclusives in the future. I totally think we're in the middle of a test here.

9. quick question about the dvd box set: i was watching A New Hope last night and noticed a flaw was left in one of the scenes. where Tarkin and Vader are in the board room discussing Leia's "confession" of the rebel base Tarkin tells Vader, "she lied!" to which Vader responds, "i told you she would never betray....blah, blah, blah." he stops speaking and then points his finger and shakes his fist in silence. i've always felt this was an obvious editing mistake that didn't match up the actions with the voice over. it could have been simply avoided by cutting quickly to Tarkin's response but they left it in through the '97 special edition and now the dvd release. not a big deal but still curious since they were "fine tuning" the movie why would they leave it in? any thoughts or other such examples that you've noticed in the dvd trilogy?
--joseph

While that has never really bothered me, some things always do get my goat just a little-- but hey, every movie has its foibles, that's the problem when you have a project of such a massive undertaking. For me, the big thing that bugs me is the new Wampa footage because it always really, really sticks out like a sore thumb. I hear it doesn't bother most people but it bugs me to no end. As far as the original films go, the things that had me confused during the VHS years, like R2-D2's black panels in space, have been thankfully cleaned up. I always assumed the other foibles, like the backwards Boba Fett in Jabba's Palace, were done for some artistic reasons I don't understand because, really, how could anyone do that and miss it?

10. Why are the post-otc figures showing up so soon?
--schuubert

The early shipments of the likes of Yarua are baffling to say the least, especially given that they showed up before most of us have even found an Imperial Trooper. You know, the scanning guy. Man, I want a few of those.

Basically, we're in for some odd shipments, so keep hunting and hopefully you'll find all of what you need before they stop.

FIN

So far the move is going pretty well. Most of my boxes of toys are at the new place and the old one is still stuffed with junk to move, so whoopee. Unfortunately, I had a very nasty spill down the stairs and am now walking on crutches due to a sprain. (What better way to spend your bithrday toy money than on an emergency room visit, I always say.) So, ugh. (And this would be a wonderful time to send questions as I might have a little extra time to crank out answers before the November hiatus. Remember-- I'll answer everything left in my Q&A box before I go on break, so as long as you have a good question, please do send it in.)

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.