1. Just moved and I'm remounting my action figure collection onto shelves and noticed that side by side, heck not even side by side, that a few of my troopers are looking a little off white now. One in particular is my old McQuarrie trooper when placed beside the nice crsip new ones from the 30th anniversary collection. So my questions is has Hasbro done anything that you know of to try to prevent the white plastic from yellowing or are all my white troops doomed to this type of aging? Is it something I might have done? (I had them on shelves at my old place in a room with no windows but that could get a little warm in the summer months. Is there anything that can be done to prevent it? I know you've had the question before about how best to store figures to prevent weird reactions between the plastic and the environment etc, but I'm just trying to figure out if this is just a part of the nature of the hobby, relatively rapid deterioration, or can it be resisted somewhat (or like I said earlier, has Hasbro done anything in the way they produce the white figures to make them less likely age like this or at least do it less quickly)?
--Robert

Our memories are funny things. Some figures we may remember as being whitey-white when we bought them but they really weren't. Most (if not all) 2003 McQuarrie Stormtroopers I saw at retail were a little discolored at first. Ditto with the 2003 Clone Troopers. (However, it seems the 2005 Clones are better about being and staying white so far.)

So, yes, Hasbro is definitely picking better white plastics that discolor less these days. Some troops are doomed to discoloration in even the most optimal conditions-- I've seen packaged 2002 R2-D2 and Padme figures get a green film on them in the packages. It can be wiped off, but still.

So what can you do? Keep them in a cool, dry place. Keep them out of the light. Not just sunlight, but out of as much light as possible. Some figures are going to discolor due to age alone, but if you smoke, that's going to make things worse. That and sometimes Hasbro's factories just picked bad plastics and paint, and as these are toys (despite what we like to pretend) they weren't designed to be collectibles that last a lifetime.

2. I read you Q and A from May 7th. I am in the same boat as the 2 folks who posted about Target being slow with getting their figures. One things that is bugging me. Sense Hasbro has the license for Spiderman 3 and of course the new live action Transformers movie. It like stores are slacking off on Star Wars.I understand that its a non movie year and all but I go to my local TRU, Wal-Mart, Target or what have you and there is tons of spidey stuff but barely any new Star Wars figures. I only saw wave 2 once,the remnance of it. If I see a pallet on a floor at Wally world and the box says Hasbro on it.It is usually Spiderman stuff.I am concerned that stores are(not giving Star Wars the boot) but shoving it to the side.Also,can 2 waves come to a store at the same time.It has been a while sense I saw Wave one:Mc Trooper,Air Bourn Trooper and the Galactic Marine.Is it possible that wave 1 and wave 2 can overlap?Just wondering.
--Chad

Yes, there is always some amount of overlap in distribution. For example, I saw Titanium ships at a Wal-Mart near me from one of last Summer's cases just last week, after being sold out for months. Hasbro is presently still shipping cases of Saga Collection Waves 7, 8, and 9 and various revisions thereof-- plus Waves 1 and 2 of 30th Anniversary Collection.

Also, as I've said (and is often ignored) stores usually get product. Even if I don't see it, it was there-- one collector can gobble up a whole case or two worth of figures in minutes. With many new figures bowing at one per case, you can expect this to happen for quite some time. Stores aren't always slacking in Star Wars, it's just that the 1-2 cases that they got and were forecasted for them weren't enough because Hasbro is making better figures and they're just hanging on to their popularity.

Right now, Hasbro has two major Summer movie properties, a minor one, plus Star Wars going all at once. Plus Marvel. And that's ignoring the huge girls toys business. There are only so many resources and so much shelf space to go around, so you'll see some lines getting a lot of attention now as Spider-Man is the #1 movie in the world right now. As such, that's what will get the most attention-- other stuff is coming and going, but it's just coming and going really, really quickly. If it comes in and sells out immediately, they'll eventually ramp up their orders-- just be sure to drop a note into their suggestion boxes and don't be afraid to shop at more than one store. It makes a difference.

3. do you know if there are any alternative ways of getting replacement parts for Hasbro vehicles besides the Hasbro customer service? When I moved, I lost one of the chin guns of my ROTS Republic Gunship. Neither Hasbro Germany (who, despite telling me by phone and by mail that they would send me one, never did) nor Hasbro USA (who I have contacted through a friend in the US, and who returned his replacement parts ordering form saying that they don't carry that part any more) were of any help to me. I know that there are people who remake accessories for old vintage figures, but is there anyone who does the same for new vehicles?
--Daniel

As there isn't a huge market in reproduction parts, you might be out of luck for a little while. Hasbro Germany and Hasbro Europe as a whole aren't known for great distribution of Star Wars or knowing the full score on the line, so the question remains: what do you do?

Well, one thing that should make you happy is Hasbro keeps making repaints of vehicles. We've seen four Republic Gunships so far, so if you can't get parts for one version, try a newer one. And if that doesn't work, try the next one. I fully expect another new Gunship in or before 2008, so perhaps you can request a gun from that. (You might have to paint it, but hey, it's better than nothing.) Also, if you aren't already, try signing on to the discussion forums everywhere. Someone is bound to be able to help, perhaps theirs came with a third gun, or maybe someone out there is already making reproductions. Just keep looking and hopefully you'll luck out!

4. On Monday of this [actually last] week I went in to my local Wal-Mart to see if wave 2 of the TAC had hit yet. It hadnt, but much to my surprise there was about a half a case of Episode two figures sitting on the shelf. There was Coruscant chase Obi Wan, Pilot Obi Wan, the electronic light-up R2 D2, and a Bespin Duel Luke Skywalker, which I picked up since I didnt already have one of those. What was even greater about this find was the fact that the register rang it up at something like $4.99. This amazed me because I didnt think an SKU from 2002 would still be valid in thier systems. This has been by far the most weird discovery I have ever made in all my years of hunting, so my question to you is what is the weirdest thing you have ever encountered while on the hunt?
--Kris

You'd be really amazed at the stuff you can find when it doesn't make any sense. There was a Wal-Mart in Phoenix I hit several times a week, and someone seemed to be returning their collection to it a few pieces at a time. In early 2005 I saw the 12-inch Cantina Band from 1998, the Expanded Universe Speeder Bike, and some other items that, obviously, should not have been there. I also saw a number of orange card era POTF2 figures at a Kmart in around 2001, which wasn't as thrilling. The record holder for oldest figure at retail is one I just saw this year-- there's a Rite-Aid drug store near me that still has 8D8. Nine years is a very long time for a figure to hang around, but this sort of thing happens all the time-- I heard a number of stories of vintage-era 1979 toys showing up in hardware stores in 1990. That's part of the fun to the toy hunters out there-- if you go to enough stores you will continue to find things that you never, ever would have expected.

5. I am, for the most part, strictly a Star Wars collector. However, I have one other area of interest. Like Indiana Jones it is some what related to SW, and that is Blade Runner. With it being the 25th anniversary of the movie and legal issues cleared up for the dvd special edition and re-release of the movie later this year, why wouldn't there be any figures or other merchandise (I'm assuming this, unless San Diego Comic Con proves me wrong)? I think that these would sell like hotcakes! Most likely the company to release BR figures would be a McFarlane type company, but man would that be sweet! What do you think?

I also have a SW question for you. Hasbro recently answered one of the bi-weekly Q&A's they do from the various sites in regards to doing POTF figures w/ the coins for the VOTC by stating in effect that there were not that many figures made??? I think it would be a great idea, not only where there more than a few POTF figures made on that card style, how about Hasbro cranks out a few VOTC POTF figures of some of the ones that were going to be released and even had the POTF cards ready to go. We have all seen POTF cards of TIE Fighter Pilot, Prune Face, Boba Fett and others, how cool of an idea would that be. Another idea that some have suggested (that I'm NOT in favor of) is Hasbro making new, truely vintage looking figures of characters that where never made in the vintage line. One idea that I had though, would be for Hasbro to take the Gargan figure that has a mold already made, paint it and release that figure on a POTF card as a "special offer" for next years (presuming they do it) POTF VOTC line (of probably only 5-6 figures ;-)). What do you think and is the idea of Gargan even possible?
--Jeff

I don't really see Blade Runner as Star Wars-y. Indy, sure-- Lucas is involved. Blade Runner is really more of a separate sci-fi entity and while popular, it's more of a cult thing. That doesn't mean that NECA or McFarlane couldn't get the license and do it, but it's a safe bet that the license is expensive as very few licensed products have been made for the film. (Ertl did some die-cast vehicles back in the day, and there's an unlicensed 12-inch action figure. And not really much else.) It's possible interest exists to the point of mass-producing stuff, but it's not like Indy where it seems Lucasfilm was going out of their way to thwart products being made. (Or so the grapevine said, as the licensing fee was supposedly huge.) Some properties just don't get toys-- like Fifth Element, which got close.

Hasbro's coyness on the POTF issue in "Vintage" seems like smoke and mirrors. I've heard multiple answers as to why not and none of them really seem to gel. As such, I say you can safely ignore the answers you're seeing and keep pestering them to do POTF figures in the future. If the "Vintage" program continues past this year-- and I have my doubts-- they could probably do a few from this series, just to make things interesting. If there's ever going to be another Yak Face, I can't think of a better way to do it due to the figure's near-legendary status.

As far as Gargan goes, how about a build-a-figure? It worked for the Blob from X-Men, after all. I think she's a tough sell-- but as an up-sell, she might be one of the best things Hasbro could ever do. Gargan is very possible, and very much a figure that's getting a lot of press these days. I'd say that she's probably getting the most serious buzz since BoShek (Willrow Hood, of course, has buzz that is not serious.) I expect to see her some day, but how, when, and all of that seems up in the air. I personally think it would be a tremendous mistake to sell her outside a "safe" environment like a Battle Pack or some other non-basic-carded-figure means, but that's me. I don't know if the market really wants this figure as anything but-- and this term makes me vomit in my mouth-- a collector's item.

6. one word: shelters

Toys For Tots and other Christmas/Holiday toy charities are cool, but there are kids in shelters everyday of the year coping with the worst our world has to offer from eviction to abuse to hunger to abandonment to bring born drug addicted and the list only gets darker from here. No child deserves any of these miseries, if our cast off or duplicate toys can bring them a bit of relief I'm all for it.

Most shelters accept direct donations of any toy in clean and safe condition (so no little weapons). It's always a good idea to call ahead; look in the yellow pages under shelters. While you are at it all the things that would normally go to a thrift store can go there as well, especially clothes and books.
--Ben

Thanks for the suggestion, Ben!

7. I e-mailed Hasbro a while back with a question if they would take a look at all of the different "battalions" of clones that I have gathered from the internet, EU, where-ever, and they replied saying: "we must advise you that we do not accept unsolicited submissions for review." I for one just wanted to let them know of all of the different clone battalions and just let them know they're out there. There are something around 38 different battalions that I know of and personally I don't want to see them make all of them just maybe 4 or 5! (I don't like to customize because I always ruin it at the last second of painting etc...) There are only 3 on the list that I designed, but pretty much from what I thought already existed or described somewhere else. I already know that they will not take a look because of legal issues, but if they do and write me what they think, 'cause there are some really awesome ones out there that I think everyone should see, I would be happy! Woo, glad that's off my chest! I do not care if they use "my ideas" because well, they are probably already out there! I just want them to take a look and maybe make a couple of these, because everyone needs their own clone! I don't care if I am compensated or whatever, because I just want to see some of their opinions on what I "designed."
--Austin

There are lots of ways to answer this question. I'll be doing a few of them.

1. Do you want people to tell you how to do your job? Hasbro employs lots of people who sit around and come up with a well-balanced line every year, who often work on several different toy lines day in and day out. While many fans will not ever be satisfied, I'd say they're doing a good job-- and I know when I do a little work on exclusive development, I'm a little resentful when people say "do this, because what you think is a bad idea." If there's 1 or 2 things you really want to see, by all means, bug them once in a while. But it's true-- they're not supposed to take outside solicitations from fans for legal reasons. It doesn't matter if it's in the movie, it doesn't matter if you don't want a cut, it's just a matter of company policy.

2. Are you not getting enough Clone Troopers? Seriously, aren't you? In 2007 alone, we've received Scorch, Sev, Boss, Fixer, Commander Appo, Combat Engineer Trooper, Elite Corps Trooper, 5th Fleet Security, Clone Trooper (Sergeant), 442nd Siege Battalion Trooper, Holo Cody, Galactic Marine, Airborne Trooper, Order 66 Marine, Order 66 Airborne, Order 66 AT-RT Driver, Order 66 Commander Bow, Order 66 Commander Thire, Order 66 Kashyyyk Trooper, Clone Trooper (Lt.), AT-RT Driver (white), ARC Trooper Alpha, Commander Neyo, Saleucami Clone, the four Clones in the Felucia Battle Pack, and that's just what's out now. There are many more coming that have been announced and I have no doubt many more are coming that have yet to be revealed. So that's like, what, 27 or so out now, plus others from 2006, more are coming, and so forth. Hasbro does not need any advice on what Clones to do next-- they've got plenty in production, in the pipeline, and on deck for the future. A company can only release so many figures in one year, or so I used to think, because HOLY CRAP that's a lot of Clone Figures. I mean, there are 27 Clones on the market during Q1 2007. Actually, there's more than that. If I were Hasbro, I'd be ignoring your ideas too-- and I would absolutely ignore any fanfic or fan-submitted ideas because that's legal trouble nobody needs to get in to. It doesn't matter how much you/your mom/your friends/your pets love the idea, Hasbro has designers and they don't take outside input on things like this. It's nothing personal-- it's just business. If you are genuinely, truly interested in getting Hasbro to comment on your designs, try to get a job there. Take design classes, engineering, and other marketing courses and maybe you can get a gig at the big H-- otherwise, don't get your hopes up. Showing your designs to a toy company if you aren't (or even if you are) in the business is a little awkward. An analogy: let's say you go to eat out at a chain restaurant. The wait person asks you what you want-- and rather than ordering off a menu, you pull out an ornate description of an item that you feel they should sell but don't. What are they supposed to do? Smile and nod? Make you this item? It's just a little weird to think of from Hasbro's perspective. But this isn't to say fan-made clone designs don't have a place, or wouldn't be interesting to see as some sort of contest or something.

3. It's a pretty safe bet Hasbro doesn't need more original design concepts for clones these days, anyway. Between the comics, books, games, movies, and concept art, Hasbro has so many designs as of yet unmade for Clone Troopers that they can keep cranking them out for years-- and I bet you there's some really awesome designs they're coming up with on their own that are going to be good, too.

8. I noticed that the blue Airborne Trooper form the Order 66 Packs has a 2004 date stamp on his foot. I do not recall any clone trooper similar to this being released in '04. In fact, this would be prior to the release of Revenge of the Sith. Could you explain this?
--Will

This is a tricky one, but over the years I've noticed the dates don't always make a lot of sense. For example: the #41 Super Articulated Clone Trooper from 2005 and the #6 Quick-Draw Clone have dates of 2004. However, the orange Utapau Trooper, the Shocktrooper (Skirmish in the Senate), 5th Fleet Security, Appo, and 442nd Battalion Troopers all have 2005 dates-- despite being the same mold. While I can't confirm this to be certain, it seems Hasbro has a lot of feet molds and sometimes they get mixed around since the seem to look and act alike.

Also, the Airborne Trooper is based on a 2005 figure, the Evolutions Trooper. I checked mine, and they all have 2005 copyrights on their feet. So it seems to be a bit of a mystery, or possibly just a goof. Little variations like this aren't too uncommon, but I'll see if I can find out more in case there's an amusing story here.

9. Hi Adam, do you know if the Darth Vader figure that came with the OTC Vader's TIE Fighter is the exact same figure as the Gunner Station Vader? Are there any differences at all?
--mrbetts777

These are essentially the same. I say "essentially" because it's possible to find differences between two "identical" figures all the time, and one was made in 1998 and the other in 2004. The black might be a little blacker, the glossy parts might be a little glossier, these are normal production changes-- but if you put a bunch of them side-by-side one is not obviously a different release. If all you can find is one or the other, you should be fine.

10. How about the number of new figures coming out this year? In your opinion, too much, or just right? Speaking as one who has been pretty hardcore for the last 12 years, I am feeling overwhelmed by the product lists being circulated. While I know none of us are under any obligation to "get them all," there is a feeling of giving up when I decide to pass on figures, have you noticed that as well?
--Dwight

Too much.

My big fear about this line is that Hasbro might be seeing its days as numbered and they're trying to get as much product out as they can before the TV lines start, which is what's responsible for giving us this, the first 250+ figure year (or darned close). I don't like to pass on anything-- this line is my main hobby and well, I'm in it to win it. And "it" is "a total absence of space." It seems to me that they're wasting time and resources repackaging and redesigning a lot of these figures when they could be well-served just cranking out something else. Do we really need a Han with gloves and a headset? It's cool, sure, but why not just rerelease the Vintage Han with no changes on a new package? If it necessary to have the "500th Vader" mold released on no less than 3 different "basic" packages, when one or even two would suffice?

As an adult (or so my ID says) with a job, I'm glad I can afford what I like. But kids can't, and the market turns over figures so quickly that any poor kid with parents that have the "only birthdays and Christmas/other holiday" mantra for toys could very well miss out on some particularly nice stuff. Hasbro's turning over the product too quickly and while it's mostly great, there's too much of it. Of course, I'm just as much at fault. I just got my 30th Anniversary Wave 2, my Wave 2 Comic Packs, and some other new items-- and I'm already chomping at the bit for the next wave. We're getting this much product not because Hasbro is trying to drain us dry, but because we want Hasbro to drain us dry. We keep asking for more and more, and they'd be fools not to ship it to us. I have a feeling this will be an unusually big year between the Battlefront packs, the intentional variations, the exclusives, the multi-packs, and the stuff we don't even know is coming yet.

FIN

DROIDS. I've been told there's a lot of chatter about the Astromech Packs from early 2006. Specifically, if there will be more. While Entertainment Earth (and I) am always exploring new options for exclusive products, there are absolutely no plans for another round of droid sets. At least, not that anyone has had the decency to tell me about at my place of work.

In completely unrelated-to-exclusive (I swear) news, you might want to keep an eye open for the next Entertainment Earth catalog on or around June 2. I'm not saying there's going to be a never-before-seen figure in there. And I certainly didn't say anything of the sort on their podcast.

Oh, what else. We're going to be seeing some big announcements in the coming weeks, no doubt, so be sure to keep checking back on your favorite news outlets for more on that.

Got questions? I bet you do. Email me with "Q&A" somewhere in the subject line and hopefully I'll get to yours in the next column!

Click here to read the previous installment of Galactic Hunter Q&A!