1. i am streamlining my collection and want to keep certain figures only.what are your favourite figures out of the following prequel characters: anakin, obi wan, mace, yoda. And your favourite versions of Original trilogy characters: boba fett, vader, obi wan, r2d2, chewbacca, c3po,luke, han and leia.
--craig

As I don't know you as a collector, I wouldn't feel comfortable saying much about this. Thing is, today's "favorite" is tomorrow's crappy repack in a Battle Pack-- Hasbro often finds a way to make figures in this size better and will continue to rerelease and redesign all the characters you list in various outfits because they're quite popular. As such, if you're really looking to get the best EVAR, those figures may not have been produced yet.

For example, have you seen the articulation on the 24th Anniversary G.I. Joe figures Hasbro is putting out this summer? Sweet merciful crap, man! They make "Vintage" Star Wars look downright primitive in some cases. What we've come to know and love as "Vintage," the best of the best, is now seemingly once again second-best behind the Joes. So there are still ways to significantly upgrade how a Star Wars figure's hip joints function, for example, and I'm sure Hasbro will find ways to make figures even better in the next few years. As such, if the versions in your collection do not satisfy you, you might be pleasantly surprised by what Hasbro comes up with in the next few years.

2. The gigantic cluster that was a Wal-Mart exclusive basic figure assortment continues to prove a brilliant and fan-friendly move. When the wave started hitting (and disappearing into the hands of Wal-Mart department managers dreaming of eBay glory), we were told not to worry because they shipped plenty and the figures would eventually end up at retail. And they have. And are still coming - I saw three cases arrive the other day. The pegs are clogged up with the leftovers of the wave and absolutely no 30th stuff is getting through. There was the initial launch date, where five cases came and went and now we're back to the saga muck. There are a few TAC R2s and Obi-Wans here and there, but nothing else. I realize some places are moving product pretty quick, and normally my stores do, but there's just too much Saga glut right now (even clone troopers are collecting dust). The managers are no help because they see a variety of product on the shelves and see no problem, nevermind the age of the product. Does Hasbro still clear old product out by their own initiative anymore?
--Michael

Well, assuming you aren't being sarcastic, this is a real "your mileage may vary" thing. I finally saw heaps of these figures about a week and a half ago, and as of this week, the store that got them ran out-- and I haven't seen them at any other Wal-Marts.

Saga is not going away-- the SKU that was The Saga Collection is identical to Saga Legends. So there's a very good chance you're going to see more The Saga Collection shipments in your stores until July, when Legends hits, because the store computers don't usually know how to tell one from another-- it's all the same assortment. They will not be cleared out by any initiative, most likely, other than time.

What you're seeing with the brand new 30th Anniversary line (for those who are just joining us, these are the new 2007 figures with coins) seems normal-- most stores I visit have a very limited selection which dries up in a day or two. Either Hasbro is doling out the assortments slowly to keep popularity high, or popularity is high and stores can't keep up with putting enough product out. There's going to be a very big push for Transformers at both Target and Wal-Mart, so odds are the next few weeks are going to be tough when it comes to new product-- but hey, they put up with us during our movie periods, so we're going to have to manage while Hasbro tries to milk other Intellectual Property for dollars, as one cannot grow fat off Star Wars alone.

Also, the good/bad/good news is that while assortments are hard to find today, many of the figures from the first two waves are shipping in future cases, sometimes in ridiculous ratios. For example, the Galactic Marine and Airborne Trooper are shipping at 2 per case in most cases. I'm actually a little surprised stores aren't choking on them yet, but hey, bless the Army Builder's hearts and wallets for making the line extra popular this year.

3. I was reading your Q&A column the week of Celebration, and I have a question that is a "spin-off" of a previous question.

Someone wrote to you asking about the recyclability of the materials used in SW packaging and how, as an "opener," he threw away a LOT of packaging.

Well generally speaking, that packaging is there to "sell" us the contents, as well as minimizing theft, protection during shipping a a handful of other reasons. It's an "ad."

I would like to bring up an idea. What if figures were made available "loose?" Or at least, in something like the generic white boxes my Froot Loops Han and B'Omarr Monk came in. First, it would minimize Hasbro's cost by giving loose collectors a way to buy figures without generating as much waste. Second, it would give loose openers access to figures that might be "shopped clean" in stores.

If it cost EXACTLY the same, with shipping replacing the cost of the packaging, that is how I would buy ALL of my figures.
--SpaceGhost2K

Well, you hit the nail on the head-- the packaging does exist to sell us product on the aisle. Hasbro's efforts on its packaging (not just our little plastic men, but all brands) is a deadly serious undertaking with lots of work, effort, and research done to create what they feel will present the best, most striking box on the aisle. In other words, there are probably Ph.Ds and design majors in the citadels of Hasbro to make sure that your suggestion-- a loose figure or a white box-- never comes to pass.

Since "non-packaging" is unlikely, the only way to really do better is to come up with a solution that still has pretty packaging, but less of it. Like multi-packs, or vintage-style figures (like the new Joe packaging, which is basically the old Joe packaging with a J-hook), or some such. There's a great cost associated with packaging, or special packaging for a vendor. So if Wal-Mart wanted to do a special box or plain box tomorrow, Hasbro would do it-- they've made specially designed smaller Transformers Cybertron Mini-Con packaging that looks visually identical at first during the past year and change, so such a shift would require a demand by Hasbro's biggest customer-- the spawn of Sam Walton, not so much us. Packaging is so important to Hasbro (and the industry in general) that this idea simply wouldn't click.

Personally, I think Hasbro should just get it over with and shift the line to 2-packs. You can cram 2 figures on a basic size cardback with no additional packaging, but it would eliminate the possibility of giant figures and massive accessories. Overall, though, I think this is a good thing-- charge $10, sell us twice as much stuff, and cut down on the amount of packaging that a collector throws away by close to 50% when it comes to action figures.

4. Hi. Do all the [30th Anniversary Collection] ceremonial Lukes look like a corpse? Thank you
--Joey

Yes, and they all come with Darth Vader's lightsaber hilt, too. So far this is one of the few figures this year that needs a little work-- fixing the skin, and then the accessory, would make it one of the better releases of 2007.

5. I know most of your questions are regarding the 3 3/4 inch line of figures, but I was wondering if you had an opinion on the recent news that Master Replicas has lost the Star Wars license? Master Replicas was basically founded on Star Wars replicas and I would be really surprised if the licensing fees really went up that much in the last 5 years that they just couldn't afford to renew it. I don't see how they can afford not to renew it, I would think it accounts for the majority of their business. Do you think another company will pick up the license? What do you think the future will hold for high end Star Wars replicas?
--justin

Licensing fees are a tricky business. While there is what seems to be an "industry standard," that's for crappy licenses. If you want to license Bill & Ted, or Back to the Future, or something that, while a favorite film of many people, simply isn't a licensing bonanza, odds are the price is going to be the same-- a flat fee, plus a royalty. (While I can't disclose numbers, I can say that it's cheaper than you might think.) Star Wars is the licensing industry's gold standard-- right up there with or perhaps even better than Disney in some years. As such, Lucasfilm rightly can charge whatever it damn well pleases, as they showed when Hasbro re-upped the license for toys at the end of 1998 to a rumored $180 million price tag. (See? We're worth quite a bit to Hasbro, at least according to the rumor mill.)

As far as continuing the license, it's a toss-up. The coolest thing Master Replicas did were those FX Lightsabers, at least as far as a mass-appeal product goes, and they milked that for almost all it was worth. Their prop replicas were excellent, and they covered most of the big bases. Icons (who had the license in the 1990s for props) did some other big ticket items, and between the two, I'd say all of the really big deal items saw production. Other than full-size Stormtrooper armor, I'm hard-pressed to name something that I would be able to identify as a "sure thing" replica that might justify the expense of hundreds of thousands or millions or whatever kind of licensing fee Lucasfilm might ask for.

I think it might be a few years. The TV shows on the horizons made the license a little more valuable, no doubt, because that's 100 episodes of a cartoon and 100 live action episodes, and there's a lot of products you can make from what I estimate to be, minus commercials, about 110 hours of Star Wars. (After all, look all the stuff they squeezed out of 14 hours worth of movies and a few hours of Clone Wars.) The Star Wars TV license has the potential to be the most obscenely valuable thing ever if fans don't burn out, which is going to be a very real possibility.

6. Back when the Action Fleet was going a number of years ago there was a variant TIE Interceptor with a little miniature TIE Pilot with a removable helmet. Under the helmet was George Lucas. What do you think chances are Hasbro would crank one of these out? Any idea what the story was behind that anyway? There usually seems to be a big to do about George figures. While it wasn't a figure really it was his likeness. Or as close as you'd get on that scale. It was really kind of obscure.
--Chris

This was a weird one-- they said it was George, and we said "uh, OK, sure." Basically, it was just an Easter Egg-- Galoob had a few of those in their products, like some Millennium Falcon action fleet toys had a note to fans in them.

I think Hasbro could do something like this, and technically, they already sort of did-- nobody knew the Death Star Gunner from 2006 had a removable helmet with a Clone head under it until someone posted a picture. (I believe I was "someone.") So Hasbro has the ability to do this sort of thing, they just haven't done it yet. I think it'd be totally cool to have random or surprise heads under trooper helmets as a way to inspire fans to buy more of them, and it'd just be cool to see, for example, the head of Ben Burtt or Irvin Kershner or some of the unsung heroes who made these films hidden under the helmets. (As you can guess, I'm gleeful to see Pharl McQuarrie coming.)

So far they're going out of their way for George figures to be special-- the first one was made begrudgingly as Lucas said he didn't want a figure of himself to be made, but this sort of thing with an in-universe backstory for fans at a convention was approved. (Or so Hasbro told me in 2002.) With the Stormtrooper and the Baron, it's possible they could do more-- but if they did I think they'd stop being special and Hasbro seems to want to keep some things special. But for another milestone, a TIE Fighter Pilot would be totally cool-- if for no reason other than making sure every figure Galoob made eventually saw production as a full-size Hasbro figure. You know, like a Tonnika, silver Death Star Droid, etc.

7. So I look at my Sith Infiltrator. Damn it looks awesome! But I gotta beat a dead horse here. So even if they can't make it on the size of the Queen's ship don't you think they could have done something to make it a little bigger? Maybe I am wrong and I am obviously not a toy developer in any way but I would rather skip the flip-open wings and the strange separating nose deal for more size? Obviously those action features cost something. Have it make noise if you need a feature beyond shooting missiles. Bump it up to $30 and put it a an assortment with ARC fighters and Gunships and SLAVE-1. Make it a bit bigger and repackage the crap out of it and release it a dozen different times over the next seven years. If Hasbro wanted to release this put it in the Unleashed line. That would have been a great size for that line. Maybe even get some more interest in that line. So what's next? An AT-TE that will carry a driver and one gunner (if we are lucky) and be on the sa! me dinky scale? After this release isn't that what you would expect from them? I don't mean that in a negative way. Just based on their track record. It took about ten years to get a TIE with larger wings. Wouldn't you just puke your guts out if that's what we get for an AT-TE? Be honest. Wouldn't you? Yeah and then get a different colored version for every division of clones? That day is coming isn't it? Isn't it?
--Christopher

With the Sith Infiltrator, I'm not going to whine about size-- I think the size is fine. As a kid, my parents wouldn't buy me anything bigger than an X-wing for fear of it getting out of control and their thought that most big toys aren't that much more fun than modestly sized ones. As an adult I begrudgingly agree-- the AT-AT doesn't offer too much more than an AT-ST. Darth Maul's ship is a decent one, but I have problems with the design-- the pull-open front section bumps into the rockets, the landing gear is really horrible, and the seating area is a very, very tight fit for the Saga Legends Darth Maul it was supposedly designed for. Its flaws as a toy could be corrected at the $20 price point, and if they really wanted to, they could've made it bigger and still fit in that box with more assembly required. But they didn't-- so while we can continue to beat the dead horse, it's unlikely we'll see a new version of the ship any time soon.

Besides, I'd rather see a giant-sized awesome Slave I-- I don't hear anybody complaining how underscaled that vehicle is, and with Fett's popularity, it'd probably not be too hard to crank out a super-deluxe version with a prison cell, cargo area, a place to mount a Carbonite block, etc. Aside from electronics, and storage of a Sith Speeder, I can't think of much else I'd want out of Darth Maul's ship... but dude, the things you could do with a slightly bigger Slave I as seen in the comics or cross-sections book is simply staggering. Gun racks? Helmet storage? Man. The mind boggles.

So, AT-TE. We just got the announcement of an AT-AP, which at first made me puke my guts out as I didn't realize that you could open it and put figures inside. (By the way, that's my definition for "good vehicle" over "boring vehicle"-- if it opens up and you can put stuff in it, it's good. Otherwise it's probably a quad or a motorcycle and I don't care.) I see the AT-AP as a test product, to see if fans really do go crazy and buy it-- looking at the V-Wing's popularity, they will-- and it's a way to sell us what we don't want before what we do want. If fans got the AT-TE or Turbo Tank or some other giant toy first, they might be less likely to buy a smaller, "inferior" vehicle later-- but if you give us an appetizer first, we'll still be hungry for the full meal later. (OK, so maybe I watch too many conspiracy specials on TV.) But yeah, I think we'll get a large Clone vehicle in the next few years which will be underscaled, but probably still at a $30-$50 price point.

(Oh, and as an inserted tangent, of which there are many today, the toy AT-AP holds two pilots and a gunner.)

I know we like to complain about vehicles, but let's compare. The vintage line had fewer vehicles than we got in the modern line, they just got a few that didn't get updates (Mini-Rigs, Rebel Transport, Imperial Troop Transport, Cloud Car, Ewok Battle Wagon, [technically] Star Destroyer) and in the modern line, we got a few new items like the Skyhopper. The vintage line (all mini-rigs and Ewok gliders included) was about 40 vehicles and I'd say we've met or exceeded that in the modern line, unfortunately many of those vehicles are the vintage vehicles. With Hasbro giving us 4 new ships in 2007 (The V-Wing, the Sith Infiltrator, Grievous' Starfighter, and the AT-AP) I'd say they're ramping up to make us very happy in 2008 or 2009. I mean, look-- we got two villain vehicles and two trooper vehicles. That's much better than seeing them tool up Anakin's Customized Bomber Gunship or Mace Windu's Space Car or what have you.

Downscaled vehicles are a requirement of the toy industry, and while I can't say it thrills me, I do understand why it needs to be done. An 8-foot long toy Turbo Tank would just be bad for everybody-- the movie thing is 49.4 meters long, and assuming I did the math right, well, c'mon. According to specs, though, the AT-TE is actually a fairly tiny 12.4 meters, which would make a perfectly scaled toy still be over 2 feet long-- that's still too big. But the Gunship is just under 2-feet long, so with some minor fudging, I'd be fine with one around that size.

8. I notice that every now and then you do a movie related question, here's one that has always bugged me. In the Empire Strikes Back during the battle of Hoth, why, good god why, do the snowspeeders attack from the front of the at ats? I know there are a couple scenes where they come from the sides and I know that it just makes for good movie doing it this way so that's not an answer. Now I am no tactical master by any means, but come on, every time I see Luke come at the walker from a good 1/2 to 3/4 miles out straight on I always hope that the walker just blows him up completely, and then he seems surprised he's been hit, also towards the end when the Falcon is fleeing Bespin, again I don't know hyperspace routes but of all the possible exit trajectories why, good god why, would you fly straight towards the super star destroyer, not only fly towards it but skim the surface along the side of it, that has always just boggled my mind as far as realism. And The Phantom Menace, when they escape Naboo they fly straight towards the control ship, oh we're losing droids, yeah no crap!! steer around the massive enemy ship. I was just wondering if there were any battlefield generals out there that could justify these seemingly ridiculous flying strategies, yeah I know its just a movie.
--Dan

That's pretty much the answer-- you have to make it dramatic and exciting, so sometimes people act in unrealistic or unsound ways just to make a better visual. You need to kill off fighters and droids to show there's an actual danger to the hero, otherwise it'd be pretty blah if there's no chance of being hurt.

9. I just wanted your opinion on something. I have been putting off buying a Darth Vader Replica helmet from Master Replicas. I really like it and would like one to add to my collection. I recently heard that Master Replicas will no longer be making Star Wars items as of next year. Do you think that waiting on buying one is a smart idea in that the price will get cheaper over time or should I pick one up before they are gone? Will master Replicas items be worth more now that the company no longer has the license to make Star Wars items? WhatÕs your take on this whole situation and do you think that Lucas Film will find another company to take Master Replicas place for higher end items like Lightsaber Replicas, Helmets, etcÉ?
--Curt

Impossible to tell is the future. Too many similar collectibles, there are.

Between Rubies and Master Replicas, three are at least a few high-high-end helmet replicas and I have little doubt that we'll see another licensor crank them out within the next decade. (Unless of course the asking price for the license is too high-- and I'd probably assume that it is.) If you can get it for a decent price, obviously, why wait? I wouldn't expect it to show up for $250, but you never know what might happen. ICONS had the prop license before Master Replicas, and a lot of those props are cheap-ish when they show up on eBay these days.

If a new company shows up and redoes all the props in the future, I'd say that the Vader helmet could probably drop in price. And if they don't, who knows. I expect a lot of the really expensive stuff to get cheaper over time just because I don't believe there's that big of a market for $1,000+ pieces, but hey, I've been wrong before. If an item is limited enough, you won't even get a chance to buy it again-- I can't remember seeing a Carbonite block recently, for example.

10. I recently purchased the V-Wing and have a question regarding the proper position of the rear flaps that appear on either side of the ship's engines. The instructions show that they should be snapped into place facing upward. However, the picture of the ship on the back of the box shows them facing downward. I have tried to determine their proper placement from watching their brief scenes in Episode III but could not see their details clearly enough nor could I tell from checking the Episode III Incredible Cross Sections book. I then consulted Wookieepedia which has an illustration showing the rear flaps facing downward. However, the rebelscum.com photo archives show them facing upward.

I finally decided to place mine in the downward position since it seems they would hit the heat deflector panels if placed in the upward position.

Do you have any idea how they should be placed?
--Joel

When it comes to toys, I have a very simple logic-- do what I see in the movie. If I am too lazy to check the movie, I just do what's on the box. Wookieepedia shows an illustration where the panels cover the astrotmech droid, which is also how they seem to be showed in the comics. That and as to how you should display it should depend on what you want to see. I think the Astromech in the socket looks rotten, so I'd try to cover it up with the panels. If you'd rather see it, leave it open. "Proper" is something you can ignore when trying to make a better display. After all, nobody seems to care that the Cantina didn't have barstools-a-plenty like on those scene pieces and they just gobble those things up.

FIN

So, the show is going well. A few people have asked me what the most exciting stuff was. I can say in all seriousness the thing that's made me the happiest that I hadn't previously seen were the Ewoks, which are according to most sources Lumat and Romba. I kinda wish it was Warok & Romba, just to put the original pair together, but such is life. We get so few Ewoks that any new figure is more than a little exciting, and two figures is cause for celebration. I really hope Hasbro does repaints/part swaps and cranks out more because, well, there are a lot of areas that we've pretty much maxxed out. There's not too much more room for movie-based Clones, Wookiees, Imperials, and so forth, but brother, there are plenty of Ewoks. (But seriously Hasbro, give us a new Wicket and I'm gonna send your offices a gift card for your entire team to go to Chili's on me. That's right-- ten whole American dollars on a gift card. You can't pass that up can you Derryl?)

The A-Wing Pilot was nice to see too-- actually, the whole Endor wave was a pleasant sight because Return of the Jedi is probably my favorite movie for toys and we don't get a lot of new stuff from it all that often. (Well, OK, we do, but I don't seem to recall anyone begging for a new Chewie or Barada or Bib Fortuna last year.)

And General Grievous' Starfighter as well as the AT-AP have me quite excited. I didn't think I'd like an AT-AP, but seeing the toy and capacity for three action figures, I'm all smiles. And with Grievous' ship, I'm not picky-- I'm just happy to be able to get it. I hear buzz that it's being designed to fit the good General, but which version, nobody said. I personally don't care if I see him in it so much as Obi-Wan. Of course, the vehicles I really want to see next are the Tantive IV (which I consider reasonable) and the White Witch (which I will expect to see shortly after Hell freezes over). It'd go nice with Boba Fett's Silver Speeder.

(And is anybody else having problems with that goofy Flash-based video they're using for the Clone Wars trailer? 12 hours later and I still haven't seen the damn thing to the end. Seriously, what would it take to get it on QuickTime or YouTube or something?)

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!

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