Toy Fair 2014: Your Questions To Hasbro Answered: Part I

Here is Part I of our Hasbro Q and A, of which there'll be four (4) parts. There could be misspellings, formatting issues and possibly a few other mistakes of which I will edit over time. And you may even call it a "disorganized mess" like some of my critics have said in the past. But guess what? It's all good. This is for our readers and not our hecklers, so please enjoy as we shed some additional light on what is happening with the Hasbro Star Wars line. Click through for more!

Q: Why is so difficult to find Star Wars action figures at retail?

A: Hasbro in general realizes that distribution is not even across the board and that some locations have yet to see anything beyond wave 1. They've conceded that TBS didn't start off on the right foot but are looking to do further revisions with case assortments beginning in May 2014 with even more aggressive case assortments in Fall 2014.

Q: What happened with the quality of your paint apps in 2013? I understand you are facing rising costs and having to find new ways to bring figures to market at a reasonable price, but this new found "slop" in the deco really shows. Have you partnered with a new factory that is having trouble achieving the level of accuracy that was formerly supplied? We are seeing problems across all lines, from the lowly Saga Legends and Mission Series, thru the collector-focused The Black Series and most egregiously on your "premium" $20 6" collector figures.

A: Hasbro didn't seem to be aware of the paint operation issues with figures in the Mission Series and Saga Legends lines. They will take it under advisement however.

Q: Are there any plans to re-release the TVC Royal Guard?

A: Thanks to JTA, probably. We gave Hasbro a list of figures that collectors are desperate to see repacked again and Derryl DePriest wrote all of them down and was eager to see what he could do to get them out again ASAP. That was also the time where he explained he could get figures out like Shae Vizla out again because of its recent release and poor distribution, but not any older EU figures.

Q: Are realistic Clone Wars figures still a possibility in The Black Series, and will the the realistic Captain Rex that was planned for the droid factory line still be released?

A: Yes and yes. Captain Rex is coming in The Black Series line as well as two "Season 6" The Clone Wars figures. (FYI - one looks like Commander Wolffe and the other is colored like a phase II Captain Lock

Q: 6" Marvel figures have a BAF theme. With TBS-6" retailing for the same price, I can't help but feel like SW is missing out on this. Thoughts?

A: That is something Hasbro is unable to cost out.

Q: Please re-release figures from The Vintage Collection that fans/collectors want, not the ones of your choosing. Set a fans' poll for these selections. At least maybe this time we get a fair shot at buying them. Just release them in any form of packaging.

A: As you know from JTA's exclusive rumor report, now a factual report, six (with plans for others) TVC figures are being repackaged in The Black Series line. These include Dack Ralter, AT-RT Driver, Bastila Shan, Darth Malgus, Starkiller, Republic Trooper. See our Toy Fair coverage for more information on this HERE: http://www.jeditemplearchives.com/content/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=13156

Q: Will super articulated figures based on the Original Trilogy be available for purchase after 2015? Will Evolutions return?

A: Yes, super-articulated figures will always be part of the Star Wars plan. There are no plans to revisit Evolutions.

Q: Will there be a 6" The Black Series Emperor Palpatine or Darth Sidious in that line?

A: From JTA's "secrets revealed" article, yes, a detailed Emperor Palpatine from Episode VI is coming.

Q: With few exceptions, Jabba's palace characters sell well at retail.Would Hasbro consider a TrU exclusive battle pack with figures from Jabba's palace? Sets could include human henchmen and one alien, like the latest Geonosis battle packs. Would you consider original mission series figures from Jabba's palace? Consider the courier droid and the torture rack.

A: Hasbro will constantly produce Jabba alien action figures but they'll likely only get released as basic figures. What you're suggesting is not cost-feasible (which is something JTA personally doesn't understand).

Q: Would Hasbro consider a mission series rickshaw droid with the rickshaw? Again, minimal articulation needed?

A: While admittedly a cool design, it's not immediately on Hasbro's radar to produce.

Q: I noticed every store had TBS, SL, and MS figures whose bubbles had completely separated from the card backs. What happened?

A: Hasbro would like to express that this issue has been fully resolved. (Editor's Note: I disagree, but they know that issues exist intermittently between the first three waves.) The figures are heated to the card backs and there wasn't enough heat employed to get a good seal. (Editor's Note: I wonder if that was also part of the reason for the return to the old wrap-around bubble card back design for the blue TBS line change....)

Q: Back in the day, the Star Wars line had some nice playsets - Death Star, Hoth base, Land of the Jawas, Droid Factory, Ewok village... even in the 90's we got some mini environments, up to and including the Carbon Freezing Chamber. Might Hasbro plan on producing some more playsets for the 3.75" line in the near future?

A: Hasbro would love to do playsets but they said that we would never pay the prices for what they would have to charge. They know no one would pay them if they did produce them and said that waiting for them to go on clearance would be devastating to stores. Even the Sandcrawler has been moved to "Sail Barge" likelihood now, so don't expect it. It would easily cost $250 minimally to do a halfway decent Sandcrawler. And even then they couldn't include all of the features they wanted.

Q: Return of the Jedi needs more love for Jabba's denizens both resculpts and new characters particularly now the ewoks have been increasing which is great . Hoping the rumours are true about Ree Yees and Doallyn but it seems this film has the largest pool of characters still to be done and redone and put on vintage cards the latter vintage request for both ewoks and Jabba's palace characters. Loje Nella, Attark, Cane Addiss, Worrt , Herat & Wittin. And 8D8's torture droids would all be cool new characters. Will ROTJ Jabbas Palace fans be happy this year and next going forward.

A: Hasbro remains faithful to Jabba the Hutt's retinue and we will see more and more of this as we move closer to Episode VII. Not all of the choices listed can be made, but they have a few cool surprises planned for the future that are much too early in development to even hint at for the moment.

Q: I believe you stated that The Vintage collection is on hiatus. Would you be able to share when/where you plan to release more TVC figures? I have been collecting since 1995 and The Vintage Collection is by far the one I love the most.

A: Hasbro understands that everyone loves the TVC line. It will come back in one form or another. The timing is unknown right now, but keep remaining faithful and Hasbro believes you will be happy one day "soon". See JTA's "Hasbro Secrets Revealed" article for more information on this.

Q: Dear Hasbro, will you please assure collectors that the great majority of action figures in the Star Wars 3.75" collector line (be it TVC or BS or something new) will remain super-articulated (i.e. a minimum of 14 points of articulation - 2 ball ankles, 2 ball knees, 2 swivel thighs, 2 swivel wrists, 2 ball elbows (*never* swivel!), 2 ball shoulders, a swivel waist or ball torso, and ball head)? The recent releases of Merumeru and Darth Plagueis lacked waist/torso articulation, and I hope this was a singular occurrence not to be repeated. Thanks.

A: Super-articulated (or almost super-articulated) figures will remain in the basic figure line. The reduction of waist articulation on some figures was necessary to meet other monetary budgets like extra accessories and the like. There is a reason if an articulation point has been cut out (pun not intended).

Q: Are there plans to make stands for 6" Black Series?

A: No. These figures are so hyper-articulated there should not be a need for a stand.

Q: Will we see battle packs and vehicles released in The Black Series packaging ?

A: No plans.

Q: Why is Hasbro not releasing more astromech droids different than R2-D2 as they only need to invest in repaints and not creating new molds, which make them very profitable?

A: A new never-before-announced R5 unit from the Home One in ROTJ is coming. (Editor's Note: I am disagreeing with colleagues on this figure too. It is the R5 unit Build A Droid sculpt, but I was told it's an all-new figure. So unless Hasbro changes the sculpt at some point, this will be the standard Build A Droid we have received 100 times beforehand. I had also heard that it's a Build A Droid sculpt with all of its parts glued together which also doesn't make sense because where the pieces fit together are the articulation points. We will investigate further on this....)

Q: This is more of a suggestion than a question, but I would love it if you could bring it to Hasbro's attention if you have enough time. Especially since they have expressed regret in the past about the way they handled it. Could they please find a way to do some kind of special re-release of VC66 & VC67 (on their original TVC cardbacks) for us completists? Perhaps as some kind of box set similar to the Zuckuss/4-LOM one. Even if it has to be released as an online exclusive (hasbrotoyshop.com, BBTS, Brian's Toys, EE, Amazon, etc) or some type of mailaway program? Thanks!

A: Hasbro has no plans to get these out, although they want to (but they have been saying this for years now). I have follow-up questions for Derryl DePriest and will address this and a few others when I have some free time.

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