Q&A With JTA: Our Fourth Column!

1. Will Hasbro ever fix the ongoing problem with the gear that constantly falls off of the figures (clothes, packs, weapons), If you "play" with the fugres at all, the gear comes off. I cant see how that is fun in childrens eyes. Vintage figure gear NEVER fell off. this has been ongoing problem since Monkey Face Leia way back in 95-till the current VOTC Boba Fett who backpack falls of if you look at it too long. Why does Hasbro insist about using that rubbery plastic for the figures weapons(and some of their figures) ex. they are always warped and bent and most times you cannot straighten them 100% (Aaron)

JTA: Aaron, we believe we may have to disagree with you to a certain extent. Comparing any modern figure to the vintage line is not something that can be done for many reasons. But vintage figures did not have that much gear (if any) to fall off. The modern figures are different altogether. Hasbro has been very aggressive with how small they make accessories and to engineer them to interact with the figure is a very difficult task. (Captain Typho BD 47 from 2009's TLC line comes to mind.) Hasbro is always looking for ways to improve their figures but sometimes it's just not possible to fit a square peg in a circular hole. We will side with you however that the rubbery plastic is an issue that inflames us. And while Hasbro can say all they want that avoiding breakage is priority number one, they still make some very strong weapons on other figures (like the small blasters on the TCW clone trooper figures).

2. How are figures painted, by hand or by machine? The applications are sometimes off. I know I personally check out which figure has the best applications if more than one of the same is in store. (Andy)

JTA: All Star Wars action figures are painted via machines and not by hand. Collectibles painted by hand can only be done on those with much smaller edition sizes (like a couple thousand) unlike Hasbro's action figure which are made in the tens and hundreds of thousands. With numbers this high, technology must intervene and take over this process. It also allows for a more uniform look in the line.

3. Thanks for starting the Q&A. Love your site! Got my first rocket firing Fett today. It's just as crushed as I have been reading online. It even came in a bag with an apology from USPS. The interesting part is I only got the cardboard backing. The figure must have fallen out. You can see where the bubble was glued to the card, but no bubble; no figure. I called Hasbro's consumer affairs and they are sending me a return label, which is good. My question is, I have not read anywhere if Hasbro intends on correcting later batches so the boxes are not so flimsy. Have you heard anything? (Christopher)

JTA: Thank you for the kind words Christopher! The Rocket-Firing Boba Fett debacle has so many levels or degrees to the extent of damage each figure did or didn't received. 4 out of 5 of our own came crushed to us and when we called Hasbro on the issues, they told us they could only replace them if the actual figures were damaged. This ended up not necessarily being the case. We just posted an update to this report (found HERE) which surprised the heck out of us. Hasbro consumer affairs certainly has amazing customer-service skills. So if you can professionally and calmly explain your personal experience to Hasbro, it looks like they may do the right thing and make collectors "whole".

4. Does Hasbro have future plans on updating the cardbacks for the vintage collection as more figures are released and making them look more " vintage" like having all the released figures so far pictured on the back because that would so much more cooler than having 3/4 of the cardbacks wasted on showing the previous released figure and card especially ones like Dak and the Han Solo echo base because they are showing the same card as the front. (Eric)

JTA: Back in 2004 when the very first 12 modern "vintage" figures were released, Hasbro explained to us that their lawyers told them that they couldn't have new product featured on entirely old packaging, but the specifics of what they said is escaping me at the moment. Does anyone else recall this conversation and where we can point readers to read this? It's definitely on a fansite somewhere.... (We will have to post an update to this question in the future.)

5. Will Hasbro ever make a Twilight for TCW action figures? They could pack in Anakin and Ahsoka instead of reissuing them on newer cards. (Jason B.)

JTA: Not much has been addressed from Hasbro regarding the Twilight or if it is even remotely in their parking lot. Until Hasbro gives us more information or leaks some more clues about this, we won't know for sure. We think it's a good bet that this will see eventual release, but until more comes from Hasbro we won't venture a guess on this yet.

6. Any more news on the Ghost of Yoda or Kenobi, done in the style of TAC Ghost of Anakin? We have been waiting for those since 2007 and hope we do not have wait another 3 years! (Jason V.)

JTA: We concur. These figures are long overdue but it appears that Hasbro has lost some interest in "spirit" and "holographic" figures. That doesn't mean that we won't ever see them again, but Hasbro seems to have bigger fish to fry at the moment. We persoanlly would like to see more repaint/repack waves from Hasbro and figures that are made from essentially clear plastic are great candidates for this. Of course, the 2007 Anakin Sywalker's Spirit figure had a totally different approach taken with it and we believe that if Obi-Wan Kenobi or Yoda are up next that they'll follow suit. Let's hope it won't be too much longer.

7. The Clone Wars third season preview gave a glimpse of Ventress' Ginivex Fanblade starfighter which was featured in Tartovsky's Clone Wars vol. 1. Would Hasbro consider making this fighter or the four legged cannon seen in The Clone Wars film? (Jeff)

JTA: As much as many of us love it, the answer from Hasbro is a resounding no unfortunately. We quote them:

We are not considering doing Assajj's Fanblade fighter. As cool as we might think it is, it actually suffers as a kid vehicle given it's rather unusual shape and the fact it belongs to a female antagonist. As such, it just isn't a strong vehicle for us to invest in compared to other great choices. It doesn't mean we won't pursue it some day, but it is not in the works right now.

8. I'm wondering if Hasbro will ever make new versions or re-release the following figures:
A. Rebel Fleet Trooper(C'mon Hasbro!)
B. Death Star Trooper
C. Hoth Rebel Trooper(single card)
D. Galactic Marine(TAC)
E. Clone Airbourne Trooper. I know this one is coming out in an upcoming battlepack but I'd rather not pay $20 just for one figure. (Nicholas)

JTA: Rebel Fleet Trooper has been confirmed for 2011. And there aren't any further updates on the rest you listed. We don't think any of tghe ones you mentioned need new sculpts, but that is simply our own opinion. We would however like to have the same sculpt with new portraits or enhanced paint jobs to make them diverse and/or better than ever. (To be honest, we would fear if Hasbro decided to rerelease the Airborne Trooper or the Galactic Marine because the 2007 figures had beautiful paint jobs and Hasbro might decide to release clean ones to save a few pennies. That would be a terrible thing!)

9. I am completely disappointed with the Saga Legends line. I feel that the toy is a second thought to the new card game being packaged with the [figures]. I was very excited about the new packaging, though. Will there be a "Shadow of the Dark Side" line that will have the packaging like the 2 packs and Kmart exclusive Jodo Kast have, or will The Vintage Collection be the only line geared towards collectors? (Sal)

JTA: We are slightly surprised that you are not happy with anything in the Saga Legends line. This is the first time in years that we got some refreshed in the line (and many weren't just straight repacks). Have you seen our in-depth "Itemizing Differences" of the figures in this line? Plug this into our search menu and check them out, these figures are definitely different. Hasbro has removed the dead-in-the-water figures from this line (for the most part) and have replaced it with some pretty cool new replacements. (We still think that they need to keep the Fans' Choice poll in motion every year. What's the big deal with releasing 5-10 fan favorite action figures annually?) And we're not so sure we understand your question about the "Shadow Of The Dark Side" banner. Anything in the "Captain Rex and stormy blue skies" packaging is considered "Shadow of the Dark Side". This encompases all of the exclusives (whether large sets or single figures), the Saga Legends line, non-The Clone Wars Battle Packs and the non-The Clone Wars vehicles.

10. Will we ever see any of the EU comic pack figures re-released on a vintage style card either at mass market or as a type of retailer exclusive? (Or on that line of thought will we ever see any vintage style cardback figure as an exclusive? (Scott)

JTA: We most likely will not see [that] many comic book figures in The Vintage Collection, but we definitely will be seeing Expanded Universe figures in the Saga Legends line. As far as "vintage" exclusives, we have already seen three, but those characters were based on the films. It is possible that there will be some other EU candidates released as exclusives too. But we think the movie-based figures will get the best reception from fans.