Q&A With JTA: Our Thirteenth Column!

1. I just was thinking - maybe you can't find the new stuff [wave 4] yet because of karma. You bought up every Gam Guard from that wave and Karma is making you wait for not sharing those Guards! LOL! (Andy)

JTA: I found half of wave 4 so there Andy! LOL! You are right I suppose. What goes around comes around. And since I did buy over a dozen Gamorrean Guards and opened them up, perhaps it’s the next person’s turn to find some cool new figures. I know The Vintage Collection is becoming a bit of a chore to find at retail. But I truly believe that the figures are selling and exceeding Hasbro’s expectations. The good news is that wave 3 is making a return appearance in May 2011 and it will include the long lost Wedge Antilles. So you all have been forewarned. Start up your intense hunting in May so you can get another stab at the awesome Return Of The Jedi wave and a first stab at the new Wedge Antilles!

2. When are you guys going to do some Visual Guide updates? It's been 6 months or years it seems. (smiley face) Hope you are continuing them because they are simply the best. Please update! A sincere fan. (Mike)

JTA: We need help Mike! Want to help us? Seriously, we are working on doing a marathon of new guides. I am not sure if you are aware, but our unique Visual Guides are extremely labor intensive. They take quite a while to compile and there is this thing called “real life� that interrupts this passion of ours. We have some new team members coming on board soon, but if any of you out there actually buy the figures and can take some great pictures of them, please contact us and see about joining our team here at Jedi Temple Archives. We definitely need the assistance especially if you want to see more frequent Visual Guides.

3. I doubt Hasbro did this intentionally, but the R5-D4 without the stripes is actually an R5 that appears in Attack of the Clones. I believe he's in the marketplace of Mos Espa. What would have been cool is if he had gotten a new name and was released on an AOTC cardback. Or like you said, if they had just fixed the paint apps on the 2006 version. (Ty)

AND

[I] really enjoyed your R5-D4 review. I'm in agreement that the build-a-droid isn't the best choice here and Hasbro easily could have taken the time/paint to include the back panels. The BAD mold just doesn't feel like it's worth 7.99+ on its own. I'd be more inclined to let them slide if they got rid of the extra pair of holes on the lower torso, they're an eyesore. If Hasbro ever was going to improve their non-R2 astromechs, I'd like them to sculpt new domes to go along with the R4-G9 body as long as they attach the center leg correctly. If you're already planning on buying him if he shows up in your area, I'd like to see a review of Wave 4 AOTC Obi-Wan Kenobi. I'm disappointed that he still seems to be the wrong color and is missing his unlit hilt especially since Hasbro showed a new mold of the TPM/AOTC hilt in the 2009 press photos for the TPM Obi-Wan LC figure so the tooling is likely ready. If you were going to skip this figure I completely understand since he doesn't have much new to offer over the Geonosis Arena 2-pack and TLC versions. (Chris G.)

JTA: To Ty: that is an absolutely amazing attention to detail you possess. As you have mentioned, obviously Hasbro wasn’t modeling the new R5-D4 after this [unknown] droid in Attack Of The Clones, but it sure does look like it! And to Ty and Chris G: Yeah, I just don’t know how I feel about the Build A Droid figures becoming candidates for The Vintage Collection. It’s bittersweet to say the least because I absolutely adore the Build A Droid concept and the figures look great, but I love my 2006 R5-D4 and am slightly devastated to see it be replaced by the TVC version. I am thankful that the new R5-D4 has a dirty wash over it. That is some saving grace here. The R5-A2 figure that came out in the A New Hope wave in The Legacy Collection was clean as could be and it didn’t make any sense because we saw how filthy it was. So I guess we should count our blessings here. And to Chris G.: A review of Obi-Wan Kenobi from the TVC Attack Of The Clones waves is coming very soon. I will go into great detail because I like to know for myself EXACTLY what Hasbro did to improve (or not improve) the figure. I hope you all checked out the TVC Commander Gree review. I don’t think too many people are aware about how Hasbro significantly improved the figure this time around!

(UPDATE: This "unknown" droid is indeed R5-D4! Click here to see more information about its appearance in Episode II! So it looks like there are two offcial looks to R5-D4 and the Hasbro figures may not be incorrect, from a certain point of view.)

4. Greetings Paul, I have a pressing question if an answer can even be gleaned. Please help me find out what happened to the Clone Wars line #'s cw38 commander Jet and cw39 re-pack Hondo Ohnaka?!?! Hondo is pictured on the backs of the cards of cw40-43(the latest wave to hit retail in the Tampa area) but are no where to be found either on the shelves or online outlets such as eBay, Amazon or other online shopping sites. Did these 2 figures get scrapped completely or did they just miss the boat from china? This is very befuddling and frustrating at the same time as the previous Hondo release is fetching a hefty premium on the secondary market keeping me from opening the few I have still in packaging. I would like to add a loose version to my "loose" collection which is 95% complete but $40-60$ is too much to pay for a figure that should supposedly be on the shelf for under $10. Please help me find an answer to the whereabouts of these two MIA action figures that are on every available online checklist yet have failed to make a physical appearance anywhere. Sincerest thanks and MTFBWY (Adri)

JTA: There is still a lot of speculation and mystery surrounding both Commander Jet and the reissue of Hondo Ohnaka. (Is it ironic that the 2011 repack of Hondo Ohnaka may be even harder to locate that the original impossible to find version? Hasbro has had difficulty getting pre-numbered figures into the line the last few years. Look at the Legacy Collection General Grievous. It ended up getting cancelled. And don’t forget about 2010’s The Clone Wars Cad Bane in Clone Trooper Disguise. That figure has yet to be announced officially yet. And here we are again. The Vintage Collection Yoda and Wedge Antilles were pulled (but thankfully both are not cancelled) and 2011’s The Clone Wars Hondo Onahka and Commander Jet were pulled or didn’t show up. We have no idea about Hondo Ohnaka. I even sought advisement from my friends at other Star Wars fan sites and we are unable to figure out their statuses. We did see Commander Jet in the Hasbro showroom at Toy Fair, so that should comfort us all he at least is definitely “coming� at some point. Hondo Ohnaka on the other hand is not in the next two cases on Entertainment Earth’s website and he wasn’t shown at Toy Fair either. Could he be cancelled like Grievous was? We don’t want to fire up and incorrect rumors, but that may very well be the case. It looks like we’ll have to wait until another time to see this figure. But we will research this and see if we can attain a better answer for you..

5. In the photos of the Revenge Of The Jedi Comic Con set it looks like the cards are not separate from the backdrop and are all one sheet of cardboard. Is this just for the prototype or will the production one be regular figures? The reason I ask is this would be a [great], if not expensive way to display other The Vintage Collection figures, if they are removable, and can be swapped with other figures. (Matt)

JTA: From what Hasbro told us, this set includes figures that will not differ from the ones shipping to retail, except that Salacious Crumb and Mouse Droid on the miniature TVC card backs will only be included in this Comic Con exclusive set. I am not exactly sure how utilitarian the packaging will be to put your own choices in there, but I like your idea. I imagine it will be packaging similar to the TARGET 9-pack which housed three separate three packs while locking them in place.

Some Post-2011 Toy Fair Notes

2011 International Toy Fair was exhausting but a blast at the same time. The best part is seeing all the folks from the various fan sites in person and catching up (or meeting for the first time in person). It was a pleasure to bump into the wonderful people at Rebelscum.com (Dan and Dave), GalacticHunter.com (Mike, Adam P. and Adam M.), SWAN (Arnie and Marjorie), Yakface.com (Mark), Sandtroopers.com (the one and only Mr. Spice), HansHideout.com (Jeff), JediNews.co.uk (James) and the folks from DewbackPatrol.com among many other new sites I met for the very first time.

The overall consensus was that it wasn’t too exciting of an event. I beg to differ. We have two new modern vintage updates (Echo Base Trooper and Kithaba – you know, the one that everyone thinks we already have) and updates to some rather all-time favorites from the original vintage line including Logray, General Lando Calrissian, Han Solo (Bespin Outfit) and Ponda Baba (and others). And to top it off, we finally have legal confirmation of a new Rebel Fleet Trooper, Aayla Secura and Barriss Offee. Little concentration was spent on The Clone Wars line and I was surprised by that. But I imagine Comic Con may be a totally different story. We hope you enjoyed our coverage and all of the other amazing coverage from our fellow friends at the various websites. It is so cool to be this heavily involved to this degree in my own personal collecting. But one thing is for sure, if Mr. Krebsbach doesn’t show up next year, I will find him and drag him out by the ears myself.