Q&A With JTA: Our Sixteenth Column!

1. Why do you think Hasbro is making so many mistakes in The Vintage Collection whether it is figure designation or card back artwork and are you surprised about all the complaining about these mistakes? (Jeffrey)

JTA: With so many lines Hasbro has to worry about, I am not sure if they’re dedicating their entire heart and soul into the Star Wars brand. If they don’t have passionate and zealous collectors like you and me working for them, things are going to skip by their radar. But what’s more important (in my opinion) is that Hasbro, when prodded, is correcting their mistakes. They have already fixed Luke Skywalker (Jedi Knight Outfit) to Luke Skywalker (Endor Capture) and Anakin Skywalker to Darth Vader (that change I could have lived without) so this is a great step forward, right? For me, I am more upset that Kit Fisto is not on a Revenge Of The Sith card. That figure is based on his appearance from Episode III and not Episode II, yet I don’t hear fans clamoring for this change. Why? I guess it depends if it’s a main character or not. So this surprises me more than people wanting the Anakin Skywalker figure to say Darth Vader. (Vader to me is the man in the black suit, no matter when the Emperor said “from this point forward you shall be known as Darth Vader.” For me, Anakin gets this coveted name once he donned the mask.) Besides, when Obi-Wan and “Anakin” were dueling on Mustafar, Obi-Wan called him “Anakin” plenty of times.

There are many other changes happening to the figures themselves as well as some card back art enhancements. Are you aware Senate Guard, Clone Trooper (VC15), Sandtrooper and Clone Commander Cody has all new and upgraded card back art? And are you aware of the Luke Skywalker (VC23), Boba Fett (VC09) and Clone Trooper (VC15) all have changes on the actual figures themselves? If you’re not aware, catch our reviews on The Vintage Collection HERE and learn about them.

2. JediDefender.com posted an article about a running change on the Rebel Fleet Trooper. Have you heard about this? (Mark)

JTA: I checked out this article and I can’t say I agree. Don’t get me wrong, I want a bazillion running changes of this figure, but I think what we’re seeing in that post is a prototype and a production figure, not a running change. I can tell by the shape of the mouths on both that these are the same figure. But I could also be wrong. (Also, the face straps are pushed back on the prototype whereas they're along the cheeks on the production figure.) Look at our 2010 SDCC coverage and check out the pictures of Anakin Skywalker VC13. That was a prototype. If we based this against the production figure, we would have thought that one was “Sith eyes” (the released version) and one was pre-Sith (this prototype). Our point is prototypes can look extremly different from a production figure. As a result, it’s probably best not to consider a prototype figure’s look against a production figure. (It does get confusing.) Besides, Hasbro has clearly stated that running changes are not an option in the basic figure line anymore.

But I know why JediDefender is overzealous about a running change. The Rebel Fleet Trooper ranks second to Willrow Hood over there and they are just wishfully thinking that Hasbro makes running changes. But we share their same hope. Let’s join them in the same spirit, because we are going to need absolutely more than one of these beautiful figures! (A half a dozen or so would be nice.)

3. Now that 2010 and the 30th celebration of "The Empire Strikes Back" comes to an end, I was really waiting to see Wedge Antilles in Hoth gear and Captain/Admiral Piett in vintage style, we haven't seen a modern look to this two figures in several years and I think it's first time to Wedge in this outfit. Any anniversary celebration is a perfect time to give fans some nice surprises. I would like to see Luke and Dak in their snowspeeder and Wes Janson and Wedge in another snowspeeder, just like in the movie. Do you think Hasbro will gives us a surprise with some new Wedge and Piett figures around fall 2011 or maybe 2012? (William)

JTA: I think that with the success of the Luke Skywalker’s Snowspeeder mid size vehicle and the crazy sell through of the 2009 Legacy Collection Luke Skywalker (BD51) figure, I think anything is possible when it comes to Hasbro giving us more “things” from the Battle of Hoth. Wedge is a character that Hasbro likes to ignore, but an update in his snowspeeder is long overdue. We already have a good Wes Janson from the Rebel Pilot Legacy Evolutions set, so I believe the Wedge isn’t too far behind. Hasbro would be dumb to make us wait much longer. Maybe we can suggest to Hasbro to make a cool TARGET Fall 2011 exclusive and include all three for us in one fell swoop.

4. Do you have an approximate number of different Clone heads Hasbro had produced only related to The Clone Wars (2008-Current) line? I was checking out the Clone Commander Stone review and the different paint job as well as the baldness, made me wonder this. About differences between, moustaches, beards, no beards, baldness, scars, tattoos and so on. (Fernando)

JTA: This is not a good answer for your question. I will definitely need more time for this question, but we are over a dozen. I still need to provide a list of all the Jabba’s aliens made by Hasbro to date, maybe I can include that question and this question in our next column. Stand by!

5. I know you already answered this question, but where in the world is The Vintage Collection? (Dale)

JTA: I feel your pain. As someone who goes out everyday and spends the first half of the day on weekends running strict toy errands, I have only seen the Attack Of The Clones wave in full once and in piecemeal twice. I was almost able to form two complete sets, but I am in still need of a few. The heaviest wave I have found has been wave 5 (the repaint and repack wave) and I spoke to a good friend at another fan site and he stated that wave 6 is hitting hard at Toys R Us by him. Yes, I said Toys R Us. This has certainly not been the case in my area. But besides these anomalies, I agree with you. Hasbro is not treating The Vintage Collection with the respect it deserves. I don’t know who to blame anymore though. Stores blame Hasbro and Hasbro blames stores. I think something is awry at the corporate level at retail. One decision maker cannot act like retail is a one size fits all. Some stores will need more TVC than others and a lot more stores need a whole lot less TCW and Saga Legends figures (ESPECIALLY SAGA LEGENDS). So, I don’t know if I can give you an accurate answer anymore. Our good friends at Yakface.com have started a thread in their forums talking about this exact topic. We suggest adding your comments and feedback to it as well. You better believe that this will be one of our first questions to Hasbro once their Q&A starts up again. To say it’s frustrating at this point is an understatement. It’s enough to drive me mentally insane.

Are you new to Q&A With JTA? Click HERE to see our previous installments of this column. Each session is chock full of all the things you ever wanted to know about Star Wars collecting and the hobby in general!