B-wing Pilot (Keyan Farlander) (VC63) - Hasbro - The Vintage Collection (2011)
Star Wars Collectible News, Photos, and Reviews

Q&A With JTA: Our Twenty-Fourth Column!

Posted by Paul | July 11, 2011 at 02:44 PM ET

Q&A With JTA continues! Click through to access the Q&A database with our latest batch of questions!

Q&A with JTA

Hot Topics: Jedi Council, contents of the SDCC exclusive Death Star II set and realistic The Clone Wars action figures!

Q&A With JTA: Our Twenty-Fourth Column!

featuring Paul Harrison

We always need your questions! Please e-mail them to [email protected]. Thank you!

1. I was ecstatic to read that Hasbro will be releasing realistically styled The Clone Wars characters into The Vintage Collection. I want to know how you feel about this and secondly, what characters do you think Hasbro will be releasing first. Can you list your top 10 picks? (Brian)

JTA: I too am very ecstatic over this recent Hasbro announcement. We’re all going to learn a lot more about this at Comic Con this year, but I bet we’ll see the most popular characters get first dibs at a realistic appearance in The Vintage Collection. If I were to choose 10 basic figures, I bet we’ll see Ahsoka Tano, Cad Bane, phase I Commander Gree, phase I Commander Cody, Captain Rex, perhaps Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi, a unique Padme Amidala that we haven’t seen in the realistic line yet, young Boba Fett and perhaps a phase II clone commander like Colt. It’s hard to pick just 10 because I believe a TCW Asajj Ventress and Savage Opress are also good choices. It would be silly for Hasbro to focus on characters we already have in realistic style so I strongly believe we’ll only be seeing those characters who are exclusive to The Clone Wars (or The Clone Wars exclusive outfits) be made for The Vintage Collection. The real question is what figures do you want to see?! Post your thoughts in our comments below!

2. It seems like there is a lot of overlap in what Star Wars fan sites post on the front page. I see a lot of posts stating “we are getting reports” about so and so but rarely is proof ever given. I don’t see this necessarily as a problem on your site, but why does everyone go for the same news instead of properly crediting the reporting source? (Jim)

JTA: Please don’t get me started. :) JTA makes a concerted effort to credit the source of the news we report. Even if it’s something as silly as a store report that our friends at Yakface.com or Rebelscum.com are reporting, we send our readers their way. And if we make a mistake with the credit, usually we watch out for each other and help clarify the proper crediting and we fix our respective posts. We notice often, especially with a couple sites in particular, that they won’t link to us (JTA) no matter what (for reasons unknown) and essentially “steal” ours as well as others’ stories and make them their own. I won’t mention any names, but it’s comically frustrating. We will almost always provide proof like a receipt or something and the other site taking our story says exactly what our post says or mentions but that they’re “getting reports”. Really? "Show the proof!" is all we really want to say! It doesn’t happen too often, but it can be troublesome at times.

But we don’t want to draw attention to the few negatives from working at a Star Wars fan site. Usually there is healthy competition and we all want to post the breaking news first. JTA credits our sources properly, except when we are asked to withhold names (like in our rumor reports, especially when we broke the BAT-AT story) and particularly give credit when it comes from another Star Wars site. So we’ll just worry about keeping our nose clean and try our best not to worry about what everyone else isn’t doing. We have great relationships with most sites, so we don’t find it a problem typically. What you may be seeing is some copycating. That's OK, we take that as a compliment.

3. Hello Paul - I was just reading your July 6th story regarding the San Diego ComicCon exclusive Death Star 14-pack and wanted to note that although you mention that the included Boba Fett is new "with ROTJ colors" to my eye he looks to be a dead ringer for the '04/'05 Vintage Original Trilogy Collection Boba Fett who was sporting ROTJ colors on a ROTJ card-back. What do you think, same figure/same sculpt? (Trent)

JTA: Hi Trent. It looks like I was a little bit ambiguous in my post and for that I apologize. I should have clearly stated that it appears to be a “new” repaint of the 2004 VOTC figure with a lighter jump suit and different color green helmet and chest armor. I agree with you that I do not see any other sculpting differences, but it has absolutely been repainted in a new color scheme. This figure should make many collectors who despise removable helmets for their Boba Fett figures very happy. And I have to say that Boba Fett without a removable helmet is the only way this figure should be released. I would like to note also that the more that I look at these figures, I swear I am seeing some differences from the basic figure version. For instance, Luke (Endor Capture) looks to now have yellowish blonde hair now. Thank you for bringing that to our attention.

4. Do you think we will see any updates to Jedi council members like eeth koth, adi gall,ia, or oppo rancis? Or how about Coleman kcaj, the only one yet to receive a figure? (Mike T.)

JTA: I think getting updates to the rest of the Jedi Council is inevitable. And we are in desperate need of a super-articulated (and non-action posed) version of Eeth Koth. Since Eeth Koth has just been released in The Clone Wars line, I think Hasbro has refreshed enough memories to attempt this character in realistic style. One character you mentioned, Oppo Rancissis, is one character that I don’t think Hasbro will revisit anytime soon however, I think the 2003 version is still pretty decent (almost as good as Yarael Poof and Yaddle) for what it needs to be and he even includes a “bendy” tail. While he certainly could be made better in today’s technology, I don’t think that Hasbro has him on the forefront of their planning. Coleman Kcaj is an interesting choice and he would be very simple for Hasbro to make. Specific to Revenge Of The Sith, Hasbro would only need to dust off the 2009 Geonosis Arena Showdown Coleman Trebor figure and add a soft-goods brown robe and then use the head and legs from the great Pablo-Jil figure and I think we would have a near perfect specimen. (And then they could change up the paint job in the face to better match the character.) I believe we will see this character before the others you have listed, aside from Eeth Koth. I think Eeth Koth is first up and there may be a few more surprises up Hasbro’s sleeves. Jedi in general are all necessities for a Star ars collections. It may take some time, but I believe strongly we will eventually get them all.

5. Since I am big into trooper collecting and always hoping to see new ones released at conventions, do you think there will be a shot at getting a NEW Clone Commander mold maybe like a Bly? The rare accurate variation is very hard to find. Is there also a chance of seeing the articulate Commander Bacara make into the vintage line since Gree and Cody have already gotten in? (shunter909)

JTA: I strongly believe that all the clone commanders prominently featured in Revenge Of The Sith will see release in The Vintage Collection. Hasbro is going to have to do some soul-searching however and do them right and this specificially means giving them the paint jobs they deserve. For example, we have a fabulous Commander Bacara figure that was first introduced in the Battle On Mygeeto Battle Packs set released in the 30 (77-07) line and the released in “clean form” in 2009’s Legacy Collection as basic figure BD47. For me, I need to see the beautifully colored “dirty” version get chosen for The Vintage Collection and not the crisp clean version from the Legacy Collection. They are worlds-apart quality wise and I want quality figures getting carded for The Vintage Collection. The same goes for Commander Bly. Whether Hasbro drags out the 2005 figure or gives us an all-new sculpt, they are going to have to paint those brown details that only made it on this figure at the tail end of the 2005 line and has become one of the rarest figures altogether in the Revenge Of The Sith line. If you don’t have this version of Commander Bly, you just don’t know what you’re missing. Those “mustard” yellow enhancements brought the figure to life. I am holding Hasbro to a very high standard in The Vintage Collection and I think all other collectors should as well.

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!

       Digg!    

Related Links

Jedi Temple Archives comments powered by Disqus

-Click HERE to return to the home page-

Channels

 

Follow Us

JTA Info

Affiliates

Hasbro

Gentle Giant

Sideshow Collectibles

Hot Toys

LEGO

Mattel

Disney

Disney Store

Acme Archives

Hallmark

Trading Cards

Store Reports

Research Droids Reviews

Visual Guides

Books & Novels

Convention News

Movie & TV News

Rants & Raves

Special Reports

       Facebook

       Instagram

       Pinterest

       Youtube

       RSS

Home

Contact

News Archives

Site Search

Image Use Policy

Disclosure Policy

Privacy Policy

RDR Index

Visual Guide Index

Bantha Skull

Collector's Cantina

Jedi News

Star Wars Figuren

Star Wars New Zealand

Star Wars is a Copyright and Trademark of LucasFilm LTD. This site is intended for informational purposes only, and is not in anyway associated with LFL. All Visual Guides, images, and content are the property of JediTempleArchives.com, © 2004-2019 and may not be reused without permission. Please do not direct link to any of the content on this web site.