1. Paul - QUICK question; I got the Death Star SDCC Revenge set. I understand that they are all starting to hit retail with the Boba Fett Prototype sticker and order form inside the package. What I am not clear on is the "Return" cards without the offer that you have pictured on your latest report. Where/when will these be available? Up until this point I thought all Return/Revenge figures if not puchased from the SDCC pack would have the BF offer. (Jeff C.)

JTA: That’s not exactly the impression I was under Jeff. As of this moment, this wave has only hit the Philippines and so far are not sproting the sticker. There are remix cases of wave 9 that contain some “Revenge” cards and they should have the sticker, but I don't have proof to provide to you on that either. I understood that wave 8 cases would not have the offer. Interestingly, wave 9 has started to hit USA online retail. And wave 9 will be (has been) sporting the mail-away Boba Fett (Prototype Armor) stickers and order forms. Unless something has changed, the offer wasn’t supposed to start with wave 8. Because distribution is wonkier than ever, things are more muddled than ever. October should be the beginning of smoother distributions (or so Hasbro claims), but until I see pegs full of new stuff, I am not getting my hopes up.

2. As a new collector, it has been a joy to discover all the great figures in the Legacy Collection and even the later comic packs. Why do you think the Legacy Collection was not as popular as the Vintage Collection? The sculpts and articulation (especially on the latter figures in the Legacy Collection) are pretty much on par with what we have been getting today. Do you think it had something to do with too many obscure characters that did not have mass appeal and not enough of the main stars? (Jose G.)

JTA: I couldn’t agree with you more Jose. As silly as this may sound to you, I blame a big part of The Legacy Collection/Legacy Collection’s downfall to the packaging. I have mentioned this multiple times, but the hideous blue and white packaging and the transition to the more palatable red and white packaging did not capture the attention of fans like the 30 (77-07) and The Saga Collection line did (and as The Vintage Collection> does now. Also, many hardcore original Trilogy fans were irritated with so many “EU” accents given to the movie characters (especial the Original Trilogy ones). For example, figures like Agen Kolar (BD43), Plo Koon (BD45), R2-D2 (BD29) and Chewbacca (BD31) all were “off screen” enough to make you mad (to steal words from a colleague) and not entirely accurate to the films. (Read our Research Droids Reviews to see why on some of them. There aren't blatant EU accents, but enough that it threw fans for a loop.) Longtime collectors need to see purity in their action figures and not some Expanded Universe take, no matter how big or small, in order to be completely happy. But if you can overlook these small quirks, I do believe that those who boycotted the line missed out on some true gems.

And it helped me to appreciate some of the Expanded Universe a bit more. But to stick your nose up at awesome Build A Droid figures like U-3PO and HK-47 or some incredible basic figures like Zuckuss (BD54), Luke Skywalker (Snowspeeder Pilot) (BD51), Luke Skywalker (Medical Frigate) (BD 38), Ugnaught (BD 43 and BD28), Princess Leia (Jabba’s Slave) (BD17), Giran (BD21) , Nikto Gunner (BD23), Ewoks (BD18), Imperial Scanning Crew (BD32) and Hoth Rebel Trooper (BD 42) is just an egregious move on their part. They have metaphorically shot themselves in the foot because they all remain some of Hasbro’s finest work and they're missing out. The death in the popularity in the line was good in a way too. It helped Hasbro stop in their tracks and reflect on what makes the line important to collectors (enthralling packaging). As a result, The Vintage Collection birthed and reenergized the line in ways that Hasbro probably didn’t expect. The Vintage Collection can barely meet demand and this is a great thing. Well, it will be great once Hasbro works out the distributions kinks and gets the great figures out to us with better regularity.

People in time will go back and see what awesome action figures they overlooked in these great line(s). And I bet that you’ll soon see demand for figures that Hasbro has no intentions of repacking for The Vintage Collection. I have not missed one figure since 1995 and I can tell you that 80% (at least) of the best stuff Hasbro has ever made can be found in the 30 (77-07) and after. (And about another 10% can be found in The Saga Collection too.)

3. The Aayla Secura that was released on the red card of the Clone Wars and was very hard to find. I found the rest of the wave but could not find the Aayla Secura. Do you know if Hasbro will be releasing another version or re-issued another version of her in 2012 on the Clone Wars collection. Or will she just be getting a release on the Vintage Collection? (Damian)

JTA: Hasbro has confessed that Aayla Secura (CW40) is in need of another release. And the same is true for Commander Bly (CW39). I particularly had the most difficulty locating Hondo Ohnaka (CW41) which may be the reason he has already been rereleased in the latest The Clone Wars waves hitting retail right now. I expect to see both Aayla Secura and Commander Bly hanging on the pegs again. Obviously it won’t happen until the line look change in 2012 (or later) but there is a demand to be filled for these characters (just look at their insane prices on eBay) and until that demand is filled, Hasbro should make it a priority to get them back out again. Interestingly, many collectors didn’t like the portrait of Aayla Secura. I am not saying that this is related to the popularity of her The Clone Wars action figure, but I wonder if we’ll get the same exact version next time Hasbro decides to bring her out again. It will be interesting to see what happens. Be sure to grab up waves 22, 23 and 24 of the Shadow Of The Dark Side line the moment you see them – do not wait! They’re the last bunch of figures in that phase of the line look before it changes in 2012 and you know what happens to figures that fall into this category, they have last wave syndrome. While I am hopeful that retail will get more cases of figures from now through Christmas, we all experienced TARGET not getting one new TVC figure from December 2010 through June of 2011 (and some of you even longer than that). In other words, don’t wait around. I am personally sweating bullets to find Cold Weather Plo Koon. If you have an extra one, email me!

4. Every year, Jocasta Nu ranks high in the fans choice polls, but I don't understand why. She's an elderly Jedi librarian with about 5 seconds on screen. She doesn't seem to have much of a backstory even in the EU and doesn't impact the plot of AOTC in any significant way. And on top of that, she's only in the prequels, not the OT. Since you seem to like her, I'd appreciate your thoughts on what would make her a good figure. I have a sneaking suspicion that, if she were ever made, she'd be like Yarna d'al Gargan, a figure fans have been clamoring for but nobody ever buys.

(Incidentally, in last week's Q&A you made a mistake about Dark Plageuis' appearance - he's a Munn, not a Palpatine look-alike. As one of those Plageuis fans, I will say I think the tragedy of Darth Plageuis was one of the cooler moments in ROTS and there is a novel coming out about him later this year.) (Dom)

JTA: Jocasta Nu is an important action figure to be made for many Star Wars fans and not just me. And if you were fortunate enough to pick up the Star Wars Blu-ray and watch the deleted scenes from Attack Of The Clones, you’ve learned that she is more significant to the Star Wars saga than ever before as she has personal information and dealings with Count Dooku and provided clues, albeit not that illuminating, on his leaving the Jedi Order. That coupled with her cool appearance in The Clone Wars TV show reinforce her as a pivotal Jedi member. And we just love her for who she is. We also don’t expect everyone in this galaxy to want her as an action figure. But that won’t stop us from promoting her and begging Hasbro to make her for us. She would be a fanstastic action figure for me because I collect them all. I don’t cherry pick my Star Wars action figures. I want men, women, children, aliens, droid and the likes realized in 3.75” plastic form. That’s who I am and I am proud of that. Jocasta Nu is just as important to me as the next Luke Skywalker (Hoth Outfit) action figure.

I grew up with the Kenner figures and when Return Of The Jedi came out in 1983, that Christmas I got all of the action figures. General Madine and Ree-Yees were just as important to me as Luke Skywalker (Jedi Knight Outfit) or Princess Leia Organa (Boushh Disguise). And I have found that most of the collectors I associate with or hang out with tend to have similar feelings and opinions. I have discovered there are many Johnny-come-lately collectors. Many cannot help that they were born years after the Original Trilogy, so I don’t mean to come across as insulting or demeaning. But these collectors just have a different outlook on the Star Wars toy line. And there focus lies elsewhere and very beyond the original "Collect All 92!" But this different focus transcends toy collecting.

I remember during SDCC this year when the first deleted scene made its way to YouTube (Luke building his lightsaber). The old-timers cheered and screamed in pure elation. But did you read the comments from Star Wars fans when it made its way to YouTube? Many people wrote “What’s the big deal?” What’s the big deal?!!! Um, something that was rumored for 30+ years has indeed been filmed and we have seen it. How can you prevent yourself from jumping up and down over this latest discovery is what I wanted to ask. But no, we get “what’s the big deal”. I’d like to blame this on generation gaps. I am sure there are late 30s and early 40s collectors that could care less about seeing a background Jabba’s Palace alien or Jocasta Nu, but I bet you they are few and far between. As I have stated many times in this column, I am old school and I want my Star Wars figure to come to me random and obscure (along with the main characters). It keeps the line fresh and exciting to me. And since Hasbro has stated that they won’t make Jocasta Nu, well, you know how that goes, I want her more than ever. She won’t turn into Yarna ‘d’al Gargan. The reason why Yarna became a peg warmer is because Hasbro made extra batches of waves 1 and 2 to meet demand of the line launch. You can ask any Hasbro rep, she sold very well despite ending up a peg warmer. That should give you an idea of just how many cases sold of wave 1 and 2 of The Legacy Collection.

Oh, and I didn’t make a mistake about Darth Plagueis. I was being facetious and he still is a Palpatine lookalike with an obscured face to me. The EU can write as many books as they want on him, but it will hold little interest for me. There was no tragedy of Plageuis shown in Episode III, just a brief mention of his background. And as I have stated before, I will be happy for you if he wins, but if he never becomes immortalized in plastic, I will still be able to sleep at night. I would eventually like to see him as an action figure too, just not as a Fans’ Choice figure and especially not for the 30th Anniversary of Episode VI.

5. Can you explain what’s going on with the Walmart exclusive wave of figures coming in 2012. Are they Vintage Collection of not? (Adam)

JTA: Please see our complete report on this here as we think we did a pretty good job on explaining what is coming and when. Basically, many figures from The Phantom Menace (wave A) will be repackaged in non-The Vintage Collection packaging and will be shipped alongside Ric Olie and G8-R3 (which WON’T be coming in The Vintage Collection and are Walmart exclusives totally). So, only two figures won’t be part of The Vintage Collection in some way; Rick Olie and G8-R3. Everyone else WILL be released in The Vintage Collection. Hasbro has absolutely made this more confusing than it ever needed to be.

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!