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Q&A With JTA: Our Ninth Column!

Posted by Paul | November 07, 2010 at 07:00 PM ET

We got another round of Q&A With JTA for you! Thank you for making this new column a success so far! Please continue to send us your questions! Click through to access the Q&A database with our next batch of questions!

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Hot Topics: Why did you start a Star Wars collecting site?, what is that next big vehicle Hasbro let slip?, Han Solo (Bespin Outfit), Shadows Of The Empire and a "to-date" complete list of all Chalmun's Cantina alien action figures!

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Q&A With JTA: Our Ninth Column!

Sunday Nights at 6:00 PM

featuring Paul Harrison

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

1. Is there any chance that we'll get a generic Snowspeeder with orange markings aside from Luke's gray one which we got in two different packages? (Nick)

JTA: If you ask us our opinion, we think Hasbro should have released a version like this in the TARGET exclusive The Vintage Collection release instead of just repackaging the Shadow Of The Dark Side version. How hard would it have been to tweak the paint job and give us a generic or someone else's specific speeder (especially since they called it the Rebel Armored Snowspeeder)? And it probaly would have ensured sell through (not that we don't expect this vehicle to perform well on its own). We are beginning to think that The Vintage Collection (and even Shadow Of The Dark Side main line) is making its way to the backburner already with Hasbro. They are making too many simple mistakes with the TVC packaging and their lack of brainstorming to create engaging products for us is getting a little bit annoying. I mean, I was personally put off by the recent R5-D4 TVC announcement. The 2006 TSC version of this droid is infinitely better. All they needed to do was correct some of the deco issues it had. Now we'll probably get a pristine white R5-D4 that won't fit in with the rest of the "purchase of the droids" droids. And does anyone out there really want those two lower holes in their "ultimate vintage version" R5-D4? Ugh, not us!

2. Last Hasbro Q & A revealed the next 'big' vehicle to be from CW. Any speculation on what it might be? (Brad)

JTA: I talked with my good buds Dan Curto (from Rebelscum.com) and Jayson Krebsbach (from Yakface.com) about this and asked them for their opinions on this and we brainstormed that it could possibly be Republic Attack Shuttle (since it's aggressive and has seen a lot of action in the television show) or maybe the Death Watch since Mandalorians are so popular. Dan also suggested that it could be Quinlan Vos' vehicle since it seems that he will be making a big splash in The Clone Wars television show in upcoming episodes. These are all just guesses of course but we will all know soon enough from Hasbro themselves. We don't have any inside information here.

3. I really don't have a collector related question (or maybe I do?). Who, what, when, where, how, and why did you decide to start a website dedicated to collecting Star Wars? (Chris)

JTA: I will let our site owner Chuck Paskovics answer this question:

Funny you should ask this! A few years back Jedi Temple Archives was featured in the Star Wars Super Collector's Wish Book (Fourth Edition), so we thought it would be easier to just point you to that article for you (and the rest of our viewers) to check out. You can read the full excerpt from that book right here! And, for our current staff information you can always check out our staff page. The Star Wars Super Collector's Wish Book is a great all-purpose collector's guide, and the latest edition can be found on Amazon.com.

And just to add to Chuck's comments, wanting to be a contributor to a fan site is primal in the fact that we ourselves can't necessarily explain why we have the love for Star Wars like we do. And we want everyone else to know about it. In many ways it's part of your blood and we really do think about it all the time. Our zealousness of this topic can't be measured. We do this because we love the hobby so much. Spending hours of our own personal time updating and writing for the site is time consuming but something we love to do. And it's disheartening that we see so much negativity out there. We wonder all the time why people are so miserable and tend to get so ugly sometimes. If Star Wars collecting brings you to rage or upsets you to the point where you are disparaging others, we'd have to suggest finding something else to do. Star Wars brings us pure joy (for the most part) and it's something we truly love.

4. How do you feel about [online] toy sellers [snipped] selling this years exclusives like Jabba the Hutt, and all the new Target exclusives at over double the retail price? These sites have every right to sell their merchandise at whatever price they want but JTA (which is my favorite collecting site) and all the other [collecting] sites keep promoting these scalping sites over and over which is sad. I'm just surprised nobody calls these sites out as scalpers because they are actually charging way more than the eBay scalpers which are usually in the 25-50% mark up range instead of the 100% mark up range. Keep promoting legit sites like Entertainment Earth, Sideshow, Gentle Giant, etc and let's stand as a united front against toy scalping.
(P.S) If anyone needs a rocket firing Boba Fett instead of sending in the pops and $6.99? [One online store has] them in stock for $80.00 (Eric)

JTA: Eric, we understand your chagrin when you see exclusives priced much higher price at online stores. But as you have pointed out, any business has a right to sell these for what they want. And without getting philosophical, that is what makes America so great. Scalper is definitely the wrong term to use for sites that charge inflated prices for hard to find Star Wars stuff. From a certain point of view these sites are actually providing a service to those who don't live anywhere near a TARGET or Walmart (hard to believe in this day and age) so we like the fact that this option is available. Do you believe some collectors would need to purchase a plane or train ticket to get their Star Wars exclusives?

Sites like JTA also need sponsors to keep our sites running and we are very careful with who we allow to sponsor us. We are proud of who we have chosen to allow to sponsor us. We don't refer to any of our sponsors as scalpers at all. You have a choice to support them or not. They really do offer a lot of great and reasonably priced product for the casual collector. And for things that are our of a fair price range for you, well, you can certainly not purchase them.

We like to refer to scalpers as any of those "non-Star Wars collectors" who buy Star Wars to feed their families and wipe out product for collectors and kids to purchase. There is a big difference.

5. Is there a complete list of all the hasbro cantina figures to date Thanks! (Jedi Split)

JTA: It's quite likely that someone has compiled a list of all Cantina alien action figures to date, but how about we give you our own assessment? While there is a possibility we may have missed one, we think this is a pretty comprehensive list:

Cantina Patron Collection
Year
BoShek POTJ
2002
Cantina Band Member POTF2
1997
Cantina Band Member (Disney Exclusive) TAC
2007
Cantina Band Member (Modal Nodes Tin Set) TAC
2007
Dannik Jerriko POTC
2005
Dice Ibegon TLC
2009
Djas Puhr SW
2002
Dr. Evazan POTF2
1997
Dr. Evazan (Mos Eisley Cantina I) OTC
2004
Dr. Evazan (With Bar Section) SW
2003
Duros POTJ
2001
Elis Helrot TAC
2007
Feltipern Trevagg POTC
2005
Greedo POTF2
1996
Greedo OTC
2004
Greedo VTSC
2006
Greedo (Cantina) POTF2
1999
Greedo (With Bar Section) SW
2002
Hem Dazon TSC
2006
Hrchek Kal Fas LC
2009
Kabe POTF2
1998
Kabe TSC
2007
Ketwol POTJ
2001
Kitik Keed'kak TSC
2007
Kitik Keed'kak (Mos Eisley Cantina I) OTC
2004
Kitik Keed'kak (With Bar Section) SW
2003
Labria POTF2
1998
Labria TSC
2007
Lak Sivrak POTF2
1998
Leesub Sirln LC
2009
M'iiyoom Onith TAC
2007
Momaw Nadon TSC
2006
Momaw Nadon (Hammerhead) POTF2
1996
Momaw Nadon (With Bar Section) SW
2002
Muftak POTF2
1998
Myo POTC
2005
Nabrun Leids POTF2
1998
Nabrun Leids TSC
2007
Ponda Baba POTF2
1997
Ponda Baba (Cinema Scene) POTF2
1997
Ponda Baba (Mos Eisley Cantina II) OTC
2004
Ponda Baba (With Bar Section) SW
2002
Pons Limbic TLC
2009
Takeel POTF2
1998
Trinto Duaba TLC
2009
Wuher POTF2
2000
Wuher (Mos Eisley Cantina I) OTC
2004
Wuher (With Bar Section) SW
2003

We also have provided below a smaller list of those aliens "right outside" the Cantina (literally or Expanded Universe wise). Though technically not "Cantina Aliens" exactly, they are close enough for us:

"Cantina" Patron Collection
Year
Garindan TSC
2006
Garindan (Long Snoot) POTF2
1997
Wioslea TLC
2009
Zutton (Snaggletooth) POTJ
2001
Zutton (Blue) (Mos Eisley Cantina II) OTC
2004

6. What's the deal with the Kohl's exclusive Galactic Heroes AT-ST? It was supposed to be released in September and hasn't showed up anywhere. Now we get an information drop from Hasbro with a list of all the fall exclusives and it isn't mentioned in it at all. Has this item been dropped? What gives? (Rich)

JTA: So far this item has only hit the UK. (That's certainly a change of pace for UK collectors who miss out on a lot of Star Wars exclusives. At the moment, we're concerned about this item because they should definitely be sitting on shelves by now for the holiday season. We are going to investigate this and hopefully provide a better answer for you. So, stay tuned. In the meantime, click HERE to see their availability on eBay!

7. Given that the new Bespin Han head sculpt was on display at CV, has there been any announcement regarding which wave Bespin Han will be a part of in 2011? I was expecting to see the figure sooner rather than later in 2011, but was surprised to see a 'new' Yavin Ceremony Han for the Vintage Collection in the second 2011 wave instead of the much anticipated Bespin version. (Shawn)

JTA: For all intents and purposes, the recently announced wave 5 of TVC is nearly a repack and repaint wave as far as we're concerned. Yes, there is a "newish" Luke and a "newish" Han Solo, but between the repacks and repaints that accompany them, it doesn't bring that much new to the table. (And for the most part we are excited for it.) In a recent Q&A session with Hasbro, they did confirm that Han Solo (Bespin Outfit) would be coming in the 2012 lineup. In all honesty, let them have as much time as they need. We truly need a breath of fresh air for this version of Han, very similarly to when we received the glorious 2004 VOTC Han Solo figure. (You know. We need the kind of figure that knocks your socks off!) So if they need to push him back to get all the parts perfected, let's try to be as patient as we can. He is coming, but we may need to hold on tighter for a tad bit longer.

8. Has Hasbro mentioned remaking anything from the "Shadows of the Empire" series? I don't know if many people remember this line from the mid 90's, but it had an excellent novel, a really good graphic novel, decent EU figures, vehicles, a video game or two, and even a soundtrack which is still currently available on iTunes! It was pretty popular back then. The Outrider is a pretty cool smaller corellian ship and looks amazing in the video game and the original toy never properly captured the look of this vehicle. There are other ships too, the Falleen StarViper fighters, one of which, the "Virago" is piloted by Prince Xizor. These things are pretty cool looking. Prince Xizor was recently resculpted for the comic packs and he looked average, but the Leia he came with was terrible! The figures made in the 90's are all POTF2 He-Man shaped. Some of these like Luke disguised as a Coruscant guard, would make nifty figures nowadays if properly updated. Boba Fett and Slave-I are also quite prominent in this story. (Carlos)

JTA: You're correct. The last figures we got based on this multimedia event were Prince Xizor and Princess Leia in the 2008 TLC Comic Packs series. Shadows Of The Empire was a great story indeed. (And it even talked about how Luke made his lightsaber which now has been made non-canon thanks to recent developmentsā€¦.cough, cough, the deleted ROTJ scene shown at CV this year.) But there are some wonderful characters in this story and Hasbro still has a few more to update into the modern line. You are also correct that it will be some time before we see more EU product out in the mainline. Hasbro's focus is on The Vintage Collection (i.e. the six Star Wars films). We will again see more figures from Shadows Of The Empire, but it won't be for a while. But make your voice heard and never give up on the fight to see your favorite characters made and/or updated.

9. What are the chances of Hasbro releasing a The Clone Wars figure of Jedi Master Di from Season 3's episode Supply Lines? They could use the head sculpt from the recently released Toys R Us exclusive Nikto Guard! Also how about a figure of Master Di's Commander to go along with him! (Kevin)

JTA: We will definitely be seeing Hasbro reuse a lot of their catalogue of parts. Whether or not Master Di has a developed role in The Clone Wars may just determine if he gets made into an action figure or not. We think any character is fair game in The Clone Wars line. Of course we won't know anything for sure until Hasbro says so.

10. My fellow Jedi and I have always wondered this. Why does it seem that people will pay a premium price on eBay for loose action figures? In many cases, (especially with the newer Clone Wars figures), it seems that people will pay double or more for the action figure if it is loose when they could just as easily go to their local Walmart or Target and pick up the figure new in package. Part 2 of this question: Why do people on eBay pay insane prices for "custom" Clone Troopers and various other Jedi/Sith on ebay? In many cases, a person may just switch the head of the figure or do something dumb like that, and yet the figure may sell for $50. A prime example of this can be seen HERE. that is supposedly a "custom" Captain Keeli figure that someone painted and sold for $50. This is a joke to me and many of my fellow collectors. It looks like a 2 year old painted this figure with Crayola crayons. So why do people pay so much money for these lame "custom" figures? (Chad aka DarthSandman)

JTA: Chad, your first question made us chuckle! I worked in a Toy/Comic Book shop in NJ while going to Rutgers University during the mid nineties and my coworkers and I would laugh and laugh and make jokes about how loose figures would be worth more than carded figures. And little did we know that our jokes were actually truthful foresight! Nearly every customer (fellow collector) we dealt with inspected the POTF2 figure cards for ANY sign of distress. They would hold them up to the light and look for naturally occurring creases. They would look for short lightsabers with long trays (we're talking about the clear plastic packaging here folks)! They would look for wet fingers versus dry fingers. And as much of a collecting zealot I was, it would drive me insane. The thought of opening up any of their POTF2 figures was unfathomable for them, and me, well, I didn't even use a razor back then to open up my figures. The point of all this reminiscing is that the concept of a loose figure is still foreign to many people. While you see photos of nearly all loose figures on collecting sites like ours, Rebelscum.com, Yakface.com and GalacticHunter.com, you'd be surprised how many people keep their figures sealed on a card back. So while it's hard to judge, there may just be less loose figures around than their carded counterparts. This has a lot to do with why these auctions go so high up in price.

And to answer your second question, customs are an interesting beast. They really do seem to command high prices! We think there is some great custom work out there and we a lot of credit to the people that do it. But we're of the opinion that they should be priceless to those that make them and shouldn't necessarily make it to eBay auctions (unless for philanthropy of course). We don't really like the retail aspect of them. But there are some mind-blowing customs at ImperialShipyards.net as well as on Yakface.com found in their Photo Novel The Enloe Chronicles.

As far as why some people pay such a premium for custom figures? Well, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. You or I may not be impressed, but the person who paid that much for it did. And if there is a market for it, then more power to them. We would like to admit that customizers certainly know how to weather their figures much better than Hasbro. It would be nice to know if these great customizers indirectly put pressure on Hasbro to keep the paint jobs up to snuff for us!

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