Q and A of the Day: Day 7

This is a great question folks! Welcome to our next Q and A of the Day post! This column will be published daily, weekly, monthly, or just based on how many questions I get emailed – but no more than one a day. Feel free to send in your questions and I will put them in the queue. Click through for Q and A of the Day: Day 7.

Q. Hi Paul - I have a two-part question for you. For the first part, I was hoping for clarification. I am fairly that Hasbro when on record within the past year (During Celebration VI, NY Comic Con, or Toy Fair) stating that going forward, Black Series and beyond, only new figures would be released, and not reissues such as VC Hoth Rebel Officer, Starkiller, etc. I believe this statement also covered other in-demand figures such as Darth Malak and Darth Revan. So with that said, it explains why figures such as Exar Kun, Tra Saa, Master Tholme, and R5-K6 (Yavin BP from Legacy line) are selling for crazy amounts on Ebay.

Second part: The Vintage Collection and The Black Series really filled some gaps for Fan's Choice winners and runners-up, Bastilla Shan, Mara Jade, Jocasta Nu, and Darth Plagueis. When and if a new Fan's Choice poll is held, do you think existing, hard-to-find figures should be allowed as some sort of secondary poll. Or depending how fan's reactions are to the upcoming Amazon exclusive Legacy Build-a-Droid set, do you think this could be a realistic venue for rare figure re-releases, either single carded, or as a "battle pack?" Hasbro seems to remind us often about the expense involved with tooling and mold making. I work in an industry where I know these costs and totally understand where Hasbro is coming from. What I don't understand is why they would sit on those molds and not try to get as much out of them as possible? Thanks for taking the time to answer my question.

and Thank you for the time and effort you put into Jedi Temple Archives. (Adam F.)

A: You are correct. That answer actually was distilled from a conversation I personally had with Derryl DePriest at NY Toy Fair earlier this year. We actually have that answer posted in our Q&A from that media event HERE. Aside from most of the figures in the first wave and some in the second wave of The Black Series 3.75” line (which were originally Legacy Collection [2] basic figures, all upcoming action figures are to be all-new sculpts (or retooled/refreshed versions). Hasbro made it clear that The Black Series wasn’t to serve as a greatest hits line in any fashion, that they were committed to providing collectors with premium quality action figures akin to The Vintage Collection but just in different simpler packaging.

At this point, figures like Darth Malak (30 35) and Darth Revan (30 34) would need to be resculpted. While I thoroughly enjoy the version we got in the 30 (77-07) line, they aren’t up to snuff with today’s collector demand of what we count as definitive. Heck, even Darth Malak has swivel elbows which are a big no-no in today’s collecting culture. I however agree with you that incredible action figures like Exar Kun (which I personally photographed for The Ultimate Action Figure Collection book – shameless plug), Tra Saa, Master Tholme and R5-K6 are all worthy of re-release in The Black Series line. And let’s not forget about the dozen or so TVC figures that need a second stab at retail. I sorely wish for Hasbro to make an adult-oriented “Saga Legends” line once again, a plan B basic figure line of sorts, that allows then to get great action figures like this out again (just like they did from 2007-2011) while saving a ton of money on tooling costs. I honestly don’t know why they can’t do this unless it is so bad (less factories and expensive production costs) in China that they are limited with what they can provide to us. They have a proverbial cash cow in their parts catalogue that is just sitting and collecting dust. It’s such a shame. But this trend also seems to confirm another conversation I had with Mr. DePriest at Celebration VI. And that was he explained how there are directives from upper, upper management to produce the fewest items possible for the cheapest amount of money possible. This new directive began around the end of 2011 and the first collection to feel its impact was the 2012 Star Wars [The Phantom Menace 3D] line. And we all know what happened there, don’t we?

You can never say “never” but I am not so sure if we’ll see a Fans’ Choice Poll in the near future. Hunter PR has had little to no connection to Star Wars fan sites in almost two years. Aside from a quick memo or an advance release of a SDCC exclusive, all of the correspondence from Hunter PR has been directed at much bigger media. The culture is changing all around. It’s sad but true. We were fortunate enough to work with them to get Hasbro’s participation in the A Digested Look at The Vintage Collection, but aside from that it’s been crickets.

The last Fans’ Choice Poll held gave Hasbro a good idea of who collectors wanted to see. I think they got a good parking lot list together from that, and we have already seen many of them get made and released thus far. A secondary poll might only serve to adulterate the intent of a primary poll. If it were clear that Hasbro wanted to elicit a list of figures from collectors that we wanted to see released again, that may work. Back in the day, Rebelscum.com ran a poll for the Fans’ Choice figures in the 2007-2008 30 (77-07) Saga Legends line. And quite honestly, that line was almost as fun as the main basic figure lineup. Collectors had a voice and we got a second chance and the opportunity to army build then that hasn’t happened since, sadly. Things were fun when Hasbro engaged their audience. That might be the spark needed to bring back those who have become so frustrated by never finding anything new that they’ve just about bowed out of collecting.

Don’t put your personal action figure choices in the comments here just yet because I will run a separate article for that, but do JTA readers have an interest in seeing an adult focused “Saga Legends” line again with choices made by you? Will an initial poll maybe get the ball rolling? Let us know your thoughts and maybe we can pass this on to Hasbro. Don’t sit on the sidelines and watch if you’re remotely interested. In order to make something like this happen we will need your participation. In the meantime, let us know what you think about this in our comments. Hold off on the sarcasm, digs and other negative responses and let’s see if we can do something productive here. And start thinking about the coolest figures you’d love to see get re-released in a supplemental basic figure line.

    Search Q&A of the Day

Most Recent Q&A of the Day: