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 20.
Q: Pablo Hidalgo works for Lucasfilm. He gave out the following information on Saturday [the week of] NYCC. "No Stormtroopers will be Clones – Pablo Hidalgo #StarWarsRebels". Does that mean every Stormtrooper, AT-AT Driver, Snowtrooper, and Biker Scout with a removable helmet is now wrong? I hope so. I have never accepted that a Jango clone was in any of those outfits. Are said figures now non-canonical? (Allen S.)
A: I guess you can look at his comment from a number of different perspectives. He is clearly referring to Star Wars: Rebels as evidenced by the hash tag, so did he reveal a spoiler that the show will focus on the Stormtrooper battalions that "polluted" the pure clone gene pool that George Lucas has already alluded to years ago? Or is it more that a major point of Star Wars: Rebels to distance itself from The Clone Wars to engage a whole new audience and continue the break in continuity? I don't know, but his comment makes me ask more questions than come to any solid conclusions.
I think it's fair to accept that Original Trilogy purists are horrified that Hasbro gave every OT trooper a clone head in the basic figure line. But let's face it. How many action figures are 100% faithful to the films, even Prequel Trilogy characters? We sometimes get figures with removable helmets that we never saw with their helmets off in the film, clones included. And then there are clones we never saw with their helmets on, but the action figures show otherwise (Clone Trooper Sergeant and Clone Trooper Lieutenant come immediately to mind.) So there is a lot going on with his comment I fear. As far as I see it, if an action figure comes with features that make it inconsistent to what was scene in the films, I technically (and personally) refer to those types of action figures as Expanded Universe. But that goes only so far too.
I have seen people refer to 2009's TLC Luke Skywalker [Medical Frigate] as Expanded Universe because he comes with the lightsaber he lost in his battle with Darth Vader. That's a little bit too much for me. I mean, can't it just be considered an extra accessory? Does the inclusion of a "scene inaccurate" accessory make it Expanded Universe? I am inclined to say no, even though I may be hypocritical with some of my own source designations in my reviews here at JTA. Obviously you'll need to be the judge. But let's see how Star Wars: Rebels develops. We may be pleasantly surprised and you might get the answer you've been wanting to hear.
