JediTricks
10-17-2008, 05:39 PM
Uh, lets see, we got soda... purple stuff... -yeah! Hasbro's answers to SSG questions for October 17th, 2008, alright! Or is that just Sunny D? Thanks again to Hasbro for the answers, to all the folks who sent in questions and especially those who voted on them.
Hasbro Q&A for the week of October 17th
SSG: With the recent release of The Force Unleashed and the success of Hasbro's TFU product in the 2008 TAC line, what are the chances of getting more TFU figures beyond the 2009 Felucia Shaak Ti you recently confirmed? Understanding that the soonest there could be new TFU items is 2010, collectors want PROXY, more of Starkiller's costumes, a new Juno Eclipse more accurate to the final game, accurate Incinerator Troopers, teenage Princess Leia, battle-damaged Rahm Kota, Kazdan Paratus, accurate Jump Troopers, shadow versions of the various troopers, and even a 3.75" figure version of the Rogue Shadow and the Bull Rancor. Any of these gonna happen, and what can we do to increase that likelihood?
Hasbro: The Force Unleashed looks to be on its way to being perhaps the best selling Star Wars game in history - no mean feat with predecessors like Battlefront II and KotOR. Equally as passionate have been the fans, and "when are we getting more TFU figures?!!" is easily the top question for this Q&A session. We like TFU as much as you and we are looking at adding additional characters. If we did, they might not be here before Spring 2010, but many of the characters you suggest are high on our list. However, we don't think the Bull Rancor or Rogue Shadow are likely candidates unless they show up elsewhere in entertainment as well - neither is really as central as we'd like to have the peace of mind we'd be able to recoup the massive investment needed for these (as it is, we had to split the Rancor into two different packs to be able to justify it, something we can't do with the more confined Bull Rancor).
SSG: Not long ago, we asked which EU figures were their personal favorites and wishlist entries, but none of the ones listed were from the Marvel series. With the upcoming Lumiya figure (and by the way, who will she be coming with in that comic 2pack? Issue #96 suggests Luke from the duel, but perhaps someone else maybe?), what other Marvel figures might be on the team members' EU wishlists?
Hasbro: Lumiya will indeed be coming with Luke, to allow fans to recreate their epic duels. Along with the recently released favs K-3PX, Fenn Shysha, Tobbi Dala, and the upcoming Wal-Mart exclusive Ewok 3-pack, we're glad to have been able to get to some of our top candidates this year. Next year will be a bit drier for the Marvel characters as we concentrate on more Dark Horse facets, but it's a good bet that there will be more Marvel-inspired goodness in 2010. High on our wish list would be some new versions of Luke and Leia, Valance the Hunter, Dani, Rik Duel, and Tippet (to round out the clan). How many will actually make it, if any, in the 2010 line plan remains to be seen.
SSG: Back in Dec '07, you told us that while you didn't have a carded basic Wedge Antilles planned, there was "at least one cool new Wedge figure" due in '08 if your schedule held. This August, you told another site that you "had plans for a great Wedge this year, but the project was delayed and will appear in Fall 2009," (again, if schedules held). Then on Sept 5th, a third site asked about Wedge, and you gave a similar answer about the set he's in being delayed until "later in 2009". Now, an online retailer has listed a case assortment for Comic Packs Wave 5 which includes "X-wing Rogue Squadron #32 with Borsk Fey'la and Wedge Antilles (Academy Outfit)" expected out around February '09. Is their set listing accurate, and if so, is this your aforementioned Fall '09 Wedge or a different figure altogether?
Hasbro: That listing *is* accurate and it is not the Wedge we were hinting at, but in fact another set centered around Wedge. Stay tuned!
- - -
And the questions at ActionFigs.com (http://www.actionfigs.com/index.php?categoryid=12&p2_articleid=1916):
Back in May, one of your answers about The Force Unleashed was that you're looking at 1 more TFU figure for 2009, and that as the Hasbro Star Wars team saw and played more of the game new ideas for toys from TFU would "spring forth"; more recently, you said that the soonest there could be new TFU items is 2010. Now that we've all had a chance to play this awesome new Star Wars game, some collectors are champing at the bit for another whole wave of TFU figures. What TFU items have found their way onto the Hasbro team's wishlists (beyond PROXY, whom you've already said is on your list)?
Might you be willing to give us some of the lowdown on what will be coming up from the Greatest Hits sub-line? With the Saga Legends line (we're aware this is different from GH) reusing last year's Yoda on Kybuck, fans would like to see if Greatest Hits might find some figures from that TAC EU wave which were hard to get, such as Darth Revan, Darth Malak, Pre-Cyborg Grievous. And it's not like the main lines where everything's a secret until development's done, Greatest Hits is made up of existing figures, so could we know what to expect in the sub-line?
While we were very pleased to see many new tools for Titanium Series at your Comic-Con display, fans of the line have had a bumpy ride lately. Hasbro didn't bring any new Titaniums to Toy Fair last February, '08 wave 4 was summarily canceled and supposedly redistributed into other waves - though we've not seen any sign of this is case listings so far - and until July many of the line's collectors had only the words in a few Q&As to assure them of the line's progress and were left wondering whether there was a future for it at all (we were thrilled that Comic-Con reconfirmed the Hasbro Star Wars team's commitment to this line). With that in mind, could you give us a preview of any new Titaniums being developed for the future, and what's scheduled for the first half of '09? We'd really appreciate it, it'd help sustain the line's momentum and build a collecting base. And will the Titanium Cylon Basestar you previously confirmed for the last wave of 2008 actually get released since retailer preorders are up to January '09's wave 6 with no sign of it yet the BSG license expires at the end of the year?
Hasbro Q&A for the week of October 17th
SSG: With the recent release of The Force Unleashed and the success of Hasbro's TFU product in the 2008 TAC line, what are the chances of getting more TFU figures beyond the 2009 Felucia Shaak Ti you recently confirmed? Understanding that the soonest there could be new TFU items is 2010, collectors want PROXY, more of Starkiller's costumes, a new Juno Eclipse more accurate to the final game, accurate Incinerator Troopers, teenage Princess Leia, battle-damaged Rahm Kota, Kazdan Paratus, accurate Jump Troopers, shadow versions of the various troopers, and even a 3.75" figure version of the Rogue Shadow and the Bull Rancor. Any of these gonna happen, and what can we do to increase that likelihood?
Hasbro: The Force Unleashed looks to be on its way to being perhaps the best selling Star Wars game in history - no mean feat with predecessors like Battlefront II and KotOR. Equally as passionate have been the fans, and "when are we getting more TFU figures?!!" is easily the top question for this Q&A session. We like TFU as much as you and we are looking at adding additional characters. If we did, they might not be here before Spring 2010, but many of the characters you suggest are high on our list. However, we don't think the Bull Rancor or Rogue Shadow are likely candidates unless they show up elsewhere in entertainment as well - neither is really as central as we'd like to have the peace of mind we'd be able to recoup the massive investment needed for these (as it is, we had to split the Rancor into two different packs to be able to justify it, something we can't do with the more confined Bull Rancor).
SSG: Not long ago, we asked which EU figures were their personal favorites and wishlist entries, but none of the ones listed were from the Marvel series. With the upcoming Lumiya figure (and by the way, who will she be coming with in that comic 2pack? Issue #96 suggests Luke from the duel, but perhaps someone else maybe?), what other Marvel figures might be on the team members' EU wishlists?
Hasbro: Lumiya will indeed be coming with Luke, to allow fans to recreate their epic duels. Along with the recently released favs K-3PX, Fenn Shysha, Tobbi Dala, and the upcoming Wal-Mart exclusive Ewok 3-pack, we're glad to have been able to get to some of our top candidates this year. Next year will be a bit drier for the Marvel characters as we concentrate on more Dark Horse facets, but it's a good bet that there will be more Marvel-inspired goodness in 2010. High on our wish list would be some new versions of Luke and Leia, Valance the Hunter, Dani, Rik Duel, and Tippet (to round out the clan). How many will actually make it, if any, in the 2010 line plan remains to be seen.
SSG: Back in Dec '07, you told us that while you didn't have a carded basic Wedge Antilles planned, there was "at least one cool new Wedge figure" due in '08 if your schedule held. This August, you told another site that you "had plans for a great Wedge this year, but the project was delayed and will appear in Fall 2009," (again, if schedules held). Then on Sept 5th, a third site asked about Wedge, and you gave a similar answer about the set he's in being delayed until "later in 2009". Now, an online retailer has listed a case assortment for Comic Packs Wave 5 which includes "X-wing Rogue Squadron #32 with Borsk Fey'la and Wedge Antilles (Academy Outfit)" expected out around February '09. Is their set listing accurate, and if so, is this your aforementioned Fall '09 Wedge or a different figure altogether?
Hasbro: That listing *is* accurate and it is not the Wedge we were hinting at, but in fact another set centered around Wedge. Stay tuned!
- - -
And the questions at ActionFigs.com (http://www.actionfigs.com/index.php?categoryid=12&p2_articleid=1916):
Back in May, one of your answers about The Force Unleashed was that you're looking at 1 more TFU figure for 2009, and that as the Hasbro Star Wars team saw and played more of the game new ideas for toys from TFU would "spring forth"; more recently, you said that the soonest there could be new TFU items is 2010. Now that we've all had a chance to play this awesome new Star Wars game, some collectors are champing at the bit for another whole wave of TFU figures. What TFU items have found their way onto the Hasbro team's wishlists (beyond PROXY, whom you've already said is on your list)?
Might you be willing to give us some of the lowdown on what will be coming up from the Greatest Hits sub-line? With the Saga Legends line (we're aware this is different from GH) reusing last year's Yoda on Kybuck, fans would like to see if Greatest Hits might find some figures from that TAC EU wave which were hard to get, such as Darth Revan, Darth Malak, Pre-Cyborg Grievous. And it's not like the main lines where everything's a secret until development's done, Greatest Hits is made up of existing figures, so could we know what to expect in the sub-line?
While we were very pleased to see many new tools for Titanium Series at your Comic-Con display, fans of the line have had a bumpy ride lately. Hasbro didn't bring any new Titaniums to Toy Fair last February, '08 wave 4 was summarily canceled and supposedly redistributed into other waves - though we've not seen any sign of this is case listings so far - and until July many of the line's collectors had only the words in a few Q&As to assure them of the line's progress and were left wondering whether there was a future for it at all (we were thrilled that Comic-Con reconfirmed the Hasbro Star Wars team's commitment to this line). With that in mind, could you give us a preview of any new Titaniums being developed for the future, and what's scheduled for the first half of '09? We'd really appreciate it, it'd help sustain the line's momentum and build a collecting base. And will the Titanium Cylon Basestar you previously confirmed for the last wave of 2008 actually get released since retailer preorders are up to January '09's wave 6 with no sign of it yet the BSG license expires at the end of the year?