SSG's Tri-Weekly Hasbro Q&A - September 10th

[JediTricks]

With autumn right around the corner, it's Hasbro's answers to SSG questions for September 10th, 2009. 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 September 10th

SSG: Wookiees have consistently been some of the most popular Star Wars aliens since 1977, but haven't had a lot of great non-Chewbacca figures. Fans were very excited to finally be getting a Wookiee battle on Kashyyyk in Episode III, as well as the promise of more Wookiee figures, but figures of Tarrful and the 2 Wookiees we got didn't fully deliver on detailing or articulation, and 2 of them were hampered by action features. Since then, we've gotten updates of Kashyyyk clone troopers, but no more of their Wookiee "brothers in arms". And now with The Force Unleashed we have 2 full levels on Kashyyyk with Wookiees to fight with, but no toys to recreate this. When will we be seeing new and varied Wookiee warrior figures to live up to these great sources?
Hasbro: Ewoks have been getting a lot of attention lately, and we agree that their taller furry cousins are due some attention as well. We have slotted a new (non-Chewie) Wookiee into the 2011 lineup and will be looking at what else we can do to build out more following that.

SSG: Now that you've shown off the new Slave Leia with alternate sitting lower body, it's got fans hungering for 2 things: a new ROTJ Jabba the Hutt, and Jabba's dais. We know you've heard plenty of these requests and are considering Jabba for a possible new design, up to the point that we almost just sent you literally "blah blah blah Jabba's Dais! blah blah question mark". But hypothetically, if Hasbro were to do a new Jabba with Dais, what pricepoint and format might this be released in for all that new tooling, and would the set include the existing railing and hookah or just assume that enough collectors have the piece and leave it out? Would you go back and use the Kenner vintage throne tooling? Could we convince Brian Merten to get it done as another fantastic exclusive, and if so, does that mean Jabba would have an awesome new cockpit sculpted inside his head?
Hasbro: Ha! We'll pass along the cockpit comment. We're glad that you are enjoying the fantastic cockpit mojo that Brian has been working. When we designed Leia, it was not specifically with the intent of being forward-compatible to any future Jabba, but since the time we started her we have also started work on a Jabba. We do not have details yet, but we're hopeful it will be out in Fall 2010. If we do get the greenlight, it will be all-new. We'll have updated at Comic Con 2010 if such a beastie does materialize.

SSG: In '08, the Clone Wars figure designs were hybrids of the animation appearance and their live-action counterparts, especially Obi-Wan and Anakin. Sculpts were a bit bulkier, bodies were less lengthy and tapered, likenesses a little more grounded. For the red card '09 line however, we're seeing designs that are closer to the show art, such as Obi-Wan Space Suit with a more angular face with larger eyes and a skinnier body that's got longer legs than the '08 figure. What brought about this change, and why? Will we be seeing updates to those '08 figures with this more show-accurate style?
Hasbro: We started out with a deliberately different sculpting aesthetic for the first wave of figures, for which we did not have reference when we started (the first Obi-Wan and Anakin are examples of these). As time went on, we thought that the proportions we were seeing on later characters worked better for figures and started to adopt them to match the show proportions (in some cases the show proportions changed to become more like the toy line, so there has been a convergence of sorts, which is ideal as in a perfect world the show proportions and toys would match. We don't plan on any updates to the 2008 figures, and will continue running them in the line as they remain highly popular.

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And our questions at CollectionStation.com:

• Does Hasbro have any plans to update the Dianoga in the near future? We need one that is better detailed, better articulated and perhaps featuring multiple bendy tentacles. If you were to update the Dianoga, what format would you release it in: Battle Pack, a basic carded figure, Ultimate Battle Pack, something else?
• Premiered at your Comic-Con booth this year was a new Luke Snowspeeder pilot figure that looks fantastic. However, the figure is sporting a thermal cap sculpted to his head, yet in the film when we see him get in and out of the snowspeeder, he's not wearing the cap (although when we see him piloting, he is), and since the figure sports the grappling gun he uses when he gets out, it's a mixed situation. Will there be an alternate version of this figure released with a head that doesn't sport the thermal cap?
• At your SDCC panel, you mentioned that the Imperial Scanning Crew Technician would be coming as 2 figures via a running change, that each figure would not only have its unique head but also their own part of the scanner as seen in the film, one coming with the scanner trunk, and the other with a type of dolly the scanner was wheeled out on. Both accessories were even shown off in your booth. However, recent official Hasbro images of the first Imperial Scanning Crew figure has been released both carded and loose, and in neither image do we see any scanner whatsoever. Are those images correct and this figure isn't coming with either part of the scanner? If so, why is this? Will the running change figure get either of the accessories? If it's only the trunk, will there be a way for fans to get that second accessory?

[El Chuxter]

New Jabba confirmed! New Jabba confirmed! Caloo, callay! (Well, as long as corporate okays it, which I would hope even they have enough sense to do.)

It always seems odd that they plan so far out in advance. I know it has to be done well ahead of time, but 2011 seems a bit far out considering that the market could be completely different by then.

[JediTricks]

Question 2 is an interesting answer in that it actually has some fairly good news, but it's not what we were asking about. At first my instinct was to send it back and ask for clarification, but I think the wording on the question may have been too open so I'll have to eat that mistake (it'll be easier to swallow what with the cool news about Jabba).

Surprised on question 3 saying no to the original characters, we already have the nifty new Anakin, but no update for the others are pending.

[bigbarada]

I'm pretty happy with that Wookiee answer and I look forward to seeing which character we get. While I would love to see a complete remake of Tarfful, I wouldn't have a problem with an all-new Ep3 Wookiee character either.

Awesome news that they are working on a new Jabba! That and the confirmation that Chukha-Trok and Kaink are on their short list for Ewok figures are the two best pieces of news that I have heard all day.

[El Chuxter]

That and the confirmation that Chukha-Trok and Kaink are on their short list for Ewok figures are the two best pieces of news that I have heard all day.

Woah, woah, woah, WHAT?

[JediTricks]

It always seems odd that they plan so far out in advance. I know it has to be done well ahead of time, but 2011 seems a bit far out considering that the market could be completely different by then.

18 months from now is 2011, 18 months is the average amount of time it takes them to develop a product from concept to budget to prototype to production.

I'm pretty happy with that Wookiee answer and I look forward to seeing which character we get. While I would love to see a complete remake of Tarfful, I wouldn't have a problem with an all-new Ep3 Wookiee character either.

It could be a SW The Force Unleashed Wookiee, but that'd be satisfactory too even if it's not the ep 3 armor designs (the TFU wookiees are pretty much the same, but less armor).

[El Chuxter]

I guess you're right, JT. That number just seems so far off. They'd just better try to get the entire SW universe in plastic before the world ends the following year.

[JediTricks]

Woah, woah, woah, WHAT?

RS got that answer:

Rebelscum.com: I love what you have done in the Paploo & NoApaak Ewok 2 pack. From what I read in the collecting community, all of the Ewok packs sell through very well. My question/request has to do with your selection process for the Ewoks in these packs. It seems like you are packing main Ewoks with background Ewoks. If you continue to do this down the line, could you please throw us lover's of the Ewok movies a bone on some figures? You could easily make packs like Wicket and Deej, Logray and Kaink, Teebo and Chukha-Trok. All of them would be an instant hit and sell just as well as any other Ewok pack, plus it would be a way to get these figures to the die hard fans.
Hasbro: The Ewok packs have been indeed doing well, and this gives us confidence to keep them going in the lineup every year in one form or another. We do have all of the Ewoks mentioned on our short list, and given time all of them should see the light of day. It may take a few years, however.

[El Chuxter]

So that other site asked a decent question, and Hasbro gave a decent answer? Wow. Will wonders never cease?

(I don't mean to sound spiteful or mean, but I typically ignore their Q&A's since it's always, "Clonetroopers are awesome! Can you make some more?")

[JediTricks]

CS questions are posted. Not as thought-provoking as SSG's this time, and one got asked by another site, but these things happen.

"Much further down the road", ouch.