JT's Comic-Con thread (what to expect in coverage)

[El Chuxter]

I could not have spent thirty minutes ripping into C-3PO. He is awesomeness personified. If he were a sandwich, he would be awesomeness on a bun, and would not even need ketchup.

[JediTricks]

I could not have spent thirty minutes ripping into C-3PO. He is awesomeness personified. If he were a sandwich, he would be awesomeness on a bun, and would not even need ketchup.

It'd be a small sandwich though, and it'd have too much bread in ratio to too little meat, and the bread would keep falling off.


Of course, that also reminds me to mention that I could have spent 30 minutes talking about each and every figure in the booth, positive or negative each. This booth walkthrough was a very last-minute idea for me and was MEANT to be quick. That 45 minutes did actually fly by, but I knew Derryl and I could have talked until they physically removed us from the hall about the booth alone, so I had to gloss over some stuff and I had to make sure we moved it along from item to item, which is why there aren't a lot of transitions in the written interview (the majority of which were "alright" from either myself or Derryl, or just pointing at something new), this was something new for me and while Derryl was ready to talk about whatever caught my eye, I knew I had to rein my natural affinity for completeness in to focus on stuff I thought the fans would be most curious about. It wasn't as awkward in person as I think it might look on the page, just so you know.

[Darth Metalmute]

It'd be a small sandwich though, and it'd have too much bread in ratio to too little meat, and the bread would keep falling off.

Boy, that could be taken the wrong way considering how big 3PO's codpiece is.

[JediTricks]

Aaaaaannnnyway...

I just transcribed the first question and answer of the interview. Since I had written the questions ahead of time, I only need to tweak them a little to fit what I actually said in person. That said, the 1st question and answer took 11 minutes all by themselves just to SAY!


BTW, I'm absolutely serious, if you guys have questions, throw them at me, I asked the team a ton of questions just walking around, no recordings, no intention of turning into news data, and I can't even remember all the stuff I want to share with you guys, so I need prompting.

[El Chuxter]

IIRC (and I'm asking because parts of Sunday are a blur, and because no one else was there), you said you didn't ask about the Teek/Star Tours exclusive at all, correct? I don't suppose the other possible Ewoks for this canceled exclusive set came up? (I'm still assuming Kaink and Teek were meant for this set, and they confirmed Chuhka-Trok was in it, and I'd guess the Kneesa that was initially to come with Wicket as well.)

[Ando]

BTW, I'm absolutely serious, if you guys have questions, throw them at me, I asked the team a ton of questions just walking around, no recordings, no intention of turning into news data, and I can't even remember all the stuff I want to share with you guys, so I need prompting.

SWEET, cause I have more questions:

[FONT=Courier New]- Big vehicles: Are they still looking at these to succeed on their own on a case by case basis or have big vehicles become a cumulative success? In other words, if the next one tanks, will it tank the line or are big vehicles considered a success at this point? I for one have committed to buying at least (1) of each at full price or more than (1) total and will continue to buy them in the hopes that they might one day creat a Republic/Nu Class Attack Shuttle and a Twilight.[/FONT]
[FONT=Courier New][/FONT]
[FONT=Courier New]- Medium size vehicles: Do they have future plans to create new medium sized vehicles (like the Gunship, ARC-170, CW YWing, etc), or did the Shadow ARC-170 kill it? [/FONT]
[FONT=Courier New][/FONT]
[FONT=Courier New]- Force FX sabers: Is the removable blade saber the new standard moving forward or will they continue to offer fixed blade sabers as well as removeable blade sabers as the line continues?[/FONT]

[Mr. JabbaJohnL]

Nice job on the walkthrough. I like the fact that they do "jiggle" tests.

I also like that they want to completely nail everything in TVC. Though that also means they haven't been trying to do that until now.

The new name for the figure and vehicle sets is interesting. I hadn't thought about that, actually.

Target's feelings on the Geonosis packs are also interesting, in that they wanted to complete the set and carry on even though the first wave can still be found at various Targets. I wonder how this compares to Walmart's Droid Factory sets, which seem to have sold through completely but were still deemed failures?

[JediTricks]

IIRC (and I'm asking because parts of Sunday are a blur, and because no one else was there), you said you didn't ask about the Teek/Star Tours exclusive at all, correct? I don't suppose the other possible Ewoks for this canceled exclusive set came up? (I'm still assuming Kaink and Teek were meant for this set, and they confirmed Chuhka-Trok was in it, and I'd guess the Kneesa that was initially to come with Wicket as well.)

I didn't remember to thank them for Teek, that's true. You are mixing up several sets though, the Teek and Kaink figures were always meant for that Star Tours set that just came out, they weren't in the mysterious other pack that had Chuhka-Trok. And Kneesa coming with Wicket wasn't related to either of those sets. They had something else in mind for that Chuhka-Trok set than what you're thinking.

SWEET, cause I have more questions:

[FONT=Courier New]- Big vehicles: Are they still looking at these to succeed on their own on a case by case basis or have big vehicles become a cumulative success? In other words, if the next one tanks, will it tank the line or are big vehicles considered a success at this point? I for one have committed to buying at least (1) of each at full price or more than (1) total and will continue to buy them in the hopes that they might one day creat a Republic/Nu Class Attack Shuttle and a Twilight.[/FONT]

I am not sure if it's in the interview audio or not, but it did come up at some point during the show. The bottom line is each vehicle's success makes the next one possible, makes it easier for the SW team to succeed at that next one. Because of the high cost, this line is never "in the clear" the way you're thinking as a line, it's still somewhat "on the bubble", though it's also a case-by-case basis.

As for the Twilight, that was asked in the Hasbro panel, and it was a no. Whether that will change down the road, I don't know, but it looks unlikely. For now, the Titanium and SW Transformer versions are the only ones they have in mind.

[FONT=Courier New]- Medium size vehicles: Do they have future plans to create new medium sized vehicles (like the Gunship, ARC-170, CW YWing, etc), or did the Shadow ARC-170 kill it? [/FONT]

This didn't come up, but their last Q&A about the line said it's pretty much going back to the drawing board, they're not done with the idea of vehicles that size, but the pricepoint just didn't seem to work out at mass retail, so I would guess that means if we see a red Y-wing, it'll be an exclusive.

[FONT=Courier New]- Force FX sabers: Is the removable blade saber the new standard moving forward or will they continue to offer fixed blade sabers as well as removeable blade sabers as the line continues?[/FONT]

They are re-offering the Luke ROTJ and Mace sabers because those were requested for a while, and then after that it'll be mainly new.

Nice job on the walkthrough. I like the fact that they do "jiggle" tests.

Yeah, that cracked me up. A lot of the stuff you guys miss is Derryl and me chuckling about stuff like that, having a good time with the ideas we're throwing around.

I also like that they want to completely nail everything in TVC. Though that also means they haven't been trying to do that until now.

Not exactly. What it means is that before, they would try to get it right but stuff could still slip through the cracks, and now they're trying to make sure there's none of that.

The new name for the figure and vehicle sets is interesting. I hadn't thought about that, actually.

That one I came up with a day or 2 earlier and forgot about very quickly until we were in the moment. For Q&A I have to type it a lot and then I had to say it a lot at the show to make sure I was getting the idea across (because there have been recent "deluxe figures" and even a "deluxe vehicle" assortment, so to make sure they know which one I meant I had to type "deluxe figure and vehicle" every time. And now that it's working out, it really needs a banner to hang the concept on.

Target's feelings on the Geonosis packs are also interesting, in that they wanted to complete the set and carry on even though the first wave can still be found at various Targets. I wonder how this compares to Walmart's Droid Factory sets, which seem to have sold through completely but were still deemed failures?

I think there are several more factors in play, the WM Droid Factory sets didn't sell through and struggled at market due largely to pricepoint (although I also feel there was just too much focus on a certain type of EU character selection which left folks like me out), the Target ones kind of had a different set of problems like character selection and just an odd timing for a revisit to Geonosis. I think Target is taking this 2nd wave more to ensure they're the ones who "completed" the concept, brought it to fruition, and I won't be surprised if they order less, some of the Targets by me still have the odd wave 1 set. I want that 3PO/R2 pack so bad, but I suspect it'll be the first to go and stay gone.


Alright, break's over, back to the salty minds.

[El Chuxter]

So Teek and Kaink were always intended to be Star Tours, and Kneesa was separate. But they did say the set was of Ewoks, both ROTJ and EU, right?

I just hope it's not Chucky and a bunch of re-releases.

[Ando]

[FONT=Courier New]I just thought of another couple of questions:[/FONT]
[FONT=Courier New][/FONT]
[FONT=Courier New]- What is the future of the Galactic Heroes vehicles? In A few Q+A sessions back they said that the Cinema Scenes were coming to an end but was that just the multipacks with just GH figures? Did you get any hints at future vehicles to come?[/FONT]
[FONT=Courier New][/FONT]
[FONT=Courier New]- Are you privy to any secret information that goes beyond CV for things that haven't been leaked i.e. the new Slave I, that are super top secret? If so, is it stuff that you're bursting to be able to talk about? Or at the very least think that some of us here on SSG will go nuts over?[/FONT]