• Hasbro Q&A for the week of October 6th

  Posted by jeditricks on October 6, 2006 at 7:28 PM

  The 6 missing questions are in! It’s Hasbro’s answers to SSG questions for October 6th, 2006.

  After months of waiting, the 6 missing questions are finally getting their day in the sun, these are the questions a lot of us have been waiting to see answered. ActionFigs.com also got its 6 missing questions answered today, so be sure to check them out as well.

  Thanks again to Hasbro for the answers, to all the folks who sent in questions and especially those who voted on them. Here come Hasbro’s answers, and remember to check out ActionFigs.com for their weekly Hasbro Q&A as well (which also got an update today).

  Hasbro Q&A for the week of October 6th

  Q: Zizzle has released a 2.5-foot-long Black Pearl pirate ship for their Pirates of the Carribean 4″ figure line for MSRP $50. In light of this, why hasn’t Hasbro done Jabba’s Sailbarge yet, especially when Star Wars is the more popular brand?

  A: What other companies release is not an indicator of what we could release at comparable retail prices, or even that we could release the same toy as they do. Hasbro has different business models, factories, and standards that we work with – it’s a very different situation. One thing that has changed from “the way it used to be” is that playsets used to be low-margin drivers that were intended to be the center of the action figure play pattern. Now the situation is very different and playsets are not embraced in the same way by kids, so the business model is a little upside down and we cannot “subsidize” playsets like we used to. This pushes the price up to a very expensive range, and, of course, the higher the price, the fewer the unit sales. The old catch-22. Until we rebuild the kid base, hopefully through animation, we can’t look at 3-3/4″ playsets as a viable line.

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  Q: Could we get a US release of the Eopie Creature from the Episode I line which to date has only been released in non-US countries?

  A: We have looked at this. We’re not sure how pervasive the demand is, but it remains an option for a future release.

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  Q: Why doesn’t Hasbro include basic figure pack-ins that we can actually use (eg: clear stands; Mouse Droids; Senate Cams; Sith Probes; extra accessories like on and off lightsabers, commlinks, scanners, pilot headsets, oxygen masks, backpacks) instead of gimmicks like holo-minifigs and coins?

  A: Star Wars has a rich history of including pack-ins to enhance the collectibility of the line, admittedly with varying results. Our intention with the coins (and to a lesser extent holos) is to establish a parallel collectible segment with a nostalgic tie back to the vintage days. We think fans will enjoy them, since they are “incremental” to the line in the line and not a replacement for accessories. Incremental in the sense that we make sure each figure has the accessories it needs to be a great figure… and many of them next year have great accessories. Wait and see…

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  Q: What are the chances that Hasbro will make Yarna D’al Gargan (Fat Dancer in Jabba’s Palace) in 2007, after 2007, or if definitively not, has Hasbro actively decided that she will never be made?

  A: We won’t be answering any more specific questions on the 2007 line at this time. However, she is definitely a possible future figure. Not out of the question.

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  Q: Which version of the Jedi Starfighter will be offered in the Titanium Series Ultra 6″ Vehicle line, the Episode 2 or Episode 3 version? Will this or any other new 6″ vehicle be released before the line is ended?

  A: The Episode III version was tooled up, but unfortunately the 6″ scale has been discontinued and the vehicle will not be making it to shelves as part of the series.

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  Q: If a figure made the top 25 of the ToyFare magazine Fan Choice Poll, does that give the figure more of a chance to be made?

  A: Well, that’s an interesting question. Broadly, the answer is yes and the higher it is up the list, the better. It certainly helps justify among the “collector-type” figures we could do if we know that fans have passionately voted for a figure. But it’s not a guarantee that a figure will be made in the future.

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  And the questions at ActionFigs.com:
  

  – What are the chances of Hasbro producing a Millennium Falcon vehicle that’s actually in-scale (1/18th) with the action figures? If not, what about at least an all-new, larger Falcon with more interior play areas?

  – Will the 501st Clonetrooper using the Super Articulated body ever be made available on a basic card?

  – In light of Hasbro making an ethnicity variation on the upcoming Endor Rebel Soldier figure, is there a possibility of ethnic variations for other figures that warrant it like a Black Bespin Guard or Rebel Pilot, especially since there was a Black Bespin Guard figure in the vintage Kenner line?

  – What is the selection process for characters to be made into figures, and what is the best way for fans to increase the chances of the release for a certain figure?

  – Is it an objective of Hasbro’s to eventually make every character that had a speaking role in the films – whether or not they interacted with core characters – into action figures? Nearly all these characters have been given names by Lucasfilm or EU authors.

  – What are the chances of seeing more “battle-damaged” human characters (such as Qui-Gon, Shmi, and Owen & Beru Lars)? Assuming the chances are slim, why is that, are they considered too gruesome for release?

  jeditricks replied 18 years, 2 months ago 0 Member · 19 Replies
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