December 6, 2011 Throughout the Star Wars: The Clone Wars line, there has been a distinct lack of Separatist characters being made into figures other than Droids and high-profile characters like Grievous, Ventriss, or Dooku. Will we be seeing some new Separatist leaders in the TCW line at some point? That's not just counting generals like Osi Sobeck and Wat Tambor - how about a Lux Bonteri figure, possibly in his season 4 gear? Our focus remains on more central characters who appear across multiple story arcs (always with some exceptions, of course). The Separatists are solid characters, but from a kid standpoint we believe there is greater interest in other areas, such as Jedi, Sith, Clones, etc. We know your priority is to "stick with characters kids know well", but, seeing as the Old Republic boasts SOOO many figures that are bound to sell well, can we expect to see you abandon this temporarily in favor of the TOR figures, in the upcoming Vintage or following regular figure lines, as to present more characters from the game? The "Fan's Choice" poll here at the 'Yards resulted in multiple TOR characters on the list, so it's quite apparent we would like to see a good deal of new stuff from The Old Republic. And if so, any hints on what characters might see 3 and 3/4 life? We are VERY excited about The Old Republic and the very rich character selections. You can expect some of these excellent figures to be sprinkled into the line. November 11, 2011 With the recent images released at NYCC 2011, if Darth Malgus is in fact going to be released as an action figure in TVC line, will you also, or are you considering releasing his vehicle to acompany such a highlly anticipated release of a figure? (Images provided of his vehicle, " Sith Fury Class Imperial Interceptor ") No, his vehicle is currently not in the plan. With all the great astromech molds we were given years ago why are new astro's being released with the inferior BAD parts? To follow up is there any reason for the lower hole in each side of the body? We believe the BAD parts add an additional level of play to the line. The lower holes allow for more creative BAD play. September 7, 2011 I'd love to see Hasbro produce more rebel pilots much in the same way that they have produced many clone trooper variants. I'd particularly like to see a collection representing the Battle of Yavin much like the Battle over Endor Pack for example. How about all the pilots in Red Group and Gold Group seen in the movie? From a tooling point of view you could duplicate multiple parts and add the necessary differences. Any chance we could see any of these? These are great ideas with strong potential for future sets. Is there any way Hasbro USA could get involved with Hasbro UK as they dont seem to recognise the collectors market in the UK? Its seems they are seen as just toys and nothing more unless theres a major promotion like a movie or tv show but that only lasts a few months ( even Transformers are experiencing the same issue's with the DOTM line as we Star Wars fans are used too some independant stockist that are cancelling the line entirely) they really need a clue as having to buy imports cost considerably more and i am not paying £40 for a Gamorrean Guard. Hasbro you are promising better distribution in the US, is there any chance our foreign friends are going to see some of this same love? We are working closely with our teams around the world (including the UK) to ensure that product distribution improves globally, particularly on Vintage waves. In 2012 we plan on re-releasing a handful of Vintage figures that were either too limited in quantity or did not make it to all major regions. August 9, 2011 Will "minor" supporting characters who were released as POTF2/POTJ sculpts be revisited with the vastly improved Legends/Vintage line articulation? Primary candidates for this treatment would be Lobot (ESB), Sio Bibble (TPM), Garindan (ANH), Naboo Security (guards and officer; TPM), Ayy Vida (AotC), and numerous others. Thanks for the suggestions…Lobot is a definite possibility for the line. Since now there is a correct paint app version of commander colt, are you planning on re-releasing the arc troopers battle pack with this more correct version or is a 4 figure battle pack too much to ask for in a future release? We've added this to our list of potentials…thanks for the idea. July 28, 2011 We are all pretty excited with the prospects of the new prototype armor Boba Fett redemption mail away offer this year. Can you give us an idea about which wave of TVC figures we can expect to get the redemption form with, how long the offer will last, and which line's upcs will count towards the redemption? Glad to hear folks are excited about the Prototype Armor Boba Fett redemption figure. All fall 2011 3.75" Vintage Collection figure waves will include the redemption program, starting with the first wave for fall that should hit retail in September. Redemption requests must be postmarked by March 2012. TPM 3D is coming and giving an incredible opportunity to unleash the most iconic of prequel ships. Versions of it appeared in every prequel movie (and a few TCW toons): Naboo's Royal Starship. Can you re-release this sleek beauty, once more, as an exclusive this coming movie year? To reduce costs, gut the electronics, rid it of its 2 small vehicles, and include just a small figure (Astromech or Anakin). If you like going big, as you did by slapping 2 enlarged wings on the old/new Tie Fighter. Simply elongate her front nose and back tails, and you have a bigger badder ship! You successfully used old molds before and sold(out) the Emperor's Shuttle Target exclusive in 2006. Can you repeat that same success by using this other set of ready-made molds? Naboo's Royal Starship, unleashed in time for the movie year, or 3D blu-ray holiday debut, in 2012? Yes, Episode I in 3-D allows for a number of favorite vehicles to be added to the line. Sadly, the Royal Starship and Emperor's Shuttle did not make the list. But we think fans will be pleased with the line-up which includes a 100% newly tooled iconic vehicle. We would be sharing too much information if we were to say that it is a yellow starfighter that rhymes with shampoo. June 14, 2011 We have seen numerous Republic Gunships in Season 2 and Season 3 of The Clone Wars and some of them had some fantastic nose art. One of them that comes to mind is Ki Adi Mundi's LAAT from Landing at Point Rain (We believe it is called the Separtist Nightmare) that has the great image of a Clone Trooper Helmet as a kind of Skull. Is there any chance we will see this or any other version of a Gunship being released soon so we can transport our Clones to the planet's surface? Love this topic. A Republic Gunship is not currently planned for 2012, but perhaps 2013… Having recently finished up viewing the Season 3 Finale of The Clone Wars with the Episodes Padawan Lost and Wookie Hunt we were immersed into the history of the Trandoshans versus the Wookies. Hands down I think I can speak for everyone when I say I would love to see specific figures and vehicles made for every character in these episodes and was wondering if you could release any specific details on which Trandoshans/Wookies are going to be made and if we are going to see any of the great Trandoshan Skiffs (MSP80 Pteroptors) perhaps in a battlepack or in a mini-rig vehicle offering? We agree that many of these vehicles and characters were fantastic. However, given our shift in focus on characters and vehicles that can be seen in many episodes/storylines, items such as these that appear in shorter story arcs are not planned for the toy line. November 22, 2010 I was just at Wal-Mart, and there is about 75% Saga Legends, 25% Vintage/Clone wars. I looked through the "legends"....yeah right. The General Grievous is just a repack of the Sneak-Peak Grievous that was so 5 years ago. How many times are the Shocktroopers and 501st troopers going to be legends in a row? Then all the same stuff: Yoda with wookie gun, C3PO w/Ewok throne, and Obi-Wan. If they aren't going to give us something new with Legends, maybe they could stop flooding the shelfs with them? Many people assume that Saga Legends are targeted toward collectors. That is not the case. Saga Legends are targeted toward a kid audience and have been for a number of years. While we have done Saga Legends fans' votes, most notably in the 2007-08 30th Anniversary line, the large majority of figures are designed to keep the most popular characters out there in circulation. Kids are much less concerned about articulation or how old a figure is; in fact, the more articulation a figure has the harder it is for young kids to manipulate, which is why we select the figures we do. Another fallacy we are happy to address: that we keep forcing figures out to retailers instead of figure segments that sell better. Saga Legends has been a hot segment since the release of the new packaging with the Galactic Battle Game, and we have been trying to keep up with the demand. Recently you have told another Website that a Republic Commando pack would imdeed be coming out. Then at Celebration V we seen none other than RC-1138 and the boys in several videos. So my question is this; how far in advance does Hasbro get told by the Clone Wars Producers of characters to produce? and is there any sneaky little numbers waiting in the wings? Unfortunately, our schedules are much farther out than that of the Clone Wars productions team. It usually takes 12-18 months to produce figures and vehicles, and while the Clone Wars team usually knows the stories it will be telling more than a year in advance, we aren't usually able to get final, locked-down artwork until much later. As a result, we are usually a good six months out from the debut of a show and the time we can get anything out to take advantage of a new character. There are rare exceptions of course, and we can usually get refreshed characters (i.e. Sgt. Bric) out on a shorter time frame. The less complicated a figure is, it improves the chances of getting out quicker, like Galactic Heroes vs. a more complicated 3-3/4" figure. August 11, 2010 We love the latest snowspeeder and the fact that you included playable as well as movie accurate cannons and harpoon gun. This has given some of us some great ideas. One of those is an idea about doing realistic side guns for the new behemoth At-At. If you do not plan to release realistic side guns with future At-At releases how about doing a battlepack with these and some figures to man up our At-At's? You could even split it into two battlepacks and give us one side gun per pack. Give us an at-at driver and some snowtroopers and you have a great battlepack. You could even turn it into a vintage exclusive battlepack with styling from the old vintage battlepack boxes. These would sell like hotcakes! We don't have any realistic side guns for the AT-AT in the works, but it is an interesting idea and the idea of including it in a Hoth-themed set is an intriguing one. We'll talk it over with the team. Thanks for the suggestion. Have you ever considered giving the fans a poll on your website that allows us to vote on what the next wave of Saga Legends will be? The Nominees will only be figures that have already been produced...nothing new. We are not going to do a Fans' Choice vote for Saga Legends again any time, soon, because our use of Saga Legends has actually changed a bit. The figures are kid-focused, and with the narrow item count we have to work with for this segment we have to stick with the "best of the best" figures. At some point that could change, and if it does fan-voting would be a great idea, but right now there are no plans. July 15, 2010 Recently clone troopers from the clone wars do not seem to be able to hold their assiociated weapon or are not packed with the correct weapon, case in point Commander Thire, the figure was not packed withe the DC-15 rifle he used in the episode Ambush (series 1 episode 1) also one of his hands is not able to hold the blaster pistol for it. A simple fix for this problem would be a trigger finger on both hands or a tightening of the hand mold by a milimeter or two. Would Hasbro consider solutions to this problem? It's not always possible to produce generically useful hands that can accommodate all weapons, but thanks for the comment. We will look into this. Why exactly do you have to produce Exclusives? 99% of the time they are awesome, but they are also 75% hard to find (for example: the new EU wave at Toys-R-Us). Why can't you just send out all your products to all the stores? Exclusives exist for many reasons; to reward retailers for their support of the brand, to produce seasonal promotional items that can get collectors or parents to stores at certain periods, along with other reasons. One of the chief reasons that the Star Wars team embraces the idea of exclusives is that they provide us an excellent opportunity to get new and different toys out there for fans. Without the exclusives program, 90% of these figures, vehicles or creatures would not exist at all. The reason for this is that national (items taken by all accounts) productivity has to be very high for items, and most exclusives have a more limited run. Without exclusives, many of the awesome sets from the last few years like the retools of the TIE Fighter, TIE Interceptor, A-Wing, AT-ST, and Dewback as well as new sets like the Octuptarra Droid, Wal-Mart Droid Factory sets, the upcoming Jabba and other upcoming that have yet to be announced would not exist at all. So while we have a ways to go to help iron out distribution issues, the exclusives program remains a vital component of our retail planning and brand engagement strategy. June 28, 2010 Is there any chance we get a few comparison images showing the new snowspeeder up against some previous offerings? Something to give us an idea of the size relation between the two, if any? Unfortunately, we don't have any comparison pics available at this time. The new one is about 10-15% smaller than the original. Why can't we get a checklist for all the products coming in the next year with some pictures? Instead we have to speculate and listen to rumors and then we get leaked pictures popping up. Why can't you guys just cut out all the third partys and just give us a checklist? And if there is a possibility there could be a change, just note that. It would be greatly appreciated by us collectors. There are many reasons why we don't do this. First, things change….and frequently. Second, from a marketing standpoint, it's better to not have the whole line available so far in advance, since the goal is to build anticipation close to the time the toys launch. Third, we don't have pictures that far in advance. The best we can do is to work on a shorter, confirmed time frame and take advantage of large media events, like Toy Fair, Comic Con, and CV to get the message out about what is new and fresh in the upcoming season. That's also why the websites play a key role in helping spread the message. June 02, 2010 1) Not every collector cares or wants "more articulation," some of us want good sculpts. And with this Vintage wave coming out that is mostly focused on the packaging and not the sculpts, or any new characters and giving us stuff we already have, any chance we can see the definitive versions of the characters? I think you got it with the new Bespin Luke, he actually looks like Mark Hamill, but the new Hoth Leia and Hoth Han in trenchcoat look funny(hopefully those are just prototypes we saw at toyfare). To me it seems like updating characters you are saying, "we didn't do very good last time, so buy this new one where we think we made some improvements." How about finishing the list of never before made charecters before starting on updating stuff? We take umbrage at the comment that Vintage is about the packaging and not the sculpts. The intention is to produce the best figures we can balancing scultping and articulation, just as we have for every other collector-targeted line in the past 5 years. We will continue with our strategy of anchoring our Vintage line with both core heroes as well as collector-targeted figures, as it has proven to be the best strategy for keeping productivity high and in turn, allowing us to take more chances on new figures. The core heroes will be drawn both from existing figures that we feel do not need to be improved, figures that we feel can can improve in the quest to get a near-perfect figure, and new versions of characters that we have yet to do (i.e. long-coat Han). There will eventually be many more new never-before-produced characters but the waving strategy will not change. As for articulation, we do agree with you that not every figure needs to be super-articulated. To balance aesthetics and cost, not every figure will be. 2) I noticed recently that the paint on the saga legends shock and 501st troopers' shoulders seems to scrape of if you extend their arms fully (ie at shoulder height). Would it be possible for you to do something about this problem for example take 2mm of the shoulder to prevent the friction? Thanks for the heads-up. We will certainly take a look at this, as the paint should not be wearing off if the shoulders are raised. We don't think it is a problem with the sculpt/tightness of joints, but if it is we will look at that as well. April 27, 2010 Can we get a picture of the toysrus exclusive boxed version of the new At-At coming out? As we understand, it will be given a special vintage boxed deco and there will be two other ships given this same vintage retro feel? Any chance we could get exact dimensions on the size of this new behemoth? The Vintage version of the AT-AT will be exactly the same size as the recent large-format figure boxes (Turbo Tank, AT-TE). We are debuting the packaging in an upcoming issue of Star Wars Insider, so we can't send images out until they have a chance to showcase this cool beast. As for the vehicle itself, it is 24” tall x 28.5” long...a good chunk larger than the original when seen side-by-side! Will we ever see some of the Mandalorians from the Entertainment Earth boxed set on a single card, or released again in a battle pack? Will we be able to get the female Mandos on card? There are no plans to release the Mandos from the Entertainment Earth sets on individual cards. April 08, 2010 1)Having just seen the Iron Man 2 Mini-Head playsets I am left wondering if there is any chance we might see Star Wars Mini-Head playsets again? Is there any hope we can see the Action Fleet Line revived too now that the titanium line seems to be over? I am hoping this heralds a new Action Fleet / Micro Machine era! We have been looking at various ways to introduce micro play back to the market, but it has some tough challenges as micro play isn't a relevant play pattern among boys currently. We haven't found the right hook to reintroduce it yet, but it's something we'll continue to look at. 2)Would you ever consider releasing a wave of Saga Legends with nothing but hard/impossible to find figures from the past? Figures that are going for extravagent amounts of money on Ebay(examples:Darth Malek, Darth Reven, Scorch, Shadow Stormtroopers, etc...)? We have done that in the past with Saga Legends, but currently the format is devoted to supplying kid-targeted figures that complement the Clone Wars and that approach has yielded greater volumes per figure that we would achieve with collector-targeted figures. We do know demand remains high the figures you cited, and will be looking at ways to bring them back if we can find a willing retail partner and the right format (such as a multi-pack, for example). March 17, 2010 1. We have seen the new vintage line and were wondering two things; one, will we see "offerless" cards of every figure in this line? two, why was the decision made to offer figures not in the original vintage line including the prequel movies? It would seem that a true vintage line would have stayed true to the orginal Kenner vintage line as there were plenty of figures from that line that could have used the updating. Since we had few iconic characters to work with that have not been done before, Vintage as a concept was dead without the need to add new characters to the mix. We could have gone one, maybe two more waves of six but the majority of characters left to go to update the Kenner run would never had made it out on a Vintage card. This way, there is always the possibility that the run could be completed. In addition, it continues arguably the most powerful nostalgic toy line look as if it had never stopped. The decision to add characters that were never on vintage, including prequel characters, was something that we did not enter into without doing a great deal of research before hand. As for offers - there is good news. The stickers are not permanent and can be peeled off without damaging the card. 2)In the past, we have seen battle packs to provide us with troops to man up the Turbo Tank and the ATTE vehicles.What are the chances that we can expect a new Vintage Battle Pack to help us man up the new AT-AT walker vehicle? Since 4 figures are the normal number to expect with a new Battle Pack, and since the walker already comes with one driver fig, I think that including 2 Snowtroopers, 1 Driver, and 1 Commander would round it out nicely. Perhaps you could substitute one of the Snowtroopers for a Hoth Speeder Bike Scout figure? There will indeed be a Hoth-themed Battle Pack this year to complement the AT-AT. There will be three figures: Vader, Snowtrooper, and a Sith Speeder Bike Scout along with other key accessories. February 23, 2010 1) Will you be attending Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo in April? In the past, you stopped going to Wizard World because it was "too soon after San Diego Comic Con." Your presence in the Midwest has been sorely missed, and this would be a GREAT time to show up. Right in between New York Toy Fair and San Diego Comic Con, it'll give us Midwesterners a chance to actually see some of your new products up close for once! We will not be going to the Chicago show. When we do a show, we want to make sure that it's a quality experience for the fans and that means having access to the marketing and design team. The shows are demanding when it comes to time, and the team does not have a lot to spare when it comes to staying on top of the demands of seeing the product development process through. This year, we'll be doing San Diego and Celebration V almost back-to-back which will be tough enough, without another show added to the schedule. 2) Have you ever considered making a battle pack like a full Rogue Squadron or Red Squadron? Or making Ultimate Battle Packs like two x-wings including comic pack rogues who havent been released yet like; Gavin Darklighter, Alph, and an updated Derek Hobbie Klivian? It's a great idea, but we're likely to introduce Rogue Squadron members (or Red Squadron, Green, or Grey) in dribs and drabs rather than in one big battle pack. First, it would be a crazy expensive pack, and second, many collectors would have already had some of the figures so it makes it a more tenuous proposition to have to buy some many figures you already have for the few you don't. It's possible that someday, after they all have been released to do something like we are currently doing with the McQuarrie figures at Toys 'R Us, but until then we do hope to keep plugging away at the holes in the lineups a couple at a time. February 03, 2010 1) Will the new sculpt on Commander Stone be used for all of the new clones or is it just a new idea you tried? We needed to add additional Clone tooling to our lineup, both the add more capacity as well as start to replace tooling which is starting to wear out. We took the opportunity to sculpt an all-new Clone with what we thought was a better aesthetic over our first generation Clone. One noticeable difference is articulation - it does not have as many points as the original Clone. Clone Wars is primarily a kid-driven SKU, so this approach is done with the biggest audience in mind. Going forward, this is something that we will be looking at carefully with Clone Wars figures since more points of articulation greatly affects the cost. We will still be using the existing Clone Trooper body in rotation throughout the line, so he's not going away, but we will be phasing in more figures that use the new Commander Stone body. 2) Since you have confirmed a cloud car and new snowspeeder sculpt are coming can you tell us if these ships will be exclusive to one store and will we see new pilots for each vehicle? Both the Cloud Car and Snow speeder will be released as part of the Starfighter Vehicle collection so will be available to all retailers. There will be one caveat to that, that we will announce at Toy Fair. There will be a new Cloud Car Pilot, along with Dak Ralter to pilot your Snowspeeder. December 21, 2009 Dear Hasbro, a couple of weeks ago, the new Clone Wars episode "Landing at Point Rain" aired showing us two alternate color schemes of clones that we had seen before and one design that we had never seen on the series before. We had been wanting the snow version of the flamethrower trooper sculpt since the episode where it was debuted last season. What are the chances that we will see a release of the flamethrower trooper, the earmuff trooper " as it has been called" and Waxer and Boil type camo Arf trooper figures in the future? Also, even though you had stated that it is unlikely to happen, any random release to the Legacy line of a version of one or all of these troopers would be loved by all legacy collectors. Chances are very good that you will see all of these troopers before the end of 2010 in the Clone Wars line. We still don't have any plans to cross the line over (Clone Wars figures done in realistic style, or vice-versa), but expect that you are right and new troops like these would be a welcome addition to the Legacy ranks. Over the last several years I have been absolutely amazed at the number of high quality pieces of Clone/Imperial Trooper fan art and custom figures that have been produced. Many of these pieces have made me, and I'm sure others, wish that one or more of their favorites could make their way into the official Star Wars universe. Which brings me to my question. Would you ever consider having a contest where fan's could submit their trooper concept art to Hasbro, LFL and Hasbro could narrow their top choices down to maybe a top 30, and then turn it over to collectors to vote for which concept they would like to see made into a figure? The fans have indeed generated some amazing work, but we would not likely be able to do something like this. Lucasfilm has maintained very strict lines between the official canon and the fan-created characters (and even names) in order to make sure that they protect their characters. Fancontests like the naming of a character (where Pax Bonkik was named) are probably as close as we'll get. Still, it's an interesting idea and we'll discuss it with Lucasfilm, even though we expect that it will not be possible. They did not answer Wraithnine's question. There was no reason why, we just got back two answers. December 10, 2009 1. Dear Hasbro, we are eagerly waiting for the release of the upcoming at-st, sandtrooper with dewback, and gelagrub battlepack, is there any reason your targeted street date for the release of these offerings is so far off? The AT-ST and Dewback were pushed back to coincide with Wal-Mart's later promotional dates, while Gelagrub was delayed due to production issues with the wave it was in. All of them are at retail right now in the U.S. 2. Dear Hasbro, we are all loving your new Freeco speeder and thought the frosted glass was a very nice touch. Wouldn't it have made more sense to release this great vehicle with a Winter Geared Obi Wan or Anakin or Captain Rex and are we going to see these nonproduced winter environment figures in the future? The characters were not ready when we had the reference for the vehicle, and we decided it was too good to wait. And yes, you will see the winter figures next year 3. Dear Hasbro, I would like to know if there is any attempt at a schedule for Australian star wars legacy collectors?, it seems to me that all of the figures that are on the pegs are Clone Wars, Clone Wars, Clone Wars!!! when we do get some legacy it's always seems to be wave 4 in blue and white packaging i haven't even seen new stock for 6 months.. so why is it that all that is ever stocked on our limited pegs is clone wars figures when the show is not even on air in our country? Retailers have placed their emphasis on Clone Wars due to the new entertainment. Season 1 was very successful, and Clone Wars will be back on the air February with Season 2. The Legacy/Droid Factory basic figure SKU has definitely been a challenge for us in Australia but it has not been dropped. It has been hit hardest by the changes in the last year, resulting in less consumer takeaway of the early waves - this has resulted in inventory buildup at retail which has affected our ability to get new waves into the market. We are trying to get the remaining new waves for Spring 2010, but there is a strong likelihood that we will not be able to get them due to the current stock situation. We are working to correct this going forward and think that we will be in a good position to "restart" the collector-targeted basic figure line when the brand resets Fall 2010. November 16, 2009 1. Is there any chance for Imperial and Rebel army builder packs as there are with the Clones? We have done them in the Battle Pack line in the past, but the Clones have proven to be more popular so we have focused there more often. There's a good likelihood that we will revisit this stance down the road, and hope late next year to have a little news in this regard against the backdrop of the Empire Strikes Back 30th Anniversary. 2. Are there any new OTC vehicles in the works, you can keep what they are hush hush I just want to know if there are any new vehicles, other than what we already know of? Yes there are. We will most likely reveal what they are at Toy Fair next year. 3. The 30th anniversary of the Empire Strikes Back is next year.Is there any thing grand planed that will knock us collectors off our feet. I mean new Vehicles, figures, battle pack with Hoth Turrets and accessories? We do have some very special plans to celebrate the 30th Anniversary of ESB next year. However we'll be keeping a lid on details until Toy Fair, just a couple months away. October 24, 2009 1. Can we expect more ESB figures, vehicles, etc. to commemorate the upcoming anniversary Of Empire? Some more Hothy rebel troopers, officers, and a re release of the Target UBP turret would be great. There will be some more celebration of EpV beyond what we have talked about, including at least one from your list. Stay tuned! 2. Is there a reason designers of the SW figures don't follow the example of the Joe designers and use a standard-sized neck-ball? Also, with SW arms being *almost* the same as Joe arms, why not make that little design change and give us more compatibility? Having Joe and SW figures closer in compatibility would let us customizers have a much wider field to play in. Are there manufacturing drawbacks to this approach that we don't know about? The simple answer is that while GI Joe uses a standard articulation "buck", Star Wars is different for every single figure. As such, the sculptors create the figure with the aesthetics they need to achieve the best results. We are trying to better control the ball-size for future compatibility,. It is something we have heard time and time again from the customizing community. 3. I am wanting to know why the new Fi Skirata (Republic Commando) in the new Clone Commando Evolutions packs was not given the full superarticulated treatment? He was given knee and ankle articulation, bringing him up to what we thought was a great figure. If there is anything that could be added, it would be ball and socket shoulders. However, that would have required a new torso and in effect it would be a 100% new figure, which we did not have tooling for. September 10, 2009 1. Dear Hasbro, I realize that the last wave of Mighty Muggs will be exclusive to TRU, but can you let on as to when they should be on shelf and which four will make up the last wave? Also, if they do well at retail will we see any additional waves in 2010? Actually, there will be no exclusive wave of Mighty Muggs at Toys 'R Us. There was to be another wave (including Ashoka), but they were canceled and they will not ship. Instead, Toys 'R Us is continuing them as an exclusive while we work through the excess stock. Even if they do well there are no more plans for Mighty Muggs 2. Dear Hasbro, The Clone Wars Republic Fighter Tank vehicle looks great. Any chance we'll see a repaint on this vehicle with an Imperial paint scheme and markings like it appears in the Battlefront II game? There is certainly a possibility that we could use this vehicle again to produce other versions. We have had our eye on the Battlefront II version but do not have it slotted into the lineup anywhere yet. Dear Hasbro, Looking at my Qui-gon and Eopie Redemption Certificate, I am wondering if you can provide us a list of which figure's upc codes will count towards the redemption? We have heard that saga Legends, CW, and Legacy UPCs from last year will work also. I take it that Droid Factory, Evolutions, and comic pack UPCs are a no-go? The redemption will work for any of the Star Wars basic figures: Legacy/Droid Factory, Saga Legends, or Clone Wars. Since the Asst #(87535, 87995, and 87638) has remained the same from the blue/white package transition to the red/white, you may use any basic figure from these assortments. However, only UPC codes from these three basic figure SKUs will be honored; no other UPC from any other Hasbro Star Wars item will be accepted. August 20, 2009 1. Dear Hasbro, Will the new two seater AT-ST be released with two drivers or can we assume you will release a ROTJ Legacy or Legends Figure Wave with an AT-ST driver so we can man up that awesome looking atst? While the AT-ST comes with one driver fo the release, we are looking at releasing a carded AT-ST driver within the next couple of years. 2. Dear Hasbro, The new Target Two packs with the fold down droids look sweet and one immediately thinks of a droid gunship and an MTT. Is there any hope of getting either one? We're glad you like the changes! We added the articulation to the Battle Droid not so much to be compatible with any future vehicles, but because we feel the Battle Droids needed this kind of upgrade and it does allow for those who want to produce custom displays showcasing the awesomness of these droids, to do so. While we'd love to see it, the MTT is something that we just don't see getting to due to the sheer size and the fact it's a Separatist vehicle, which is much riskier at those price points. If it is featured priomonently in the Clone Wars animation, we would consider it. The Gunship is something that is much more likely because it could be done in a more approachable size. 3. Dear Hasbro, We have all noticed the New Legacy Nikto with the great looking gun. This gun seems to have a clasp that might be made to grip onto a handrail. Could we expect to possibly see an updated Sail barge or Desert Skiff for the future? We did design that just in case we had a future vehicle for it to clasp on to, but we do not have plans to pursue either vehicle you mention. The Sail Barge remains perhaps our top "wish list" vehicle, but unless this bad boy gets some serious time in Clone Wars or a future TV show, we would not pursue it. It's just too big, expensive, and relatively obscure to be a success. August 10, 2009 1. Dear Hasbro, We are all really liking the new Hoth Rebel Soldier from the Legacy Empire Strikes Back wave. Several Shipyards members have noticed a rather wide stance in the leg portion that makes him a no brainer to ride a taun taun. Would there be any likelihood that we will see a new taun taun as a battlepack or multifigure pack in the future, perhaps similar to the gelagrub battlepack that is coming out? We did not design the Rebel Soldier with a new Tauntaun in mind. By now you have seen our update on the Dewback, and we hope that it meets your approval. We would like to take a similar approach to the Tauntaun and are indeed working on one for 2010. No details yets on how it willcome out, but odds are that it will be an exclusive. Stay tuned! 2. Dear Hasbro, We have seen pictures of the new Y-Wing prototype. Does the droid socket fit a regular size droid completely? Yes, the new Y-Wing will fit a droid completely. By now, you have seen the pics from Comic-Con and we hope that this amazing vehicle meets your approval and will find a place in your collection this Fall. 3. Dear Hasbro, We have seen pictures of the upcoming TRU exclusive Crumb Bomber gunship and I was wondering if you could give us a clue or a pic of the paint apps on the upcoming Walmart exclusive gunship? By now, you have seen pictures of this one from Comic-Con, from multiple angles and better than we can supply - we hope they meet your satisfaction. If not, let us know and we'll see what we can do. Thanks for the interest! July 06, 2009 1. Dear Hasbro, We have heard rumors of a newly tooled ATST being released this fall. Can you tell us what price point we are looking at for this item, and if possible, will it include driver figures or inspire the release of a 2 or more driver battlepacks to man up the ATST? And will it be released in either an Empire Strikes Back or Return of the Jedi theme (we would love a little sneak pic if possible please)? No information has or will be released on any future vehicles or creatures. Both mainline and exclusive, until Comic Con. We will say that you will be very pleased with the selection we have on tap. 2. Dear Hasbro, With the increasing sophistication in figures, particularly in the excellent articulation, will Hasbro be revisiting any other older figures for a revamp, like was done with the ESB Hoth Rebels and Ugnaughts? Examples would include: ANH Uncle Owen, Aunt Beru, her Service Droid, Wuher, Naboo Security, Bespin Security, Sebulba, and so on. Yes, we will be looking at some of these periodically and at least one significant figure from your list will be coming this Fall. As for the rest, they are not high on our list and will be much longer-term options for us - especially Wuher whom we think is most in need of an upgrade. It's unlikely that we'll get to Sebulba - in our opinion that Dug is still a sharp figure and would not see redoing him as a priority 3. Dear Habro, I have noticed that some of your not yet released Clone Wars figures have been showing up for sale on ebay. Some are listed as official Hasbro figures and some are listed as customs, but obviously are not. Some are loose and one, Commander Ponds, are MOC. I am talking about Gree, Bly, Thire, Ponds, and Droidbait coming from Hong Kong, Malaysia, and the Phillipines. Are these figures already released in these countries and not in the US yet? We are including a few examples of sample ebay auctions for reference that can be searched through ebay. We cannot comment on these auctions, but we do keep our eye out. We do take appropriate actions with authorities to ensure the integrity of the chain of custody of our pre-production and prototype figures remains intact. February 27, 2009 1. I'm wondering if there will be any kind of 'premium format figures coming out in 2009. What I mean here is a line, similar to the vintage collection of a few years ago, made up of figures where you pull out all the stops (super articulation, the best sculpts, accessories that you may not be able to include at the basic figure price point). If not this year, could you see this kind of line possibly becoming a reality at some point in the future? Thanks for the question, Pat. We actually don't see this as a segment on our horizon, primarily because the default for the basic figure line is pretty much Vintage-style super-articulation already, or close enough to the point where a premium price compared to the basic figure is unwarranted. Our plan is to maintain the premium articulation at the current figure price point for as long as we can, as long as we can contain costs coming out of the factories. If Vintage does make a return, and we are seriously evaluating it, it would likely be at the same price as the current line and will encompass more than the OTC but would encompass all of the films (as well as all non-Clone Wars EU). 2. Are there any 2-1B medical droids slotted into the build a droid lineup? Several variations could be made such as a new version of the Empire Strikes Back droid, a repaint in the Droids animated series color scheme, and a holographic version like the one in the Clone Wars movie. We just recently released a new 2-1B, and do not have plans to release one in the buildable format in the 2009 Droid line. Perhaps farther down the road in some capacity it would be a fun addition, but there are no plans right now. 3. I would love to know if there are any McQaurrie concept vehicles coming? Please, please make the walker first if you ever do one! Sorry to disappoint, but there are no plans for McQuarrie vehicles on the horizon. January 30, 2009 1. Do you have any plans to release the Separatist Boarding Craft aka Pod Hunter in the Clone Wars 3D vehicle line? No plans for that one right now. 2. I would like to know if there are any OTC ships (especially TESB) planned for Legacy this coming year? There are no new brand-new OTC ships scheduled for '09, but there are going to be some dynamite exclusive versions of classic vehicles if the schedules hold. We'll have more information on those at Comic Con. 3. Do you have any plans to release the Firefighter Battle Droid from the Destroy Malevolence episode of Clone Wars in the Clone Wars 3D line? Yes indeed he will be coming, but likely not before the end of this year. December 19, 2008 1. Will we be getting Nute Gunray and Wat Tambor figures in the Clone Wars 3D line? Right now, there are no plans to do these figures in the Clone Wars line. 2. What are the chances of a Bacta Tank General Grievous being released in a comic two pack from the Visionaries comic story The Eyes of Revolution, accompanied with say a new San Hill sculpt and a Nexu cub as an accessory? Very slim that we would do a transitional version of Grievous like that. We have already done a pre-Cyborg Grievous which is a better figure choice, so if we ever did reprint that story, this figure would be a better choice to pair with someone. 3. Is the Super Vulture Droid that's being released in the Clone Wars 3D line the same thing as the Hyena Droid Bomber? No, the Hyena Bomber Droid is a unique ship. The "Super Vulture Droid" is a larger and more true-to-scale version of the Vulture Droid. We use the word "super" in this case to describe its size and function as compared to the original Vulture Droid. December 05, 2008 1. Hasbro, I know we just got a holographic vader with the saga2 line, which I bought and loved. Still, I was wondering if we could get a holographic vader that was superarticulated or at least in the pose (hands on hips) he is in when he is demanding a report on the Shield Generator during the Battle of Hoth from The Empire Strikes Back? Would there also be any chance we could get this same pose in the Ulimate Unleashed Battle Pack format? Right now, we don't have plans to offer another holo version of Vader. If we do release another one, your suggestion of making it a more articulated version to recreate certain scenes makes a lot of sense. As for a light-up base to highlight holo figures, we have looked at this but feel that the audience for this is very limited. We'll continue to look at possibilities, though. Finally, regarding the Unleashed 2" figures, we plan to stick with pretty Clone Wars for this line with one important OTC addition - a Bounty Hunters pack coming in early 2009 2. Can we ever expect to see figures of the Gossam Commando and Koorivar Fusilier? No plans for either of these. Regarding the Gossam Commandos, their primariy appearance (In StarWars.com webstrips) has not been reprinted so we could not do them as a comic pack. As for the Koorivar soldiers, we will not be pursuing any additional background figures from the Clone Wars Microseries, with one exception. 3. Will the General Whorm Loathsom figure you confirmed for us be coming with his assistant bunny droid? Loathsom is a large figure himself who comes with some additional accessories, so we were not able to get the assistant droid in there. Maybe someday, in another form, we'll get to the droid. October 17, 2008 1. I have heard of numerous stories where there were inadequate supplies of the Game Stop Exclusive Stormtrooper Commander figures on hand for those who bought the game. I haven't heard of one store who stocked more than a dozen of these figures to be honest. Knowing that part of the issue was not Hasbros, are there any plans to send Game Stop more figures or are there any future plans to release this figure again as part of a legends or basic carded wave? Not only was the problem not ours, we had nothing to do with distribution and did not know the dispensation of this figure until the Friday before the on-sale date for the TFU game. We scrambled to get the word out once we learned, but it was too late to do anything but inform at that point. We do have plans to get this figure back out there, possibly as early as Comic Con next year. 2. There are SO many great characters from The Force Unleashed game that beg for their own card. Are we going to see any Incinerator Troopers, Shadow EVO Troopers, Kazdan Paratus, or even the giant Phase Troopers? Maybe a 2-Pack of Phase Troopers as a battlepack? I know that the incinerator troopers and shadow troopers are in the Wal-Mart exclusive 3-Packs, but will we see these on their own cards? 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. We are looking at a way of getting the TFU Stormtrooper Commander back out and available, possibly for Comic Con next year. 3. Any idea when we'll see more speeders? Luke's landspeeder should be about due for a re-release or upgrade since it hasn't been available for several years, as well as upgraded versions of Anakin and Zam's speeders from Episode II. And please, please, please consider Boba Fett's Silver Speeder too! It's about time for Boba's other vehicle! (Please see pic at http://www.droidsandewoks.com/silver_speeder.htm) Speeders are admittedly less of a priority for us while we concentrate on more "aggressive" new vehicles and upgrades to key creatures. We are sure at some point we will re-release Luke's speeder, however. The others are highly unlikely to ever be re-released or upgraded. Thanks for making us aware of Boba's speeder. As cool as it is, it stands a very low chance of seeing the light of day unless it shows up somewhere in future entertainment. September 26, 2008 1. As you probably know, Darth Andeddu has now made several appearances in comics (Republic and Legacy). Any chance he could be under consideration for a future comic pack? He's still a very minor player. While there are no plans for him, we do have some great plans for other characters from Legacy and Republic. 2. Greetings Hasbro. I just wanted to say, you guys are doing a great job with the Star Wars toys. You guys were meant to make them. Anyways, I have a dying question to ask and hope that you can give me a concrete answer. Will we ever see a soft good cloak and articulated Jawa anytime soon? I know you guys will return to the "vintage" line again but what new approach will you take on this awesome line? Are you guys gonna take the same approach as your classic GI-JOE figures? Thanks! Right now we don't have any plans for a soft goods or more articulated Jawa in the short term. There is not much more you would want to do with them in articulation in any case so we'll probably stick with the current level, and explore the soft goods if/when we reintroduce Vintage. 3. You showed us two great looking "Clone Scouts" who reported intell on the Monastery. Are we gonna see both of these figures show up in the animated line? Especially the commander? We do have plans for the Scouts at some point next year in the Animated line. September 06, 2008 1. Hasbro, given the newly established and corrected scale of ewok figures, how long are we going to have to wait for a corrected Wicket or Logray for that matter? Given that Wicket is the most prominent of all the ewoks, he would seem to demand an upgrade. They are on the "short list" (ha ha!) of Ewoks that we would like to do soon. Soon in this case means in the next 1-2 years, so we are confidentthat your patience will be rewarded. 2. Hasbro, is there a chance that we will be seeing that single pilot imperial shuttle looking troop transport from the new clone wars movie? I would love to add that ship to my collection and it would not be too hard to reproduce to actual 3 3/4 figure scale. That is actually a *huge* vehicle. Right now we have no plans to do that one, since some other more overtly "aggressive" and less shuttle-like vehicles are in our sites. If it continues to remain prevalent in the entertainment, and sees more action than just shuttling troops, then at some point we will consider it again. 3. The rumor mill is running full-tilt about the 10th Anniversary of The Phantom Menace. You have "hinted" that if the AT-TE and the BMF were a success that you may have plans for another "super-sizing". It was mentioned on Yodasnews.com that you are waiting until after the Holiday rush to determine the full impact of these large-scale vehicles. That being said, would it now be possible to get some more information as to the identity of any new supersized ships you have on the drawing board? We will not be releasing any more info at this time, for two reasons: 1. We have yet to get through the holiday season, and 2. We will be unveiling the news of the 2009 Fall line at Toy Fair and other toy events starting in early 2009. You'll have to wait until then for concrete news on our next vehicle plans. One thing we can confirm is that there will NOT be big vehicle news regarding the Phantom Menace. August 15, 2008 1. As I'm sure you are aware, there are a significant number of fans of the earlier Star Wars TV programs, such as the Holiday Special, Droids, Ewoks and the Ewok movies. Your response in various Q&A's has been that if any figures are ever to be made from these shows, that they would most likely have to be exclusives. That is very understandable, since the characters from these shows from the 70's and 80's may not be as familiar to younger collectors. Now if these could only work as exclusives, how about this for an idea: Make a 4 or 5 pack of figures, one figure from each of the above mentioned shows, possibly with the inclusion of the original Clone Wars, and sell them online at the Star Wars Shop. It could be like an 'Evolution of Star Wars on TV'. Maybe a collecting website (I know we would be more than happy to host such a poll!) or websites could run a poll for fans to select their top figure choices for each show. Sure, a set like this> wouldn't appeal to every single collector, but it would sure make each and every fan of these classic Star Wars shows very happy, plus it would be giving something to all of us nostalgic old-timers in one swoop! Please don't forget the fans of classic Star Wars TV! Our mode of operation would favor multi-figure sets centered around a theme, and in this case the better approach would be to just do a multi-figure Droids or Ewoks set (we cannot approach the Holiday Special). Right now, there is nothing on the drawing board. We are interested in looking at these at some point, but we need to have the right retail partner, and the number of tools required remains a severe challenge to sets like this. 2. Will we be getting a figure of General Whorm Loathsom in the Clone Wars line? Why yes, yes you will. 3. Although you have said you highly doubt Xandel Carivus Bodyguards seeing plastic, I was interested in your reply to a question on rebelscum that said... "We feel the Crimson Empire storyline and its sequel, Crimson Empire II, written by Mike Richardson and Randy Stradley, is an exceptional, lasting storyline worthy of attention. CE not only tells a great "origin" story for the Royal Guards, explaining why they are supremely skilled and unfailingly loyal to the Emperor, but also introduces important and memorable characters in Kir Kanos, Carnor Jax, and Mirrith Sinn." So my question is can we continue to see more figures from the Crimson Empire series, and if so will I finally see the light at the end of the tunnel to see Xandel's Bodyguards made? We certainly hope to do additional Crimson Empire-themed sets in the future. The most likely possibility is through Comic Packs. We would not rule out Xandel's Bodyguards…they remain in the "parking lot" for consideration, although there are many worthy packs in there that would probably be ahead of them. July 11, 2008 1. Several sites last round had asked questions about the B-Wing Exclusive and its pilot, and each of those sites (including our own!) were given that question back blank. What's the story?!?! Now we're more curious than ever! The reasons is because people were asking about leaked images, which we do not condone, and it caused us to reexamine our policy on this issue. In the future, we will not be commenting on images that are leaked from unofficial sources. 2. What happened with the price of the G.I. Joe figures? They went up from $4.99 to $6.89 almost overnight. With Star Wars, you tell us you have to pay for the license, and that cost gets rolled into the price point of the toys, but you own the G.I. Joe line all you own. The price point of $4.99 was a huge bonus for fans and collectors. We don't comment on any other lines except Star Wars and Indiana Jones. When it comes to pricing for any line, many factors come into play for both Hasbro and retailers and prices could change at any time. 3. Recently, Amazon.com listed another wave of Clone Wars figures, including Ahsoka. This looks to be an exciting character in this new series. Can you confirm if she is going to get made in an upcomming wave? Any chance we can see a prototype or mock up of her? She will indeed be in Wave 2, and she is one great figure. However, right now we can't share any images as they are part of an upcoming feature. Stay tuned! June 20, 2008 1. Seeing as a lot of people seem to like the old Kenner color scheme of Han Solo in his Hoth outfit (blue coat!), I'm wondering if there has ever been any thought to making more modern versions of characters based on the Kenner designed color schemes and costumes. You've made Blue Snaggletooth and Hoth Han, but there are still a lot of interesting choices out there as well: Greedo's all green Kenner outfit, Walrusman's orange and blue outfit with flippers, Hammerhead's blue shirt, Anakin Skywalker's grey Jedi robes, and Boba Fett's Kenner colors. These could be some fun variants for collectors thar are nostalgic about the good old days! Beyond the legendary ones you have singled out (Snaggletoooth and Han), we think there is a pretty steep drop-off in how "iconic" those really are and think we are better off leaving those rather interesting color choices as vintage curiosities. That is a very interesting idea, but one we probably won't act on...although we have learned to never say never in the world of Star Wars figures! 2. Assumimg we see a badly needed update for a hoth rebel soldier, any chance of seeing any more of the Echo base personnel to stand (and please sit as well) alongside our Carlist Rieken, Pharl McQuarrie, and Major Bren Derlin? Command center officers, hangar crew,and Taun taun stable hands would be fantastic. This is one military organization that is sadly under represented in the modern line thus far. We will eventually turn our attention to more of the Echo base personnel, but it is looking more like 2010 before we'll see some more new Rebels. 3. We've seen a boxed image of the new Dagger Squadron B-Wing, and it looks fantastic. Will there be a pilot included with this item, and if so, can we get a sneak peek at it? (Hasbro did not answer this question)