#75: The Answers 11/16/09

[YAK_Jayson]

Here are the answers to the questions submitted back on 10/23/09:

Q1: It has been many moons since we heard that the Galactic Heroes AT-AT Imperial Walker was put on hold for a possible 2010 release. Has there been any progress made as to when and where this ultra-cool (and fun) set will be released and has there been a preliminary pricepoint established? It has also been revealed that there is a GH Clone Wars Y-wing coming - are there any Separatist companion vehicles like a Vulture Droid or AAT Tank in the pipeline? And finally, Anakin's Twilight Spice Frieghter continues to see heavy rotation in the animated Clone Wars series, will it too be realized in GH form for us soon?

A1: Thanks for the Galactic Heroes questions. We don't get many of them but the little guys on our desk jump up and down in excitement when we do. Good news on the AT-AT - it is back into the lineup for Fall 2011. While we don't have any of the others you mentioned in the works, we'd like to get to an AAT someday - it would be a great addition. The Twilight just remains too big to tackle, and it's very doubtful that we'll get to it. You never know, though....it would make for a cute vehicle when done in GH-style.

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Q2: First off, I commend you for the awesome execution regarding the Dewback with Sandtrooper - is it a fantastic upgrade to one of my favorite Star Wars beast of burden. Speaking of beasties, would you be able to confirm a swirling rumor for us? We've heard that Hasbro is looking to release an all new Jabba but we've also heard that there is the potential for a new Tauntaun in the works for '10 - is there some credibility to this rumor? Whether you can confirm this or not, if there was one in the works, would it be worked into same assortment pricepoint as the Dewback or more along the lines of the Clone Wars figure w/vehicle price structure? Again, if there was a new Tauntaun in the works, would/could it include the split open belly feature to protect Luke from the harsh Minnesota Hoth climate.

A2: We can confirm that there is a new Jabba in the works for 2010. We have been working on this one for a long time now, and have finally lined it up for an exclusive at a major retailer. However, we can confirm that there is not a new Tauntaun in development for 2010. We looked at the possibility, but then had to pull the plug on it. There's a possibility it could come back into the 2011 line. Sorry to disappoint for next year.

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Q3: With the establishment of the figure w/vehicle assortment for the Clone Wars line, we can't help but wonder (and hope) for something similar for the Legacy line. One item collectors are requesting is a revisit of the Anti-Vehicle Laser Cannon (the small one that looks like a radar dish) from the battle of Hoth. Any chance we could see this item return to shelves as it would be the perfect opportunity to get that pesky beardless Hoth Trooper into our hands.

A3: That would be a good solution to get the beardless Hoth Trooper out there, but there are no plans to broaden the Deluxe Figure and Vehicle line into movie-based items. That does not mean that some cool OTC things won't be coming next year - it's just that we have to find other ways of doing them.

[darth_sidious]

Great Jabba news! Its also cool to hear that they are working on the Taun Taun for 2011 - they could probably pack 2 of them into an exclusive BP at the $30 pricepoint, and retool a Luke & Han.

[Eopie Herder]

It's awesome that Jabba officially has a home. Not that it really had that much of a chance of getting passed over, but with the economy who knows.

[YAK_Chewie]

I'm certainly looking forward to more on Jabba. I just hope they can somehow work his dais in as well.

Regarding the Hoth cannon, I think they should consider that for a deluxe with the beardless trooper... seems like a no-brainer. I guess we'll have to wait and see. I also hope they look at putting the larger Hoth turret back out from the UBP...

Maybe this is what they should do - repack it with the new Taun Taun, a new radar dish, and a few beardless troopers.

[JesseVader08]

No GH AT-AT until 2011? Ah, poop.

[YAK_Chewie]

They're saving it for the offspring of a giant BMF style AT-AT from 2010... I can hope, right?

[Paulskywalker]

I can't take it no more with all this $%*!@!!!

Last night i thought argh! they say were getting a new Tauntaun and now they say were not, but today yet again i read more absurd answers on other sites about the usual pricing, distribution, quality and now UK doesn't have a market for movie figures. A couple of Q&A's back i was angry with their answers, but i thought no i need to concentrate on Uni now and all that i have to do for it and left commenting, but now with this latest rubbish i just don't feel it anymore.

Sure i collect still and love the cartoon but i just don't have the heart to chat much anymore about Hasbro and even other things. I keep saying I have loads of pics and i haven't got round to them because of Uni but it's just that i can't be arsed anymore and that is saying something considering i swear i would never fault in collecting and am vocal against Hasbro rubbish; i won't stop collecting but my purchasing is slowing.

[darth_sidious]

I understand where you're coming from - I think we all like Hasbro SW products, but we arent all fans of Hasbro as a company sometimes. Action figures based on the movies are the foundation of the line and the reason it has survived in the toy market over the years, but their mismanagement certainly makes me wonder what the future holds for collector oriented products.

I understand your frustration though, I enjoy collecting - but when you cant even find the products you want to buy due to distribution problems and lack of availability - its a serious business problem for both Hasbro and consumers. The higher prices, along with a huge variety of sub-lines is also something thats bringing collectors down. I think Hasbro should sit down and see how they can mange the collector oriented line(s) better so they thrive and bring in more collectors, rather than push them away.

[YAK_Chewie]

I understand your frustration completely... collecting this line is getting more frustrating every year and I blame most of it on Hasbro.

From where I stand, basing this off personal experience and reading reports around the various fan sites, they are terribly mismanaging the sublines like the Droid Factory Exclusives and Comic Packs with terrible figure selection... it's amazing how they can miscalculate the market so poorly. And it's not just the economy - they can't expect to package low demand figures of outdated sculpts in the Droid Factory Exclusives, over saturate the market with Rebel Pilots (really, how many of these guys do we need in such a short time span?), continue to overload assortments like the first Clone Wars deluxe wave with mostly repacks, and continue to make weak figure selections in the Legends line. Just because something says STAR WARS on the package doesn't mean we're brainwashed into buying whatever they make. That doesn't cut it.

Hasbro makes so much profit off this line that they need to continue to step up to the plate if they want our money. I have a hell of a lot expenses already and a kid to raise that I am spending money on, so if I'm going to continue to buy myself toys, they need to give me a good reason to. Now, we do get some extremely great stuff from them, but there's also a ton of junk they seem to throw in just to increase their profit margin in items they put very little investment in. All one has to do is look at how bad they mismanaged the Indy line, or overproduced the the first two waves of Joe figures to realize that they aren't as smart as they try to sound in their Q&As... if Star Wars was not so popular, it seems this line would be dead or on life support due to Hasbro's poor management in too many areas. Sure, it's not easy marketing to both kids and adults - it's a tricky strategy. But a company like this should have the research and resources available to avoid so many flops in their product. When they do their homework and produce a nice product, it sells. Why they don't do that more, I don't know.

BTW, did everyone see how their response to this question at http://www.jedidefender.com?

Q) We know that many stores were recently cleared of certain Legacy Collection figures, as confirmed in a previous Q&A. What we're curious about now is that stores in some areas, Wal-Mart especially, have started stocking more of the older wave cases that contain the targeted figures (like Yarna, the Organas, and others). Would you considering doing a second round of clearing now that more of them have found their way out at many locations or do you think you've pulled enough for now?

A) We stopped shipping these older waves, so we're mystified where the figures are coming from. It's possible these are from the retailers own distribution centers. We do not plan another pull of these older figures.

^ I'm ready to bang my head on the keyboard at this point. I think they have some serious work to do internally to get to the bottom of their distribution issues. Wow.

And for the record, as usual the new Legacy lines that DO show up in my area sell out 10 times faster than Clone Wars and 50 times faster than Legends... yet according to Hasbro, Legacy isn't being supported by collectors. I'm really getting burned out from that line from them... the only figures that DON'T seem to sell are the obvious pegwarmers, like a fat ugly half naked lady or a repacked Han Solo with a white belt and new headsculpt.

[StooperZero]

Wow.. what planet they on???

All the Legacy and Legends stuff flies right out the window here, I do my part to make that happen but some stores 1-2 days after the shelves look like they have been looted.

Try finding any part of the Wave needed to build HK-47, CANT they've all been repacked with new BAD parts and not even 2 months has passed.

And the cool figures for the wave you won't see repacked, the Crappy ones will multiply on the Shelves.

You can get whatever you want in Clone wars .

[YAK_Chewie]

I think the only Legends figure that didn't warm pegs over the past year was the Snowtrooper.

[StooperZero]

I think the only Legends figure that didn't warm pegs over the past year was the Snowtrooper.

Here it's all the Jedi Variants.






I stopped in a RITE-AIDE last week and they still had TAC Shocktroppers at the amazing price of $12
LOL

[orbles]

I love the GH series and cant wait for an AT-AT. Now if they would only confirm that they are giving us an AT-AT for the 3 3/4" line next year I would be happy.