June 2008 - Every couple of weeks, Hasbro will answer three questions per web site about their Star Wars products. Here are the questions and answers for the latest round:
1. Has there been any talks at Hasbro about cross-pollination or unification of their various properties outside of transformers hybrids or Mighty Muggs? Among Indiana Jones, GI Joe, and Star Wars, each property can benefit from each other's strengths. I would love to see GI Joe's articulation with Star Wars' character selection and discriminating detail (scale, overall correct body proportion, and vintage accuracy) and Indiana Jones' "collect them all" secret gimmick inserts, removable hands, original adventure diaramas, and brilliant vehicle/rider execution. As children, my brother and I loved playing with all of my toys in one imaginary universe. Joe, Super Powers, et al. It's one company, and I know budgets vary, but any chance of this happening?
Answer: We have no plans to change the articulation model of the Star Wars line to match what GI Joe is doing. While the Joe figures are great, we think that the realistic approach we have been following is the best way to accommodate both the aesthetics we are looking for and articulation that makes each figure come alive. It's just a stylistic choice. As for some of the neat features of the IJ line, we have been looking to bring some of them into the Star Wars line, including more vehicle/rider combos (look for them in the Battle Pack lineup starting this Fall) as well as in the long-term the possibility of bringing the dioramas into the vehicle segment. The "collect them all" idea which was started with the 30th Anniversary coins continues in spirit with the Legacy/Droid Factory figures, and from that standpoint the teams have defintely inspired on another to produce running themes that are core to the fantasy of each line and really exicte people to collect them all.
2. So, the comic packs are a success in my books. As an EU fan, the inclusion of these packs actually kept me continuing to purchase figures. That said, I realized that perhaps there is more potential for the comic packs than one would consider.
As it stands right now, an approximate retail of $9.99 gets you 2 figures and a comic. But as great as this is, fans are forgetting what $9.99 also used to get us, i.e. deluxe-sized vehicles and accessory packs. So to cut to the chase... How about some comic packs that rather than focus on 2 characters, focus on characters and their vehicles or some other large accessory, or perhaps larger EU characters that are too big for conventional packaging? The potential for it is there, the best example being Jix from Shadows of the Empire. His swoop has already been made (although given to a nameless thug that was produced in-house), and EU fans often have him and other SotE characters listed high on their want lists. Some other examples:
- Boba Fett (Cam Kennedy style) and Speeder Bike from Boba Fett: Bounty on Bar-Kooda
- Dash Rendar and swoop from Shadows of the Empire
- Big Gizz from and swoop from Shadows of the Empire
- Ry-Kooda and his little kronie from Boba Fett: When the Fat Lady Swings
- Celeste Morne and the Sith Torture chamber (plus the locker containing it) from the current Vector mini-series.
Answer: We're glad you share our enthusiam for the comic packs. They are one of our favorite sublines as well, and it's nice to be able to pay homage to some truly legendary Star Wars EU stories. While your idea is a very good one, the days of $9.99 vehicle/figure combos are unfortunately long gone as we just can't get this idea to cost out. We can afford them in Battle Packs because of the economy of scale, but not at the Comic Pack pricepoint. Also, given the expense of the tooling requried for the bikes, it's unlikely that we would tool up these relatively obscure bikes themselves. This will have to remain a wish list dream.
3. Three of the most prominent main characters in the expanded universe novels are young female human padawans: Etain (Republic Commando), Starstone (Darth Vader: Rise of the Dark Lord), and Scout (Yoda: Dark Rendezvous). We have never seen a young human female padawan that could be used to fill the role of any of these important characters. Will we ever see a generic female padawan figure? Also, what about human male younglings, such as the ones Anakin kills in Revenge of the Sith? We've had youngling figures in the past, but they were aliens.
Answer: Interesting suggestion. There are some new human younglings coming in 2009 in a very special pack, including at least one female. However, they will not be on basic figure cards. More details will be available in early-to-mid 2009.
