Toy Bender

Hasbro has graciously answered tons of annoying questions and I’ve compiled some of the best/most interesting again. You know you want it! Don’t make me make you beg.

ActionFigs.com opens up a question that the picky and nerdy will appreciate:

ActionFigs.com: A great debate is now raging in the halls of Star Wars collectordom over your battle damaged Darth Vader figure from The Force Unleashed, some folks dig it while others revile it for various reasons. While most of the disagreements can be chalked up to differences in points of view (like why Vader’s mask eye lens is well above his human eye, what’s up with that?), there’s one aspect to the figure which nobody can fathom: Vader’s left foot. Granted, Vader got really tore up here, but why did that make his foot noticeably bigger than the boot on his right foot, isn’t this left foot supposed to go IN the boot? What’s the reasoning for this (real-world justification?), and what’s your in-universe excuse (TARDIS boot?)?

Hasbro: Now that you point it out, it does look odd that the left foot is as large or larger than the right. We just didn’t think about that proportionality when we sculpted him. We were thinking mainly of the thickness needed for the part to function properly and to support Vader’s weight. However, we don’t really know if the “boot” is really a boot he pulles on; it could have been just a thin covering that was torn away, so the difference may not be really all that great at all.

Oh you sneaky Hasbro! Way to pull out the “Vader’s boot isn’t really a boot” excuse. Seriously though, when I saw this figure in the store I didn’t think it was that hideously bad sculpting wise. I thought it was bad for the Star Wars franchise to show that Vader can get his ass handed to him when I grew up thinking he was an unbeatable badass.

Cool Toy Review has our first Indiana Jones question of this round:

Cool Toy Review: Is there a chance that we will get the boulder trap from the Chachapoyan temple scene in ROTLA? That would make an awesome playset, or perhaps a “build a playset” series. It’s an iconic Indy action scene!

Hasbro: It’s just too big to deliver as a playset. We did look at it, and had some cool ideas on how to deliver it, but decided to hold off on it.

Too big to deliver as a playset? What the hell kind of attitude is that? You’d never hear Kenner say that. (Yes, I’m trying to goad Hasbro into making bigger and better playsets. Nothing else seems to work.)

The next Indiana Jones toy question comes from Jedi Defender:

JediDefender: Most folks are gobbling up the German Truck, Troop Car, and Russian Jungle Cutter from the Indy vehicles line. What can we expect to see from the vehicle line as the summer goes by? Will we have to wait long for something new to join the line or should we settle into expecting just those three for the summer?

Hasbro: That will be it for the vehicles until later in the Fall. It’s still too early to tell when the next one will be available, but we should have more info at Toy Fair.

Toy Fair? That’s like months and months away. The line will probably be dead by then.

Indiana Jones fansite Well of Souls asked:

Well of Souls: Will the indy figure included in the Temple of Doom wave have the missing sleeve and ripped shirt as seen on the rope bridge?

Hasbro: Yes he will. We will have the full wave of Temple of Doom figures at Comic Con for everyone to ogle in person (or experience vicariously online as we release our presentation to the sites in attendance).

Torn shirtsleeve? I’d be happy if he just looked like Indiana Jones.

Now back to Star Wars! Galactic Hunter asks a oddly dumb question:

Galactic Hunter: “And for clarity, here’s the count as of last night. The Carbondale, IL Wal*Mart still has 21 yellow Naboo Soldiers & 14 black Endor Soldiers. [That's] almost 5 pegs (out of 8 total for basic SW figures) are figures that are almost 2 years old now.” — Could someone send a Hasbro Retail Rep out there to round those up? We have no idea where Carbondale, IL is, but we’re sure it’s an important market. Is there going to be any sort of culling old stock before Legacy Collection and Clone Wars debut?

Hasbro: On the basic figure situation, retailers are discontinuing both the 87500 30th and 85770 Saga Legends SKUs before the 7/26 changeover. This means that any inventory left at the end of the period - like the Carbondale Pile-Up - will be cleared out to make room for the new Clone Wars animated, Legacy/Droid Factory, and new Saga Legends. They may linger a bit but they will not get in the way of bringing in all new items tracked against the new Assortment numbers.

Wait, wait, wait. How is an overstock issue Hasbro’s problem? Isn’t it up to the stores to try to get rid of their wares? I love how people have no concept of how the world works.

Jedi Insider asks a question about big vehicles:

JediInsider: If the BMF turns out to be a huge success like we all hope it does and you were given the greenlight to choose another classic vehicle to re-design, what vehicle would you choose?

Hasbro: We have a pretty good idea what vehicle we’d choose next to redo, but rather than get everyone excited we’ve decided to keep mum and take the “wait and see” approach. If the Millennium Falcon is successful, we hope it will definitely lead to some “bigger” opportunities.

What’s your guess for another big vehicle? I really can’t come up with one that would have the mass appeal that the Falcon enjoys. Most of the fighters are pretty decent sized now and most of the other ships I’m thinking of are much, much too large to make into a good sized toy. I guess it’s too much to hope for a house sized Star Destroyer, right?

Sandtroopers.com asks a question or tells their life story. I’m not sure which:

SandTroopers: Prior to RotS, I remember a time when I and many collectors groaned when Hasbro would find a new way to release yet another Tatooine Luke in its basic wave year after year. Obviously Tatooine Luke is a core character that should be trotted out for the sake of kids and new collectors, but for older collectors we had already bought him ten times over and were sick of him. After RotS, it seems as if Darth Vader is the new “Tatooine Luke” as he has been issued over and over again in so many forms short of the eventual Funeral Pyre Vader. Yes, it’s true - kids love Vader, he’s also a core character that needs to be trotted out no matter how often we collectors groan and whine. But still, even kids will eventually have all the Vaders they could want too.

Now that brings me to 2007, when despite swearing I’d never buy another Tatooine Luke again, I bought three of him because Hasbro gave us the best pack-in that any collector would have to be a fool to turn down (moisture vaporators!!!). Is that the same direction that Darth Vader is headed in then? I’m running low when I try to come up with any other way that Hasbro could issue another Vader in the years to come given that we’ve got hologram. battle-damaged, silver, and even a White Vader now. I have 12 SA Vaders already and I’d have to think that unless he came with a pack-in Death Star playset the next time, it’s getting very hard for Hasbro to sell me just one more.

Hasbro: That is true, it is becoming harder to upgrade/innovate on a Vader beyond what we think is the greatest Vader yet - the upcoming version removable helmet. Vader is still, by a good margin, the most popular Star Wars character and future generations of kids who will enter the franchise through Clone Wars or other avenues will still want to be able to get Vader as well. So we’ll need to keep looking for those interesting hooks or accessories to make him new and interesting; barring that, then the greatest hits or Saga Legends route is even more important to keep him in ample rotation without “forcing” long-time collectors to get a figure they already have.

Ha ha! Forcing! Anyway, Darth Vader is Darth Vader. Either you have him or you don’t. I don’t even think Hasbro expects you to buy all of them.

Rebelscum asks a question about a vehicle:

Rebelscum: In various replies by Hasbro we received several times the answer that the Cloud Car would not look “agressive enough” to be a success.

Hasbro: Compared to all other vehicles we could do, we feel that the Cloud Car is visually uninteresting, has the least on-screen action, and would be perceived as the most boring (i.e. not aggressive looking) to boys compared to anything else we could do. The Twin Pod Cloud Car is probably the vintage vehicle that is the most plentiful and can be made the cheapest as well. You can pick them up for $15 and under - much less than the price we’d need to command for a new one.

This is the first time I’ve ever seen Hasbro say, “Hey, just buy one of the old vehicles.” In this case, I think they might be right. It’s not like a new one is going to be any much different than the old one, except maybe it would carry the pleasant scent of fresh plastic.

Well, that’s all for now folks. I hope you’ve been enlightened or at least mildly entertained.