Toy Bender

Oh boy, talk about exciting. While I was a bit down and out there was all kinds of toy goodness just waiting to be analyzed and reported on. In this case it’s the “newest” round of Hasbro’s questions to nerdy Star Wars toy questions.

Let’s start off with 4-inches.de, the German Star Wars collecting site that is out to disprove the notion that Germans aren’t gigantic, mouth breathing nerds:

4-inches.de: You stated in a former q&a session, that the scanning technology lacked for the realisation of emotional looking human faces so you have reserved that technology for technical tools and vehicles only. In my opinion the sculpting of the various Padmé figures that have been done so far seems not be quite accurate and do not reflect the pretty face of Natalie Portman. The look of the face regularly seems to be curiously grim or a little bit Victorian, you know? How about a more handsome Padmé face the next time you do that figure?

Hasbro: Good comments, and we can’t disagree with you. While we always have the intention of doing a perfect figure every time, because they are scultped individually for different articulation models, there is some variation in the process. Female figures, especially, seem to be hard to get exact, but as always we seek to learn and refine our techniques.

It disturbs me that someone is this concerned.

ActionFigs.com asks an important figure about Clone Wars series figures:

ActionFigs: With the new Clone Wars line coming up, will you be going back to the original series to make figures for characters who didn’t get them, whether or not they appear in this new CGI series? Figures like Holographic Sidious on walking mechano-chair, Scuba Troopers, Space Clone Troopers, Plo Koon in armor, IG Lancer Droid (perhaps with its swoop bike), General Oro Dassyne all would make good candidates from the first series.

Hasbro: When the new series comes out, our attention and focus will shift to that one exclusively and we will not likely be doing any more figures from the first Clone Wars series. It doesn’t mean we won’t look for opportunities from some of the very cool figures you mention, but it becomes much less likely.

Man, I’d kill to get a Clone ScubaTroopa. Here’s to hoping that there’s at least one underwater scene in the new show featuring them.

Sir Steve’s Guide asks a question that we all haven’t been thinking:

Sir Steve’s Guide: Due to the unpopularity of the character, is it unlikely that Hasbro will revisit Jar Jar Binks with a super articulated figure? He is definitely a character that would warrant such articulation due to his onscreen antics (no matter how obnoxious), and we haven’t seen a new figure of him in quite a while, he could use an upgrade and the kiddies would probably want him.

Hasbro: Before too long we will probably be updating Jar-Jar. From our research, kids still like him and the Gungan concept. We just have to find the opportunity to bring him out.

Seems to me that someone wants a new Jar-Jar Binks and is too afraid to ask directly…

swCollector asks an important question about upcoming figure waves:

swCollector: We’ve received lots of e-mails from collectors that are just not finding the following four figures from wave 5 of the 30th Anniversary Collection line at retail at all: Darth Revan, Darth Malak, Pre-Cyborg Grievous, and McQuarrie Concept Starkiller Hero. They see the other figures from that wave, but these are always gone already. Given the high demand for these four figures–they seem to sell out almost instantly whenever they’re offered on HasbroToyShop.com–can we hope to seem them offered in greater numbers in future refresher cases?

Hasbro: We are not done shipping Wave 5 yet, as of this writing, so there is still some more to come and hopefully there will be an opportunity to get these online. Otherwise, some of the figures will be coming back in future cases, and we will look at opportunities to re-release.

I think Hasbro’s response here should be: “Don’t worry, they’ll be in all stores soon and there will be plenty for everyone. Except for that Paul guy who writes Toy Bender.”

Jedi Defender wants to know about figure availability:

Jedi Defender: It seems like we have a lot of new product coming out all at once. Some of these new waves are not making it to shelves in a lot of places because other figures like the Saga Legends figures are using up the shelf space. Is this something you are aware of, and do you feel confident that the newer waves of 30th Anniversary figures will make their way to shelves in enough numbers that most people will be able to find these figures?

Hasbro: As we have said many times before, the Saga Legends shipments have nothing to do with the shipment of The Anniversary Collection figures, so please put that issue aside. The simple answer is that as the TAC figures sell down, more will be shipped to that retailer. Now, the other issue is the wave compression - there are a good number of waves in a short period of time, and some of the new may be shipped before we are done with the previous. We want all retailers to get a proportionate amount of each wave, but this also means that they might show up at different rates. Hang in there - we are releasing a good amount of each wave and not “shorting” anything, so we are confident it’ll only be a matter of time before they show up at a retailer near you.

Doesn’t it seem like they hit Hasbro’s hot button on that one?

Jedi Defender also asks a question that has been burning in my mind:

Jedi Defender: We have heard that there may be some type of collaboration between Hasbro and Sideshow Toys to bring Star Wars playsets to the shelves. Is there anything at this point you can tell us about this?

Hasbro: There are no further updates on any more Hasbro and Sideshow collaborations. While we have had some good discussions, it has been only that to this point.

All I know is that if this comes to fruition, I’m going to be poor for the rest of my life.

Sandtroopers.com goes on the offensive:

Sandtroopers.com: Why should I buy exclusives when the figures return in 2 years at half the cost most of the time? You are removing the point of these figures being exclusives and paying the higher price point because they are exclusives. By treating fans this way, do you think that the sale of exclusive figures will decline as collectors refuse to pay $15 or more for a figure that will return on a poll and be released for $7? I really hate the fact I bought the lastest Fan’s Choice winners at full price the other year. Doing the packins like Zev and Neyo are one thing as they have not been carded before, but to do it with carded figures that people paid through the nose for is a slap on the face.

Hasbro: You are referring to Convention exclusives for the most part, I believe, since these are usually the ones that are premium priced. Star Wars is one of the most beloved and collected brands out there and this is always a tough choice for us to make. There is often demand from collectors who can’t make the event or get figures otherwise (or if the quantities sell out), who feel left out want to see figures re-released (for instance, the conversations about the CIV/Comic Con exclusives this year). Re-releasing them later is a way for us to help close the gap with demand, but re-releasing in a way so that the packaging is differentiated from the original. This helps the package collector hold onto something unique, but it does test the loose figure collector, as you note. Most of the cases recently have been of the Trooper variety, which we felt better about because we know that folks would like to have multiples, if possible, and wouldn’t mind being able to pick up a couple more to complement the original. This is something that we will weigh carefully going forward each time we make a choice on a fan vote or a “greatest hit” type of offering.

I don’t really understand the reasoning behind this one. Yeah, I understand when you bust your ass to get a convention exclusive and you have a great feeling (or not) of having something sort of special for your efforts to make it to the con and wait in line and all that. The other side of this is that making it to certain conventions is simply unfeasible for a lot of people. If you’re trying to complete a collection then it’s disappointing when you can’t get your hands on one piece. If you are in the prior camp and are asking questions like this, you really sound like an elitist douche.

The Ultra-Geeky Award^TM

It’s the special time that you’ve been waiting for, the time I bestow the esteemed Ultra-Geeky Award^TM to a lucky site! Let’s have the runner up, shall we? ActionFigs.com came the close with this gem:

ActionFigs.com: For some reason, nearly all the Jedi Luke figures have been from Jabba’s Palace with permanent vests. The only Death Star II version in recent memory is the rather unfortunate Saga figure with its rather unfortunate action gimmick, preposed body, and bizarre face sculpt. The newest Jedi Luke (TAC #25) has a cloth vest but it’s not meant to be removed and the costume underneath is incomplete for Death Star II Luke. In ToyFare’s Fans Choice poll, this was the only OT main character - not to mention the only version of Luke - to make the top 25 (and 3 characters who got less votes have already been made as figures now). So, do you have any plans to make a Death Star II Jedi Luke at this point? If not, why has this popular version been continuously overlooked in favor of Jabba’s Palace Luke?

Hasbro: Good point about needing to update him….it’s just that for our theming we have picked different ones. It may be a while still, but hang in there - we will get to him.

First of all that’s got to be one of the weakest answers I’ve ever seen Hasbro give. Secondly, it’s a nice effort put forth by ActionFigs, but the question was missing a couple of vital elements to put it in the realm of the Ultra Geek. Get back to the drawing board, boys. Remember, you have to be long, drawn out, and have a slightly insulting tone. It was a bit insulting, but you’ve got to be both insulting and indigent. Now hop to it!

I don’t think it will come as any surprise when we see who this month’s winner is. Again, Sir Steve’s Guide comes up with one hell of an Ultra Geeky question by being a brutal critic:

Sir Steve’s Guide: While the TAC line has been doing great designs with aliens and armored figures, a lot of fans feel there have been a number of misfires with main characters in this line. Luke Yavin and Luke Tatooine’s headsculpts and decos, Mace Windu’s head, Vintage Leia Endor’s long neck and inaccurate face deco, Lando in smuggler outfit’s new head design and its rolled-back-in-his-head eyes, Vintage Luke Bespin’s likeness, and everything about Han Torture Rack from the odd head to the mismatched proportions of the body. And it’s not like we always need resculpted heads, POTJ Bespin Leia and Early Bird Kit Luke already have superior likenesses. So what is happening here?

Hasbro: Thanks for the comments. In general, there has always been variety to the likenesses 3-3/4″ figure line and while we would like every likeness to be exact, at our scale this is not something that we can expect. We’re sorry you have been disappointed; while some of your comments are areas we hope to improve upon, for others, it’s the first we have heard about overall dissatisfaction with these figures.

Hasbro: “…and thanks for shitting on all our work.”

Way to go Sir Steve’s Guide! This one is for you:

toy, toy collecting, action figure, Hasbro, star wars