Toy Bender

HANQ is back! After a bit of a bit of an absence (read: I got tired of writing this feature) I thought I’d revisit the nerdy questions hurled at Hasbro like a convict throwing man mayo at a visiting FBI agent. I’ve searched for some of the most interesting/annoying questions of round 47 and have got some great ones. Now let’s get down to it!

Rebelscum.com asks about possible vehicles we might see in the future of the Titanium series:

Rebelscum: I’m a big fan of the Titanium Series line and I’m wondering if a couple of major gaps will be filled anytime soon - the Rebel Transport, Rebel Medical Frigate, Cloud Car, Home One, and Death Star II are all prominentley featured but have yet to be done. What are the chances of seeing some of these this year? How about EU vehicles like the TIE-Defender, V-19 Torrent Starfighter, E-wing, Sith Starfighter?

Hasbro: Thanks for being such a big fan of the die-cast world that is Titanium. We love bringing them to you. These are some great suggestions, and you are in luck. Some of the ships on your list will be out this year (look for the Cloud Car, V-19 Torrent, TIE Defender and the Rebel Transport this Fall). Two on your list will also be rolled into the line in 2009. Stay tuned and keep an eye open.

Looks good and I might be able to find the ones that I want now that the dumb Marvel and Transformers Titaniums aren’t around.

Reblescum also asks about Hasbro’s lack of Rebel loving and what their plans may be for the ragtag fighters on Hoth:

Rebelscum: I’m looking forward to buying the Hoth Speeder Bike Patrol battle pack, but as usual, it’s the Imperials that are getting all the love. When are you guys gonna deliver on something cool for our under-appreciated Hoth Rebels? I mean A) we need some super-articulated goodness B) head and color variants and C) something like the speeder bike pack. Maybe a slightly bigger verision of the Kenner mini-rig Hoth Tank with a commander and two rebels with different accesories?

Hasbro: The Rebels won’t be left out, and there is some tasty figure goodness coming their way late in the year. While they may not get a battle pack like the speeder set yet, we really think you’ll like what we have planned.

I won’t mind some sort of Rebel tank, maybe like the hover tank seen in the Battlefront games. Too bad they don’t have plans for something like that. I really need something to face off against my future AT-TE purchase.

BobasBounty.com asks if there will be any Force Unleashed toy delays because of the game:

BobasBounty: Is the LucasArts delay in releasing The Force Unleashed going to effect
your plans to release figures/toys based on the game? (Mainly Release
Timeline…)

Hasbro: With one exception (a figure that we have not announced yet) everything tied to The Force Unleashed will be going out as scheduled.

…except by this point the game should have been released and more people would know just who the hell the figures coming out are other than by a name. It’s kind of weird seeing The Force Unleashed labels on things when the actual property hasn’t been out yet. Anyway, I’m wondering just who the mystery figure is that’s going to be bumped back. It must be super spoilerific.

Jedi Defender inquires about what might figure might come with a future B-Wing release:

JediDefender: Let’s pretend that you were planning to re-issue the B-Wing Starfighter as say, oh I don’t know, a TRU exclusive this year. Would you include a new human pilot figure with the hypothetical ship or would you just re-pack the Sullustan B-Wing Pilot from the previous releases?

Hasbro: Hypothetically, there would be specific reasons why we would *not* want to do a Sullustan and do something else instead.

What!? What could the reason possibly be? Excitement level rising!

Want an Indiana Jones figure update? Jedi Defender gets one for you:

Jedi Defender: And our monthly Indy question - Toht. We’ve seen the new figures for Indy, Sallah, Belloq, Marion, and the rest of the Raiders gang, but no sign of Toht yet. Can we expect to see the creepy man in black in 2008?

Hasbro: Not in 2008; we just couldn’t fit him in. Hold tight for news on him, and some others, further down the road.

It’s too bad the best disgusting Nazi puke won’t be out right away, but at least he will be coming out eventually.

Yoda’s News also asked about Indiana Jones:

Yoda’s News: As you also seem willing to answer questions about your Indiana Jones line, I have a question pertaining to the Indy figures. As there aren’t as many characters (as compared to Star Wars) from the films to make in action figure form is there any chance that the “Young Indiana Jones Chronicles” would be fodder for figures? I don’t see many figures from the series being made myself but a few suggestions would be: 8 year old Indy in knickers, young Henry Sr., Anna Jones, Helen Seymour, 18 year old Indy in “Mexico adventure” clothing, 18 year old Indy in Belgian army uniform, and his friend Remy. Just curious if we are likely to see such figures.?

Hasbro: We are indeed looking at Young Indy, and we do like some of the concepts there. We think, though, that there is a lot of iconic film reference to go before we probably look to it. We are planning IJ for a nice long run, so we are optimistic that someday we will see something related to Young Indy.

I despised the few Young Indiana Jones episodes I saw (and it doesn’t bode well with me for the planned Star Wars TV show), but I liked the look of the older, young Indiana. If they would just make him and not the dumb little kid, I’d be fine with that.

Back to the world of Star Wars where someone over at Yakface.com was wondering about Episode One figures:

Yakface: It seems that aside from the Sith Infiltrator vehicle in the 2007 TAC line, there has not been a single new sculpt for anything from episode I. We have had a handful of repaints and repacks, but no new figures. So, my question is: are you deliberately neglecting The Phantom Menace because it is the least popular episode in the saga? I for one feel that it is high time for a new Sebulba, Sebulba’s blue wenches, more pod racers, some Gungans, and heck — even Jar Jar.

Hasbro: Great question. We admit that over the last couple of years we have focused more on the other five films, with the view that our coverage of Episode I was pretty thorough and that collectors are looking for us to make updates elsewhere right now. We *did* have an EpI basic figure wave lined up for 2008, but it has been pushed out to early 2009 (it will, however, be well worth the wait). Of course there is the great upcoming Evolutions Qui-Gonn and a few other things to look forward to. Going forward, we are treating Ep.I like the other films, so we expect that fans will be happy for years to come.

Why? Because EPISODE ONE SUCKS DONKEY BALLS AND WE’D ALL LIKE TO FORGET IT… except for the blue whores. We need blue tentacle headed whores.

This next question from Sandtroopers.com was in the running for the Ultra-Geeky Award^TM and they looked like they were going to get it with this question. Sadly, they just barely lost it to one insanely geeky question, but more on that in a minute. I’ve gone on record as not really being all that hot about the new Stormtrooper variants, however this question goes a bit further with the annoyance:

Sandtroopers: Recently when pictures of the Incinerator Stormtrooper and Felucia Stormtrooper were leaked to the net, the reaction on the forums seemed to be very negative. Repainting clones is fine and appropriate, but repainting the classic Stormtrooper armor feels more like a cash grab by Hasbro (or Lucasfilm) and I’m sure many fans would not like these new types of rainbow-colored Stormtroopers to become a part of the canon, even the EU canon. Rather than pursue this direction, which risks further alienation of fans/customers, but recognizing that Hasbro wants to maximize its existing tooling as much as possible, why doesn’t the company focus on reusing the mold for say, a Blackhole Stormtrooper or a new Shadow Stormtrooper with removable helmet, or the red Magma trooper? These would probably be far more desired by fans. You can even re-release the white Stormtrooper again but with different accessories like an updated mouse droid or Death Star detention block computer station or Tantive IV wall piece (that would connect together to form the entire hallway, encouraging customers to army build it for the trooper and to build the entire hall). Hasbro could also appease fans by just releasing the TAC Stormtrooper but rather than the Jango head, offer a generic conscripted human head underneath.

Even fixing some of the issues with the existing molds (e.g. the very loose torso on the TSC Sandtrooper, or using a better helmet sculpt for the TAC Stormtrooper, the drugged-out upward stare of the TAC Stormtrooper’s Jango face) are things that a lot of fans would like to see addressed before the tooling is reused any further.

Hasbro: The extensions you offer for Stormtroopers are all good ideas, and we plan to keep classic Stormies in the lineup, in one form or another, for a long time. So don’t worry there. As we have stated previously, the “film canon” is a very important focus of ours and we will continue to explore unproduced avenues and bring excitement to the lineup for years and years to come. There are a lot of other exciting things in store for the Star Wars universe as well, and we think that all fans, film, new animation, video game, and publishing (comics, novels) can share in the excitement of this energy together. For The Force Unleashed, we are following the LucasArts lead. We can’t wait to get the game, and we think that the new storyline is an important addition to the Expanded Universe. We hope that fans will greet this story, and our tribute to the game, with the same excitement and enthusiasm we have had in creating it.

I tell you, it was really hard not to give the Ultra-Geeky Award^TM out for this one. It’s got all the markings of an annoying fan boy and more. You’ve got your overly long question, the speculation presented as fact, and some crazy lust for designing toys through whining (re: the wall piece question). Don’t lose hope Sandtroopers, the super geeky among your ranks have are among some of the most rare of the uber geeks.

As much as the previous question is a fine example for all things geeky, this next question takes it to another geek level. Think of the previous question coming from the awkward chess nerd and this one from Galactic Hunter coming from the kid with the permanent bedhead that breathes funny:

Jar Jar Binks: Wesa wunderin if any Gungans (especialitly Jar Jar Binks) issa gettin’ out on da shelf for da Clone Wars? Wesa figure dissa de only chance wesa be seein’ Gungans in 2008. What say yousa?

HASBRO: Time will tell what, if any, role Gungans will be playing in Clone Wars. If they (or other alien species) play a prominent role in the animation, we will be looking to capture the excitement of this fascinating species in the lineup.

Shudder….