Q&A: New Exclusives, Classic Clone Wars, Greeting Cards
Monday, June 2, 2008
So what's the deal with the new old Clone Wars cartoon characters we haven't seen made yet? And what's going on with all these mail-in offers lately? And the exclusives-- there's so many of them! What's going on there? All this and more in this somewhat hastily written Q&A!
1. I have heard rumors that the Battle Rancor and the Large Wing White Tie Fighter are going to be in very short supply and basically what is on the shelves now is what we are going to get. I was able to pick up my Battle Rancor, but the White Tie Fighter has been super elusive here and now my Local TRU is saying they haven't had it in weeks. Have you heard or know if there is any truth to these exclusives being on a short run?
--Christen
People like to make up stuff all the time to make themselves feel important. There has been no indication that any exclusive will be a short run, and if you look at pretty much every non-Wal-Mart exclusive in the past few years, most of them were made in incredible numbers. You'll keep seeing these, I'm sure, until the clearances start.
2. The jig is up; with the release of the EE Summer catalog, we now know that there will be a new EE exclusive with 6 "new" figures. I know that you can’t tell us who or what these figures are (and your definition of "new" is often times different from other peoples definition of new), but can you tell us if the "silhouettes" in the ad are indicative of what figures are in the set; or is it like last time where there were random figures that made up the silhouettes for the print ads.
--Damon
For the record, I do work at Entertainment Earth and I do have a lot to say about the marketing. More than a few decisions are made for various reasons, including Hasbro's requirements for product announcements, Entertainment Earth's needs for marketing momentum, and my own desire to shake up the ant farm that is the online fanbase. For example, in 2006, we announced a "Mystery Figure" Comic Pack with Kir Kanos and a figure that would eventually be revealed to be Carnor Jax. We put a silhouette of Han Solo in our marketing materials to stand in for the mystery figure, in part because the Star Wars Insider did the same thing to promote their Cantina Band Member in the shadows in their magazine. It made sense to me, so we ran with it.
That said, one of the six figures is indeed the shadowy representation of one figure from the set. (In my opinion, not the best figure in the set.) Some of the other figures would have totally made it easy to guess the nature of the set, which will be revealed in full at Comic-Con 2008.
I will say that a lot of the things I've said in here about exclusives holds true. It's not Knights of the Old Republic. It's not a boxed set of existing figures, McQuarrie or otherwise. It also hasn't had any "leaked" figures pop up online anywhere yet, but that could change. (And if it does-- or doesn't-- I'm in no position to comment further at this time.) I did have a hand in this one's development, so I'm pretty pleased with it. I hope you will be as well. If you liked the sets Entertainment Earth made in the past, you should like this one too.
3. Do you think its feesable t say that now the original clone wars characters have been produced we will get a Mutant Nelvaanian warrior (theose massive blue retarded guys from clone wars 22-25)? Also for those people who arn't collecting the new animated figures would it be wise to begin requesting all the cartoon made figures to be realesed in realistic styling eg ashoka?
--StarWarsSims101
The market and its need for new product generally move Hasbro's hand in ways our begging never could. We got a cartoony Yavin Anakin Skywalker, and then a short time later, they cranked out a "movie"-style one because they wanted to sell another version of our Jedi hero.
As to the future, well, frankly you're going to have to help here. Make a fuss online, and be sure to point out that if you didn't buy her, that you would were she "realistic." The future of the line is always in motion and it's entirely possible that by next year, Hasbro may put more emphasis on this animated style if it succeeds, or switch to "movie" if it doesn't. Right now it's still far too early to know for certain, as with most things in life odds are Hasbro will simply follow the money.
Other Clone Wars characters could see production, as we're seeing later this year. It never hurts for fans to demand the figures, because you never know who might hear it and ask for an exclusive, or put it in the regular line, or fast track its release.
4. I bought a bunch of Indiana Jones figures and want to keep them for display, yet I also want to remove the mail-in sticker without damaging the bubble & card to get my exclusive. Yet when I removed the tiny mail-in form, the sticker is nowhere to be found. Is it in the "hidden relic" box? It has to be somewhere in the bubble, because I watched the stock girl open the case and the figure shows no sign of tampering. Has anyone reported stickers being left out? Any help would be appreciated.
--Chris
The stickers are indeed in the little artifact boxes. As such, it's not going to be easy to get those things out without a fight.
5. greetings from down under. i am sure you have been asked this before but can you rate the modern vader figures? i am streamlining muy collection and want to get your thoughts on your favourites and not so favourites?
--craig
First, get rid of anything you can't see a reason to keep. That is the easiest way to go. If you have 28 Darth Vaders and don't see a reason to keep 20 of them, do yourself a favor and unload them.
I would personally suggest getting rid of any figure that isn't unique (Battle-Damaged Darth Vader, for example), super articulated (2007's basic Vader), or can sit in a ship (2005 Revenge of the Sith Vader). There are so many, I don't want to take the time to rate them-- but I can say that it's always a good thing to get rid of figures you can't find a reason to keep for the rest of your days. Your requirements for keeping a figure may differ, so this is really something only you can decide.
6. Recently I purchased a Sterilite 7-drawer cart system ( http://www.sterilite.com/ProductDetail.html?ProductId=408&Section=Storage ) and was wondering if it was OK to store figures in it (i.e. damaging). I heard that they have bad chemicals, but I'm not sure. If they do, would wrapping the figures in plastic store bags (i.e. Shaws, Wal*Mart, Target, Toys R Us, etc.) and putting them in the drawers that way be OK? Thanks for your help.
--Mr. Yuck
I've had a few fans write in and tell me they love this thing-- but it's quite difficult to tell the long-term effects of figure storage in any environment. The storage device is just one part of the equation, as light, heat, humidity, and other factors (like the kinds of paint Hasbro uses) could each pose a potential threat.
Depending on who you ask, everything has bad chemicals in it. I'd suggest making sure the figures are stored in such a manner where they can't be bent out of shape, where they don't touch one another, and where they aren't "suffocating." Plastic bags with no air holes may lead to moisture build-up, and that can be bad. A few small holes can help this a little bit, but since nobody does tests on the long-term effects of ziploc bags on small plastic men, well, it's going to be tough to really understand how it will work in the long run. I prefer cheap paper lunch bags for a variety of reasons, but that might not work for you.
7. I am in the process of whittling down my collection & I ran across a set of the WalMart exclusive [2004 OTC] DVD 3 packs. Since these are made up of existing figures they seem perfect for getting rid of. However I know that Hasbro will often use a really good figure, like say a Vintage Han, in something like this. So before I throw them up on eBay I was wondering if you knew what figures made up these 3 packs. Knowing which figures are in there would help know A) if I have them already or not & B) if I want to get rid of the 3 packs or the carded version. Also your opinion on the 3packs would be helpful as well.
--Mikk
These figures are absolutely 100% recycled from previous releases-- if you have another figure in your collection that looks like them, then you're covered. I'd suggest selling them off if anyone is willing to pay you actual money for them. If you have a complete set of basic regular carded figures, you probably have these guys. If not, well, maybe you do and maybe you don't. I've never seen your collection. Of note, the Darth Vader from the Return of the Jedi set was previously released as a Toys "R" Us exclusive in the Imperial Forces Saga set-- if you didn't get that, then you might want to hang on to this one.
8. I remember reading somewhere that the landing gear on the 2007 TRU Y-wing wasn't the greatest. While looking at mine this week, I noticed that the back right landing pad was not locking into place. Any suggestions to remedy this problem?
--Mike
I've heard two solutions for the Y-Wing Landing Gear Problem, which has plagued the line since the first POTF2 Y-Wing many moons ago.
One, you can get a junker vintage Y-Wing (the 1983 one) and swap out the internal workings. They were made of a much stronger material that did not sag after a short period of time.
Two, you can prop it up. I suggest putting some LEGO bricks or other small pieces under it to prop it up so the gear doesn't sag. You might say "but Adam, doesn't that mean Hasbro made a questionable product? Shouldn't we be complaining to them?" Yes and no. I figure there's no real way to do anything about it at this point, so all you can do is try to fix what you've already got-- propping it up makes for the easiest solution, even though it may not look so great.
9. Hey, do you know exactly what we can expect July 26th? It looks like at least 8 of the CW figs and maybe wave 1 of Legacy. Is there any comic 2 packs hitting then too? The Walmart C-3px 2 packs are hitting July 1st, right?
--George
With few to no packaged samples appearing, no pre-orders, and no official information out of Hasbro, it's hard to say. The entire line is essentially going to be relaunched on that date, but it's unclear if everything will be available, or if it will be available widely. We're going to have to see what else pops up, but it's pretty likely you'll see a few waves of basic figures and Legacy figures. As to the droid exclusives, that remains to be seen. I hope so, I really want to get those.
10. last year at Celebration 4 Hallmark had a booth with some interesting Star Wars cards. There were two cards that moved and played music. one the cantina and the other Yoda on Dagobah. The man at the booth said that these were supposed to come out at Easter but I never saw them at any Hallmark shop or heard of them released online. So what's the deal with them? Are they still slated to be released? I have seen several other Hallmark cards that used the same technology.
--Craigboyse
I've got no idea-- so I pose it to you readers. Can you help Craig out here?
FIN
The last few weeks have been nuts-- and this next week is going to be nuts too. And next week. It's a bit much. I'd write more but I actually have to get working on another project, so if you could all help me out and just send your questions in early, that'd be swell.
Got questions? I bet you do. Email me with "Q&A" somewhere in the subject line and hopefully I'll get to yours in the next column!
Posted byAdam16bit at 12:01 AM
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