74 replies to this topic

[TSM-in-N.Y.]

Isn't it just "super-articulation in a mostly-bought-by-kids line is too expensive for our budgets"?

I've been reading the various Hasbro Q&A columns long enough to know that Hasbro would answer the question like that, but since the CW figs. and the OT/PT figs. have the same retail price how would that answer make any sense?

I don't want to come across like one of those people who think everything Hasbro does is an attempt to screw over the fans, but I do think Hasbro is not always honest in their answers.


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EDIT: Spelling

Edited by TSM-in-N.Y., 31 May 2010 - 05:50 AM.

[Dake]

Well, their usual explanation is in fact, that SA is expensive but its cost is absorbed by the other figures they make with less articulation so it evens out across the line. But that still doesn't make sense for me since the line had SA (and let's be honest, they're not truly SA as they've never had ball-joint hips) clone troopers from the start and they still make numerous figures with completely solid legs. For me it's more about taking a step backwards which seems ridiculous. It was already hard for me to spend 8 dollars a fig, now I'm going to spend 8 bucks on some new ones with less? Not so much.

Edited by Dake, 31 May 2010 - 09:26 AM.

[NightViper]

The actual answer that Hasbro provided for Stone ignored just about everything dealing with cost. Instead, they talked about how they wanted to increase their tooling library for the Clone Troopers.

[SwiftEagle]

I would imagine part of it is that collector-line figures have to be super-articulated because a) collectors largely demand it these days, and b) it's the incentive to re-buy the same character/outfit again and thereby keeps the line afloat without descending into every figure having to be some new unmade background dude.

Meanwhile, kids don't care nearly as much about ankle joints, so Hasbro can afford to trim a few cents off of a new Clone Wars mold.

[NightViper]

Star Wars Q&A Answers:

1) In the promotional images for the Force Unleashed Star Wars 5-packs, we see two separate Shadow Stormtroopers -- one for each pack. The first is translucent, while the other is opaque with a removable helmet. However, now that they're showing up in stores, both packs have the same translucent Trooper. What was the reason for this change? And will we see the tooling for the removable helmet Trooper's "ski-mask" head sculpt used elsewhere?

The original intent was to give a different version of the Shadow Storm in each set, and so we had developed two versions of the phased trooper. However, Lucasfilm did not like the second version (that you mentioned) and we had to make a last-minute change and made them the same.

2) Ahsoka Tano has given us our very first female Crossovers toy. Are there any more plans to create more transforming female characters?

Right now, Ahsoka is the first and only female Star Wars Transformers figure planned.

[NightViper]

I feel a bit silly now with that first question. Three other sites asked that same exact thing

[ZacWilliam1]

I just want an answer to the TF QandA already! It'll be Botcon soon for heaven's sake...

[Dake]

Darn shame about that being the only female crossover TF. Heck, in the book Splinter of the Mind's Eye Leia piloted a Y-Wing. That would work for a toy.

The trick is for now, they aren't doing anything that isn't Clone Wars.

So their choices would be Amidala and her Naboo Shuttle or maybe Zam Wessel and her air speeder but that's about it.

[NightViper]

Darn shame about that being the only female crossover TF. Heck, in the book Splinter of the Mind's Eye Leia piloted a Y-Wing. That would work for a toy.

The trick is for now, they aren't doing anything that isn't Clone Wars.

So their choices would be Amidala and her Naboo Shuttle or maybe Zam Wessel and her air speeder but that's about it.

Hasbro has made Jedi Starfighters for Aayla Secura before. I actually wouldn't mind seeing them give her the Ahsoka treatment and slap her head on the Clone Wars Starfighter mold.

[Dake]

Darn shame about that being the only female crossover TF. Heck, in the book Splinter of the Mind's Eye Leia piloted a Y-Wing. That would work for a toy.

The trick is for now, they aren't doing anything that isn't Clone Wars.

So their choices would be Amidala and her Naboo Shuttle or maybe Zam Wessel and her air speeder but that's about it.

Hasbro has made Jedi Starfighters for Aayla Secura before. I actually wouldn't mind seeing them give her the Ahsoka treatment and slap her head on the Clone Wars Starfighter mold.

Oh yeah - forgot about that one...

[NightViper]

1) For the Star Wars Crossovers line, have there been any Star Wars vehicles that you've looked into producing as a Transformer, only to realize that there was no way to actually get it to convert? Whether it be too skinny, oddly shaped, or just altogether not enough surface area to hide a robot inside? We'd love to here the thought process on how the vehicles are chosen!

We choose vehicles based on their iconic forms first, since we display them in vehicle mode in the packaging. So far, there hasn't been a problem with any of the vehicles that we?ve chosen for the line as the majority of Star Wars vehicles have enough mass to make the figure body work. There are numeous other vehicles that we haven't done, like Landspeeders and Speeder Bikes, that would pose some challenges but we haven't selected them because we didn't like how they would have presented themselves in vehicle mode in packaging - not enough "heft" to interest kids in them.

2) With all the Clone Wars Animated figures with limited articulation, why choose to take a step backward with the Clones themselves by removing articulation? While the "ab-crunch" articulation may not be quite as missed, the ankle articulation is a fundamental part of the clone body that allows for dynamism in posing and even for better stability in simple standing. The new Commander Stone now perches awkwardly next to his squad mates due to loss of this ankle articulation which, combined with even marginal package warping to the legs, seriously hampers stability.

The large majority of Clone Wars figures are bought by kids, for whom, quite simply, super-articulation is a misplaced design. The actual cost of delivering this articulation is very large when it comes to molding, assembly, and deco. To keep costs down, and make sure that we are investing in the right areas for collectors (i.e. tooling for new movie figures, which is what far more fans are actively collecting), we needed to make the change.

[Fortress Ironhold]

G. I. Joe questions -

1. Was the decision to give the rights to the comic book over to IDW (and the later decision to remove the Devil's Due comics from continuity) due to the backlash over the infamous "Red Shadows" story arc and the death of Lady J?

2. Now that we've seen one-off mail-in offers (such as the 1983-style 25th Anniversary Doc and the "unmasked" Valor vs. Venom Storm Shadow), what are the prospects of seeing actual mail-in catalogs such as were in use during the 1980s and early 1990s? Note that these are the catalogs wherein multiple items, usually new runs of older product, were available for sale at once.

3. With the DVD releases of the Sunbow episodes and the announcement that you are attempting to secure the rights to the DiC episodes, where does that leave the episodes for Sgt. Savage & The Screaming Eagles, G. I. Joe: Extreme, and Sigma Six? Are there plans for seeing them on DVD as well, or are they on the shelf for the time being?

4. Is there any one period of Joe history that you preferred to pull from when choosing the 25th Anniversary, Movie, and Pursuit lines? Or is the goal simply to push as many of the established, popular characters as possible?

[Dake]

2) With all the Clone Wars Animated figures with limited articulation, why choose to take a step backward with the Clones themselves by removing articulation? While the "ab-crunch" articulation may not be quite as missed, the ankle articulation is a fundamental part of the clone body that allows for dynamism in posing and even for better stability in simple standing. The new Commander Stone now perches awkwardly next to his squad mates due to loss of this ankle articulation which, combined with even marginal package warping to the legs, seriously hampers stability.

The large majority of Clone Wars figures are bought by kids, for whom, quite simply, super-articulation is a misplaced design. The actual cost of delivering this articulation is very large when it comes to molding, assembly, and deco. To keep costs down, and make sure that we are investing in the right areas for collectors (i.e. tooling for new movie figures, which is what far more fans are actively collecting), we needed to make the change.

Hm, interesting answer indeed. It seems incredible to me that the cost involved with developing entirely new tooling for Clones vs going with what they already had works out - but maybe the tools were getting worn out and needed to be replaced anyway so they went the cheaper route. Still a bummer.

G. I. Joe questions -

2. Now that we've seen one-off mail-in offers (such as the 1983-style 25th Anniversary Doc and the "unmasked" Valor vs. Venom Storm Shadow), what are the prospects of seeing actual mail-in catalogs such as were in use during the 1980s and early 1990s? Note that these are the catalogs wherein multiple items, usually new runs of older product, were available for sale at once.

I think this has been asked already and they said they don't have plans for this mainly b/c they don't have any desire to keep up with it (though you'd think they could put HTS to good use for this) - their current business model doesn't allow for them to make stuff that retailers haven't already agreed to buy basically. Still, it would be a neat idea.