Answered Questions - Aug. 10, 2009

[Darth Zirock]

1.) From James: As a person who grew up during the original trilogy era, nostalgia plays big part in my Star Wars collecting, as I'm sure it does for many other collectors in my age bracket. Things like the Kenner line, the Ewok craze of the mid 80's, the first Star Wars animated cartoons and even the Holiday Special provided lasting and cherished memories of the first 10 years of Star Wars. Now I know that those times are long gone, but as great as the modern line is, isn't it about time for some sort of 'blast from the past' salute that just screams 70's and 80's Star Wars? There are lots of possibilities for things that you could try: retro packaging, modern takes on some Ewoks or Droids characters, a character or two from the Ewok movies like Kaink or Chukha-Trok, or even an exclusive never before released vintage figure like this Luke: http://theswca.com/index.php?action=dis ... m_id=39715. I'm sure you could come up with something great!

ANSWER: You are right that there are ways to celebrate our heritage and that we can do more, either with special packaging or a subtle change to characters from these other venues that have not been seen before. We remember the same engagement that we had with Star Wars in all the formats you have mentioned, and we want to capture that feelng of fun and excitement that we all had collectively playing with our toys; it makes the present seem so much more enjoyable when it is connected to those times. The good news is that we are looking at all of these options for the future. We expect to have some of them announced next year at Toy Fair, and another surprise or two around Comic-Con.

2.) It was announced since Toy Fair that Shaak Ti and the other "The Force Unleashed" wave 2 figures would be released as retailer exclusives. What are the other figures, and which retailer will they be available through? Any images yet?

ANSWER: Actually, Shaak Ti is in the wave prior (the EU wave, recently shown at Toy Fair). The other figures, which were a new wave, were pulled from mainline and adjusted for the exclusive packs. The packs will now be five-packs, and will be either all new sculpts, or all new deco when we have used a previously existing sculpt. Included will be several trooper variants, including a jump trooper with newly added jump pack. Across the two packs, there will be two versions of Galen Marek, Proxy, and a twist in Juno. More information will be available as we get close to launch later this Fall.

3.) With so many Cantina Aliens getting new sculpts or their first figures, isn't it about time for updated versions of that pair of ruffians, Dr. Evazan and Ponda Baba?

ANSWER: We agree. While not slotted into the lineup yet, these two are high on our sights (along with Wuher) and should be in the line within a couple of years.

[James]

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