At the Hasbro "'Twas The Night Before..." party, I got the opportunity to speak to Joe Ninivaggi, the Senior Brand Manager for the Star Wars line. I presented him with questions from the list compiled in this thread, questions Tamer came up with while we were texting and questions posed based on what I was seeing in front of me. The following are, in no particular order, the great answers Joe gave me.
Q: QC issues. What is Hasbro doing to address this?
A: Lots of production figures come off of the assembly line every single day. We do our best to make sure everything is great, but accidents do happen. We are doing everything we can to minimize these accidents and to make sure that the best possible products get into our customers' hands.We discussed some 6" Black Series packaging issues such as the Biker Scout visors and Vader's helmet getting squished on the sides. They are looking to improve the packaging, the new, larger front windows is just a start.
Q: Are you folks satisfied with the head sculpt on your new Six Inch Black Series Vader? I have to give them credit for the helmet off, but the helmet on (which most of us will be using) is just plain wrong. From the eyes, the the droopy helmet this was one of the figures I was most excited to get and seeing it in person shows how great it could have been. Are you going to revisit this one in the future and perhaps not do a removable helmet so we can get a better sculpt? Do you wish you had perhaps started your first six inch Vader with a better bucket?
A: I was not aware of any issues with the sculpt. The droopy helmet could be from the way it was packed similiar to the issues we had with the visors on the Biker Scout.Q: Will Hasbro ever go back to one Star Wars figure line?
A: Hasbro offers 3 lines to appeal to collectors, kids and value seeking parents. The idea of getting 2 figures together in one package for the same price as a collector figure appeals to parents.Q: We've noticed that these new waves of the Black Series figures all come apart very easily at the joints. Is this due to lower production standards, or was this done with the customizer in mind to make it easier to swap parts so kids could start getting in on the action?
A: This is not specifically for customization, just how the figures were manufactured.Q: What does the future look like for the super-articulated 3.75" line? Obviously this is the Black Series, but is it likely to be only a few figures per year or will we say a broad offering?
A: 2015 will be a big year for the OT in the Spring and will include some realistically designed Clone Wars figures. No other Expanded Universe releases as of right now.Q: Imperial Troop Transport from the Rebels line...Why? I am wondering why you didn't go with the well loved and already proven ITT from Kenner?
A: The reason that the original mold was not used was for accuracy to the animation design. The animation design is very McQuarrie-esque and we wanted to capture that as closely as possible.Q: Are you officially done with the larger size vehicle format for your four inch action figure line? The Falcon and AT-AT were such hits and we would hate to see them gone forever. Perhaps offer a new one every two years?
A: We are not done with large vehicles, in fact, there is something coming for next year.Q: We are absolutely loving your 6 inch smaller vehicles and accessories! What are the chances we get to see other great smaller vehicles, beasts, or other accessories for this line like your already released speederbike, Wampa, and Taun Taun? It would sure add to their play-ability! Any chance we could see a regular size vehicle for this immensely popular line?
A: We are developing more vehicles for the 6" Black Series. We get alot of requests for items that we just cannot do, like the Millenium Falcon or the AT-AT, which would be enormous. Where would anyone put them? Something like the X-Wing would be doable as it would not be much bigger than the current Hero Scale version. Q: Plenty of imperial troop builders in the 6" line (stormtrooper, sandtrooper, tie pilot and hopefully more), how about some troop builders for the Rebels (ex. Blockade Runner Troops, Hoth Troops, A Wing/Y Wing pilots and Endor Commandos)?
A: No Rebel troops on tap for the foreseeable future, sorry.Q: Environments for 6" Black Series in 2015? - Examples: Vader's Meditation Chamber, Jabba's Throne (complete).
A: This is not really something we have looked at for this line.Q: Another question along totally different lines: many companies are devoting more resources to community interaction (forums, community managers) what plans does hasbro have to do this if any?
A: Hasbro announced "Hasbro Pulse" at SDCC. Pulse is an invite only website that offers exclusive news. The enrollment is currently closed for Pulse though.
Q: Is Hasbro still looking at internet only exclusives as a way of getting fan favorites to die hard collectors (ala EE comic packs, Jocasta)?
A: Yes we are! We are currently working on something for Fall 2015.Q: Was the decision to call the new Skiff Guard as Jabbas Skiff Guard instead of Dollalyn driven by a move away from EU sources, confusion over his true name or something else? Will we continue to see unique and interesting names for future aliens?
A: Lucasfilm dictated the change. Lucasfilm has final say on all character names.Q: Are we likely to see any figures of characters from new canon books, comics and games that don't appear on tv or movies (eg Vidian from new dawn) or is the stance from Lucasfilm to still stay away from that and focus on REBELS, OT, and Episode VII?
A: Anything in the "new cannon" is available to us to develop. It is very likely that there will be new cannon figures and vehicles in the future but there is nothing concrete at the moment.Q: Dear Hasbro, will there be a 3.75 line released for GI Joe in 2015?
A: Sorry, I have no idea. You have to ask Derryl Depriest.Q: When can we expect to see a Phase II Clone Trooper for the six inch line?
A: No plans at the moment. I am guessing that there are still some more Phase 1 repaints to knock out first
Q: 6"-scale C-3PO -- painted or plated?
A: 6" Black Series C3-PO will most likely be gold painted. He is still in developmentbut there have been some issues with the vac metalizing process. Q: Can we please the bring "Vintage Line" back? I think we all know the vintage line look will continue sometime in the future, do you have any time frame on that yet?
A: There is always a chance for Vintage to return as we know it has been a favorite, but right now the Black Series is our collector line.Q: Any chance of a 6" scale Probot?
A: Not right now.Q: 6" Luke + Han Stormtroopers, working helmets or swappable heads?
A: Working helmets. We even made Luke's torso a bit shorter to differentiate them as Luke is supposed to be "a little short for a Stormtrooper".Q: Any chance for realistic "Rebels" figures in the future?
A: There is always the chance of that, but right now our focus is getting the animation product out. I still want to do an Agent Kallus without his helmet as he has those cool sideburns. Besides, we saw how cool some of the characters look rendered realistically on the cover for "Rebel Dawn".Q: Any chance of a 6" AT-AT Driver?
A: Not planned yet, but a possibility for the future.Q: Any playsets in the future?
A: New movie years allow for all kinds of opportunities.Q: Any more "old" Expanded Universe figures on the horizon?
A: No, sorry. The old EU is not available to us any longer.Q: What are the chances of a 6" Snowtrooper?
A: That has a good possibility for a future release.
