March 2008 - Every couple of weeks, Hasbro will answer three questions per web site about their Star Wars products. Here are the questions and answers for the latest round:
1. The Galactic Heroes Darth Vader TIE Fighter shown at Toy Fair looks great! Will it have any sound or action features?
Answer: There are no electronic features in the Galactic Heroes TIE Fighter. This would have pushed costing up too high to be able to do the vehicle. However, it does have panels that you can remove by hand to simulate battle. Other than that, there are no other features.
2. The new Jungle Rancor looks impressive, and I'm even more surprised to see that it's a new mold rather than a rehash of old POTF one. That said, it's disappointing to see that this behemoth is only going to be a store exclusive. What goes into making the tough choice of marketing an all-new figure as a store exclusive instead of a mass release, and should any fans be concerned about its availability upon release?
Answer: The main issue is the stand-alone size of the the Rancor and uncertainty over whether it would be popular enough in the much bigger volumes we would need if we were to do a national release. Since it is a creature (as opposed to a vehicle), and from a game not yet released, we decided to set the Rancor up for success by going the exclusive route so we could better manage the overall release.
3. So glad to see a Padme Evolutions set, thanks! However, since this is a great way to get unreleased/hard to market outfits, why is AOTC Padme in an outfit we've gotten at least three times already (and another wave coming up), instead of one of her other outfits from the film (the rainbow dress from Naboo perhaps)?
Answer: We wanted to draw the largest number of collectors to the set. There is a strong iconic draw to the white Padme "battle" outfit and since that figure was due for an upgrade, so this was the right time to trigger it. We thought this gave the pack greater strength than if we solely focused on outfits that were more ornamental with less screen time.