July 2009 - 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. Many popular characters from Season 1 of Clone Wars, such as Cad Bane, have had upwards of half a year between the time they appeared in the show and when their figure was released because it was impossible for Hasbro to design and produce the figures quickly enough. However, Season 2 of Clone Wars was completed several months ago, even though the new season won't premiere until later this fall. With this additional lead time, will we be able to see new characters appear as action figure close to, or even before, those characters appear in the show?
Answer: Unfortunately, we still do not have perfect synchronization between the show and the figures in North America, since the shows air first here and the final order is not determined until much later after production is well under way. Similarly, we are not able to proceed until we get assets, and they may not come in time for us to produce a figure since it takes upwards of 15 months even for basic figures from the time we get input until the time they see daylight on shelf. We are working with Lucasfilm to close this gap as much as possible since we want to have a much better match to the actual air date of episodes, at least in North America where the season will debut first. For the rest of the world, or figures will more in synch with the show.
2. Could they clarify a previous answer? In the last Hasbro Q&A RTM posted the answers to, Hasbro said that the only Padme Mighty Mugg they would release was the Queen Amidala Mugg. That was a strange answer, as up until now, there has been no Queen Amidala Mugg, no mention or rumor of an impending Amidala and the line seems to be coming to a quick halt. Is a Queen Amidala Mighty Mugg forthcoming, or was that answer a mistake?
Answer: Unfortunately, the wave that was to include Queen Amidala was the last wave that was cut from the line. At present, there are no plans to release them. If Toys 'R Us has great results with Mighty Muggs as a global exclusive, and we need to release more new ones to fulfill need, this would be the first wave to activate since there are four Muggs (including Amidala) all done and ready to go. Right now, though, we cannot make a release to get to them until current production sells through.
3. The Build-A-Droid promotion that has been part of The Legacy Collection has been one of the most fun and exciting pack-ins in action figure history. Will the Build-A-Droid promotion definitely end in 2010, or is there a possibility of it continuing for a longer period of time? There are still many, many background droids that could benefit from this program, such as R2-X2, a better R2-B1, and R2-A5.
Answer: It's too early to talk about what is coming that far down the road. We will have complete details on the Fall 2010 line, and whether Droid Factory will continue in the mainline, at Toy Fair next Spring.
