| Interview: Derryl DePriest of Hasbro, on Star Wars |
| Written by Nicholas R. Messina, Jr., Edited by J.A. Tomlinson | |
| Tuesday, 13 November 2007 | |
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The McQuarrie Concept figures have been very popular with collectors and a Convention Exclusive R2-D2 & C-3PO 2-pack is the perfect way to celebrate the 30th birthday of Star Wars. However, given the popularity of the McQuarrie Concept figures, it seems that many fans will miss out on adding these two characters to their collections. Will there be any opportunity for fans not attending Celebration 4 or Celebration Europe to purchase the R2-D2 and C-3PO figures? Will they ever be available through Star Wars Shop or repackaged on individual cards and released as part of the basic figure line? Depriest: This figure set will be marketed and sold by convention organizers. It appears that this product will only be made available at the Celebrations along the same manner as the CIII Darth Vader figure. We (Hasbro) do not have plans at this time to put them into the basic figure line. In addition to The McQuarrie R2-D2 & C-3PO pack, HasbroToyShop will have a McQuarrie Luke Skywalker, based on the classic image of a masked hero taking on Darth Vader (the Vader figure is in our Wave 4 this year). So this is another very inconic McQuarrie that we are making available to fans at CIV. Right now we are evaluating whether to make this figure available to fans online after CIV pending availability. Speaking of the McQuarrie figures, we’ve heard rumors about Luke Skywalker, Snowtrooper, Han Solo and Rebel Trooper concept figures in future assortments. Any truth to those rumors? You have good sources. We can confirm that all of those figures are in the works for this year, 1 new figure per wave. Most if not all of these figures will be on display at CIV. That will finish the mainline eight McQuarrie concept figures for the year (including the repaint/re-release of the Stormtrooper from Wave 1). Lastly, are there any plans to include McQuarrie Concept creatures to the mix, or vehicles similar to the Expanded Universe Air Speeder and Cloud Car vehicles released during the Power of the Force run? We have been concentrating exclusively on figures. We have chosen to focus on the on-screen iconic vehicles since they are very expensive to produce and every one we look at we plan for years of reuse. The non-iconic vehicles like the concepts just don't have that kind of strength. We’ve seen pictures of the Galactic Heroes figures packaged on single cards. What led to that decision? Will single-carded figures replace the 2-packs that have been the standard since the Galactic Heroes line was launched? Not at all. The 2-packs will be the dominant delivery vehicle, along with continued expansion of the "Cinema Scenes" idea, for year to come. The single packs were a way to get figures at an "entry price" for channels of the trade for which the $5.99 ARP price is simply too high for their business model and currently are on the sidelines of the Galactic Hero fun. These single pack figures were selected from figures previously "retired" from the 2-pack rotation and they do not have any deco changes whatsoever. We do not want to frustrate collectors who want to seek these out but may not have stores nearby who stock these. We’ll be following the exact same format with nine of our Unleashed 2" figures in a single serving, entry-priced format. Fans have been getting their wishes granted with the release of several figures from long-time want lists, like Biggs in Academy Uniform, Cantina aliens like Elis Helrot and even Expanded Universe characters like Quinlan Vos. Are there any other plans for figures that fans have been clamoring for, like Yarna d’al Gargan, Funeral Pyre Darth Vader, a super-articulated Throne Room Duel Luke Skywalker, and the infamous Bespin Citizen, otherwise known as the "Ice Cream Maker Guy"? We are looking at bringing several of these figures out over the next couple of years, but not all of the ones on the list. As much as a portion of fans are clamoring for Willrow Hood, he just is not as compelling a character as aliens or any of the other figures. Lastly, we’ve received letters from fans asking about the status of previously popular lines, specifically the full-scale Unleashed line and the Star Wars: Evolutions line from Revenge of the Sith. Will we see more full-scale figures from the Unleashed line, or has the concentration completely shifted to Unleashed Battle Packs? And will we ever see new releases in the Evolutions line, following the evolution of characters like C-3PO through the entire six-episode saga, or characters like Princess Leia from A New Hope through Return of the Jedi? While the full-scale Unleashed line has struggled to find an audience large enough to sustain new development, we have not abandoned the format. One more significant item based on a partial retool later this year will be announced at either CIV or Comic-Con. We think that we can go back to this format in the future, but we have to choose our characters carefully. We have always considered the 2" Unleashed Battle Packs a separate concept, united by stylistic expression only, and not a successor to the larger format. The 2" Unleashed targets a different, broader audience and they have been extremely well-received, so much so that fans will see a continued commitment to bringing forth sets from the entire Saga. Regarding Evolutions — We do have some other ideas that we'd like to look at for Evolutions someday, but we're going to hold the concept for the right opportunity. It is an extremely resource and tooling intensive line, so we need to pick the right time where we know we can do the line justice. [End] |
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