Hasbro Star Wars Team Q&A

I would like to thank Hasbro and Litzky PR for inviting Bantha Skull to participate in this interview opportunity. As always, it was great getting to interact Patrick Schneider (Senior Manager, Global Brand Development & Marketing, Star Wars) and Sam Smith (Star Wars Design Manager) and I would like to thank both for taking time out of their day to chat with us. And without further ado, on with the questions:

Disclaimer: The following answers are paraphrased and condensed for clarity. Any inaccuracies in these answer are the result of unintentional errors on the part of Bantha Skull during this process, and do not reflect upon Hasbro.

Do you anticipate there being any Episode V vehicle / adventure set support in The Vintage Collection next year for the 40th anniversary of The Empire Strikes Back?

While not being able to share anything specific, the 40th Anniversary of The Empire Strikes Back is figuring into Hasbro’s plans, but they need to balance that with the exciting new media from The Mandalorian and The Clone Wars.

Can you confirm the 8 recently announced Vintage Collection repacks will utilize PhotoReal or any other updates?

Editor's note: This question was on Bantha Skull's list to ask, but was actually asked by our friends at Jedi Business.

Yes. They will be released with Photo Real.

Follow up by Bantha Skull: Will they be part of the regular retail assortment or part of the Fan Channel?

They will be part of the EU/Fan Channel and not intended for regular retail (if some do appear at brick and mortar, it’s not intentional). These should be consider as “bonus” figures for the year and do not take away resources from other figures. They are so that new fans can have access to older figures, and existing collectors have the opportunity to upgrade to photo real if they choose.

There is some consternation among the fan base that TVC is more expensive than the larger GoA figures. Can you explain the additional costs that go into making a TVC figure over a GoA figure?

There are many factors for this. One GoA figures have roughly 10 paint applications whereas Vintage Collection figures have upwards of 60 paint applications. The animated figures lend themselves to tooling efficiencies. The larger figures are easier to assemble, and finally, because the ordering volume of GoA is higher, it helps to keep the cost down.

Can we anticipate any HasLab Star Wars news in 2020?

Nothing can be shared at this time, but the Star Wars team is still excited about HasLab. The fact that it’s now a “Pan-Hasbro” platform does play a factor.

Follow up by Bantha Skull: Is there any risk with simply offering a product on HasLab?

Yes. First, there is a product risk. If the program fails, that product can’t be offered going forward. Second, there are months of development required to even bring a product to HasLab, so there is a cost associated.

In 2017 I wrote that I would retire from Bantha Skull if Hasbro didn’t announce a Vintage Collection Episode VI Emperor Palpatine by December 2019. Do I need to submit my retirement papers?

While Hasbro cannot offer anything at this time, they understand that Emperor Palpatine is a great TVC candidate. Patrick Schneider asked me not to retire, so, in accordance with this request, I am withdrawing my commitment to retire.

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