Open Your Toys Cast – Episode 016 Show Notes

  1. Introduction

    1. About the podcast and site

    2. About Us

    3. Contact Us

    4. What are we drinking?

  2. Toy News

    1. Botcon: Michael McConnohie voiced Tracks and Cosmos, “First Buy” opportunity with sticker, G1 writers, Final Box Art

    2. SDCC: Destro 2-pack

    3. WTFWTK 2.17 and other news

      • Chase He-Ro with different jewel, online will offer both, but they will be different than show. Same production as the last few figures ($20)
      • Teela will come with 2 heads
      • King Hiss and The Faceless One confirmed
      • Zodac, Hordak and Man-At-Arms same runs as last figures
      • Display Stands coming
      • Subscription Service Details:
        • The MOTU subscription program will be available May 18th through 22nd
        • You can purchase as many subscriptions as you want. Each subscription includes the Sept – Dec 2009 MOTUC figures
        • Convention, rerelease and repaint figures are not included simply because not all fans may want the rereleases and convention figures may change in price or release date
        • We will have a 2010 subscription for Jan – Dec 2010 figures in mid August with the same rules applying
        • Once you purchase a subscription you are locked in (i.e. no refunds)
        • Figures will continue to be revealed about three months ahead of time, so yes, if you buy a subscription you are agreeing to purchase which ever figure comes out that month even if not revealed yet
        • Options will be available to be charged and have figures ship each month, or to have all figures held, shipped and be charged at the end of the year
        • Figures will also still be available to purchase each month with the standard limit of 10 (if you want more than 1 of a certain figure for example)

    4. Hasbro Star War Q and A:

      • swCollector.com: I recently noticed that in the Clone Wars movie, Ziro the Hutt has some “bartender” astrodroids wearing the same serving tray that R2-D2 used on Jabba’s Sailbarge. Seeing as how there was also a second, red-striped R2 unit on Jabba’s sailbarge using the same serving tray, what are the chances we might see you dust off the old “bartender” R2-D2 mold to produce one of these other droids?

        Hasbro: That would be an interesting idea, perhaps in conjunction with a release of Ziro sometime. Right now it’s not confirmed, but it is something we are thinking about.

      • HansHideout.com: What are the chances of the following figures being recycled into future Saga Legends assortments – VOTC Chewbacca, VOTC Han Solo, and VOTC Luke Skywalker? All three seem to have developed a bit of demand on the secondary market lately thanks to that Big Falcon and most folks wouldn’t mind seeing them again on the new cardbacks.

        Hasbro: Good questions. The VOTC Chewbacca will be coming into the Saga Legends line this Fall. The VOTC Han is not available because his tooling is in use elsewhere for another set; instead, we will be getting an older Bespin Han back out there (not a vintage-quality articulated figure, but since this line is kid-targeted we went with the best one we had). We did not have the VOTC EpIV Luke planned for re-release because of the upcoming DSII Luke, but he is a good candidate for getting back into the rotation sometime. Thanks for the suggestions.

      • ToyMania.com: Are there any current plans for a new Zuckuss figure? Relative to the other bounty hunters from The Empire Strikes Back, he seems over-due.

        Hasbro: We agree. A Zuckuss is indeed in the works….we will have more information available at Comic Con.

      • GalacticHunter.com: Knowing that we can’t have a cardback with EVERY figure on it like the old days, would it be feasible to put together and periodically insert a DVD with pictures (and minor factoids) about the line?

        Hasbro: DVDs are very expensive for us to produce, not to mention a tremendous amount of labor to oversee and produce. Instead, we prefer the cross-sells which, while not being able to contain many pictures, do show more of the lineup. Also, we plan to produce another poster this year for Comic Con (as we have done annually for a long time) that showcases all of the “new” figures this year in The Legacy Collection. In addition to being available at Comic Con, it should also be available on-line as well.

      • Rebelscum.com: Last year at Comic-Con, it was mentioned that there were plans for a second Endor-themed Battle Pack, which would include the second Imperial Officer pulled from the Shield Generator Assault set. More recently, early word has come out of such a set and the Original Trilogy fans are eager to learn more. Can you tell us who will be in this new set (please have some Ewoks!), and is it possible to see a close-up of that ill-fated Imperial Officer, even if it’s the same photo from last year’s presentation?

        Hasbro: As it turns out, we are using the officer that was dropped from the Shield Generator Assault set after all….he will have the original head, but on a modified torso (one that removes the rank insignia completely and is consistent with the imagery). As an added bonus, we can tell you that the Ewok in this set is Warok.

      • ToyNewsi.com: Can you tell us what the 2009 Star Wars SDCC exclusives will be, how much they will be and show us pictures of them?

        Hasbro: There will be two basic carded exclusives, both in the new red/white line look on the slightly-smaller new basic figure card size, in protective clamshells. The price on these will be approximately $12.99. The first figure, available exclusively at HasbroToyShop at Comic Con and online, will be version of Luke with the “jubilant” expression when he climbs out of the cockpit after destroying the Death Star in EpIV. This figure is a rework of the Luke originally created for the 2008 Wal-Mart Droid Factory Luke/R2-D2 set, which Lucasfilm rejected because the head did not match out original input. In the end, we went with a previous version of Luke’s head in that set for the Droid Factory set. There seemed to be significant fan demand to get this version back out there, so we re-sculpted it and added a brand new X-Wing ladder to the set. It will be a basic-carded figure on the new slightly-smaller card size, in a protective clamshell. The second figure will be a re-release of the Stormtrooper Commander figure from The Force Unleashed, which was very sport distribution last Fall during the release of TFU. This version will be on a red/white card (different from the original release) and will be a shared exclusive with HasbroToyShop distributing at the show, and HasbroToyShop.com and StarWarsShop.com distributing the figure online during and after the show.

    5. New G.I. Joe Muggs

    6. May 8th was Transformers Birthday

    7. Cool Toy Review: Official pics of Cobra Island Sets

    8. GeneralJoes: Combat Heroes Walmart Exclusive 5-pack

    9. Rebelscum: New Official Pics

    10. Rebelscum: New Clone Commanders

    11. TFW2005: Knock Off Disney Label Mickey

    12. Update to Fan-based Projects:

    13. Hiss Tank: New Vehicles (Modern Ferret and other prototypes, Sky Sweeper and Firebat, Possible Dragonfly)

    14. Revenge of the Fallen Toy News:

  3. Store Report

    1. Sightings

    2. In The Ads

      • Nada yet again

  4. Online

    1. New Items and Pre-Orders

      • Nothing

    2. Sales and Promos

      • None

  5. What We Got

  6. Weekly Toy Review: None this week

  7. Listener Feedback and Questions

    • Jaime Comment
    • Earnie Comment
    • Welcome Facebookers: Earnie Sexton
    • Welcome Twitterers: sarahtrainer (sarahtrainer) and UrbanCollector (UrbanCollector)

  8. Grab Bag

    1. Rise of Cobra Official Video Game: Cover, Lead Designer Blog Entry, more info…

    2. Revenge of the Fallen Official Video Game: Cover, Trailer

    3. Hallmark Star Wars Ornaments

    4. GeneralJoes: M.A.S.K. Customs

    5. Movie Promos: Official Site Updates (ROTF and ROC), Luxor Billboard, ROTF Character Posters, ROTF Movie Poster, ROC Popcorn Bags, Burger King Premiums (ROTF and ROC)

  9. Peace