Hasbro's Star Wars brand team has agreed to answer three questions from Jedi Insider fans every other week. Here are this week's questions and answers. This is the second round for 2008.
At the time we sent these questions in, Toy Fair was about to begin and we figured any product related questions we could think of at that time would be answered then, so for this Q&A we thought it would be fun to take the time learn more about the people who work on the Star Wars toys.
JI: Could the people who are answering these questions take a moment to introduce themselves and tell us a little bit about their roles on the Star Wars brand team?
Hasbro: It's our policy not to publicly list our team members, but the team answering the questions is essentially the same one that we bring to Comic Con or Celebration - several design and marketing members who have been with Hasbro's Star Wars team for a number of years. While one person in marketing is the "point" for making sure that the Q&A gets completed every other week, questions are distributed out to various team members in design, engineering, packaging, and marketing as needed to get the detailed answer. If team members do not answer back in a timely fashion, or give the appropriate level of detail required to satisfy the fan question, it is up to the senior director to mete out severe punishment. We cannot reveal precisely what that punishment is.
JI: What is your favorite Star Wars movie?
Hasbro: OK, we'll play along. We canvassed eleven members of our team, and came up with some interesting findings. Of the 11, 3 prefer A New Hope ("the original Star Wars") and the other 8 have a single-minded devotion to Empire Strikes back as their favorite. The simple asking of this question, and the debate that ensued, has caused tempers to flare, harsh words that cannot be taken back, and crushed and bruised feelings littered across the Hasbro landscape. It has left a lasting divide that may never be healed. Thanks a lot.
JI: Out of all the Star Wars toys ever made going all the way back to the Kenner days, what is your favorite Star Wars toy that has been released?
Hasbro: We broke this one down into two categoriees, since most people on our team are incapable of just one answer. For "favorite figure" - the answers ranged from original Kenner figures including Luke Skywalker ("my very first figure and still my favorite to look at today"), Greedo, Boba Fett, Han Solo Hoth, and Admiral Ackbar, along with 12" Vader and 12" IG-88 which, interestingly, one of our team always wanted but never got (does that still count as a "favorite"?). More recent favorites include the brand new Gree, Vintage OTC Stormtrooper, Evolutions Boba Fett, and Tsui Choi (Boba made it twice for old and new, making him the winner). For all other Star Wars, the answers were wide-ranging from original vintage Kenner Landspeeder and AT-AT (each with two votes), Slave-I, the original kid-sized lightsaber and the Han Solo blaster pistol. The most stylish vintage choice was the Bespin Micro World playset. Modern favorites include the FX X-Wing and the new large-wing TIE Fighter.
Also see:
2008 Q&A Session With Hasbro's Star Wars Brand Team Round 1
2008 Q&A Session With Hasbro's Star Wars Brand Team Round 2
