1) With the recent repaint of the larger winged TIE fighter with the Rebel
insignia there has been
a lot of discussion in our forums regarding repaints and the Star Wars
line of Hasbro toys.
Recently, you've said in Q&As "If you want more toys like the big
Millennium Falcon, buy the big
Millennium Falcon at full price". This feeds into the "Vote with your
dollars" mentality many
collectors have.
However, with items like this latest TIE fighter repaint (the 4th of the
large wing configuration)
people are wondering how Hasbro accounts for the sales of this item. Does
buying this TIE Fighter
make you think we want more repaints? If this item sells poorly, does that
"prove" that $60
vehicles are not viable to the Star Wars market?
In other words, does buying a repaint "count as much" towards us getting a
new vehicle sculpt
(like the Cloud Car) as buying the AT-TE?
2) Related to question #1: I've seen fans clamor for a lot of repaints and
rereleases, but not
this one. While it was in a comic book, this does not seem like an item
people were clamoring for,
and the price point is considerably higher than the previous larger-scale
TIE Fighters. What was
the thinking behind a TIE Fighter with a Rebel insignia on its wings, and
why is the cost so much
higher than the previous TIE Fighter releases (surely a splash of red
paint can't cost THAT much!)
3) Some of our members have expressed to me concern about the upcoming
exclusive Wal-Mart A-Wing.
In the past Wal-Mart has had iffy distribution of exclusives with some
(the recent Max Rebo sets)
being plentiful to the point of going on clearance and others (the
Separation of the Twins sets,
recent comic packs) being exceedingly scarce. Can you tell me if this
A-Wing is the same as the
original red A-Wing release or a repaint, retool, etc. and what is being
done to ensure widespread
availability of this exclusive item?
Have a question for Hasbro?
Post it here
and maybe it will be answered by Hasbro!
