1. Will we be getting a Hovertank commander in 3.75' and/or 6'? What about the Hovertank itself?
--Eric

There's very little hope for 3 3/4-foot or 6-foot hovertank commander action figures, but maybe 3 3/4-inch and 6-inch ones could be on the way! No announcements have been made yet, but it seems that it's something that could quickly and easily see production if Hasbro is so inclined. We really don't know how Hasbro will handle new movie stuff in the post-movie season, mostly because Rogue One development butted in to the sales window for The Force Awakens, as Episode VIII is also doing for Rogue One. If we need some filler exclusives, it wouldn't stun me to see this figure in an upcoming exclusive set for somebody. (For those looking for hints, this is not a hint. I have no information on this at this time.)

Similarly, vehicles are tricky - the rules seem to change every few years. It was never all that surprising to see a sudden remake of a classic movie vehicle, but during the prequels we pretty much only saw new vehicles for a movie within that movie's initial launch window. There were few exceptions, but the post-movie years of 2006-2011 were pretty fantastic for remakes and first takes on those nifty armored vehicles. Given their roles in the TV shows and movies, I still can't get over the fact that we got AT-TEs and Turbo Tanks. How amazing!

I'm not without hope given that we know the Han Solo movie takes place during the Imperial era. They could (and indeed should) be reusing some hardware and props, which was a strategy we also saw employed on the 1990s Star Trek shows. Things were repurposed or brought back because of budget and turnaround reasons - it would certainly be easier to bring back the Hovertank prop than it would be to build a new one. Even if they just repainted it for the movie, it could give Hasbro an easy twofer should they make a 3 3/4-inch scale vehicle.

The Disney era for Hasbro vehicles has, frankly, sucked. Rebels has seen a few good selections, but I'm still dying for the Ghost and especially the Phantom II. I'd also go bonkers for the TIE Fighter, particularly Sabine's repainted one. This will probably never happen. We got a decent spread for The Force Awakens, but what really surprises me is what we're not seeing for Rogue One. We know there are new X-Wings - Mattel made one already. We know there are TIE Fighters. Same reason. We know there are Y-Wings. (MicroMachines are out.) To date Hasbro has only delivered three new Rogue One-specific vehicles, in part because the original plan (which you can recite by heart) was that the line was to be killed after six months. The marketing plan was initially to release Episode VIII product in/around March, because the movie was to be released in May. This all changed - so as a result, the line got shorted. Hasbro can - and historically has - gone back to revisit popular designs, but it can take a while. It took nine years and a fan vote to do a second attempt at Darth Revan, despite the fact Hasbro told us they'd do another run of the original figure from 2007 during its release window. (This never happened.)

I'm much more optimistic for Hasbro to do things related to the Empire in any form, as well as the new movie trilogy in nearly any form, than anything else. We should absolutely keep asking for more Hovertank stuff if we want it - and I do, I'm a big dork for the vehicles. So here's hoping Hasbro delivers the goods.

 

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FIN

So that's all I got - mailbag's empty. If you have questions, send 'em in - otherwise I'm going on break until 2017. Back when we had more people posting here I used to take a break from Q&A over Thanksgiving to New Year's, but I guess that ain't gonna happen.

If you do send in questions, I'll make you a deal - I actually have to get some pretty severe/nasty dental surgery on Wednesday and I'm probably going to be high as a kite for much of the day. If you'd like your question answered by me on Wednesday (to be posted the following week, on schedule) go ahead and send 'em in. Let's see what happens.  It's for science.

--Adam Pawlus

Got questions? Email me with Q&A in the subject line now! I'll answer your questions as soon as time (or facts) permit.