Where are the missing Clone Wars figures from last summer? What's going on with the new Vintage 3-packs at Target? And how are we going to show the kids these movies when the time comes? All this and more in this week's Q&A!

1. Just saw a recent post of yours regarding the Clone Wars Wave 9 showing on the pegs, but was wondering if there was any info regarding the missing CW36 Clone Commander Jet from Wave 6 and CW39 Hondo Ohnaka from Wave 7?
I recall seeing something about Jet being delayed, but with the SpecOps trooper out and Jet not being too different, the delay now seems odd.......
And who know about Hondo?
--Adam

Hondo Ohnaka will be returning in wave 10, alongside the debut of Clone Commander Jet, a shirtless Savage Opress, and a swell cold gear Plo Koon.

2. Was thinking about what you said in a past Q&A column at Galactic Hunter about how despite the fact that the Joe line is putting out some all-time great figures, they're almost impossible to find with many of the new vehicles going straight to discounters such as Ross and only seem to appeal to collectors, as the Big Three usually carry much higher quantities of The Corps and other cheaper/less detailed lines. My question is, do you think this line is on the verge of death? I was absolutely shocked that they're releasing the Skystriker and hope it sells like crazy but other than the obvious push they'll do when the next movie is released next year, do you think that the non-movie based line such as POC has any longevity left in it?
--Joel

The line seems to be continuing fairly well, and Hasbro seems to have a plan to keep it going for a while, even if some retailers don't want it. With the G.I. Joe movie sequel in 2012 and a vast tooling library, Hasbro can crank out new Joes in the interim with minimal development costs. We've seen over 20 carded figures for 2011's line so far, so I expect this line to go on through at least this year, probably with even more hitting in 2012 up until the movie's launch.

Granted, it might be kinda dull with a few more repaints, but it should continue.

3. The new vintage 3-packs are hitting targets now and I am just wondering if they are just straight repacks or if there is anything new enough to pick up in these sets. I will admit the packaging is nice but can't just can't buy them for that reason unless It's a good clearance deal! Also looks like someone found the Galactic Heroes AT-ST at TRU, thought it was supposed to be Kohl's? Oh well at least it is coming somewhere.
--Matthew

As far as I can tell, the belt on the Stormtrooper appears slightly different, but it may be batch variations. Basically those Target Vintage 3-packs are just $20 repack sets, so you probably will want to skip them.

The Galactic Heroes AT-ST will not be in Kohl's. Hasbro didn't publicize (or explain) the change as of yet, but it's a safe bet Kohl's changed their mind and Toys "R" Us was the next company in line who had the resources (read: line of credit) to accept it for their own.

4. I have a two year old son who I'm carefully introducing to the world of Star Wars. I have a few Galactic Heroes things for him, but I understand that line is being discontinued. When will the new line of toddler-oriented toys be on the shelves and will it be compatible with the Galactic Hero line? He's hankering to play with MY stuff, and I'm not too keen about it.

--Jim

The new line, called Jedi Force (not to be confused with the Jedi Force line from 2005) will not be compatible with Galactic Heroes. Or rather, if it is, it's just dumb luck-- it's a new scale, the figures are articulated and slightly larger. There's a pretty nice emphasis on vehicles, plus they will be compatible with other Adventure Heroes toys involving Marvel and Transformers. So the intent is that it's a new start, and I expect to start seeing them by August if not in June as I expect some stores to put them out early.

5. I first saw Star Wars when it came out in '77 when I was six years old. I'm trying to figure out when to show my son the whole movie and saga (right now I just show him bits and pieces as he's learning to say the names of the characters). I'm thinking four years old. Others have said I should wait a bit, others have said earlier. The other issue is order. Being a bit of the classicist myself, I'm figuring OT first, then the prequels, but I'm intregued by the 4, 5, 1, 2, 3, 6 order that's been suggested elsewhere online (the theory being you retain the shock of learning that Vader is Luke's father in ESB, yet place ROTJ at the end of the whole saga's story). What are your thoughts?
--JS

Episode III has the hero getting cut up by the other hero, a mom dying in childbirth, and a scene where the hero cuts up a bunch of little kids. I'm no child expert, but I can say as a media fan that maintaining certain levels of mystery and surprise are damn near impossible these days. The paternity of Luke Skywalker, the reality of the Planet of the Apes, these things are constantly spoiled in other aspects of popular culture-- so the order of the movies may not matter as much as the fear that a crack on Sesame Street might unwittingly spoil something.

With Wikipedia, allusions on sitcoms, and even just toys-- movies are going to get spoiled. School libraries have kid's storybooks summarizing the films, comic adaptations may be in the public library, and odds are your movie collection isn't locked in a cabinet somewhere. If the kid discovers one movie, I'm sure they will have the ability to access whatever materials they may want to get the info. I know it sounds like heresy to read the novelization or comic book adaptation before seeing the movie, but that's what kids may do if their parents keep them from seeing something. So yeah.... I'd say that you probably can't really control how your kid consumes media. And don't forget, it's possible they might hate the movie series depending on what they see. As much as we loved Star Wars, that original film's pacing may not hold up to scrutiny of the audience raised on Spy Kids and Pixar flicks.

We're getting older too, and much like how some parents may think highly of the Led Zeppelin, or Elvis, or Louis Prima, be prepared for the possibility that your child may actually reject these things. I shudder to think of the possibility of raising a child who hears and doesn't like Man or Astro-Man? or worse-- a kid that plays sports and consumes contemporary pop music-- but you never know, you might get lucky. (My dad taped the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy TV series off PBS and saved the VHS tape for me when I got older, just in case. So sometimes you can point a kid in the right direction.)

FIN

I found the Galactic Heroes AT-ST at a Toys R Us this week ($34.99) and saw those swell new Vintage Y-Wing packaged photos, making this a good week for toy stuff. Given the AT-AT is $40-$50 and the AT-ST is $35, it's hard to justify the AT-ST as a good deal. It's neat, don't get me wrong, but it lacks oomph and gravitas and value. It does have 4 figures, but a firing gun or a spring-loaded walk might have been nice. Still, glad to have it, much better than $60+ from an eBay seller in England.

I'm not sure I completely understand the new George Lucas quotes about the TV show, as to if they mean they have 50 hours of footage or 50 hours of scripts/previz. Either way, nice progress has allegedly been made.

The biggest surprises this week had to do with distribution-- I saw a lot of Vintage Wave 6 at Targets, and shockingly finally saw wave 5 at Toys R Us. Also exciting, I got my Wedge Antilles figure in a case from Entertainment Earth (disclosure: I work there) and he is indeed shipping along with more of wave 3, so if you start to see a new glut of wave 3 in your area, you probably missed Wedge. Wedge himself doesn't seem too exciting, but given the current rarity levels and asking price on the secondary market I'm holding off on opening mine just yet-- I'm hoping I find one on a beat-up cardback first, just so as not to ruin this one. And I say this as a loose collector.

Wedge himself seems OK-- it's looking like the "Vintage Saga Collection" X-Wing Luke body, complete with lightsaber hilt hole, with a new head sculpt. I assumed we were getting something more given the delay, but it's not too shabby. If you're just a loose collector I bet the Target-exclusive Wedge from the X-Wing should scratch that itch nicely but for carded fans, nothing will be a good substitute for an honest-to-goodnes ROTJ carded Wedge. I hope Hasbro has the foresight to put him in one or two more assortments, putting him out as a figure that may be incredibly rare just seems cruel and taunting given that this is the first-ever movie version of Wedge not to be an exclusive of some sort. And now it looks like it's so hard to get, it's priced beyond the market's reasonable expectations.

--Adam Pawlus

Got questions? I bet you do. Email me with Q&A in the subject line.