Questions for September 5th, 2008
Q: 1. There has been a lot of doom and gloom chatter recently about the future of the Indiana Jones line. The abundance of certain peg-warming figures, the rather short SDCC presentation and recent Q&A answers all seem to suggest the line could be coming to a close sometime in 2009.
One of the reasons posited for this is that the Indiana Jones line just isn't "kid friendly" enough. Most of the films are over 20 years old and, even with the relative commercial success of "KotCS", the toys are far more appealing to collectors rather than children.
Might it be possible to reposition the Indy toys as a smaller, collector-focused line, more akin to the 25th Anniversary GI Joe line? The Joe line features some really terrific toys, but the characters and media they are based upon are just as old and even more obscure than the classic Indy films, but that line (at least appears) to be doing rather well with more exciting items and conce pts on the way. Clearly, it would seem, GI Joe is not kept afloat by children, but by steady collector interest.
Rather than Indy trying to "compete" with a massive kid-friendly line like "Star Wars", which has been consistently ubiquitous in the pop culture for over ten years, might it be possible to transition the Indy line to a smaller, more select market? This would probably rule out large-scale vehicles, but, as a huge fan of the line I know I'm not alone when I say that we'd obviously rather be happy with even a small offering of say, 10 to 15 figures a year rather than nothing at all.
A: The IJ collector base is not as large as the heavy hitter collector
brands, so this makes it a challenge to craft a collector-only focused
line that retailers see as a "must have" in years where there is no IJ
entertainment. Lines like GI Joe have bigger collector bases and
built-in repaint efficiency, which do not work in IJs favor.
Q: In your recent Q&A answers, you indicated that you aren't taking anything for granted about the future of the line until you see how things play out over the next few months and the only thing definite on the
horizon is the 2009 "Raiders" wave previewed at Comic Con.
Recently, rumors have surfaced about a new vehicle assortment for early 2009, as well. Given that those vehicles were probably planned at one point to coincide with 2009's first new wave, do you still have plans to release those, as well, or are they also up in the air?
A: Hasbro actually didn't send an answer to this question. We're trying to get them to respond to it, and will update when they do.
Q: We realize that continued support for the IJ line is what will decide its future beyond the holidays. However, there is a serious gap in the Raiders figure collection, and that is Toht. Since this figure has been on the cards since the line's inception (back when you planned a "Vintage" style, which fell through) and was shown at SDCC - not to mention technically being "almost done" since the body was used for the SDCC Cobra Commander - can we rest assured that it will indeed see the light of day before the end of this line? Or will this be another case of a figure being shown that makes us drool, only to be told "sorry, you'll never own it now"?
A: The gaps do pain us as well, and we hope that we will be able to get to
the figures shown at Comic Con. As you say, right now continued support
for the IJ line is in consumers' hands to show th at demand for IJ will
justify continued, ongoing retail support.
Questions for August 15th, 2008
Q: Since the Indiana Jones Temple of Doom wave of figures should be hitting retail around the time that the mail-away offer for the Crystal Skeleton figure expires, will the mail-away offer be extended to allow for the lateness of that wave relative to the offer? Many of us plan to army-build from this wave and would like more crystal skeletons!
A: The mail-in offers (all three of them) have been extended until Dec. 31st so fans should have plenty of time to take advantage using the stickers from the Temple wave. Please pass the word on, as it's likely that the stickers on the figures coming out of Asia will not be updated in time to reflect the extended date.
Q: On July 11, this question was answered at ThePrivateUniverse.com:
Q2. Will you be making an Ark Ghost in the 3.75 inch lineup? The adventure heroes ghost is my personal favorite and I think it would go great with the basic figure lineup as well! You could include a rotating head with the peaceful looking lady on one side and the other have the angry skull face.
A2. Yes, we plan on getting this out Spring of next year in the Deluxe lineup.
Now, last week, this question was answered on IndianaJonesCollectors.com:
IJC: Will we be seeing an ARK Ghost in the 3.75" figure lineup?
H: No plans for an Ark ghost in the lineup. It's a great idea for a future Deluxe-type item, but we have no plans for it right now.
So, which is it? Yes or no?
A: The Ark Ghost will not be making it out in the spring after all.
Q: Do you remain confident about and committed to the long term success of the line? It would be very unfortunate if poor planning helped speed the line to a premature end. The products themselves are consistently terrific and the overwhelming majority of collectors are very happy with the actual figures, just not with availability and distribution. What steps is Hasbro taking to ensure the future viability of the line?
A: The Indiana Jones line is without question considered a success, given that Indiana Jones has never previously been a successfully merchandised toy line. However, for a line to be ongoing, we have to have an audience (both kids and collectors) who are interested in continuing to collect the line. We know that IJ does not have a collector base similar to some of the bigger brands (like Star Wars), which places more of a burden relatively on kids to shoulder the load. So far, kids' interest has been somewhat 1-dimensional, showing an appreciation for relatively few figures (Indy and Mutt primarily). We expect that there will be a huge up swell in kid interest in IJ figures during the TV and holiday times, but exactly how long afterward, and how deeply they support the lines are still to be decided.
Questions for August 1st, 2008
Q: Will there be another KOTCS wave for the DVD release?... Ray Winstone's character and Marion seem noticably absent.
A: There will not be another wave of figures for this year. The next wave will be a Raiders wave in early 2009.
Q: Any chance for Short Round's car or any of aircraft used in the films? How about the elephants?
A: We'd like to do at least one of those if we can.
Q: Can you give us any info about any characters that are being looked at for 09 yet? How about a 3 3/4" Ark Ghost seeing as how the Adventure Heroes line has one?. Or Lao Che and his sons, from the Temple of Doom? Vogel in black uniform? Indy in German disguise (from Raiders OR Last Crusade)? Donovan? German Mechanic?
A: By now you have seen the Raiders line we debuted at Comic Con that has two of your selections in there. We expect the Raiders wave out in early 2009. As far as other figures go, it's too early to discuss any more beyond that.
Questions for July 11th, 2008
Q: Hasbro, how about a mail away redemption for a museum-type display case for displaying all the wonderful artifacts packed in with the figures this year? And will the artifact pack-ins remain for 09 or will you give us something else? I think the artifacts/crates have been very well received, probably better than almost any of the pack-ins that have been done for the SW line. If the pack-ins are changed to something else, will we still be able to use the stickers from this year's figures for next year's redemption?
A: We did look at doing a museum-type case but just could not get it to cost out, so we went with the crystal skeleton/throne option instead. For 2009, we will be releasing new figures with a cool new Indiana Jones figure stand and phasing out the artifacts (existing figures will likely continue to come with their artifacts). There will likely be no redemption next year - so use those stickers on this year's crystal skeleton before the offer expires!
Q: What is the most exciting thing or idea you are working that you could share with the fans? Something that will blow us away?
A: There is a very interesting vehicle that we are hoping we can get to next year. However, we can't give you any more details in the chance that it doesn't make our timing. Stay tuned!
Q: There seem to be an awful lot of Wave 1 and 2 figures being repacked into the 3rd (and most likely the 4th) wave revision cases, even though most stores (in my area at least) are still pretty well stocked with the early figures. Isn't this going to hurt the sell through on these, especially when most of the "new" figures in the wave 3 cases are only packed 1 per case? If retailers order 10 cases of wave 3, but only sell 8 or so figures from each case (the "new" figures) they won't have enough room on the shelves to re-order more cases. Why pack so many old figures back into the assortments?
A: We could only do 1 each per case of the new figures because we need to produce figures at a pretty high capacity, so carrying forward figures was inevitable. Most of the figures that we have carried forward have been the IJ figures and Mutts - figures which we forecast to be more popular. We have carried forward additional figures to round out the case pack, and these more narrowly-appealing figures (like Sallah, or Monkey Man) will probably linger awhile at retail until they move through.
Questions for June 20th, 2008
Q: You have indicated plans for one wave from each movie for this year. Will future waves in 09 (and beyond) continue to be broken down by movie or will there be a mixture? Which brings me to another point: there seems to be some concern about the actual "longevity" of this Indy line. I'm sure that you would like to have at least 1 Indy figure in every wave that gets released, regardless of movie theme or even if it branched out into EU territory like books/comics/video games/etc. Indy would still have to be the "anchor" of the wave. However, Indy is pretty much a one trick pony, as he simply wears the same classic jacket/fedora in every appearance, with only a few minor changes every now and then. How many times can you expect to keep putting out basically the same Indy figure wave after wave, or do you have something in mind that will change it up? And please, no more action features! How many waves do you see this line achieving before you start to run out of characte rs and have to really start scraping the bottom of the barrel? Unfortunately this isn't a franchise like Star Wars or G I Joe that has literally hundreds of characters.
A: You are right on all counts. We do look to keep the waves themed, but at some point they will start to get pretty thin and cater to just collectors unless we keep the Indy figures (and also Mutt) active. There are still some great Indy figures to do, although none as iconic perhaps as the classic ones we have done first, so we will continue to make sure that those versions are carried forward in future waves since this is the version that kids will continue to want. There are a suprisingly strong number of supporting characters and troop-builder types to be able to draw from that collectors will appreciate, but the line will only be able to continue as long as we are able to get a strong numerical base of collectors and retain kid interest from the KotCS movie and DVD and other forms of IJ entertainment. We're still figuring that all out, but we're optimistic that we'll have a great 2009 as well with Indy. Beyond that, it's a little early to speculate.
Q: Question about the pegholes in the feet... they seem to be around the same size as the Star Wars/GI Joe pegs, but yet those stands don't seem to fit in there. Why the change in size? And do you plan to release some kind of stands for these? Along those same lines, can collectors expect some kind of protective cases eventually?
A: Some of the IJ figures had unintentionally shallow foot peg holes, so they did not fit on Star Wars figure stands (this happens occasionally with Star Wars figures as well, but sometimes these things just slip through the checks). This should be updated in the figures as a running change so they would all be able to fit, and we can confirm that the latest waves are being created with the deeper peg hole. Stands are in the works as a replacement for the relics in 2009. We have no plans to do collectible cases for the IJ basic figures, since the number we have to produce is simply too great to justify for IJ.
Q: With 4 waves of figures confirmed for 2008, do you have anything else coming out this year? Any other surprises in store? And how many figures can we expect year to year? Also, do you have plans to stagger the Indy and Star Wars releases somewhat, since a lot of people who buy one line will buy the other?
A: There should be about 28 basic figures out this year through Wave 4. While we are trying to get new figures out as fast as we can, they won't be ready until 2009. As for surprises? There will be a couple of announcements at Comic-Con International for new items and hopefully we'll be able to show a sneak peak to 2009. We haven't really tried to stagger Star Wars and IJ for the back half of the year since beyond the first waves, schedules can be an imprecise science!
Questions for June 6th, 2008
Q: You have indicated a reluctance to create figures from the "Young Indiana Jones Chronicles" show and movies. Would you consider characters from other IJ media, such as video games or novels? For example, Sophia Hapgood?
A: While Young Indy is a not IJ in our sights, primarily because the figures would have a very tenuous connection to the "core" IJ we all know and love, we are considering other relevant media. Sophia Hapgood is one of our favorite "IJ EU" characters that we would definitely like to produce if/when we get to the comic packs.
Q: Will the indy figure included in the Temple of Doom wave have the missing sleeve and ripped shirt as seen on the rope bridge?
A: Yes he will. We will have the full wave of Temple of Doom figures at Comic Con for everyone to ogle in person (or experience vicariously online as we release our presentation to the sites in attendance).
Q: Was there any particular reason why Toht was left out of the first Raiders of the Lost Ark wave? It seems like you covered most of the vintage figures for new sculpts, but I'm left scratching my head why much lesser characters like Monkey Man and Cairo Thug were created before Toht?
A: Don't scratch too hard. We actually were "saving" Toht for a possible Vintage IJ wave when we made the initial selects for the Raiders wave, so we locked him off. When we decided to put aside the idea of Vintage IJ, he was a natural for the next Raiders wave we planned (early 2009). We're not sure he would have been the right choice though for our first limited Raiders wave - on the surface, the Cairo figures are more natural opponents for IJ to fight with than Toht and a better choice for kid interest.
Questions for May 24th, 2008
Q: For the IJ & KOTCS line, there isn't a Marion Ravenwood figure. The classic ROTLA one is nice, but will there be a KOTCS version?
A: We actually don't have a KotCS Marion figure in the works yet, as there are still some additional figures we'd like to get to first. We're confident with time and the continued interest of kids and collectors that we will someday get to her.
Q: For the Star Wars line, there have been a few George Lucas figures released. Any chance of this continuing in the Indiana Jones line? Any possibility of Steven Spielberg being made as a figure?
A: Right now we will say "no" but you never know what the future could hold.
Q: I've personally been to at least 3 different Targets, 3 different TRUs and 4 different WalMarts, on several occasions after the May 1st street date, and I've found Indiana Jones figures at exactly two of them (both TRU stores FWIW). And I don't mean that the other places had been sold out and had empty pegs, they didn't even have sections or shelf tags for Indiana Jones toys. Any idea what's going on with that? I would have thought that on May 1st everyone would have their selections out in full swing.
A: By now, you probably see IJ at pretty much every store. The reality is that even when we date-stamp the cartons, we still rely on the retail chain's actual changeover teams to get the change done, and that varies by chain, by region, and our own Hasbro field help that sometimes pitches in to help facilitate. So 5/1 was always the start, with the goal of being 90% set going into the weekend.
Questions for May 9th, 2008
Q: Though probably not the most 'exciting' concept for an action figure around, will we see a 'Professor Indy' any time soon?
A: We haven't gotten to this most iconic version yet, mainly because we are still debating which action feature to include: chalkboard writing action, hidden artifact reveal, or "student befuddlement" facial expression change. When we figure that out, we'll slot him in. In all seriousness, we have several more great Indys planned for next year, but haven't been able to get Prof. IJ in the line just yet.
Q: What are the chances of you releasing a Dietrich figure in the next wave of Raiders of the Lost Ark figures? For those of you that dont know the name, he was the German Crnl that melted with Toht and Belloq when the Ark was opened.
A: Dietrich is in the plans for early 2009.
Q: Now that you've got that fantastic horse mold, is there any chance of seeing it used for packs from the closing scene in Last Crusade or in the Star Wars line for Ewok/Marauder mounts (c'mon, who wouldn't want Chukha-Trok with a horse?) or in GI Joe (there was that one cartoon where the Joes were riding horses through the deserts of Kentucky to catch Cobra's bullet train)?
A: You can bet that this great horse will be reused in upcoming IJ sets. Interesting thought on the use of the tool as a possible equus companion to Chuhka-Trok if we ever do any sets tied to the live action Ewoks show. Thanks for the idea.
Questions for April 25th, 2008
Q: Do you have inside info on if there will be a midnight madness sale for Indiana Jones toys on 5/1?
A:There are no plans as far as we know for a 5/1 Midnight Madness-type event for IJ. If you hear of anything, let us know!
Q: I have a question for hasbro regarding the new Indiana Jones line. I was rather impressed with the 3-d cardboard backdrops that were used for 2 starwars scenes a few years ago(jabba's palace and cantina)and i was hoping that these could be redone in an indy format? I think there is much potential for a ravenwood bar with exclusive marion figure or the temple in the opening of raiders where the idol could be enshrined:) My thinking is one it would also touch the nostalgic hearts of my generation that got treated to a cloud city playset or a cantina adventure catalog exclusive. Many play enviroments with the cost of cardboard and ink.I can think of countless play enviroments or even as a premium of some sort.
A: That is a great suggestion, and one that in Star Wars we have been looking at as well (the recent Captain Rex mail-in has a bit of this thinking, although not full blown like a wide diorama). While we have no formal plans at the moment, it is something we are evaluating.
Q: Most (if not all) of the previewed Indy figures seem to have removable hats, which makes the hats seem just a little too large. Are there going to be any Indiana figures with hats sculpted onto the heads to avoid this problem?
A: Actually only one of the basic figures has a removable hat (the KotCS Indy); the rest are adhered to the head.
Questions for April 4th, 2008
Q: Will a 3 3/4 Ark of the Covenant be made?
A:Yes, indeed. It will be found in our Deluxe series ($9.99 SRP), paired
with an Indiana Jones in the Map Room robes.
Q: Hasbro currently has the SW license until 2018, what time frame does
Hasbro have the license for Indy and any hints at some surprise goodies to come?
A:It is a long-term license for us, although we don't want to discuss the
length of the agreement publicly. We have plans for a long and bright
future for IJ, especially if as we suspect the movie hooks in a generation
of "Indy kids" who will enjoy the franchise just as we have. We have
shown the majority of the line for the year already, but we will be
debuting a glimpse into what 2009 holds at San Diego Comic Con.
Q: Can you give us a list of what "artifacts" we can expect to find packed
in with the 3.75" line coming out soon? And were there any that you couldn't get
to do that you'd like to include somewhere down the line?
A:See the attached Indiana Jones relic list. There are a couple types of
relics, including those from the film, and those that have hi storical
reference. We used a mix of both types. We haven't specified which
figures have which artifacts...that is for you guys to discover. But they
are all "dedicated" - not randomly packed. Happy hunting!
- Relics that are in the film, and have historical reference
- Shankara Stone
- Ankh
- Crystal Skull
- Holy Grail
- Eye of Horus
- Anubis Statue
- Aztec Sun Dial
- Fertility idol
- Relics not featured in the films, and have historical reference
- Easter Island Head
- Terracotta Warrior Statue
- Terracotta Horse
- Spear of Destiny
- Nurhache’s Urn
- Battle axe of Leif Ericson
- Relics featured in the films, and have no historical reference
- Headpiece of the staff of Ra
- Grail Tablet
- Temple Relief Sculpture
- Temple of Doom Medallion
- Cross of Coronado
- Christies Chalice
- False Grail
- Knight’s Shield
- Relics not featured in the films, and have no historical reference
- Arrowhead
- Dagger
- Diamond
- Funerary Mask
- Chinese Lion
- Chinese Dragon
- Spartan Helmet
