CollectionStation has the official answers from Hasbro for March 20, 2009:

CollectionStation.com: Right now, based on what you've said and shown at Toy Fair, the 2009 basic TLC waves look like this: February (ANH), May (ESB 1), September (TPM). We know the '09 EU wave got pushed into '10, but according to your prior answers that still leaves 4 more TLC waves crammed into the last part of the year. 2008 suffered pacing issues and delays in part because the Hasbro SW team was focusing on Indiana Jones, but this year there is no such sidetrack, so why the pacing problems and slowdowns? Does the fact that so many other movies are getting Hasbro toy lines (GI Joe, Transformers 2, Wolverine) slow the flow of SW toys? Will all 7 remaining '09 waves actually make it to market in this year, or will all those waves on top of each other in the last 3rd of the year cause another push-out and all-repaints wave? As per your Dec 10th Q&A correction, will ROTJ and ANH 2 waves get released between May's ESB wave and September's TPM wave?

Hasbro: Indiana Jones, nor any other movie, had (or has) nothing to do with the issues we have had on Star Wars with regard to schedules. Star Wars has a dedicated team assigned to it, and our schedule issues have been due to simply trying to cover a great deal of ground at once. Between Star Wars basic figures, Clone Wars basic figures, Comic Packs, exclusives, and our design to add newness to everything we do, it's an unprecedented level of support for Star Wars. A line the size of Star Wars is challenging for design, sculpting, engineering, and packaging, and any delays for any of these, or delays in securing Lucasfilm's approval, can cause disruption in the pipeline. The system was stressed, but we're back on track again and should be straightened out for this Fall and beyond. Right now, all waves will indeed make it out this year with the last wave likely to be Dec or Jan at the latest, following by the EU wave. There will be no repaint wave planned because there are quite a few regular waves falling into line. Had we been able to react to the delays this Spring, we would have activated a repaint wave this Spring but could not get one done in time and we held the final Spring wave (EpVI) over for the red/white line look rather than cutting it short in Spring.


CollectionStation.com: What are the requirements that a retailer must go meet to get a Star Wars exclusive, do they have to be a certain size company, make a certain number of Hasbro orders a month, etc.? Is there some sort of process that a retailer has to go through to get an exclusive, do they work with Hasbro on what item to produce, or is it out of their hands?

Hasbro: Our retail partners are just that - partners in Hasbro's overall business. To be considered for an exclusive, a certain level of overall support needs to be met. Some retails are specific in what they would like to see, but the majority defer to the team to deliver exclusives that meet their needs and target the consumer base we are both looking for (i.e. kids or collectors, or both).


CollectionStation.com: With the Titanium Series line, how much influence does Lucasfilm put into it? Have they ever asked for a specific ship to be included in the line when it otherwise wouldn't be? Have they ever requested a feature be added to a vehicle, or even possibly a potential feature removed? Is the LFL approval process fairly smooth with this line compared to something like the action figure line, have they ever sent a Titanium Series vehicle back to the drawing board or even canned it altogether?

Hasbro: Lucasfilm reviews each line plan for overall approval, accepting the majority of concepts but occasionally rejecting some and proposing alternates in their place. Features are a less important feature of the Titanium line, but are a big topic of discussion for other vehicles, such as the Starfighter 3-3/4" Vehicle assortment which is much more feature-oriented. In general, Titanium vehicles have a smoother approval process than 3-3/4" figures, simply because there is less subjectivity involved in the interpretation of things like faces and fewer deco issues. Incidentally, 2009 will be the last year for the Titanium vehicle series. It will be put on hiatus after this year.