I’ve got the time to hang around and hope you might change your mind…
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OK, so, I don’t usually post on the weekend (blog posts, that is) but when some people call, I listen. The caller who sent the photos of the BMF called, and I woke up from my toy-induced coma.
So… allegedly Hasbro conducted a focus group at Comic Con (all under NDA, which, well, I’m not) of 100 people who wanted to buy the BMF Millennium Falcon, and the big company from Rhode Island wanted to know about the toy’s potential drawbacks. (I own three at the moment — I’m not biased. I love it more than the bulk of my family.)
Key complaints (from the alleged focus group) are (as follows):
Missiles — Apparently collectors would prefer more lasers and fewer projectiles (which get lost quite easily) and a nicer lower cannon.
The Escape Pod/Shuttle: Which our chosen 100 representatives felt could be put to better use (and I really have no idea what they’d use it for, but these are focus group people — they’ve ruined many a toy). What would you do with that space? (Oh, and I admit, I want those freakin’ doors to open!)
Doorway: The door between the cockpit and the corridor. I agree, it might be a tight fit, but, yeah, it really does need to be there so the whole ship doesn’t seem incongruous.
No Lando-vator! People really do seem to want our great Cloud City Superfreak to save Luke Skywalker‘s bony backside from certain death. Don’t ask me (as I agree) but it makes sense that people want to see Lando Calrissian do something to redeem himself after all of his kniving to (potentially) save Cloud City. He owes us (the fans) that rescue and his vainglorious attempt to save face.
OK, so, the big question is this — will we see an updated and retooled Empire Strikes Back version of the BMF, or is Hasbro just covering bases and gauging demand? Either way, there are some of us (ME!) who would buy both. There are some who will nag and nag because the toy is missing some panel that they saw for 1/32nd of a frame. I just report what I hear, folks, but a Lando-vator is wanted, appreciated, and needed.
(I honestly cannot thing of a single thing the big H could add for a Return of the Jedi remix, but if you’ve got ideas, post ‘em, and we’ll hash ‘em out right here.)
July 26th, 2008 at 9:54 pm
Hey Adam! I have a possible suggestion for a ROTJ variation on the BMF -a pop off radar laser dish to simulate the damage caused by Lando’s bad flying. And for the ESB variation, I would like to see a pack (or is it a gaggle) of mynocks.. just an idea to think about. hey, congratulations on winning the WOW OR NEVER Target contest!
July 26th, 2008 at 10:18 pm
For a ROTJ version, the radar dish could explode. It appears that the BMF doesn’t have all the sounds from the 2004 version. There could be a removable second gunner station to connect two of them together for display outside of the ship.
July 27th, 2008 at 12:58 am
I would be all over an updated ESB version 2.0
I’m thinking Hasbro would have retailers send the left-over current versions back to them and re-tool them to have ESB sound FX etc. (maybe Hoth Leia and Bespin Han figs.) rather than having them go on clearance anywhere. they could get lots of life out of them. ROTJ update: Lando and Nien Numb figs and SFX "He’ll have that shield down" "yub lub blub bub bub." etc.
July 27th, 2008 at 7:59 am
I have no desire what-so-ever to see another Falcon, I don’t want to think I "wasted" my $150, ya know?
But if they did….I’d deffintly like to see all of what was mentioned above. I’d also like to see one of the panels remove the top of the "cargo bay" as well. Deffintly designed for little kid hands, lol.
July 27th, 2008 at 8:29 am
The space mirror opposite the medical bay seems to be hollow, and I would love to see a hyperdrive room there.A Landovator would be cool, although I’m not sure exactly where they would put it.The front middle landing leg falls off easily. I could do without the missiles myself.Make the escape pod bay doors open.It would be really nice to be able to press a button and have the lights stay on. Create a physical opening between the cockpit and hallway.I thought about the possibility of Hasbro adding opposing gunner stations, but I don’t think that they would be feasible even on a 100% scale model; Lucas was cheating with the interior dimensions in ’77.(It will never happen but in a perfect world) it would be cool if the ship was about 6-8 inches longer. If it got bigger than that, I think the falcon would be too unwieldy to carry. Some might think it is already too large to carry, so I guess that’s a subjective call. As it is, I think this falcon is about 2/3 scale of the ANH set model. All in all, this is a SUPERB piece. Minor nitpicks only.
July 27th, 2008 at 8:36 am
Gotta say, as someone who’s been playing with this with my kid for almost a day straight now, the smaller ship would be sorely missed. I sure as heck can’t easily pick this thing up and fly around with it, so the small ship definitely serves its purpose, as my son loves to dock and undock it and fly it around. Sorry collectors, but as a toy first? That smaller ship’s great (please don’t hate me for saying!).Everything else above, I could agree with, although my kid loves the missles too (but I’d love if I didn’t have to crawl around on the floor looking for them every 5 seconds).
July 27th, 2008 at 12:12 pm
I’d like to see the following changes to the BMF to make it worth purchasing (again for some)
1. Create a working hallway between the cockpit and the rest of the ship. A closable door would be nice, and I’d be happy with a wide-enough to fit figures through door even if the door wouldn’t look movie-accurate.
2. Make the door to the mini-fighter openable. (if the mini-fighter is kept)
3. Get rid of the lights and sounds to cut costs (could it maybe be sold for $100 then rather than $150?)
4. Add the opening hatch for the Lando-vator. Maybe there could be a platform Lando could stand on that could go up with the help of a lever, which would pop the hatch when it reaches a certain point. Have the hatch be big enough so a figure can fit through)
5. Keep the little storage closet, maybe move it to the far side of the mini-fighter (if they get rid of the electronics) If they keep the electronics but lose the mini-fighter make the door to the mini-fighter the door to the storage closet.
6. Put a hyperdrive room in somewhere with the removable hyperdrive piece from the Royal Starship.
I guess Hasbro would either have to lose the mini-fighter or the electronics. Personally I’d like them to lose both so we can have access to the complete interior of the falcon.
July 27th, 2008 at 12:22 pm
How about a cockpit lid that snaps into place or is on a hinge? I’ve heard lots of people have had problems keeping it in place.
July 27th, 2008 at 3:20 pm
To me it seems a little late for a focus group on a already produced product. I know why they do this, but it seems a little too late for the Falcon. This is such a huge item that re-tooling this seems a little out of the question at this point. I mean down the road maybe to add additional features a possibility? maybe, but i think we may be stuck with this one for at least awhile.
Hasbro re-used the old falcon mould for years and didn’t make a new falcon until it physically broke and they could no longer make a new one. Sure it lacks a few things i would have personally liked to see, the Lando-vator would have been sweet as well as the hallway to the cockpit being opened up and an opening and closing cockpit door (behind the seats) would have been very cool. More access to the engine compartment would be nice but not a necessity. The escape Pod i could take or leave, but it makes it a nice "toy" which is essentially what this is.
We as collectors get very particular about the toys and sometimes forget that this is what they are, not "exact on screen duplicates" . So IMO over all … Hasbro hit a home run here. It’s AMAZING for a "TOY"! How can you not love it? Sure it lacks here or there but over all..Total Awesomeness! I am just ecstatic that Hasbro is even doing BIG Vehicles at all. The cost of the tooling alone had to be huge for both the Falcon and the AT-TE.So THANKS HASBRO!!! So i agree with cloner118 it is a SUPERB piece!
July 27th, 2008 at 8:30 pm
Dang it! I feared they might do this from the moment I picked it up and put it on my credit card! I’d probably find it hard to resist but once I got BMF V2 home, I think I’d be at a loss about where to put it! These are big suckers remember!Maybe if they’d done some focus group stuff at the start instead of trying to, ahem, keep it some super secret surprise, they might have made it right the first time around. A Lando-vator wouldn’t be enough (hopefully!!! Come on self control, don’t fail me now!) to make me buy it again, and I wouldn’t get rid of the mini-fighter because it is very kid friendly, my daughter loves it and I have to admit I love the launch and docking FX myself…and just think of it as the movie-mentioned escape pod, that might help. Yes some more doors and rooms would be great but, like I said, I just wish it was there the first time around. I mean, the Falcon has existed as a toy practically from the get go, so after 30 years you’d hope it is about as good as it can get , especially when you’ve already owned the vintage version and bought a few tweaked smaller versions over the years.Maybe they could have rigged up some sort of memory card reader so you could buy supplementary sound fx cards for the other 2 films. If they want to release it again with different figures, say ESB figures for an ESB anniversary edition, okay, then it’s not so hard to resist and people who missed it the first time around are happy.Anyway, I just hope they hold off for at least a year or 5 before they do this so that it doesn’t feel like being had so much!Is it possible there were no focus groups and big H planted this rumor to try to out the person who told you in the first place?
July 27th, 2008 at 10:01 pm
lowanbing, I think you misunderstand what retooling means. Retooling means to take the metal tooling (mold) that they pour the molten plastic into and rework it in some manner for new detail or new parts. According to Hasbro, "retooling" more than simple surface detail actually requires a whole new steel mold, which is very expensive.They don’t touch any old stock. Any retooling would be done entirely for new stock.The same goes with repaints: they don’t actually take old overstock and paint over them. A repaint/redeco means they change the paint layout and masks on all-new production of an existing mold.
July 28th, 2008 at 1:23 am
OK re-tool is "wrong word" .how about update the sfx and free figure and box. I don’t think, physically anything will change between this release and the next one unless it’s on a part that can be pulled off, updated, and fit back into the same place it came from (like Hasbro did to the cockpit of the 25th ann. HISS tank) (but the landovator would be cool) I think we’ll just see new sound chips and figs. with ea additional release as a way to keep left over from going to clearance
July 28th, 2008 at 6:41 am
Regarding the projectiles. I had the Falcon out of the box and assembled, and in well under an hour, my 3-year old son fired two of the missiles and they managed to sail right down the air vent in the floor of our kitchen. If I contacted Hasbro, do you think they’d sell me a replacement pack of missiles? I totally agree they should have reduced the number of these things. Oh and one other improvement I’d make…VOLUME CONTROL!…the sound effects are great but do they have to be SO damn loud? Especially the blaster cannon sounds, scared my cats to death! Playskool puts volume level switches on nearly everything they make that makes noise, they could surely do that here.
July 28th, 2008 at 10:30 am
Clavius… you’re not setting a good example for your young son.
Even at his age, he should be learning not to just shoot his missiles just anywhere. Also, Star Wars fans are obviously aging if the volume is too high.
I’m not quite that old, and I’ve already lost 30% of the hearing in my left ear. Life, like rock-and-roll, is to be played at maximum volume.
I love being mercurial.
There shall be a further blog regarding some other stuff that the Rhode Island Ramblers are up to tomorrow (since I never blog on Monday, the High Holy Day of Pawlus-over). They are a curious lot up there. They have some interesting things going on in the lab.