MGS News: Enfys Nest’s Speeder Bike Coming

The MGS crew was once again part of a podcast, this time appearing on The Star Wars Time Show on May 9.

In attendance were Jazwares Sr. Product Manager Max Lux, and Copywriter Tim Bungeroth (who was introduced in the May 4th BitterAsianDude interview).

Here are the highlights:

Rares and Chases

• There are no plans to re-release rares. MGS will stay true to the limited edition number printed in the packaging.
• However, while straight up re-releases are out of the question, they can do new versions if there are sufficient deco or variations of the ship.
• Max: “Series 2 is actually just hitting stores now, so there are chances to land that rare or chase you want.”

Solo

• Enfys Nest’s swoop bike will come at some point in the future.
• “I don’t know when it’s coming, but it definitely is.”
• According to Max, “it’s so long it almost won’t fit in the blind box.”

Enfys Nest’s Swoop Bike was a modified Caelli-Merced Skyblade-330

There is also a “high possibility” of Lando’s Falcon, since the the ship has a character arc of its own and MGS has already done several iterations.

Tim says that since it will probably be a new mold, they might have to change the sounds as well.

Andor

• One of the obstacles to getting Luthen’s Fondor Haulcraft is the cost
• According to Max, tooling is very expensive, so any new ship needs to have repaint potential, and a one-shot version of the Fondor may not recoup the tooling cost
• We do know that Max was going to submit an Andor vehicle to LFL for approval last month. That was likely a different one with a higher chance of approval than this one.

Landspeeder

• One of the viewers asked why MGS made the landspeeder a rare item, and if it will be re-released in the future.
• Max: “1,000 million percent there will be a future landspeeder”, but with a different paint scheme or redeco.
• It was supposed to be common, until the team realized how small it physically ended up being to follow the MGS scale (the size of a Hotwheels car, according to Max).
• They thought that $12.99 for such a small product may be a bit of a stretch for consumers, so they decided to make it rare instead of risking it clogging up shelves.
• Features include “opening hood, engine detail, removable back section, rolling wheels, 2 figures” (Farmboy Luke and Obi-Wan)
• It may also be re-released as part of a battle pack
• Tim: I’ve also been bugging Max to do Han Solo’s landspeeder, maybe as part of a battlepack

Creatures

• Max: “If we get an opportunity to do them as vehicles, we will. But we have to see where the line takes us.”
• “I want 100% to do a mythosaur, but that is my fan side speaking.”

EU Legends

• Max: “We”d absolutely love to do it. I know we’re able to so vehicles from the EU, it depends on the timing.”
• The most requested EU vehicle they get is the Outrider
• Tim: “It depends on what’s going to happen (in future shows). We saw the YT-2400 in one Rebels episode.”
• Max also pointed out it was in Rise of Skywalker, while the host says the ship is big in the Galaxy of Heroes video game.

Dash Rendar’s Outrider was popularized in Shadows of the Empire as well as the X-Wing Alliance game

Ralph Mcquarrie concepts

• Max: “They are something we are considering doing, we’re just looking for the route to get it out there.”
• “They are iconic especially the X-wing, TIE, and the concepts for Episode 1.”
• Mcquarrie’s concept ships were released by the old Action Fleet, bundled together with the final vehicle. More recently, Hot Wheels’ Starships line featured several concepts.

How Future Models are Determined

• For newly tooled vehicles, it has to be featured in upcoming content.
• For EU vehicles such as those in Shadows of the Empire, if it’s shown even fleetingly in new shows, it’s something we would do. (Max could be referring to the upcoming E-wing)
• The host asked if MGS has a target demographic. According to Max, “I’m being completely honest here, and I might get in trouble for this, but I would say the 25-60 age range”.
• “Kids definitely pick up the line, but its collectors who snatch up the preorders and clean out the shelves, leaving kids with the evergreen stuff to pick over.”

Max also shared the general factors that shape their future product development:

• If it’s an A-tier vehicle
• Is it in upcoming content
• Will it have an upcoming anniversary
• Is it a cool redeco, with an interesting microfigure we could do
• Is it a retool we can do
• Is it something the fanbase will latch on to

As an example of what they can do, Max mentioned the clone swoop back from the old animated Clone Wars series. He also mentioned the Yuuzhan Vong stuff from the EU as an example of “something that would be a little bit harder for us to do.”

Additional Retail Channels

• The audience asked if MGS could be made available in more online retailers like Entertainment Earth
• Max: “I’ve been pushing for digital retail channels since day 1. My goal is to be where the collectors are.”
• However, that is the domain of the Sales team, and Max and Tim have no insights on any discussions or negotiations with future retailers.

The MGS Crew

According to Max, the whole team are composed of Star Wars fans, from the designers to the packaging team.

While most toylines have a few fans working on it, the philosophy in Jazwares is to assign people to the brands they love, whether it’s Pokemon or CoCoMelon. For Star Wars, the people who work in MGS are actual SW fans. “You can have all the support for the line, but if you don’t have the passion for the product, then it still suffers.”

Max also shared that when he has ideas, the first person he brainstorms them with is Tim, since they go way back since college.

Meanwhile, Tim “has a strange affliction” for being the biggest Solo movie fan. Every time they have a product development meeting, he inevitably pushes for Solo vehicles.

Miscellaneous

• Tim: “I wanted to do the AT-AT’s copy as a Rebel transmission for the reader.”
• The very first MGS was given to a kid who dropped by everyday at SDCC and gave them the team typewritten list of ships he wanted.
• On the last day of the show, Max gave him Obi-Wan’s Delta fighter, which was not even finalized at the time.
• They also gave him the very first Sabine’s TIE and Hera’s A-wing that MGS produced.
• Max still carries the list with him.

Disclaimer

Max and Tim repeated that “anything we speak highly of, is our own opinion as fans.” They should not be misconstrued as official unless confirmed by Jazwares.

The whole interview can be viewed below. While the host originally intended for Max and Tim to only stay for 1 hour, they assured him “we are available for as long as you like” and they ended up staying for 1.5 hours.