Welcome to another interstellar edition of AskDST, where we take on fans’ hard questions - this week focusing on our Battlestar Galactica lines!  So if you want to find out what’s going on with BSG Series 4, Toys R Us exclusives and the future of the BSG line check our the full list of DSTChuck’s sometimes-cryptic answers!

Callum Templeton
Hi would DST consider letting the fans have a say in who is in Wave Six of the Stargate SG-1 figures if you do decide to go on to make a Wave Six? Thanks

DSTChuck: Callum, to be honest we’ve always been very hesitant to do polls. They really do not give a fair judgment of the breath of the fandom. If you figure there are X number of fans for a property out there, then you see how many of those fans “collect” toys, then how many of those look at the internet for toy information, then how many of those would go to the DST site, further how many would be on the site at the time of the poll and then finally how many of them choose to participate in a poll. We just don’t think in most cases it can give you an accurate read on what the majority of the fans are looking for.

Kushmeer Farakhan
Just saw the new Boomer for the next Toys R Us assortment! Epic Win! To make the awesomeness complete can you make the Apollo one we don’t have already? You could put President Apollo here or you can give us, I don’t know, an Apollo in his civies or something. You know the one with the pants and the green tanktop that both he and Starbuck frequently wear? When can we expect this to hit shelves and is this one also featuring the toys r us Tigh figure?

DSTChuck: I think there is a chance you will see President Apollo but right now I can’t say for sure. Tigh is definitely coming out.

Michael Todd
First, THANK YOU! THANK YOU SO MUCH! For realizing how well the BSG stuff is selling at Toys R Us. I have to FIGHT people from grabbing the stuff when it comes in at my local California stores. The Minimates even fly out of the stores! They were all out except the series 1 cavil and cylon pack, but that is the one I needed a double of too (I ordered both series and the flyers from online). I love that if you get two you can have two cavils, one with the black outfit and the other with the coat and hat (thanks for adding some variety!). ALSO, Very pleased with the new figure photos. I do wish Gaeta was coming with his peg leg, but other than that, they look fantastic. The Boomer you just announced is very cool, but I was wondering what made you go with the blue jacket instead of the previous brown one (I think?) that we had seen before. Either way, great job! Can’t wait to see all of them at the stores (even if only for a split second before someone tries to snatch them away from me…) and admire the new ones in hand in the near future! Thank you for listening, and realizing there is still a lot of interest. I commend you for striking while the iron is hot. You guys really do listen to the fans, and we greatly appreciate it! RED STRIPE CYLON FOR THE WIN! I MUST OWN 10! (on top of my.. like.. 14… No real questions I guess. Just a thank you. And keep up the good work!

DSTChuck: Michael thanks so much for the support and your enthusiasm. I think with Boomer it was a real question of which figures we wanted to get out for sure. That character seemed cursed from the start. Every time we thought we had the right situation to release her, something outside our control got in the way. Seeing as she was such a main character in the show, and the fact we’d teased fans so many times already, it seemed only fair she get her own two-pack. We felt the best way to make that appealing to fans was to make the two models featured in the pack as different as we could and the TRU Boomer to compliment the pairing.

Ben Hammerslag
There’s obviously been a lot going on behind the scenes in BSG lately. The leader wave was pushed back, a new cylon figure was announced, and now there’s news of an accelerated wave for TRU. It (so far) looks like that wave will be the Red Stripe cylon, a new boomer figure (different from the boomer in the boomer/athena two-pack?) and an Apollo. Is this the leader wave Apollo getting its own release? Is this a different, fourth Apollo figure? Any updated information about the eventual release of the Leader Wave?

DSTChuck: I guess this is as good a place as any to announce our plans for wave 4. AS you have seen we’ve been hard at work re-configuring the BSG lines to find the best way to get product out as soon as possible to take advantage of whatever interest there is out there as well as be ready for the Plan and the series box set. As part of that we’ve re-configured what you refer to as the Leader wave or wave 4 has been canceled and a NEW wave 4 will be listed in the November issue of Previews. This new wave WIL contain characters that have not been done before. Following that will be a Cylon 2 pack listed in December Previews, giving more fans access to one of the most requested Cylons we’ve produced. AFTER that if sales hold we plan one final 2 pack which for all intents for us wraps up the line. There will potentially be some TRU lines in there as well- as long as sales hold. Look to the DST site in the next couple weeks for details and an updated guide on what can be obtained where.

Agent 86
“D’Anna Biers” BSG action figure - Any chance that SyFy has obtained Lucy Lawless’ approval to release this figure or any confirmation that SyFy is actively seeking Lucy Lawless’ approval? After seeing all the great variants that of “Athena/Boomer” that are being made, it just makes me want to build an army of Threes even more. Thank you.

DSTChuck: Currently as far as we know there has been no change in the status of Lucy Lawless.

B’ R.
Thank you guys for finally realizing the popularity of the Battlestar line! We’ve all been noticing that ToysRus sells out of them in about a day. I’m wondering if now the series 4 will be pushed up at all, and if so, to when? Also, I’m glad to see you’re finally making use of what we call the “fall into the GAP” Boomer, but I can’t seem to find her on the TRU site, and the Adama and Tigh figure that was there has been taken down, do you guys know why?? And lastly (sorry) I know you’re a fan of “re-using” body parts, and the fans really do get some wonderful ideas…any chance of maybe making a Dr. Cottle by simply using the chief tyrol body and green painted Adama legs? It would be a great 2-pack with Baltar…the “dr. 2pack” Please keep up the good work guys, and PLEASE hurry on the series 4, we’re all terribly excited for them!!!

DSTChuck: Based on the numbers TRU shares with us I would NOT say BSG is selling out. From the reports we have stores sales are steady but not brisk. You may just be in a pocket of more toy collectors or BSG fans. Keep in mind TRU has stores all around the US. Look earlier in the ASKDST and on the web site soon for updates on BSG4. Sorry, I do not know how the TRU.com site works but I do know much of this has been a learning process for DST, TRU and TRU.com and every time we meet we discuss how we can improve the service to collectors from all aspects. Unfortunately for now I think Cottle is a very long shot.

Brian Petersen
Would you guys ever consider rereleasing the first wave of SG-1 figures?

DSTChuck: Yes we’ve considered it many times but have never quite found the support at retail to make it happen. I’d say it’s still possible.

Andy Kinnear
Hi Chuck, Under the current suspension circumstances, I have all but run out of questions!
1) Can you clarify if the Horus Guard will have an alternate “human” Jaffa head along with the falcon helmet as the existing Serpent Guard does?
2) Excluding of all the Gate characters that have NOT been made / or announced, is there any particular character you personally would like to see made in the future yourself? If yes, what is it you like about that particular character? (I appreciate any answer to this is NOT a reflection of what might be made, its simply your personal liking of that character.)
3) Praise with a Question. The AGT Ent D from Trek is a beautiful piece of work, the Galactica, Trek and Gate figs that have been done so far are all wonderfully realized. I just want to say that it is appreciated the time money and effort you and all of DST / AA put into these things. - Which single product, if any stands out, have you had the most satisfaction with so far? Thanks.

DSTChuck:
1.  With that wave on hold I’m not sure I want to answer that, but I guess I can say when we were going forward there was not going to be a human head.
2.  I think for SG1 I would have liked to do General Hammond. He was such a big part of the show and while he did not take on lots of action, he was a big part of the team.
3.  I think so far I am most impressed that my team was able to pull of the Enterprise D. We waited YEARS to do that because we knew it was going to be a nightmare. For FUN I think I like the communicator, I love the call back feature. For icon’s sake the classic 1701 Enterprise.  For figures I think SG-1 Series 1 and 2. From the minute I thought about doing those figures that’s EXACTLY how I wanted them to look and turn out - from the gate, to the sculpts of the figures themselves - and it was our first Jean St Jean Studios project.

Mike L
So I’m loving the new/old Boomer and the RedStripe Cylon. Can you give us any insight as to what the Apollo figure will be? I imagine you’re running out of Apollos to even use.lol. Also, it said that you’d be ramping up production on a line…do you mean the series 4? And if so, can you give us a date yet? We’re really dying for Roslin and Adama, and I personally can’t wait for my favorite lesbian Cain!

DSTChuck: Hopefully all you want to know will be answered soon.

B’ loves bsg
Hey guys! 2 questions about the TRU exclusives.
1. I saw on ebay that people already have the Redstripe Cylon, but it’s not on the TRU site, and I can’t find it in stores.. Did you only send them to certain locations?
2. I have ordered the Tigh and Adama from TrU, can you tell me what the difference between that Tigh and the 2-pack Tigh are, and can you tell me if the Adama is any different that the one that will be available on your site?? Thanks!

DSTChuck:
1.  The Red Stripe Cylon is in stores - I saw one in my local TRU and reports from TRU show it at store level, maybes its come to you local store since you sent this email in?
2.  Currently we have two versions of Tigh one with eye patch and one without. We have two version of Adama one with moustache and one without –seems like another vote for the visual guide on our site.

Agent 86
Dear DST, Please disregard this question if has already been answered in the “next” BSG Q&A. How can International BSG fans (outside of the US) obtain the “Toys R Us” exclusive action figures (and minimates)? It was bad enough missing out on Flight Suit/Longshot Anders (which never appeared in any of my local TRU stores - no BSG merchandise ever has), but potentially missing out on the “New Caprica/Civilian” Boomer (which has already been released in TRU stores in the US) would be incredibly disappointing. Will the TRU exclusive BSG action figures and minimates be released internationally in TRU stores at some point in the future? Will they be made available to the (non-TRU) stores which typically stock BSG action figures and minimates in international markets? Or will fans have to resort to Ebay to complete their BSG collections? Many thanks.

DSTChuck: Right now TRU is allowing our sales guys to offer ALL TRU exclusives to the distributors outside of the US so fans can get them. SO you need to go to your local store and have them request from their distributor. Minimates are another matter. In order to sell into the EU we need to do another set of test that we do not need to do for the US. Sales outside of the US are very soft for Minimates BUT if a distributor in the EU wanted to order enough we’d be happy to test and absorb those cost.

JP C
Suggestion: If you are going to keep making surprise 7-inch figures, please consider more Sixes! Not red dress, but Natalie, or a revised Caprica Six with a new head and hair sculpt. She is one character that could use more variants that are well-made, and the first two left a lot to be desired (can’t stand, huge waists, boring, zombie-like expression). And if you need another character to pair with the Minimate Red Stripe Cylon, please consider Natalie! She’s the only character we need to complete the Last Supper photo, and I think that could be a major selling point. You could even Minimate-stylize that poster! Just please give her a pointy finger! And thank you for getting out the rest of the Minimates!

DSTChuck: All of us here agree that the Six model is LOTS of fun, but at this point I think we’re concentrating on getting characters out that we have not done yet.

Callum Templeton
Hi,when do you think we will hear about the possibility of Stargate Universe figures?,and could we please see the Horus Guard figure? Thanks.

DSTChuck: We are hopeful the new show will meet all expectations and be popular enough with fans to warrant a line of figures.