Vecton: Our source at Kenner has told us that he/she can no longer provide us with information due to stringent secrecy requirements mandated from Lucasfilm (i.e., Hasbro/Kenner employees face termination/severe demotion if they reveal info. about Ep 1-related toys to the public). He/she suggested that we post portions of their chat sessions with the fans to learn information about Episode 1 collectibles from Hasbor/Kenner. Here is a transcript of the prequel-related questions from a recent Hasbro chat session. You can find these transcripts in the frequently-asked-questions portion of the Official Hasbro Website. Here is the transcript with all non-prequel-related questions omitted. Enjoy:

FAQs: Figures and Vehicles: July 30, 1998

Here are the questions we received during Wednesday's chat on July 29, 1998 with the Star Wars Team:

The SW Team is a bunch of the team members, designers, engineers, and marketers.

some of the people here were: designers: Steve, Vicki, Jan, and Eva engineers: Linda, Anthony marketers: Rick, Jennifer, Dan

Q: How much of your staff is actually working on Prequel toys? Is there a separate team still working on Classic Trilogy figures or does it all come down to the same people?

A: All of our staff is working on both Prequel and Classic toys.

Q: Can we expect more product mail-away figure promotions like the previous Froot Loops and Lays Chips promotions?

A: We have a lot of promotions planned for the future. The next one will be this Fall.

Q: Have you started sculpting the Episode 1 figures, and if you have is it from the movies or artist's drawings?

A: We have completed sculpting of the first wave of EP1 figures and they are from the movie.We did see drawings and we do get actual images from the movies to base the figures on.

Q: Diamond (Previews) has announced orders can be taken on a new Ep .1 preview toy with figure. Will this item be a smaller item like the current speeder bikes or perhaps larger vehicle like the Naboo Starfighter which LFL has shown in both the insider and their website (Z-1?)?

A: We cannot discuss the details regarding the preview toy.

Q: Will the prequel toys be released before the movie?

A: There is a sneak preview figure that will be available in October which you can get using P.O.P.'s and $3.

Q: will there be an exclusive figure given out at the premiere or Episode 1?

A: We cannot talk about EP1 exclusives or promotions at this time.