Andrew Lehtola:  With the Medical Tricorder being released this year, is there any possibility of the medical scanner being produced separately, or even (Dare I even say it?!) a TOS medical kit with hypo produced?

DSTChuck: We plan to include the scanner with the Medical Tricorder.  A different scanner will be included with the Science Tricorders, but no plans for the hypo as of now.  Sorry.

Will Bueche: 1. Opportunities for headswaps abound on Battlestar Galactica since many characters wear identical uniforms.  Semi-regular characters present easy opportunities for headswaps — Chief Tyrol’s wife Cally wears the same orange flightdeck / maintenance jumpsuit that Seelix wore, for example. Any chance some orange jumpsuits may brighten the action figure line? And how far into the wide range of semi-regular characters do you expect to go? Follow-up question: What about the Chief himself — he’s most iconic in the orange jumpsuit yet his earlier figure had him in fatigues.

DSTChuck: Yes head swaps are very possible if the uniform and body types are identical. There are lots of characters and variants we’d love to do but it’s our feeling that the marketplace can only handle so many BSG figures per year so it’s going to take some time to get the ones that most people feel are “must haves “ out there.

2. Doctor Gaius Baltar for example is prototypical in a rumpled suit, but he’s also worn lab coats, and, rarely, a well-pressed suit. Beyond his clothing, his mane and facial hair has gone from tame to absolutely wild with regularity. How do you choose the look for such a major character who goes through such drastic changes in appearance?

DSTChuck: We use feedback from fans or the buyers that we sell to and a bit of intuition, but with a character like Baltar as you mention, we’re bound to make people upset no matter which we choose.
DSTMatt:  I’m glad you asked this!  This is another one of those cases where you’re never going to please everyone.  Baltar is a great example because he’s had various “iconic” looks throughout the series.  Labcoat, Suit, Robes, “Head Baltar”… there are so many choices.

3. A quick question about accessories: Any hints for what accessories we might see with future figures? What limitations of scale do you face — would Athena’s baby be possible? Thanks!

DSTChuck: We only plan for that specific wave’s accesoires when we do that wave so I can’t give you any inside info.  As for scale, yes the baby would be POSSIBLE.

David Ellis:  Hey DST/AA loving the new site, very cool! Will there be a similar modernization to the Diamond Select Toys website too?   Have you ever thought about just using the Art Asylum name rather than Diamond Select Toys?

DSTChuck: Hey man glad you like it…  We really wanted to try something different.  We’ll be adding features to the DST site and making changes but nothing like this direction.  The AA site gives us a very unique opportunity to deal with fans on a very close and personal level and we’re going to try and take the best advantage of it that we can. There are no plans to drop the DST name.

Joshua Vance:  Hello, I’m curious if the classic Star Trek line will continue with more alien characters?  Perhaps Sarek?  Andorian?  Romulan?  Janice Rand or Dr .Chapel?  With the release of the new film looming, I think it would be wise to return to Treks roots.  Also, can we hope for a pristine gloss white repaint of the Enterprise to celebrate “Star Trek-the Motion Picture”? This would be a nice compliment to the upcoming Admiral Kirk and Spock two-pack.  Will the rest of the crew be created for TMP?  I would love to see a Decker/Ilia two pack. Thank you, Joshua

DSTChuck: There are NO plans to stop making TOS toys, in fact that’s been one constant with us always producing something for TOS.   Will we do any of the characters you mention - I can’t say, but we’ve discussed many of them.  As for a repaint of the Enterprise, that’s a cool idea but as of now its not in the planning.  If you need your Nurse Chapel, Decker and Ilia fix, check out our upcoming Star Trek Minimates, too!

Jonathan Edd:  Are the Enterprise B and C going to be made to complete your Enterprise series?

DSTChuck: We plan to keep making the ship as long as they sell but I CAN tell you we have not decided 100% what the ship will be coming out after the Enterprise D… so time will tell.

Joshua Knobel:  Hello! My name is Joshua Knobel and I have a question for you. When are the Iron Man Through The Ages and Iron Man Movie Minimates coming out to comic book stores? Thanks so much for your time and help!

DSTChuck: Hi Joshua, nice to meet you! Iron Man movie Minimates will start to be in stores in September. We’re going to try and add a ship date feature to this site and update it every week…so I hope that will help!  As for the Iron Man Through the Ages box set, those Minimates are exclusive to www.shopafx.com.

Cap.theo:  As you’re doing the Star Trek toys, which I love thank you, will we see other sets like Voyager, crews of the Enterprise B and C or other movies?  Would we also see more of the Enterprise crew that Playmates never put out?  What about more ships too like the Reliant, Hood,  Enterprise B & C?  If you need ideas or someone to help on the Star Trek toys I would love to help!  Play sets are nice, too!

DSTChuck: And you’re buying Trek toys so we love you! I think for SURE we’ll touch on Voyager but I don’t think we’ll do the whole bridge crew BUT you never know.  We’re planning on doing at least one 2 pack from each movie if all goes well.  Like I answered above, we hope to continue to do at LEAST one ship a year but we’re not sure which one will be next.  Some of the ones you mention are on the list for sure!

Brian Roskamp:  Hi, I was wondering what happened to the Art Asylum Forums.  I visit there multiple times a days and a few days ago it went down.  Is this a problem on my end or have they been shut down?  Any chance of them reopening?

DSTChuck: I’m very sorry but the forum has been removed and there are no plans to bring it back.  I know there were lots of great folks on there and I’m sure it will be missed but hopefully everyone can find a home on other forums and feel free to visit here and send in your questions.

Adam Smith:  Where is the forum?? and i forgot my login info.  help..please.

DSTChuck: Sorry Adam but the AA forum is gone.

Alex Aldieri:  Hello, I was a member of the Art Asylum forum boards and I want to know if they still exist.  I can’t find anything about the forum boards on your new site.  Do you still have a forum or have you shut it down for good?  Please get back to me, Alex

DSTChuck: Sorry Alex but the AA forum has been removed.  I hope you will like the new site.

Doug Wilson:  Hey, just curious where the forums went?

DSTChuck: Sorry man but the forum has been removed.

Chris Bolton:  Hi, I generally like the sire redesign. I had two issues…one, the links for looking at newer and older blogs (the nav links at the bottom) are mislabelled; clicking newer takes you to older posts, and vice versa. Second, are the forums coming back? Thanks for the update! Chris Bolton

DSTChuck: Chris I am glad you like the new site hopefully it will just get better and better with all of your help. I’ll have my web guys look into the labels and no, the forum is not coming back.

Tom Hoyum & Brian Panizzi:  What is the resources tab for? How do I get a password?

DSTChuck: The resources tab is something we’re working on building for retailers to provide them with more direct contact with DST as well as support.  Individual consumers will not have access to this section, but we have plenty more in store for you!

Kody Belshe:  Congrats on the new Artasylum.com. I dig the new design!  I do have one question though.  Where did the discussion forums go?  They were my favorite part of your site and something that kept me coming back on a daily basis.  Thanks, -Kody Belshe

DSTChuck: Glad you like what we’ve done here.  Sorry though, the forum is not coming back but hopefully the Blog will keep you coming back now.

Michael Heintz:  I am anxiously awaiting the 2 TOS Tricorders due this fall! 1 question. In the series, the tricorders beeped, but never was a voice uttered by the unit. Curioisty has me knashing at the bit pondering how this feature will be utilized on the tricorders. Or how it would make sense, since the unit is essentially a scanner, not an audio playback device per say.  Except in the ep. City on The Edge of Forever, when Spock replays the Edith Keeler newspaper headlines/Hiltler speech/crowd cheering scenes.  That’s the only time an actual pictire/audio was shown to appear on a Tricorder screen, other than a blank or simple backlit effect.  It will be interesting to hear which audio clips have been chosen and how they would make sense in relation to how the device was actually seen on screen!  Thanks!

DSTChuck: Our plan is to include phrases from the characters so Science will have Spock and medical McCoy.

Stephen Mah:  Hello Art Asylum folks, I tried to log in with my email address but was rejected.  I tried to re-register but was given an error that the email is already registered.  Can you please tell me how I can re-activate my registration…  or please remind me what my password is (obviously I have accidentally forgotten it).  Thank for your time.  Kind Regards, Steve

DSTChuck: Hey Steve the good news is you don’t need a password to log into the new site.  The bad news is there is no more forum, sorry.

Helen Compton:  You once made a Star Trek Enterprise Phase Pistol.  Is there any chance that you’ll be making them again?

DSTChuck: We’ve had very few request to go back and make that particular item but we never say never at DST.

Chick Swinson:  I love the stuff you guys put out and am a great fan and collector of the Trek Tek and Trek ships you release.  I plan to order the Enterprise D as soon as I get my tricorder that I have on pre-order.  My question is when are you all going to realize that the ships of BSG should be given the same respect as Trek.  I mean, nobody I know is going to shell out $150 for resin statues.  We want ships with lights and sounds.  In great detail.  And we want them for $40 to $50, just like the Trek ships.  C’mon guys, you can do it!  Chick Swinson

DSTChuck: Actually the BSG ships have done very well for us and we’d LOVE to make them in plastic at some point, but we’re just not sure if the show has enough fans for them to be viable just now.  To make a plastic ship with all the features needs a VERY large production run to pay for all the hard cost - so we’ll just have to see.

Zachary Bird:  I saw on e-bay someone is selling a pre-sale for a Star Trek Wrath of Khan phaser with removable type 1 phaser, made by Art Asylum/DST.  Are you making such a product?  And if so, when will it be available for pre-order?

DSTChuck: YUP that’s us!  You can pre-order one from your favorite internet or brick and mortar retailer OR when it comes out just go to www.diamondselecttoys.com and order one.

David Alvarez:  Hi, I was wondering if it was possible to have a complete list of all Transformers Mini Bust, Mini Head Busts & Statues/Wall Plaques you have made or will make for DST. Thanks for everything David

DSTChuck: If you go to the Diamond Select site under Products, then Transformers, it should have every item we’ve made.

Shaun Baer:  Greetings - I love your Star Trek and Battlestar Galactica work. I have a few quick questions about your new website and your production schedules: 1) Where did the forums go and how can I access them?  2) How far ahead have you scheduled new character production?  In other words, since I know you won’t say what or who, I’m trying to learn which lines still have more ahead.  How does the process work?  Thanks for taking the time to review my questions.

DSTChuck: Glad you like our stuff!  1) I am sorry but the forum has been taken down and will not return.  2) For planning we never go more then three waves out and MOST times we rough about about two waves ahead.  For an action figure line like BSG where you see one wave in the magazines.  That means that wave is in development (or close to it) in Asia and we’re sculpting the next wave and maybe have a rough idea what we’ll be working on after that. I hope that helps…

DSTChuck: I hope you like these Q&A, in the weeks going forward we’ll refine the process and eventually we hope to break the weeks out by theme: so for examples, we’ll answer all your Minimates questions the first week of the month, Trek the second and BSG & Stargate week three…  So keep sending in your questions and keep checking for more updates very soon!