Hasbro isn't looking for a handout, they are looking to fund a project. Billion Dollar corporation or not, any project that cant make money probably shouldn't be greenlit. Hasbro obviously thinks there is no way to do a retail scale release of this without losing money, and for all we know the major retailers showed no interest in it.
PlayMobil could absolutely create this and at a cost that is affordable and in quantities that are accessible to all markets. Sadly PlayMobil doesn't own these licenses and their figures wouldn't be accepted for this space. I wonder if they would consider making a different line of figures if they did happen to stumble on the Star Wars license.
For a long time this channel is my tree house, here I remember my childhood toys and memories. It's very satisfying seeing that you don't go for the easy roads and agree with everyone and everything that comes to take money from adult collectors. This things were meant to be toys and affordable, not super high end copies that belong to a museum that cost a gazillion dollars. Very interesting video, makes me proud to be your subscriber.
I applaud you for being frank and honest not only about the toy but the whole business model. Hot Toys released a 1/6th scale 18 foot Millenium Falcon and they didn't have to crowdfund that.
You hit the nail on the head about Hasbro. I've been collecting Jurassic Park memorabilia, and they dropped the ball through the floor. I'm glad Mattel got the license, and I'm thoroughly impressed with what they're coming up with.
Here, here! Thank you for giving voice to this! I agree with every aspect you’ve stated. The industry is on the verge of destroying itself. There is so much interest and love of product lines from the past, because we recognize the diversity, and value for the dollar of the product made when the landscape was very different. Love your analysis!
I think letting companies like Hasbro know we'll tolerate this sets a really bad precedent. No one forced them to stock the toy aisles with a million crappy toys no one wants. If they want to turn a profit let them fix their business model.
Thank you for all the great information you guys give us and I love that their are still some of us that still miss the Christmas catalog! But thank you again! Nate
I've been watching a while. Your channel is really great and I love your honesty. I'm 41 and I really feel you are a great representation of our collecting age group.
Michael, I appreciate your feedback and no holds bar assessment of this product and Hasbro's business practices. Keep up the good work. I owned StarWars toys as a kid but lost interest in collecting later in life because of all the different versions and variations of the same toy. That coupled with the abysmal prequels and latest movies has caused me not to care about Star Wars at all. For me, the only Star Wars that exists are the original trilogy movies. End of story.
The Wall Street Journal reported that in 2017 Hasbro was worth about $11 billion. They really need crowdfunding? Thank you for your honest perspective Michael.
As a kid I didn't want to be Han or Luke, I wanted to be a model maker. As an adult, I find it easier to build playsets for my kid. Hasbro I think has indirectly inspired diorama builders like myself and others due to Hasbro's poor choices in vehicle designs and lack of playsets. Hell, I would be happy with a nice card board sail barge in the old school Kenner style so me and my kid could enjoy it
It would be cheaper and more fun/satisfying to build a version of the vehicle on my own. I'm a grade school teacher and as far as I can tell, the new "action figure" is digital and customizable. Its what they want. I may not like it, but it is what it is. THANK YOU for confirming what I just thought was lack of motivation in store staff - the shelves are empty because the toys aren't there.
Watching what hasbro is doing to star wars toys breaks my heart instead of making toys with effort and Creativity with quality they just make expensive crap just to make a quick Buck hopefully they will keep to their promise and make this toy
Well said... Well Done.. Let's hope Hasbro wakes up their lame figures and vehicles. The only saving grace so far for them has been the Black series, and that line also has suffered poor distribution...
Just be glad we grew up in the generation we did, we had good toy options. I was just in my walmart toy aisle the other day and commenting on the lack of options kids have today, all action figures no vehicles. To this day the Masters of the universe line is still my favorite toy line.
11:05 -- This is a key point that a lot of people are missing; I have been privy to seeing several of these "shake and bake" operations, mostly from startup marketing agencies and the like, where the business model relies on getting a large number of entities to kick money in (or raise profits via a public-sharing model) with the intent of drawing massive profits from the interest generated as it sits in a savings/high-interest account. Then, if and when the bottom falls out or the campaign is completed, they can hem and haw for a while (several months, sometimes years) and make bank off all that interest flowing in. I have no doubt that execs at Hasbro, after seeing the diminishing power of both toy stores and their own bottom line, decided to "have their cake and eat it too" by trotting out a pre-production mold of the barge while simultaneously installing a model that relies on said interest payments rolling in to bankroll the operation.
As a long time collector, I would suggest that everyone save their money and, when the time/opportunity is right, buy a vintage, original SW 12 back. Unlike the garbage that Hasbro is pushing now, the old stuff (graded in particular) will appreciate in value over time.
That garbage (garbarge?) is a bargain at $500. My phone cost way more. I bought a Lego TIE fighter for $50 five years ago, now they are $125. HasLab is like the Sideshow type of quality, even the original Kenner designer is in on this. At ~8500 pieces, it will hold its value way more than the toys. Even if they make a second run, it just raises the stature of the first. A toy that was waaay expensive in the 80s was the metal Voltron, hella expensive. Look at it now. Hell, look at that ugly Lego Death Star. Anyway, I need somewhere to put Slave Leia.
Absolutely spot on analysis Michael. Retailers are now dialling back purchasing toys from Hasbro as they're still sitting on TLJ toys with Solo out shortly (even RO and TFA toys are still on shelves in some stores). Buyer fatigue over the brand and toy line, of which the quality has been HORRENDOUS for some of the toys. I can only assume Disney are giving Hasbro a reduced percentage of the profits of the licence and this is what has caused their slip in quality in the past few years. As you say, smacks of desperation from them.
So now a year later, I'm curious, did you get in on Jabba's Sail Barge? What do you think with the release of all the pictures and videos being posted?
That new Han Solo Falcon is the saddest thing I have ever seen. The original could hold Han, Luke, Chewy, Leia, Obi-Wan, and the droids with no issues. The later Hasbro versions were cool, too, with super detailed interiors and great play/display value. Then the Force Awakens one came out, which had a useless Nerf launcher and an extending inaccurate turret, with minimal interior space, but it was just passable. Then the Han Solo one was revealed. It’s a brick with a built in tomb for Han! The battery powered stuff just gives me a reason to feed it to mynocks. This toy is actually a piece of mynock food!!!
Mack Meikle I've been trying to find the SW Falcon again, as the ones made after SW just aren't as great as the first Millennium Falcon! Problem is that these vintage items are like trying to buy a GI Joe USS Flagg. $$$.
Mack Meikle I agree it’s a joke! It can only hold two figures..one chair in the cockpit and a coffin type box for another. If you count the small escape pod for another figure that would be three. The old falcon could hold 10 -15 figures easy..it ridiculous, now we have to pay for Hasbro to make our toys. Why might as well work for the company, and get stock options from them since we are building there toys with our money!
Colin Smith I do have a PotF TIE, but I thought that the Falcon was different. I just recently found out there were different X-Wing variants. I had the originals, and I assumed that they were the same as well. Thanks for the heads up!
RetroBlasting! Wow. You think that videos stating that Star Wars is ruined because "Social Justice Warriors" at Disney are forcing an agenda to show women and people of color as heroes? You think that's honesty? I'm done with RetroBlasting then.
Pardon me? Before you abandon us, why don't you wait for my response? No I don't agree 100% with everything another channel says and I think you'd be interested to know what my positions are and you'd be very happy to hear them. Don't you trust me?
My Falcon growing up was the POTF2 Millennium Falcon carrying case. A clam-shell hunk of plastic with no paint apps. The one that came with Wedge. Was always so jealous of my cousin who had gotten a "real" Falcon secondhand. The way the figures would stand up in the back. Seating in the cockpit. A gunner station. Seeing the TFA and Solo Falcons is depressing. I think even as a kid I would have chosen my carrying case over those. At least that held more than 2 or 3 figures at a time.
Hasbro went from making the best figures we've ever seen , vintage collection, to the worst with 5pa. As an adult collector in the UK there's been nothing to collect for a few years now . Even 6" black series have been impossible to collect. And now when they are available they are £29.99 (approx $42) at retail. As an adult Hasbro has made it absolutely clear they don't want my business.
Great video and great points as usual! I just saw tonight that there are several people trying to sell the haslab version of this for up to $1700 on eBay!
Michael, I could not agree more with you. I could not put my finger on why this bothered me so much and it’s the fact that Hasbro has been the main cause why we do not see the number of toys in stores because of all the lines they have bought. Hasblow has depended on movies and licenses to carry the day when they should be looking at bring out new lines and figures.
I wish I could give this 100 thumbs up. This says more about big corporations in this day and age and how they view their consumers than just Hasbro and their greed towards Star Wars fans. #Kenner4Lyfe
Great video Mike very informative and great info. I like the fact your right to the point and honest considering how bad Episode 8 was no wonder toy sales are slipping.
When I was a kid, had a dream that I got an almost 6 ft super star destroyer play set, the Executor. It was a amazing, and nothing gave it away as a dream, so when I woke up, I was sure that it would greet me when I got out of bed. I have never been so heartbroken when I realised it was all in my head. Whenever I see it on screen I can still just about remember the dream, it was that powerful, and 30 years ago!
the idea of haslab....is interesting, BC it really is that "What-if" of it all, will this lead to a modernized G.I.joe Flagg? or 1/12 vehicles or playsets for Starwars, G.I.joe, or Marvel?....but really, the honest human approach Michael, is what I needed to hear.
I'm glad someone said something. I will say the Marvel Legends line has had a solid run for the last few years, but a giant corporation crowdsourcing & offering payment plans is low. Was glad I didn't buy into Matty Collector.
Agree from A to Z with your opinion. Internationally talking, we never ever saw most of their products. This thing becomes extremely expensive and hard to get abroad USA. Mattel made this mistake, and once again, now Hasbro.
love it as usual sir. I think Hasbro could seriously help by mass production of toys everybody can enjoy. hell had I'd of been an adult when kenner first made star wars guys? Id buy em. my point is less high end stuff directed at a small percentage. I mean we had to hunt for that particular character be it Darth Vader or Snake eyes. they should stock these stores with options for everyone. that sail barge is impressive btw. I'd pay $200. $500 is a months rent for so no haslab for this guy. thank you both again for such a fine video.
Great video Michael. Lots of good points. I’ll reiterate what I said on the RetroBlasting Facebook post: It’s less of a ‘toy’ and more of a display piece not meant to be played with. I will admit, the idea of it is cool but items like this are overpriced grabs at ones nostalgia wallet. I’d much rather have a Jabba’s Palace with Rancor pit or a kick-ass Bespin playset. Something that looks cool for display but that I’d let kids play with, you know, as toys are intended to be.
The perfect counter example to the lameness Of Hasbro doing this via crowdfunding is a Lego release from late 2017. (And it’s actually a set Retroblasting should Review). Lego released a new version of their “collector Holy Grail” UCS Millennium Falcon. Rather then go small, they went as big as they possibly could. Made it the biggest, most intricate Lego had ever made. 7,500 pieces. True Minifigure scale with no compression. This new version had a full detailed interior as well as the super detailed outside. And an insane price of $800 US. No crowdfunding. They just put it out there as a product. They have now had to go back into production 3x since October to meet demand. And they still can’t keep it on the shelves. So yeah there is no non scummy reason for Hasbro to crowdfund this beyond unethical shifting of risk onto their foolish customers. If you give them the product they want, they will come.
Lego didn't really have a lot of risk on that set. The Falcon is the most iconic and best selling vehicle from the franchise. They already know what the sales were like on the previous version and Lego has no tooling costs. They own the mold to every Lego brick already. So the cost is in design and making a bunch of bricks. Not designing a toy, tooling it up, and selling it. I'm not making excuses for Hasbro but if the molds for a figure can cost $10,000. What do the molds for a 4 foot vehicle cost?
SEO Toy Review true to a point. But let’s not forget that the prior release sold badly at retail and was blown out on 50% clearance. It wasn’t till aftermarket that it started hitting $8,000 price takes. But the point is Lego made the product on their own dime. If Hasbro can’t pay for toy tooling, then they shouldn’t be a toy company. All they are doing is seeking to replace traditional bank financing for new tooling with getting interest free loans from their customers, that they have no real obligation to pay back. It’s shady.
Something I want, Hasbro to LOSE the Star Wars license, just for a few years or so. Would be nice to have a company actually listen, at least for a year.
$500 is just too much. I got the giant AT-AT from target when it first came out for around $90 or $100, heck the MTT I thought was expensive at $120 when it came out, Tack on the fact it may or may not get made, forget it, It is just too expensive and the crowdfunding is just lame. On the Plus side I may finally have the money to get a Terrordrome or Soul of Chogokin Golion (Voltron) instead, better use of money I think, Thanks for the Video and keep up the good work.
Hey Michael, thanks for the great content in your videos! I'm glad I had a chance to listen to what you had to say about Haslab's first crowd funding project, Jabba's sail barge. If you have the time, a follow up video would be appreciated, especially since an exclusive Yakface figure was thrown in. I'm curious if you decided to back this project. Thanks for all the great videos.
The fact that they won't ship internationally just boggles my mind. Hasbro wants to produce this thing and make money off of it but they're willing to cut out like 60 percent of the market for it just to save on shipping and production costs.
They should just call it what it is, pre-order for a direct to customer sale. They should not have to charge this much for it. This for them is a 0% risk endeavour. They don't have to pay a middle man or worry about unsold stock, this should be better value than a store sold playset, this on the other hand looks like they are trying to charge double.
Well said and expressed concerns. Hasbro are scumbags, this move proves that. Some Collectors continue to tank this hobby with their desperation and enabling.
Thank you Michael for nailing it! (Mike drop!!) one of the questions I wanted to ask you are there any current kids toys that could be considered classics in 20 years I think the answer is slim to none. But if you think there are some I'd love to hear your opinion.
JJ Lloyd ... Ah... another Monkees fan.... Micky and Mike are touring coming up!! I'm finding Monkees fans are fewer and fewer! Glad to meet another Monkees 🤖🤓
Cyberman Bill... Hello fellow Monkees fan! Yep, I saw on Facebook that Nez and Micky are touring together in June. They won't be playing anywhere near me (Texas), but I'm hoping the tour sells out so they'll add more dates later in the year. I really want to hear the two of them sing "Me and Magdalena" from Good Times! :) I hope you get to see them this summer though!
Agree that this is not cool. It’s a big company’s job to take risks, not to finance projects directly from customers and make them bear the all risk and financing costs of a project. In the financial world this would be seen as a bad deal, and I think it’s cruel that the collecting world seems to support it. Hasbro doesn’t need the financial capital. The only possible argument is that they need up-front payment to get more information on the market for the product. But this is a weak argument - do you really think they can’t gauge what collectors want and what they are willing to pay? If it does get funded and they release it after at retail, I hope collectors hold them to account as well. It should retail for more than the HasLab cost to account for the risk, and the waiting time (opportunity cost of capital) that the initial buyers put in. Will it be more at retail, though? Not likely. Ultimately, this kind of scheme is about getting the most money up-front from people that are willing to pay for something the most. It’s actually price discrimination - targeting the most intensively interested consumers first to extract more from them. Dirty marketing.
I concur. Thanks for being rational and actually speak for all of those of us that live outside the states and never get to buy new collectibles unless buying overpriced stuff on E-bay. I´m a huge GI Joe collector and have hundreds och figures and vehicles but it´s just not fun collecting anymore. Everythings too expensive. I only collect vintage stuff but would like some of the newer versions of some of my favorite characters but the problem is that everything cool is just for people who get attend Joecon. Nothing gets to Europe. I like some of the new Star Wars-line stuff such as the legacy collection BUT it´s way too hard to get for a decent price these days. Anyway, Thanks again for yet another great video!! :D
Bit of speculation here, "let's say 2% interest". How did you come to this conclusion? I doubt you or Retroblasting have access to how Hasbro manages their funds. Being that I worked in retail, P.O.'s have to be paid up front before manufacturing or labor is dispatched. "P.O. : Purchase Order"
I agree with every point u made in this video. I went through the whole Motu classics debacle with matty collector . Its a scummy way to treat your customers , and even though i am verry happy to have my Motu classics collection , i promised myself when it was all said and done i would never Ever get into this type of crowdfund bs schemes , ever again. The ship is great. But i will not live through that same bs i went through when i was trying to get the Classics Castle Grayskull. Thanks hasbro , but no thanks.
I revisited this in the wake of the announcement of GI Joe's Skystriker. It's so funny listening to the Hasbro Hardcore crowd..."if we don't fund this, we might not get any more GI Joe stuff". Good, go for the customs or smaller toy companies then. Some cannot just fathom that if it isn't made by the company they held dear, life is over
I certainly agree with you on a LOT of stuff here, but at the same time, I see the smallest inkling of Hasbro just having good intentions, but failing miserably. I mean, with that shrinking of toy aisles thing you mentioned, I seriously doubt they'd give space to this behemoth, plus their lagging vehicle sales might've left the higher-ups kinda wary of this kind of thing, and thus, the honest mistake of a Kickstarter-type deal by desperate toy designers. I give them this small benefit of the doubt because they seem pretty fan-conscious otherwise with the Vintage collection(something rare with Hasbro and 3 3/4 inch these days). On the other hand though, they could've just had this thing in the archives since the times of that massive Millennium Falcon and just decided to try and get people to give them money directly with it, which is far more likely.
Can we get an update Retroblasting? Did you end up preordering a Barge? HASLAB ended up smashing quota. Just wondering if you guys will be getting and reviewing.
HasLab is making this outa love. I lived near the best dunes in the world, Nipomo, CA. I would always imagine running into a Sarlacc Pit. I am going to open the box 10 years after getting it in the mail. I am so glad there are no electronics to decay. So, remember, No Matter Where You Go... . .... .... .......There You Are.
@retroblasting Hasbro is a big part of the problem. But we are ignoring the other half of this problem. Yes, the elephant in the room Disney. Though Hasbro has the license it’s Disney calling the shots. Most of this may have started before Disney. But the gimmicks and the quality really went down hill when they took over. Disney is all about the quick buck. Also, that’s what the Toy market has devolved into. Quick flip for money then on to the next big thing.
Love the show. Nothing will ever be as good as it once was!:). Keep your chins up everyone, and in the meantime, build what u crave out of cardboard and hot glue!
I agree with every word that came out of your mouth, Hasbro has brought this on themselves with the weak toys they are making for star wars because they focused to much on the newer movies, I never understood why they didn't re-release some of the expensive Original Trilogy toys like the jawa sandcrawler and put that in a vintage box, I would buy that in a heartbeat. Oh, and the quality of their recent toys is just disgusting, not worth the money that they are asking for. The only reason Hasbro is doing this is because they know that their Star Wars line is dying and the big toy buying companies might not want to carry this giant toy, and they know toys r us is in bankruptcy, KB toys is gone and I wonder how much longer Walmart will continue to buy toys no body wants. Totally agree with you on matty collector too, I wanted to collect the Masters of the Universe line so bad but it's hard to tell your boss you need off to go home and sit in front of a computer and hope you don't get the white screen of death and then find out they have sold out of the one figure that month you wanted, and I didn't want to do the automatic buy because I didn't want all the figures that year, I just wanted the classic line up but they made it so damn hard just to do that. If this is the way new toys are going to be sold, I just might be out and collect my vintage lines and stay away from the new stuff, and with all that being said, I REALLY want that sail barge, I know it makes no sense......I just want it, the toy collector inside me, the star wars fan inside me....my six year old self is telling the cough, cough older self to buy it. I just don't know what to do. Great video, I just hope this isn't the future of toy collecting.
My feelings on the Haslab are it's a little silly to demand $500 on something that isn't even available yet. I feel a better thing would've been to start smaller to prove that they can make it. Say if they asked $100 for a smaller playset that people wanted then went from there, it would've been smashing. But $500 for something we have no guarantee on is just ridiculous.
Yeah 8:00 in, I really agree! very few people can truly afford a $500 toy. A ton of people are going to be really salty when this thing doesn't get funded.
I come back to this video often enough because it still resonates. A big point that makes me heavily dislike this thing (and all of hasbro plus) is how they only have their service available in the US. When this was announced, I was not interested (despite collecting modern) because I didn’t have the space. But I knew a lot of people here in Mexico that did. Yet hasbro gave us the finger (and every other country except the US) by only having the preorder available there. When it eventually came out, it reached some collecting stores here. The price? Several thousand dollars. It’s ridiculous.
I wouldn't... I mean, if this was some kind of fan started crowd-funded production that wanted to make an "unofficial" Piece, I think it would be at least worth a try to support it. That way, if it met its goal, in turn, the makers could, in turn, sell it after production was completed as a whole set or piecemeal for a reasonable price on a limited run. But since this Hasbro and the money is being put in some bank escrow account, a company that could've produced this ages ago with there own capital and resources, I wouldn't bother with it.
I totally agree the toy companies are a complete joke compared to what they used to be. So they pop out these crappy toy lines or incomplete toy lines an expect you to be excited about he poor quality plastic junk they are pushing on the kids these days . I belong to matty collector also and it was a very unpleasant experience , as you said horrible costumer service and you were stuck getting figures you maybe didn't want or need and you couldn't get out until your subscription was up. I mean if they would just go back and watch the toys that made us them selves an see what it was like back in the 80's those toy execs took risks an developed some of the best toys ever made with great characters interesting back stories and vehicles and playsets.
This is one of my FAVORITE Retroblasting... basically having Mike open one on Hasbro and in the SOLO on Disney how our beloved SW franchise has fallen... I’ve switched over to GIJOE and refocus on expanding that collection and having fun. The modern SW collecting is like wolves on WallStreet Vs the laidback and friendly scene over in Joe collecting
Thank you for bringing a different perspective to this crowdfunding Barge. Something fishy has been brewing under the surface of this launch that I couldn't quite pinpoint but you bring it out. Not so much about the big picture of Hasbro and toy stores/sales but about the way they're going about it. What does a multi billion dollar biz need to crowd fund a toy for. plus they would be making so much more $ on this per unit by cutting out the middle man and holding onto your money for a year.
I really hate to say it but I think it's time for everything to end. I love nostalgia more than anyone but it's getting so watered down it's beginning to ruin it for me. When I say say that I don't mean it ruins my childhood...nothing can do that! I miss the days when it was a limited amount of things to get and they were next to near impossible to find but the hunt was almost as satisfying as when you actually got the item.
Hasbro may not be totally in touch, but I seriously doubt they weren't following Mattel's efforts very very closely and know how people reacted to things falling through; I don't think they're laying all their cards on the table here. This is their "we're listening to what you want" move. And rather than deal with the effort and expense of increasing scale and quality across the board, they've zeroed in on this. Why? Because I think the crowd-funding model is little more than an attempt to make collectors feel as though they have a say in what gets made, and the barge will ultimately be produced even if they only make half the required preorders. Because the alternative is to tell their strongest supporters (the people giving them the most money) that what they want isn't viable. And that would be a death knell to any franchise, even to Star Wars. Maybe I'm wrong, and the crowd-funding is legit from head to toe, but that would be the dumbest move they've ever pulled. I have to believe that it's a PR stunt to gauge factual, monetary interest in big ticket items. The only alternative is that Hasbro has lost their collective minds.
The relationship between Hasbro and some collectors is as healthy as the drug dealer/addict relationship at the moment. I fear the way it's headed
This was the beast that made me kick my addiction. I wanted it so bad and had the cash for it. Sometimes you just have to "Say No To Hasbro".
Hasbro doesn't need any handouts. They need to clean house and pull their heads out of their own Sarlac pits.
Hasbro isn't looking for a handout, they are looking to fund a project. Billion Dollar corporation or not, any project that cant make money probably shouldn't be greenlit. Hasbro obviously thinks there is no way to do a retail scale release of this without losing money, and for all we know the major retailers showed no interest in it.
If Hasbro could produce the USS Flagg back in the 80s, surely they could produce Jabba's Sail Barge in 2018!
PlayMobil could absolutely create this and at a cost that is affordable and in quantities that are accessible to all markets. Sadly PlayMobil doesn't own these licenses and their figures wouldn't be accepted for this space. I wonder if they would consider making a different line of figures if they did happen to stumble on the Star Wars license.
@@willierants5880 Well, it's 2 years later and this is a reality. Case closed!
@@maxbrandt6 True, but the video lives on and so will the comments.
@@maxbrandt6 "Case closed"
Not really. LOL.
To quote Han Solo. "I got a bad feeling about this."
For a long time this channel is my tree house, here I remember my childhood toys and memories. It's very satisfying seeing that you don't go for the easy roads and agree with everyone and everything that comes to take money from adult collectors. This things were meant to be toys and affordable, not super high end copies that belong to a museum that cost a gazillion dollars. Very interesting video, makes me proud to be your subscriber.
Preach Michael. Rant away, I’m right behind you on every point you’re making.
The Franklin Mint joke was hilarious btw
$500! We could almost buy our own ship for that!
I applaud you for being frank and honest not only about the toy but the whole business model. Hot Toys released a 1/6th scale 18 foot Millenium Falcon and they didn't have to crowdfund that.
ReGo001 Stop being a shill. Hasbro made some Amazon exclusives, they could make one more.
Hot Toys haven't released a 1/6 scale Falcon, they have one for display. It's never been mass produced.
You hit the nail on the head about Hasbro. I've been collecting Jurassic Park memorabilia, and they dropped the ball through the floor. I'm glad Mattel got the license, and I'm thoroughly impressed with what they're coming up with.
Here, here! Thank you for giving voice to this! I agree with every aspect you’ve stated. The industry is on the verge of destroying itself. There is so much interest and love of product lines from the past, because we recognize the diversity, and value for the dollar of the product made when the landscape was very different. Love your analysis!
I think letting companies like Hasbro know we'll tolerate this sets a really bad precedent. No one forced them to stock the toy aisles with a million crappy toys no one wants. If they want to turn a profit let them fix their business model.
They need to hire people that know/collect/love toys, not executives that have no idea what "kung fu grip" or a wookie is.
I could watch you talk about this topic for 2 hours and still be engaged. I also agree with you 100%.
500? We could almost buy our own ship for that!
WarParty! At the Outpost Comment of the day.
But whose gonna fly it kid?!?! You?
You bet I could. I’m not such a bad pilot myself. We don’t have to take this!
@@cerethpainting6606
But who's gonna fly it kid, you?
Mark Curtis You bet I could. I’m not such a bad pilot myself. We don’t have to take this!
Thank you for all the great information you guys give us and I love that their are still some of us that still miss the Christmas catalog! But thank you again!
Nate
I've been watching a while. Your channel is really great and I love your honesty. I'm 41 and I really feel you are a great representation of our collecting age group.
Michael, I appreciate your feedback and no holds bar assessment of this product and Hasbro's business practices. Keep up the good work. I owned StarWars toys as a kid but lost interest in collecting later in life because of all the different versions and variations of the same toy. That coupled with the abysmal prequels and latest movies has caused me not to care about Star Wars at all. For me, the only Star Wars that exists are the original trilogy movies. End of story.
Amen. The Original Trilogy are the only true Star Wars films, screw the rest.
@@sjdrifter72 no
The Wall Street Journal reported that in 2017 Hasbro was worth about $11 billion. They really need crowdfunding? Thank you for your honest perspective Michael.
As a kid I didn't want to be Han or Luke, I wanted to be a model maker. As an adult, I find it easier to build playsets for my kid. Hasbro I think has indirectly inspired diorama builders like myself and others due to Hasbro's poor choices in vehicle designs and lack of playsets. Hell, I would be happy with a nice card board sail barge in the old school Kenner style so me and my kid could enjoy it
Cold blooded,lol. You spoke the truth! Even used a quote to further your argument, well done. P.s. Good to see you.
Thank you. thank you. thank you.... 🙏 I FEEL the EXACT same way. Thank you for caring enough about us to voice this....
It would be cheaper and more fun/satisfying to build a version of the vehicle on my own. I'm a grade school teacher and as far as I can tell, the new "action figure" is digital and customizable. Its what they want. I may not like it, but it is what it is. THANK YOU for confirming what I just thought was lack of motivation in store staff - the shelves are empty because the toys aren't there.
Watching what hasbro is doing to star wars toys breaks my heart instead of making toys with effort and Creativity with quality they just make expensive crap just to make a quick Buck hopefully they will keep to their promise and make this toy
Well said... Well Done.. Let's hope Hasbro wakes up their lame figures and vehicles. The only saving grace so far for them has been the Black series, and that line also has suffered poor distribution...
?
Just be glad we grew up in the generation we did, we had good toy options. I was just in my walmart toy aisle the other day and commenting on the lack of options kids have today, all action figures no vehicles. To this day the Masters of the universe line is still my favorite toy line.
Incredible toy...but I totally agree with you Michael! I love that you speak your mind and tell it like it is. Excellent work!
11:05 -- This is a key point that a lot of people are missing; I have been privy to seeing several of these "shake and bake" operations, mostly from startup marketing agencies and the like, where the business model relies on getting a large number of entities to kick money in (or raise profits via a public-sharing model) with the intent of drawing massive profits from the interest generated as it sits in a savings/high-interest account. Then, if and when the bottom falls out or the campaign is completed, they can hem and haw for a while (several months, sometimes years) and make bank off all that interest flowing in.
I have no doubt that execs at Hasbro, after seeing the diminishing power of both toy stores and their own bottom line, decided to "have their cake and eat it too" by trotting out a pre-production mold of the barge while simultaneously installing a model that relies on said interest payments rolling in to bankroll the operation.
I have been a Star Wars collector since 1983 and I agree with you.
well they made it and it looks amazing
Hell yeah it is amazing. Hasbro delivered
Aaron Collins
He never criticized the toy. He criticized the business model.
As a long time collector, I would suggest that everyone save their money and, when the time/opportunity is right, buy a vintage, original SW 12 back. Unlike the garbage that Hasbro is pushing now, the old stuff (graded in particular) will appreciate in value over time.
That garbage (garbarge?) is a bargain at $500. My phone cost way more. I bought a Lego TIE fighter for $50 five years ago, now they are $125. HasLab is like the Sideshow type of quality, even the original Kenner designer is in on this. At ~8500 pieces, it will hold its value way more than the toys. Even if they make a second run, it just raises the stature of the first. A toy that was waaay expensive in the 80s was the metal Voltron, hella expensive. Look at it now. Hell, look at that ugly Lego Death Star. Anyway, I need somewhere to put Slave Leia.
“Soviet era grocery store” 😆
I find it hard to collect modern toys because of all these issues in this video! Amazing video! 👍
Thank You for this.
I still believe the cry out of lack O Rey toys was a cling to emotional hot buttons and a hope to boost sales.
I "liked" this video.
Only because there is no "love it"
I could get 500 Rose figures for the same price.
Absolutely spot on analysis Michael. Retailers are now dialling back purchasing toys from Hasbro as they're still sitting on TLJ toys with Solo out shortly (even RO and TFA toys are still on shelves in some stores). Buyer fatigue over the brand and toy line, of which the quality has been HORRENDOUS for some of the toys. I can only assume Disney are giving Hasbro a reduced percentage of the profits of the licence and this is what has caused their slip in quality in the past few years. As you say, smacks of desperation from them.
So now a year later, I'm curious, did you get in on Jabba's Sail Barge? What do you think with the release of all the pictures and videos being posted?
That new Han Solo Falcon is the saddest thing I have ever seen. The original could hold Han, Luke, Chewy, Leia, Obi-Wan, and the droids with no issues. The later Hasbro versions were cool, too, with super detailed interiors and great play/display value. Then the Force Awakens one came out, which had a useless Nerf launcher and an extending inaccurate turret, with minimal interior space, but it was just passable. Then the Han Solo one was revealed. It’s a brick with a built in tomb for Han! The battery powered stuff just gives me a reason to feed it to mynocks. This toy is actually a piece of mynock food!!!
Mack Meikle I've been trying to find the SW Falcon again, as the ones made after SW just aren't as great as the first Millennium Falcon!
Problem is that these vintage items are like trying to buy a GI Joe USS Flagg.
$$$.
The Man From Krypton Try your local flea market.
And barring that, you could get a POTF2 or OTC version, it's the same mold but with slightly changes
Mack Meikle I agree it’s a joke! It can only hold two figures..one chair in the cockpit and a coffin type box for another. If you count the small escape pod for another figure that would be three. The old falcon could hold 10 -15 figures easy..it ridiculous, now we have to pay for Hasbro to make our toys. Why might as well work for the company, and get stock options from them since we are building there toys with our money!
Colin Smith I do have a PotF TIE, but I thought that the Falcon was different. I just recently found out there were different X-Wing variants. I had the originals, and I assumed that they were the same as well.
Thanks for the heads up!
You should come on our show, Michael.
bye the way i like your content.
WorldClassBullshitters is a channel that hates everything. They detest women and are outright racists. Don't do it.
I'd be honored. Your videos have that honesty I respect.
RetroBlasting! Wow. You think that videos stating that Star Wars is ruined because "Social Justice Warriors" at Disney are forcing an agenda to show women and people of color as heroes? You think that's honesty? I'm done with RetroBlasting then.
Pardon me? Before you abandon us, why don't you wait for my response? No I don't agree 100% with everything another channel says and I think you'd be interested to know what my positions are and you'd be very happy to hear them. Don't you trust me?
My Falcon growing up was the POTF2 Millennium Falcon carrying case. A clam-shell hunk of plastic with no paint apps. The one that came with Wedge. Was always so jealous of my cousin who had gotten a "real" Falcon secondhand. The way the figures would stand up in the back. Seating in the cockpit. A gunner station. Seeing the TFA and Solo Falcons is depressing. I think even as a kid I would have chosen my carrying case over those. At least that held more than 2 or 3 figures at a time.
Hasbro went from making the best figures we've ever seen , vintage collection, to the worst with 5pa. As an adult collector in the UK there's been nothing to collect for a few years now . Even 6" black series have been impossible to collect. And now when they are available they are £29.99 (approx $42) at retail.
As an adult Hasbro has made it absolutely clear they don't want my business.
Great video and great points as usual! I just saw tonight that there are several people trying to sell the haslab version of this for up to $1700 on eBay!
Michael, I could not agree more with you. I could not put my finger on why this bothered me so much and it’s the fact that Hasbro has been the main cause why we do not see the number of toys in stores because of all the lines they have bought. Hasblow has depended on movies and licenses to carry the day when they should be looking at bring out new lines and figures.
I wish I could give this 100 thumbs up. This says more about big corporations in this day and age and how they view their consumers than just Hasbro and their greed towards Star Wars fans. #Kenner4Lyfe
Great video Mike very informative and great info. I like the fact your right to the point and honest considering how bad Episode 8 was no wonder toy sales are slipping.
I agree with you, crowd sourcing for a toy by a major manufacturer is scummy.
You hit the nail on the head, Michael.
It is - sadly - very true. Thank you for your input, didn’t see that clearly.
When I was a kid, had a dream that I got an almost 6 ft super star destroyer play set, the Executor. It was a amazing, and nothing gave it away as a dream, so when I woke up, I was sure that it would greet me when I got out of bed. I have never been so heartbroken when I realised it was all in my head. Whenever I see it on screen I can still just about remember the dream, it was that powerful, and 30 years ago!
the idea of haslab....is interesting, BC it really is that "What-if" of it all, will this lead to a modernized G.I.joe Flagg? or 1/12 vehicles or playsets for Starwars, G.I.joe, or Marvel?....but really, the honest human approach Michael, is what I needed to hear.
I'm glad someone said something. I will say the Marvel Legends line has had a solid run for the last few years, but a giant corporation crowdsourcing & offering payment plans is low. Was glad I didn't buy into Matty Collector.
Agree from A to Z with your opinion. Internationally talking, we never ever saw most of their products. This thing becomes extremely expensive and hard to get abroad USA. Mattel made this mistake, and once again, now Hasbro.
love it as usual sir. I think Hasbro could seriously help by mass production of toys everybody can enjoy. hell had I'd of been an adult when kenner first made star wars guys? Id buy em. my point is less high end stuff directed at a small percentage. I mean we had to hunt for that particular character be it Darth Vader or Snake eyes. they should stock these stores with options for everyone. that sail barge is impressive btw. I'd pay $200. $500 is a months rent for so no haslab for this guy. thank you both again for such a fine video.
Boom! You just dropped the mic 🎤 on Hasbro!
Great video Michael. Lots of good points. I’ll reiterate what I said on the RetroBlasting Facebook post:
It’s less of a ‘toy’ and more of a display piece not meant to be played with. I will admit, the idea of it is cool but items like this are overpriced grabs at ones nostalgia wallet. I’d much rather have a Jabba’s Palace with Rancor pit or a kick-ass Bespin playset. Something that looks cool for display but that I’d let kids play with, you know, as toys are intended to be.
The perfect counter example to the lameness Of Hasbro doing this via crowdfunding is a Lego release from late 2017. (And it’s actually a set Retroblasting should Review). Lego released a new version of their “collector Holy Grail” UCS Millennium Falcon. Rather then go small, they went as big as they possibly could. Made it the biggest, most intricate Lego had ever made. 7,500 pieces. True Minifigure scale with no compression. This new version had a full detailed interior as well as the super detailed outside. And an insane price of $800 US. No crowdfunding. They just put it out there as a product. They have now had to go back into production 3x since October to meet demand. And they still can’t keep it on the shelves. So yeah there is no non scummy reason for Hasbro to crowdfund this beyond unethical shifting of risk onto their foolish customers. If you give them the product they want, they will come.
Lego didn't really have a lot of risk on that set. The Falcon is the most iconic and best selling vehicle from the franchise. They already know what the sales were like on the previous version and Lego has no tooling costs. They own the mold to every Lego brick already. So the cost is in design and making a bunch of bricks. Not designing a toy, tooling it up, and selling it. I'm not making excuses for Hasbro but if the molds for a figure can cost $10,000. What do the molds for a 4 foot vehicle cost?
SEO Toy Review Hasbro is big enough company to take the risk, that's the point! Stop shilling for lousy toy companies.
SEO Toy Review true to a point. But let’s not forget that the prior release sold badly at retail and was blown out on 50% clearance. It wasn’t till aftermarket that it started hitting $8,000 price takes. But the point is Lego made the product on their own dime. If Hasbro can’t pay for toy tooling, then they shouldn’t be a toy company. All they are doing is seeking to replace traditional bank financing for new tooling with getting interest free loans from their customers, that they have no real obligation to pay back. It’s shady.
Something I want, Hasbro to LOSE the Star Wars license, just for a few years or so. Would be nice to have a company actually listen, at least for a year.
Dang i dint realize it most of the points you made were on point amazing video one of the best
$500 is just too much. I got the giant AT-AT from target when it first came out for around $90 or $100, heck the MTT I thought was expensive at $120 when it came out, Tack on the fact it may or may not get made, forget it, It is just too expensive and the crowdfunding is just lame. On the Plus side I may finally have the money to get a Terrordrome or Soul of Chogokin Golion (Voltron) instead, better use of money I think, Thanks for the Video and keep up the good work.
On second thought Chogokin Golion is at least $600 so he is out, perhaps a terrordrome, or a few Masterpiece VF-1s in the cards instead
Maybe?
Hey Michael, thanks for the great content in your videos! I'm glad I had a chance to listen to what you had to say about Haslab's first crowd funding project, Jabba's sail barge.
If you have the time, a follow up video would be appreciated, especially since an exclusive Yakface figure was thrown in. I'm curious if you decided to back this project.
Thanks for all the great videos.
Words of wisdom
Thank you for posting this video. You make some good points that I didn't consider. I admire you honesty & insight.
The fact that they won't ship internationally just boggles my mind. Hasbro wants to produce this thing and make money off of it but they're willing to cut out like 60 percent of the market for it just to save on shipping and production costs.
Some interesting thoughts. I think you where pretty much right on point throughout.
They should just call it what it is, pre-order for a direct to customer sale. They should not have to charge this much for it. This for them is a 0% risk endeavour. They don't have to pay a middle man or worry about unsold stock, this should be better value than a store sold playset, this on the other hand looks like they are trying to charge double.
Well said and expressed concerns. Hasbro are scumbags, this move proves that. Some Collectors continue to tank this hobby with their desperation and enabling.
Thank you Michael for nailing it! (Mike drop!!) one of the questions I wanted to ask you are there any current kids toys that could be considered classics in 20 years I think the answer is slim to none. But if you think there are some I'd love to hear your opinion.
This would be an instant buyer's remorse thing for me. I'd rather spend $500 on an actual vintage item (or items).
JJ Lloyd ... Ah... another Monkees fan.... Micky and Mike are touring coming up!! I'm finding Monkees fans are fewer and fewer! Glad to meet another Monkees
🤖🤓
$500 you can find a vintage Kenner Death Star and at least 30 vintage kenner star wars :D
Cyberman Bill... Hello fellow Monkees fan! Yep, I saw on Facebook that Nez and Micky are touring together in June. They won't be playing anywhere near me (Texas), but I'm hoping the tour sells out so they'll add more dates later in the year. I really want to hear the two of them sing "Me and Magdalena" from Good Times! :) I hope you get to see them this summer though!
Agree that this is not cool.
It’s a big company’s job to take risks, not to finance projects directly from customers and make them bear the all risk and financing costs of a project. In the financial world this would be seen as a bad deal, and I think it’s cruel that the collecting world seems to support it.
Hasbro doesn’t need the financial capital. The only possible argument is that they need up-front payment to get more information on the market for the product. But this is a weak argument - do you really think they can’t gauge what collectors want and what they are willing to pay?
If it does get funded and they release it after at retail, I hope collectors hold them to account as well. It should retail for more than the HasLab cost to account for the risk, and the waiting time (opportunity cost of capital) that the initial buyers put in.
Will it be more at retail, though? Not likely.
Ultimately, this kind of scheme is about getting the most money up-front from people that are willing to pay for something the most. It’s actually price discrimination - targeting the most intensively interested consumers first to extract more from them.
Dirty marketing.
I concur. Thanks for being rational and actually speak for all of those of us that live outside the states and never get to buy new collectibles unless buying overpriced stuff on E-bay. I´m a huge GI Joe collector and have hundreds och figures and vehicles but it´s just not fun collecting anymore. Everythings too expensive. I only collect vintage stuff but would like some of the newer versions of some of my favorite characters but the problem is that everything cool is just for people who get attend Joecon. Nothing gets to Europe. I like some of the new Star Wars-line stuff such as the legacy collection BUT it´s way too hard to get for a decent price these days. Anyway, Thanks again for yet another great video!! :D
5,000 x $500 = $2,500,000 at let's say 2% interest that's $125,000 of free money Hasbro made off of loyal customers :(
okchief is Haslam paying interest to it's funders?
Bit of speculation here, "let's say 2% interest". How did you come to this conclusion? I doubt you or Retroblasting have access to how Hasbro manages their funds. Being that I worked in retail, P.O.'s have to be paid up front before manufacturing or labor is dispatched.
"P.O. : Purchase Order"
They’re not getting my money.
Where do you get 2% interest, because that's where I want to put my money.
They don't charge your card unless they get 5000 backers.
I agree with every point u made in this video. I went through the whole Motu classics debacle with matty collector . Its a scummy way to treat your customers , and even though i am verry happy to have my Motu classics collection , i promised myself when it was all said and done i would never Ever get into this type of crowdfund bs schemes , ever again. The ship is great. But i will not live through that same bs i went through when i was trying to get the Classics Castle Grayskull. Thanks hasbro , but no thanks.
I revisited this in the wake of the announcement of GI Joe's Skystriker. It's so funny listening to the Hasbro Hardcore crowd..."if we don't fund this, we might not get any more GI Joe stuff". Good, go for the customs or smaller toy companies then. Some cannot just fathom that if it isn't made by the company they held dear, life is over
"Preach it!!"...Well said on ever point sir. Especially your comments on the new line. Its be kind of painful watching Hasbro self implode.
star wars license ends in 2020 for Hasbro.
leonidas1029 If there would be anything left from Star Wars after Disney finish milking it to death
I certainly agree with you on a LOT of stuff here, but at the same time, I see the smallest inkling of Hasbro just having good intentions, but failing miserably. I mean, with that shrinking of toy aisles thing you mentioned, I seriously doubt they'd give space to this behemoth, plus their lagging vehicle sales might've left the higher-ups kinda wary of this kind of thing, and thus, the honest mistake of a Kickstarter-type deal by desperate toy designers. I give them this small benefit of the doubt because they seem pretty fan-conscious otherwise with the Vintage collection(something rare with Hasbro and 3 3/4 inch these days).
On the other hand though, they could've just had this thing in the archives since the times of that massive Millennium Falcon and just decided to try and get people to give them money directly with it, which is far more likely.
Can we get an update Retroblasting? Did you end up preordering a Barge? HASLAB ended up smashing quota. Just wondering if you guys will be getting and reviewing.
The problem is we only have Hasbro and Mattel as the big players. Funny just like Dem and Rep, he'll they even have similar colors too.
HasLab is making this outa love. I lived near the best dunes in the world, Nipomo, CA. I would always imagine running into a Sarlacc Pit. I am going to open the box 10 years after getting it in the mail. I am so glad there are no electronics to decay.
So, remember, No Matter Where You Go... . .... .... .......There You Are.
My favourite Retroblasting video!
@retroblasting Hasbro is a big part of the problem. But we are ignoring the other half of this problem. Yes, the elephant in the room Disney. Though Hasbro has the license it’s Disney calling the shots. Most of this may have started before Disney. But the gimmicks and the quality really went down hill when they took over. Disney is all about the quick buck. Also, that’s what the Toy market has devolved into. Quick flip for money then on to the next big thing.
Great video. So glad that you're honest about this. Keep up the great work.
HasNOOOOOOO!!!! I stopped collecting toys from Hasbro since before the G.I. Joe Retaliation line came out. Hasbro has fallen off.
Love the show. Nothing will ever be as good as it once was!:). Keep your chins up everyone, and in the meantime, build what u crave out of cardboard and hot glue!
THEY DID IT! HasbroLab currently has 6,200 backers for their Jabba's Sail Barge! There are STILL about 2 more days to go!
I agree with every word that came out of your mouth, Hasbro has brought this on themselves with the weak toys they are making for star wars because they focused to much on the newer movies, I never understood why they didn't re-release some of the expensive Original Trilogy toys like the jawa sandcrawler and put that in a vintage box, I would buy that in a heartbeat. Oh, and the quality of their recent toys is just disgusting, not worth the money that they are asking for.
The only reason Hasbro is doing this is because they know that their Star Wars line is dying and the big toy buying companies might not want to carry this giant toy, and they know toys r us is in bankruptcy, KB toys is gone and I wonder how much longer Walmart will continue to buy toys no body wants.
Totally agree with you on matty collector too, I wanted to collect the Masters of the Universe line so bad but it's hard to tell your boss you need off to go home and sit in front of a computer and hope you don't get the white screen of death and then find out they have sold out of the one figure that month you wanted, and I didn't want to do the automatic buy because I didn't want all the figures that year, I just wanted the classic line up but they made it so damn hard just to do that.
If this is the way new toys are going to be sold, I just might be out and collect my vintage lines and stay away from the new stuff, and with all that being said, I REALLY want that sail barge, I know it makes no sense......I just want it, the toy collector inside me, the star wars fan inside me....my six year old self is telling the cough, cough older self to buy it. I just don't know what to do.
Great video, I just hope this isn't the future of toy collecting.
My feelings on the Haslab are it's a little silly to demand $500 on something that isn't even available yet. I feel a better thing would've been to start smaller to prove that they can make it. Say if they asked $100 for a smaller playset that people wanted then went from there, it would've been smashing. But $500 for something we have no guarantee on is just ridiculous.
Yeah 8:00 in, I really agree! very few people can truly afford a $500 toy. A ton of people are going to be really salty when this thing doesn't get funded.
I come back to this video often enough because it still resonates. A big point that makes me heavily dislike this thing (and all of hasbro plus) is how they only have their service available in the US. When this was announced, I was not interested (despite collecting modern) because I didn’t have the space. But I knew a lot of people here in Mexico that did. Yet hasbro gave us the finger (and every other country except the US) by only having the preorder available there. When it eventually came out, it reached some collecting stores here. The price? Several thousand dollars. It’s ridiculous.
I wouldn't... I mean, if this was some kind of fan started crowd-funded production that wanted to make an "unofficial" Piece, I think it would be at least worth a try to support it. That way, if it met its goal, in turn, the makers could, in turn, sell it after production was completed as a whole set or piecemeal for a reasonable price on a limited run. But since this Hasbro and the money is being put in some bank escrow account, a company that could've produced this ages ago with there own capital and resources, I wouldn't bother with it.
I totally agree the toy companies are a complete joke compared to what they used to be. So they pop out these crappy toy lines or incomplete toy lines an expect you to be excited about he poor quality plastic junk they are pushing on the kids these days . I belong to matty collector also and it was a very unpleasant experience , as you said horrible costumer service and you were stuck getting figures you maybe didn't want or need and you couldn't get out until your subscription was up. I mean if they would just go back and watch the toys that made us them selves an see what it was like back in the 80's those toy execs took risks an developed some of the best toys ever made with great characters interesting back stories and vehicles and playsets.
Thanks for explaining in detail why you think it's "Scummy." Quite interesting.
I agree with what you're saying, even the Last Jedi black series figures are on clearance at Walmart near me for $5.00
This is one of my FAVORITE Retroblasting... basically having Mike open one on Hasbro and in the SOLO on Disney how our beloved SW franchise has fallen... I’ve switched over to GIJOE and refocus on expanding that collection and having fun. The modern SW collecting is like wolves on WallStreet Vs the laidback and friendly scene over in Joe collecting
Well said Michael. It’s all a bit of a disappointing mess.
Love your channel by the way! 🙂👍
Thank you for bringing a different perspective to this crowdfunding Barge. Something fishy has been brewing under the surface of this launch that I couldn't quite pinpoint but you bring it out. Not so much about the big picture of Hasbro and toy stores/sales but about the way they're going about it. What does a multi billion dollar biz need to crowd fund a toy for. plus they would be making so much more $ on this per unit by cutting out the middle man and holding onto your money for a year.
I really hate to say it but I think it's time for everything to end. I love nostalgia more than anyone but it's getting so watered down it's beginning to ruin it for me. When I say say that I don't mean it ruins my childhood...nothing can do that! I miss the days when it was a limited amount of things to get and they were next to near impossible to find but the hunt was almost as satisfying as when you actually got the item.
You sound like Kylo Ren. "Let the past die. Kill it!"
K J No, all toy companies do is lazy rehashing of vintage toy lines, where is the creativity and uniqueness toylines used to have?!
Hasbro may not be totally in touch, but I seriously doubt they weren't following Mattel's efforts very very closely and know how people reacted to things falling through; I don't think they're laying all their cards on the table here. This is their "we're listening to what you want" move. And rather than deal with the effort and expense of increasing scale and quality across the board, they've zeroed in on this.
Why?
Because I think the crowd-funding model is little more than an attempt to make collectors feel as though they have a say in what gets made, and the barge will ultimately be produced even if they only make half the required preorders.
Because the alternative is to tell their strongest supporters (the people giving them the most money) that what they want isn't viable. And that would be a death knell to any franchise, even to Star Wars.
Maybe I'm wrong, and the crowd-funding is legit from head to toe, but that would be the dumbest move they've ever pulled. I have to believe that it's a PR stunt to gauge factual, monetary interest in big ticket items.
The only alternative is that Hasbro has lost their collective minds.
Sometimes what people want truly isn't viable though.
The Sail Barge is Awesome!!! I'm sorry you didn't want it. I been collecting since 1977 this thing is priceless
Very well said
I love this channel :)