HasLab Deathsaurus

[Exatron]

Why? It seems that everyone is fine with it right now as long as you slap "Haslab" in front of it.

That just doesn't track with how HasLabs have performed to date. Of the 14 projects that have been completed, 10 have gone into production, and 4 have failed. Of the two active projects, Deathsaurus looks likely to succeed, while HeroScape seems like it might be in trouble. I don't know how that rate compares with other crowd-sourcing efforts, but clearly people don't just automatically eat up anything HasLab offers. Now we are 2 for 2 for Transformers so far, likely to be 3 for 3 soon, but I contend that has more to do with the strength of the particular projects than that there's something fundamentally different about the TF fandom.

As for why we're fine with this Deathsaurus project, it's just because many of us legitimately do want a bigger, better version of this character. I completely get that not everyone's going to be excited about him, and I completely agree that a Commander-class Deathsaurus would absolutely sell a lot more copies than this HasLab Deathsaurus will. I would have bought one if that's the route they had ended up taking, and I probably would have been happy to get whatever he ended up as. The only real point of contention here is about what that Commander-class Deathsaurus would be. Your previous posts are basically implying the HasLab Deathsaurus is just the Commander-class Deathsaurus with a throne, stand, and bigger price tag. That's just not at all realistic, for all the reasons already stated. We wouldn't be OK with just selling a standard Commander toy as a much-higher-priced HasLab project. But this project is clearly not just another Commander.

So if it doesn't fit into what's been established as a Commander, what options are there? Bump him all the way up to Titan? No matter how many other accessories they might add, that would never fly. Create a new price class, or redefine Commander as some higher price point where this figure would fit? Theoretically possible, but then they have to get buy-in from retailers, and it opens him up to all the normal concessions that get made for retail figures that everyone complains about incessantly. The only other realistic option is HasLab, where they have some additional freedom to get away from the normal retail limitations. There aren't all that many characters that would be worth it. But like Unicron and Victory Saber, a lot of us agree that Deathsaurus is one that's worth doing that.

 

[Sabrblade]

Create a new price class

Don't have to. Just bring back Supreme class.

 

[Undead Scottsman]

After seeing what happened with Unicron when I didn't back that, I'm just going to auto-back all TF haslabs from now on.

-Best case scenario is I get a rad toy I like.

-Second best scenario is I don't want it, but it goes up in value on the secondary market and I can make a tidy profit

-Worst case scenario is I don't want it and it drops in price, but because it's made to order, me getting one at least caused one more of them to exist than would have otherwise, so some fan who really wanted the toy and missed out gets the opportunity to nab it, and that's cool even if it costs me in the end.

 

[Sabrblade]

What I did with Unicron was that I went with TFSource instead of Pulse proper. TFSource required only a down payment upfront, while the rest of it I budgeted towards over the course of the years between funding and release, since TFSource didn't charge the remaining final amount until shipping.

Sure, the final price was a bit more expensive than what Pulse was asking for upfront, but budgeting over those intervening years allowed me to save up little by little over time, without having to drop the full amount at a point when I didn't yet have it.

 

[Superomegaprime]

Don't have to. Just bring back Supreme class.

Isn't that pretty much the modern Commander class?

 

[Sabrblade]

Isn't that pretty much the modern Commander class?

Nope. Modern Commander class is smaller. All the Unicron Trilogy Supreme class toys tower over Jetfire, and have way more mass.

The closest modern analogue to the old Supreme class is Studio Series Devastator in terms of size and mass.

 

[Dake]

After seeing what happened with Unicron when I didn't back that, I'm just going to auto-back all TF haslabs from now on.

-Best case scenario is I get a rad toy I like.

-Second best scenario is I don't want it, but it goes up in value on the secondary market and I can make a tidy profit

-Worst case scenario is I don't want it and it drops in price, but because it's made to order, me getting one at least caused one more of them to exist than would have otherwise, so some fan who really wanted the toy and missed out gets the opportunity to nab it, and that's cool even if it costs me in the end.

Pretty much this. There hasn't been a Haslab yet that hasn't gone up in price once released. Even the Razor Crest - which garnered a ton of anguish after it was destroyed in the show - still sells for more than it cost to back it.

That just doesn't track with how HasLabs have performed to date. Of the 14 projects that have been completed, 10 have gone into production, and 4 have failed. Of the two active projects, Deathsaurus looks likely to succeed, while HeroScape seems like it might be in trouble. I don't know how that rate compares with other crowd-sourcing efforts, but clearly people don't just automatically eat up anything HasLab offers. Now we are 2 for 2 for Transformers so far, likely to be 3 for 3 soon, but I contend that has more to do with the strength of the particular projects than that there's something fundamentally different about the TF fandom.

Yeah, I see a little of both. So far the failures have all been for pretty obvious reasons to me at least. "Life-size" Cookie Monster? Talk about a super-niche market (they don't even list it on the site any more). 6" scaled Rancor? Neat idea but too expensive for what amounted to an upsized 3.75 figure. Reva's saber? Too much... baggage... attached to that one (maybe if they'd just called it a generic Inquisitor saber). And we've all talked the Ghost Rider to death. I'm not sure what TF project would fail to back, barring them getting super-greedy on pricing though. The 3P market, which just doesn't really exist for those other properties, has shown folks will pay big money for obscure/high-end versions of stuff. I don't know - maybe a 6" Kicker Haslab?

Let's name the stuff they definitely should NOT do in the hopes they notice and don't waste a slot.

 

[unluckiness]

The lightsaber probably would have failed regardless of who it belonged to. $500 is insane and as I understand, the roleplay segment of the fandom isn't as big as the figure collectors.

As long as the transformers campaigns focus on making mainline but with more bells and whistles, it should do fine. There's definitely a niche between the complexity and price of mainline and MP and that currently even the unofficial toys aren't filling. I also can't help but think having Takara on board helps them out with design and funding. Their offerings so far compared to the other brands seem like far better value for money.

 

[Lobjob]

I mean, its Deathsaurus. Come on. He looks perfect.

 

[Darth_Prime]

Over the half way mark, none of the overseas numbers are in thought, right? Im guessing that gets us to 8 or 9K on backers.

Id be curious to see what Hasbro would do if a project was say, 10 short of the goal.

 

[MrBlud]

I feel like Hasbro plays fast and loose with the numbers.

They know if enough people fund (or don’t) so there’s never going to be a situation where you’re “only” ten off or whatever.

 

[Dake]

It does make you wonder if they'd have one of their sales reps call BBTS or EE or someone and be like, "Hey, how about we add on a cool dozen to your order?"

 

[Sciflyer]

Let's name the stuff they definitely should NOT do in the hopes they notice and don't waste a slot.

Okay, how about a $300 HasLab Wheelie? He'd have it all: Slingshot accessory.

 

[Haywire]

Haslab Under-3, no pesky accessories to get lost...

 

[Sabrblade]

Haslab Under-3, no pesky accessories to get lost...

Indeed. Any new Under-3 must be a mass retail figure.

 

[Dake]

Okay, how about a $300 HasLab Wheelie? He'd have it all: Slingshot accessory.

Ooh - Haslab Auto-converting My Buddie Wheelie with voice chip!

 

[Platypus Prime]

Wheelie tiers:

10,000- Gets made
12,000- Book of rhyming words
15,000- Slingshot
20,000- Detachable arm enclosed in brown play-doh
35,000- Ironclad legally binding agreement with Hasbro not to make this. Money goes to pay lawyers to vet the agreement.

 

[Superomegaprime]

With the 15.00, include the T-cog for Metroplex as he was apart of the mission to get that to him as it was damaged in the battle for Autobot city

 

[Confuzor]

I feel like Hasbro plays fast and loose with the numbers.

They know if enough people fund (or don’t) so there’s never going to be a situation where you’re “only” ten off or whatever.

The Rancor failed by a pretty small number IIRC.

 

[Princess Viola]

Checking the Haslab page for the Rancor, it was about 500 short of being fully funded and I feel there's a difference between the number of backers being within the margin of error for being fully funded and being 500 people short tbh.