@h-bird I try not to say like 'this is probably one of my favorite figures' (I still say it sometimes, but I try) because I'm totally aware that recency bias is a thing. But this is actually probably one of my favorite Legends purchases of the last several years. Of course, that's in no way saying this is one of the best figures they've done. Just one that means the most to me while also being really good.
A ball joint on the stand would be great. Even just having it be able to swap from front to back. I was thinking of putting him in a landing pose instead of a wheelie pose, with his back tire up and front tire down, swinging the chain like he's landing right in front of an baddie. But it just doesn't really work for that.
But of all the little complaints I have, I'd say the only thing that actually bothers me rather than being a thing I would have done differently, is that they didn't put the extra effort into having headlights rather than open slots in the fairing.
I KNOW Hasbro hasn't done this before or even remotely hinted at it being a possibility... but I keep hoping that they'll re-think the pricing and structure for the Hellcharger. The hope is that if all the current GR and GR-adjacent stuff does really well, they'll realize there's a fanbase there and that the failure of the HL was their fault.
Then again, the reality is that if they didn't even try to re-solicit the Rancor because they think there's no appetite for it, there's probably no hope for the Charger.That being said, and as much of a GR fan as I am.... I don't really want Robbie without the car. Not that others shouldn't get him - just that the reality is I almost surely wouldn't buy that figure.
Vengeance and Johnny? Yes, absolutely. I might even get Alejandra but only if I can see we're already well into filling out the more important (to me) GR characters. The shitty thing for me is that I got so frustrated by the death of the riders subline without getting Danny, that I sold my Riders Johnny GR. Stupid me.
I also hope they see all the Ghost Rider love that's out there - the Legendary Riders Johnny Blaze seemed to do great, and it's definitely a hot commodity on the aftermarket. If our boy D Ketch does well then a reissue - or even better, another release with improvements (red bike, better figure) - seems warranted. Plus the other characters mentioned (forgot about Carter Slade/Phantom Rider - let's throw him in the mix too).
I'd certainly be all about another crack at the Hellcharger and Robbie. I still have a hard time seeing it coming in at the hoped-for $100 - that feels a bit like a pipe dream - but maybe they can make it happen. It does feel like they're a bit hemmed in by the Haslab "promise" (i.e., this is the only way these special things can get made) but if version 2.0 is sufficiently different (and way cheaper) no one but Hasbro will care about that artificial restriction.
@fac I agree it would sell. Hell, I think the HasLab would have funded if they'd just made some, if I'm being honest, super obvious tweaks. Many of which were discussed ad nauseum during the campaign period. It just feels like Hasbro needs like 50 customers to sign an NDA and look over their projects pre-release to basically do beta testing for them about how it's going to play to a wider audience.
Because some of the shit they've failed on -- notably the Charger and the Rancor, were just fairly easy home-runners that Hasbro and Hasbro alone is responsible for sinking.
@h-bird I agree that 100 probably isn't a super realistic price for the Charger. But as you and I actually talked about when the HasLab was ongoing; better options that people were actually excited about and a slightly lower price probably would have put an entirely different spin on that project. They came out of the gate making a lot of wrong decisions and I think it turned people off so hard that it was impossible to get them back. The Charger literally became the core talking point concerning Hasbro's greed and anti-customer, anti-value behaviour. It was doomed from the start.
For 200 you could offer the charger and Robbie with some sweet-ass chains that allow him to ride on top of the car so you can display your charger and your figure at the same time - in a comic-accurate pose? Perfect. Then offer the de-powered Robbie figure and de-powered character add-on parts as future goals. Add a figure of Gabriel as a bridge goal. Make choices that respect the customers and that respect the character and make sense for people's collections.
That being said - I actually think it's kind of a mistake to do things like a HasLab and not do more of the Kickstarter model of having a 'base' offering and then a bunch of add-ons that cost extra money if the customer so chooses. Then you can have all kinds of unlockables and not have to worry that the cost of EVERYTHING in the campaign needs to be tied in to the base price. THAT is a problem that is really pissing people off with the HasLabs. /rant
@theknightdamien they DO have test groups. Or at least they’ve started to. That’s how the info on the most recent Star Wars and GI Joe Haslabs have leaked.
Maybe $100 is unlikely for the Hellcharger, but to me that's Hasbro's job to engineer to a price point that would sell - we see that all the time for the figures, make the decisions on what it can be given the expected revenue - but there has to be a price point closer to $100 than $350 for the base offering of a car and a figure. (I still point to the Fortnite Motorboat in 1:12 scale that Hasbro put out around the same time for $75 as evidence that a well-designed, medium-priced vehicle is possible to do.)
Ghost Rider always looked cool to me, but after reading that post I will grab him by Halloween. I REALLY wish a cheaper HellCharger could come out along with a retro wave.
Got Odin yesterday - easily a figure of the year candidate. I have been reacquiring a few Toy Biz figures from the golden days and I miss those days sometimes. But then seeing this Odin just shows me how great the line can still be and how far we've come. So I will grab Ketch and Hulkbuster over the next couple months. I am all for deluxe style figures when they're this good. I want great shit.
I see there's a Hero Clix set of Skurge and Heimdall - yes please. Odin hopefully starts a collection.
If Classified can do the VAMP and Stinger for 100 range, Marvel can do the Hellcharger too.
If Classified can do the VAMP and Stinger for 100 range, Marvel can do the Hellcharger too.
They can, but they won't. Not as long as their CEO pays himself a 9 million dollar bonus every year.
https://www1.salary.com/HASBRO-INC-Executive-Salaries.html
Nobody on their board made less than 5 million.
That company has a lot of overhead. Sorry, guys. If you want a Hellcharger from them, you're gonna pay through the nose for it.
I don’t even necessarily need the car, I just want the Robbie Reyes Ghost Rider figure. I’d hate if we never got him just because he was locked behind an ill-conceived Haslab campaign.
We DID eventually get Goblin Queen (albeit in a much less scandalous costume for retail shelves), so maybe there’s hope.
I don't know enough about the business or production end of things to speak intelligently about them, just having the HISS tank and VAMP and Stingers, you can FEEL the quality of the HISS just by laying hands on it, it's a collector's item. Buuuut if I'm being totally honest, I'd rather buy three "this is clearly a toy" Hellcharger with no bells and whistles for $125 or whatever the comparative price is to a VAMP-level detail and quality over the objectively higher quality HISS. I barely move the HISS but I'm constantly pulling the Stinger down off the shelf to mess with it.
I dunno, probably a useless observation, but just my gut feeling. (I always hoped they'd do an X-Wing similar to the Snow Speeder for Black Series too, but I recon starship has long since sailed.)
I found Phoenix at my local Target on Friday for $34. I was hoping to snag her during the sale for $24, but even at $34 she was worth picking up. I was going to totally pass on her at $50, so I was glad to find her at Target for the lower price.
@sdcomics Do I think the CEO should be getting $9 million bonuses? I do not.
Do I think that matters much to the prices of any individual item when they do nearly $6 billion in sales? Not at all.
Even if they pay out $120 million to the Board and high-level Exec compensation, that amounts to $0.02 per $1.00 of wholesale prices, and therefore less than $0.02 per $1.00 at retail. For a $100.00 car, maybe $2.00 of that is due to the bonuses.
I suspect they do have a lot of overhead elsewhere, most big companies do, and it is that volume of people that makes things cost a bit more. But ultimately every dollar we spend gets to someone's paycheck eventually.
I suspect they do have a lot of overhead elsewhere, most big companies do, and it is that volume of people that makes things cost a bit more.
The other main component for Marvel Legends vs GI Joe is the fact that Marvel's a license. Up front that's a fee that Hasbro's paying just to produce those toys when they own Joe outright. The other issue is that when you have a license, you've got to get licensor approval, which adds another step in the production pipeline, increasing employee hours spent on the process if/when there's a revision (all most likely built into any cost model). And for a product like a vehicle, there's almost definitely going to be licensor input.
@jakeekiss I agree, which is why I point to the Fortnite Motorboat as that was also a license (although I suspect a less costly one in terms of percentage and oversight) more than things like GI Joe.
I suspect they do have a lot of overhead elsewhere, most big companies do, and it is that volume of people that makes things cost a bit more.
The other main component for Marvel Legends vs GI Joe is the fact that Marvel's a license. Up front that's a fee that Hasbro's paying just to produce those toys when they own Joe outright. The other issue is that when you have a license, you've got to get licensor approval, which adds another step in the production pipeline, increasing employee hours spent on the process if/when there's a revision (all most likely built into any cost model). And for a product like a vehicle, there's almost definitely going to be licensor input.
Yes, this came up recently with the Marvel vs. Capcom Collection. A lot of people were annoyed and confused about why it cost a good $10 more than the previous collections Capcom had put out ($49.99 vs. $39.99), and the general consensus was that it was due to licensing/whatever royalties Disney would be taking from the sales. This is in no way me trying to defend the rising cost of Legends, but it's clear Disney is charing people a premium to use their licenses.
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