Annecdotal, but a Target near me redid the toy section in the past few months, and we now have a whole Isle dedicated to large product.
Cars (the movie) race tracks, Maro Kart Rainbow Road race tracks, a 50 count box of hotwheels, MOTU Snake Mountain, Barbie House, and more. It's basically all large "high priced" items all in a single row down one isle. Not sure if this is permanent or part of a Christmas reset, but Giant Man would fit right in...
I'm not sure who made the point over the last few pages. Maybe NORM. Whoever it was is right - all of the logical gymnastics over Hasbro's greed in utilizing crowdfunding is really just frustration that something like Giant Man won't be generally released and then eventually discounted. I think that's the real issue here for some people. A *lot* of collectors will wait until figures are clearanced to purchase them. Fine. But these items never will be, and I think that's really at the heart of some folks anger with this release model. It's not a healthy questioning of everything you hear or holding Hasbro accountable or any nonsense. This will never cost less. In fact, the price will always just keep going up. Not even at Hasbro's gain. HasLab items will always be in demand and will never be a better deal than the original backing price. Deep down I think this is sour grapes over that.
I do wonder how many of *those* people actually get the figures they say they'll get at discount. The best thing about it is you'll often see them saying it about popular releases that are already sold out on online pre-orders.
I just like the thought of them not getting anything due to their own refusal to buy at full price, because god forbid, that'll be lining Hasbro's greasy thieving pockets!
I'm never going to give someone a hard time for being patient and getting something for cheaper. I mean, they aren't doing anything to help the line in terms of driving additional value or improvements - so really don't have much grounds to complain generally. They still will. But I also don't have much sympathy for people who wait for discount and never get the item because it sold out or was popular.
I also don't really understand the mentality of a person who is super proud of a discount they got and they need to brag about it like it's a one-up on the corporate overlords. We get it, you walked into a store and they marked something down to flea market prices. Score.
I think "those people" as just nastily dismissed are a very small portion of a HasLab customer base. I think the mindset as described does not play into the overall issues we've been discussing around the HasLab. I'm always going to buy these things as cheaply as possible and never being able to snag Hank on clearance was not one of my issues with this HasLab or something that crossed my mind until the last two posts.
I do think cool, giant figures of recognizable characters in a globally-available, massively successful action figure line are viable at retail.
@schizm maybe. Maybe not. In this case, they don't need to gamble and see a high ticket item going for 60% off at Target.
If that happens, you'll never see a release like it again. If Giant Man hadn't crowd funded... its not a done deal for larger scale characters forever. At least not to the finality as if it had been mass produced and widely released.
The argument seems to be that if this were a mass retail item it would be $50 cheaper, a figure pulled completely out of nowhere and with no justification provided for it. and that somehow there would be enough demand at retail to justify stores carrying it, when we all know the reality is that in that scenario most of these would sit on the shelves as collectors patiently wait for some kind of sale if not clearance
i don't see anyone really arguing that $200 is a rip off price, it seems like most who didn't purchase simply don't want this figure as a collection/display centerpiece, which i think is a perfectly reasonable choice with any number of valid justifications.
had quantumania been a big hit or something then maybe i could see a huge mcu Giant Man somehow making its way to stores, even then feels like Endgame would have been the time for such a thing. but i suspect most would have just stuck with the BAF/deluxe mcu Giant-Man instead.
i guess i just don't understand the arguments for this Giant-Man figure heading to retail stores as opposed to Haslab. and i am one who usually waits for sales before most of my ML purchases, Blob and a few others notwithstanding.
@swordagent that’s pretty standard operating procedure as we head into the holiday season. At my local store, the section that was filled with seasonal items all summer becomes the land of big boxed stuff: power wheels, play sets, oversized dolls/figures, etc.
@bash I agree, and I will say again: the best argument against this being a possible retail item is the fact that they are not selling it at retail. Hasbro's first customers are retailers themselves, and they have every incentive to give them first crack at any and every item they will carry. If retailers were willing to put these Haslab products on the shelves they'd be doing it, and I bet you they'd be selling them a whole lot more than <14,000 units.
We collectors aren’t nearly as complex or as principled as we would like to believe. If we want something, and we have the means to buy it, we will. A the end of the day, this whole brouhaha is nothing more than passing time.
...the best argument against this being a possible retail item is the fact that they are not selling it at retail...
Yep. If Walmart/Target/Amazon were willing to go for 15K Giant-Man figures between them, Hasbro would have gone that route already. I do wonder if they offered Giant-Man (or any of the HasLabs) as an exclusive first.* But if they thought they could sell 15K of these in three purchase orders, they would have done that.
I am really curious how the Boba Fett Throne Room playset did in their minds, as that seemed like a potential HasLab they just sold directly as an exclusive - wonder how they might compare those models of sales.
*I suspect the Khetana was offered as the next BMF style item and retail rejected it, maybe even a TRU exclusive, so they decided to experiment with the HasLab concept. Maybe the Sentinel as well.
...the best argument against this being a possible retail item is the fact that they are not selling it at retail...
Yep. If Walmart/Target/Amazon were willing to go for 15K Giant-Man figures between them, Hasbro would have gone that route already.
Yeah, asking why an oversized figure with a $150-$200 MSRP isn’t at retail when figures from that same toy line with a MSRP of $25 that fit on the pegs are constantly going on clearance makes no sense to me. If this was 2019, it might be a different story.
As far as Hasbro doing crowdfunding in general goes, whether you like it or you don’t like it, you may want to learn to love it, because I don’t think the outlook for mass market retail lines is particularly good right now.
I am really curious how the Boba Fett Throne Room playset did in their minds, as that seemed like a potential HasLab they just sold directly as an exclusive - wonder how they might compare those models of sales.
*I suspect the Khetana was offered as the next BMF style item and retail rejected it, maybe even a TRU exclusive, so they decided to experiment with the HasLab concept. Maybe the Sentinel as well.
People have looked at the Throne Room sales page info and it looks like there were around 9700 units sold. According to the Star Wars insiders it's pretty much understood that the Throne Room was developed as a HasLab and for whatever reason was switched to a lengthy PO. I don't know if Hasbro is thrilled with under 10,000 units sold, but either way, I'm thrilled with the set and very happy it came out at all.
The Khetanna was something the Star Wars team aways wanted to do but could never figure out a feasible way to do it justice until the concept of the HasLab came around.
The Throne Room set is one where Hasbro got me by manipulating the website numbers. I always thought it was a cool product, but then closing the pre-order, then putting only one or two available at a time for a while, I caved and grabbed one - and now I have this giant brick of a box (three boxes!) in my place that is not at all sold out. I would have waited for reviews, which would have convinced me this wasn't a piece I need right now. Plus, it's just huge.
Anyway, yay for transparency and patience.
Clearly the next Haslab is going to be Quintronic Man
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