I feel like Hasbro misplayed the Jan hand. Don't tease her prior to the campaign since she's not a part of the campaign and that could feel like a mislead, "action figures not included" bit. But then the campaign was so late in the year she's missed the anniversary and now her absence is a thing.
And now her absence is definitely a thing tied to the thing she's not a part of - what? If she's coming Hasbro should have announced her at NYCC (or somewhere) with "and we'll tell you how at a later date." They do that all the time with characters in two-packs. I don't need to know how or when she's coming or if she'll ship with a 6" version of this costume, or anything - I just want to know she's coming.
As it is, they are STILL tying a figure's release to a HasLab.
It's just a really crappy way to treat an important, founding member of The Avengers. And all those beautiful campaign photos look so weird without her in them anywhere. I hope there's a follow-up version where she is included.
This. 100% this.
#FreeJan
Glad to see that in the actual haslab thread there are people who recognize that revealing a Wasp render would be a net positive, and not a net negative simply because some guy in their head would get mad.
Here's the funny thing about the whole Wasp issue, they have been using this art for their Avengers anniversary event that HAS an image of her AND they haven't included her in the line.
Also 1st appearance Wasp and Carol images all over the SDCC Hasbro Marvel Legends booth. Especially that big Carol face right behind Dwight, Dan and Ryan whenever they did an interview. I know our guys can't control what art is used in displays, but it just stings that those two characters were prominent enough to be used in displays to promote the 60th anniversary, but neither get figures.
I do think they are holding off on the Wasp announcement. I think if Giant Man funds then they will reveal her as part of the celebration of the successful HasLab. If Giant Man doesn't end up meeting the minimum, then they hold on to the reveal for a minute and announce it later when there's some distance from the campaign.
I don't have any marketing experience, but I can't imagine a scenario where keeping Wasp a secret benefits the HasLab. Meanwhile, I actually think it would hurt sales for Wasp herself. A combination of "If I'd known there'd be a Wasp, I would've gotten Giant Man" and "I didn't get Giant Man, so why bother getting Wasp?"
However, I'm absolutely on board with this being a great looking figure that's way too big. At least with Galactus and the Sentinels you could honestly say they were the centerpiece of any scene they were involved in. Giant Man is a 3rd string member of a team. No way does he warrant 60% of an Avengers display.
The lack of a six inch version of this Giant Man is the biggest flaw I saw in this campaign, so if one is coming that’s welcome news. I’m a bit surprised how slow this one has been going, as someone who tried and failed to get the previous release from the Biz I would have thought there would be more than enough people who never had one to make this guy a no brainer. The only way the previous supply goes up in number is if people sell him off in favor of this one, so do people just not want a Giant-Man? I wouldn’t have guessed that prior to this campaign. I still think it funds, but man has it been a slow burn. I do wish they had just included the tiers, if they were included I’d be inclined to buy two, so I can have Hank slap someone his own size, but if it barely scrapes past 10K then there’s no need to do so, I have no interest in dealing with eBay and their nonsense.
I'm actually a bit concerned that Wasp is being held off because she'll ship with a 12" Giant-Man.
I think a lot of people wouldn't back this if they knew a 12" Giant-Man were coming.
Granted, I think that would be a really crappy move on Hasbro's part, to facilitate a big sale by withholding information.
But this is something we've specifically seen from the Legends team before, where they follow expensive releases of characters with cheaper versions.
I've personally always felt like I want my movies spoiled because any movie that benefits from a surprise isn't actually a good movie. And I've always tried when selling anything to make sure my buyers are aware upfront of anything they regret.
I don't feel like the Legends team plays square.
Compare how they got upset when a year's worth of product got spoiled to other teams, virtually all of which have extensive pipeline reveals and many if which generally always have the next 18 months of product spoiled.
It's pretty much only the Legends team out of the toy division that tries to gin up sales around uncertainty. Well, the gaming division does that too but, as someone who grew out of gaming, I think the most ethical and consumer centric gaming companies are STILL shitty to their customers and the median vocal gamer on the internet is also an a-hole so it just feels like a version of Hell where crappy marketers and crappy customers torment one another. There are no good guys in that story aside from community minded players who show newbies kindness and they typically don't last. I wouldn't aspire to operate like a gaming division.
This is just me being cynical.
I like our teams as creative people but I feel like there's a problem when Legends looks secretive and exploitative next to the Lucasfilm teams. If Lucasfilm toy teams can announce new versions of characters before all the current ones ship, so can Marvel.
I’m a bit surprised how slow this one has been going, so do people just not want a Giant-Man? I wouldn’t have guessed that prior to this campaign.
I think there's a fair contingent, several who have been vocal in this thread including me, that respect the effort but don't want a Giant Man this big. I don't have the display space for this version of Hank, I can barely accommodate the old Wal Mart BaF on my shelf. So, i'm not backing not because I don't like it or don't think it's a decent value but that I don't have the space to display it because it's just too big.
I don't think I really understood how big Giant-Man is until I saw this photo:
The figure looks outstanding, but the Toy Biz BAF would be bumping its head in my Detolf display. Making room for the HasLab figure would be impossible without removing shelves. I'm absolutely not doing that for my nine-member Avengers team, especially when they're my least favorite team on display.
If Giant-Man fails to fund (though I'm certain it will fund), I think it'd be reasonable for them to call it quits on HasLabs. They should at least call it quits on HasLabs of this scale. As we've discussed in this thread, they're running out of enormous characters with mainstream appeal.
Just a reminder that Giant-Man has the ability to be huge in the comics. Bigger than Sentinels.
I know our guys can't control what art is used in displays, but it just stings that those two characters were prominent enough to be used in displays to promote the 60th anniversary, but neither get figures.
It's like someone let Ike Perlmutter back in the building.
I'm not saying he shouldn't be that big. That's a matter of personal preference. From the looks of it, this campaign will fund at 24". Would it have done better at 18"? Worse? We'll never know. I hope this does fund, and I'm happy for those who have space for it.
As someone who has a vested interest in Marvel Legends, I'm merely saying it would be prudent to downsize future HasLab projects. It's hard for me to imagine another character getting across the finish line at 20"+.
In watching the NYCC interviews--and I've seen four now from Toying Around, Marvelicious, Shartimus, and The Figure Report in addition to the podcast from Adventures in Collecting--Dwight pointed out something I hadn't noticed. He was hyping the straps across Giant-Man's chest. It was either in Shartimus's video or Toying Around's, I forget.
On the recent animated Cyclops his straps break up across the torso articulation points, and that worked out MUCH better than the Warlock wave version where the straps were one big piece that went over the articulation. Dwight said though that they worked something out with Giant-Man where the harness is a separate piece over the torso articulation that doesn't interfere with deep crouches in the diaphragm joint or lower ab crunch at all, and he seemed pretty proud of the design they came up with to make that work. Not sure I understand how the design is allowing for that yet, but it sounds really interesting and I look forward to seeing how that design works. I hadn't even noticed the harness was one big piece until he pointed it out.
Sorry if these have already been posted, but these pics from Dwight illustrate how flexible Giant-Man is and how that single-piece chest harness flows over the articulation.
Another thing I got from the interviews is in EVERY one they made it pretty clear that at least one smaller version of the HasLab model is coming, and a first appearance Wasp with the pointy helmet is coming. In the Toying Around video they even mentioned the announcement would come within a few weeks of the HasLab ending. It's clear they have a reason for not announcing these figures until after the campaign ends, but they gave no real hints as to why.
One reason that would make complete sense is that if the HasLab doesn't fund they're not going to do a smaller version of the same model. But if it does fund they almost certainly will. If their plan is a 2-pack with Hank and Janet then that explains it. If it doesn't fund then a 2-pack may become a single-pack Wasp, or maybe they both go away.
A pricing example Ryan gave was would you rather have a $250 HasLab with Janet and regular-size Hank, or a $200 project with the other two figures being available separately for $50? Seems pretty clear that the second option gives us all more choices, and they kept assuring every interviewer that those other two figures would be coming if the project succeeds.
I don't have any marketing experience, but I can't imagine a scenario where keeping Wasp a secret benefits the HasLab. Meanwhile, I actually think it would hurt sales for Wasp herself. A combination of "If I'd known there'd be a Wasp, I would've gotten Giant Man" and "I didn't get Giant Man, so why bother getting Wasp?"
She would still go great with Ant-Man 🤷♂️
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