Posted by: @buttmunch

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@adrienveidt they actually do have a focus group that does that kind of market research. All I was hearing before this was revealed that people wanted a Death Star, Cantina, or Marauder with the rest of the Bad Batch. I’m really surprised by the lukewarm response to this as it seemed like something fans have been wanting for decades. It’s as OT as it gets so no ‘Disney garbage’ excuses this time around. If this doesn’t fund I fear for what that means for the line as a whole.

A focus group of super-duper nerds that no-doubt never give worthy criticism.  So, not the actual customer base that they're selling to?  Are these the same idiots that told them to make Luke a tier in the Rancor campaign?

For Star Wars I think Figures >> Creatures/Vehicles >> Playsets in terms of fan support. While there is still enough support for playsets in the line (and more than many lines ever support), definitely starting from a smaller customer baseline than vehicles would be my guess, hence the slightly slower go for this one.

I did back the Deluxe version (I know the few reading this thread likely had been losing sleep over my dilemma, so wanted to share...)

Related to playsets, I know many would want a Death Star set - I'm not so sure they couldn't release that at retail a section at a time (cell block/trash compactor, tractor beam/chasm, Emperor's chamber) or maybe do modular Imperial Corridors with Imperial computer banks/workstations, like the Tantive IV set.

Frankly if this doesn't fund, or just crosses the finish line it is probably the death knell for playsets, at least large ones, for any line.  

I read about how a Danger room, or X-Mansion would do awesome as a Haslab.   My preference would be for a new GI Joe headquarters as a Haslab.   However if something so iconic as the Cantina can't draw in the numbers, I don't imagine other brand teams will be hurrying up to try their hands at a playset Haslab anytime soon.

I could see a Cobra Throne doing decent. Lots of customs using the Snoke throne have cropped up since the line started. One more like the one Sideshow did would be what I’d like to see. I could see a Pit doing OK, but probably not any better than the cantina. Classified has been a bit of an unstoppable juggernaut lately so if it’s prices fairly, just about anything with a retro connection would probably sell well.

Yeah, we might as well kiss Star Wars playsets goodbye outside of modular $50 sets and even those don’t seem to have been doing the greatest. A shame because I’ve really enjoyed them, especially the modular ones that encourage multiple purchases.

Like I rant above, Hasbro's utter lack of good customer research is ultimately what's making Vintage sales so shaky.  Why are we getting Acolyte figures before Baylon Skoll and Shin Hati, if not shit-tier market research?  We're already having to wait to get figures so why not wait to see a particular show/character's actual appeal to the fans before cranking up the production line?  As always, Hasbro has no one to blame for their failures but themselves, and for as long the internet's existed they haven't done dick to get real information about what the fanbase actually wants when it should be fairly simple.

I think the lack of Baylan and Shin in TVC is because the actor died and the figures weren't too far along to pull, but the Black Series versions were just about there which is why they came out so poorly - instead of fine-tuning them like normal, Hasbro said "oops, already running" so they could release them at all.

That doesn't explain the re-releases WITH CLOAKS, but that's my current theory.

@schizm nah, Hot Toys took their time on them and eventually put them up for preorder. Ray’s passing shouldn’t hold things up. They were the new characters and I think Hasbro played it safe with the returning characters and usual goldmine of stormtroopers.

@adrienveidt There is the problem though.   People complain about figures coming out for shows that have not even debuted yet, or are only one to two episodes in, yet they also complain about "Where are the toys?" when a show/film debuts and no product is on the shelves.

So it kinds of seems like Hasbro is damned if they do and damned if they don't.   Even when they do get it "right" people complain.  Like how Baylon and Shin were both wrong in different ways (toys didn't match the show).  Or with the recent X-Men 97 figures where some are complaining that there are not certain figures made, or another wave planned/announced.   No one thought the show would do as well as it did, especially in the current media landscape where almost anything superhero or sci-fi gets bashed by "influencers" as woke and garbage because it gets them views.  So even though Hasbro actually had product on the shelves, and it was pretty good product in my opinion, they are still get complaints from some in the fandom.

Anyway:

TVC Cantina:

5,957 / 8,000 (+210) 74.46% of funding goal with 12d 19h left.

Another blip of a bump. I wonder if they are adding numbers from some other location (international backers?). Either way still nice to see it move a bit more.

Hasbro is only damned when they make product people don't want and it peg-rots and retailers quit buying product at all.  Nerds might complain about wanting stuff NOWNOWNOW but they'll buy it whenever it's released if it's something they want.  No company gives a shit about customer flak so long as they're buying.

I think for all the years of content coming out until just very recently, we had product on shelves months before the new movie. Last thing I remember being out in advance was for the first season of Mando, and that was just Mando and Cara Dune at first. Now that we’ve got accustomed to not having things before hand, I think the mentality has shifted to a ‘wait and see’ if we like this now before dedicating resources to it. So it can be frustrating when things that aren’t well received are getting products when things that are better received are not. Shin and Baylon could have been despised like many Acolyte characters are right now. So I can see the frustrations on both sides. Ultimately, it’s really on Lucasfilm for how they choose to share assets or for certain projects.

TVC Cantina:

6,036 / 8,000 (+79) 75.45% of funding goal with 11d 20h left.

Well 75% of the way there with over a week to go. Should be good to hit the funding target with the final days spike in backers. Those tiers though, not sure about them.

I wonder if this will pull a Rancor and people start pulling out once they realize unlocking the tiers isn’t going to happen. I’ve read plenty of folks ordering more than one to flip the figures to pay for the Cantina. With less figures to flip, it becomes less of a worthy investment for them. This is the first one in a while where the likelihood of any tiers being met is in serious doubt. Still very surprised by the reaction to this, I thought this would be a day one funder with as many requests we’ve seen for it over the years. 

@buttmunch Well the Skystriker and Giant Man are probably the two closest comparisons for this Haslab.   The Rancor never quite got off the ground and the tiers were terrible.   It never made it to funding but was close.  Giant Man was kind of similar in that his tiers were not all that great, especially considering none of them were figures.   However he did fund, and that gave him a push, but not enough to get to the last tier.   Same thing happened with the Skystriker.  It struggled along and once it finally funded it did pretty well, but still not enough to get to the last tier.

I see the same thing happening with the Cantina.   It will get funded, but it may not have enough runway to unlock all the tiers. 

The one that was a real disaster was the Engine Of Vengeance.  That is the big Haslab where people were backing out during the campaign in big numbers so it never even got close to funding.  

Oh yeah, the engine of vengeance got off to bad start day 1. Gi Joe having just finished the Hisstank for $300 really made people question the price of that car. The early bird backfire only made things worse.

The numbers for this have gone backwards at times. I keep a tab open just to hit refresh every now and then and it was 5998 when I hit refresh expecting 6000 but it was 5994. Not a big deal, but some people are reconsidering.

I'm still considering. 🙂