Here's my thinking on how this went down...
- Hasbro decided they would give making this vehicle a go, perhaps even due his potential retirement looming on the horizon, they had Mark Boudreaux (who is an awesome guy, if you ever have a chance to talk with him at a show like Star Wars Celebration, I highly recommend it) take a stab at it
- the vehicle was designed, the process was documented and Hasbro made a prototype with the intent on using the prototype and the documented process to sell it to retailer(s)
- unfortunately, they couldn't get any retailers to take the plunge, they may have even been in talks with Toys R Us to carry it until the bankruptcy decision occurred - frankly the line as a whole is in trouble at retail, nothing ever sells through and most launch-day times stick around until deep discounts/clearances, Hasbro is now 3-for-3 with the recent movies in this regard
- instead of just wasting the development resources already put into the piece they decided to do what other companies have done (such as Mattel with Castle Greyskull) and go the crowd-funding route
- they picked a drop-dead minimum and that's where the 5000 comes from. At $500 each, my guess would be that Hasbro is estimating that it will cost them $1.25M to create the necessary molds and manufacturing process to mass produce, at a minimum, 5000 units, which would mean that for each Sail Barge sold, Hasbro makes $250 profit
Granted my profit to cost ratio of 100% may be off, but how else can you explain that there is a pretty complete looking prototype AND that on the deadline day of the backing period, if the required minimum is reached they will ship all backers a bound book detailing the development process of this piece.
I applaud Hasbro for finally being willing to give it a try. While I want to see it succeed, I pledged my support for two of them with the thinking that there's only a 40% chance it's even going to get to the 5000 backer goal. Having 3000 signatures on a petition is A LOT different than getting 5000 collectors to commit to a $500 purchase for a item they won't see for almost a full calendar year.
The biggest reason why I want this to succeed is because it opens the door for other iconic items to be in the running for similar treatment - Death Star Playset, Star Destroyer, Cloud City, Ewok Village are all potential candidates for this kind of treatment. It doesn't have to be big projects either - another great idea for this type of process would be to finish up remaking modern versions of the old Kenner Vintage line Sim Aloo, Power Droid, Max Rebo Band - and entire TVC wave that's crowd-funded - at least then the purchase price for a set might be in the ball-park of $100 for 6-7 figures - a lot more accessible from a pay-to-play standpoint.
