2018 HasLab - TVC Jabba's Sail Barge (The Khetanna)

[Jeff]

You can check out a PDF preview of six pages from the behind-the-scenes book by clicking here.

[JediJman]

Barge Backer Update: 2595

[Rob]

Half way point today.

Three and a half days later and we’ve only god 120 more.  It’s going to take one hell of a last minute surge for this to make.

[Pete_Fett]

Half way point today.

Three and a half days later and we’ve only god 120 more.  It’s going to take one hell of a last minute surge for this to make.

I found this interesting article - https://www.funded.today/blog/the-myth-of-the-kickstarter-spike-at-the-end

From the article:

So what’s the difference between Kickstarters that spike at the end, and those that don’t?

It’s the marketing behind the project.

If a project has an effective marketing plan, you’ll see a spike in pledges.

The pledge rate needed to make the 5000 by April 3rd is now up to around 118 backers/day.

We're not even getting 50 at this point.

Unless there is going to be a "Hail Mary" at the end where Hasbro runs a marketing blitz above and beyond what they've already done or they open the project up to major markets such as UK, Australia, Japan, Germany, France, etc... it is seriously starting to look like the barge isn't going to get made. 

The ONLY other chance this has is if Amazon wants to take the gamble on 500 - 1000 units and offer them exclusively through their non-US/Canada portals. But that is very unlikely. Unfortunately, the only retailer that would have gambled on a piece like this is going to be starting court proceedings this week to liquidate their entire business.

[Jeff]

Unless there is going to be a "Hail Mary" at the end where Hasbro runs a marketing blitz above and beyond what they've already done or they open the project up to major markets such as UK, Australia, Japan, Germany, France, etc... it is seriously starting to look like the barge isn't going to get made.

I have seen a few sites post the conspiracy theory that Hasbro would have never started this project if there was a chance it was going to fail.  Many folks seem convinced that Hasbro has a 'hail mary' or a 'white knight' plan in their pocket (secret agreement with a retailer, self-purchase for HTS, self-purchase for OUS Hasbro distribution, etc) that will step in at the last minute and magically get us to the 5000 threshold. 

They say any publicity is good, but does Hasbro really want to kick off HasLab with a failure?  Which leads us to the other conspiracy theory out there - would Hasbro print and prepare 5000+ books to be shipped out in the days after the pre-order closes if they thought there was a chance it was going to fail?  What are they going to do with all those books if it fails? Pulp them?  Keep them in RI in case they try the barge again? (Do they even really have the books already printed?)


I'm still hoping we'll get enough support for this thing, but yeah, it's not looking very likely if things continue on the current path... 

[Jayson]

Knocking out roughly 5000 should be relatively easy with today's printing tech. The books should/will be printed digitally (not traditional 4 color plates on a full printing press). The quality difference is negligible and most MFP printers with that capability have fold, stitch and trim inline.

[Darby]

I don't subscribe to any conspiracy theories or expectations right now. With TRU collapsing there is no prospect of this at retail. HTS? Amazon? Maybe. I highly doubt it. Hasbro is taking a risk by allowing it to fail, but they put the onus on collectors. They gave us something we have been asking for - far too late, probably - and said if you're there, we're there. Collectors aren't there. At least so far. I hope it gets made for the folks that want it.

[P-Siddy]

I love how some are wanting more incentives like exclusive figures for the money they are paying... something only available to Barge buyers.  I mean, it’s not like you’re getting a book, Jabba, or an exclusive dead Ithorian included in the purchase.  It sounds like they want something new (like never before produced high demand barge/Skiff Guards that are only available through the sail barge to flaunt that they’re true collectors.

I’d think that would do more harm for Hasbro to go that route with backlash from fans that cannot afford the barge.

[Rob]

They say any publicity is good, but does Hasbro really want to kick off HasLab with a failure?  Which leads us to the other conspiracy theory out there - would Hasbro print and prepare 5000+ books to be shipped out in the days after the pre-order closes if they thought there was a chance it was going to fail?

This is why I still think the HTS conspiracy theory is the only one that is plausible.  The legal language in the TOS wouldn't prohibit them from buying some for themselves, and I can't see them going this big with the very first HasLab run for it to have ever had a real chance at failure. 

Also beyond the booklet, they clearly have a lot of time and energy invested in modeling the barge, printing up a prototype... building a website, doing press for it...

I just can't see them letting it fail unless it failed so hard that they couldn't push it over the finish line. 

I don't see how it gets to 5,000 without a pretty solid surge though, and if there is one, we might never know if it was all regular schmoes like us, or if Hasbro 'bought' some on their own to make it happen.

[Dave]

I kinda agree with Jeff.  Hasbro likely has some contingency plans set up so that this won't be a miserable failure.

I would add that Hasbro's magic 5000 number isn't legally binding in any way.  This is just the target they've set that meets their supposed internal requirements.  They have complete control over saying that if we reach 4200 that it is good enough.  The only challenge they run in to is that it might hamper future kickstarter type things where people don't feel like they need to throw their money in the pot because Hasbro will lower the number.

They could also choose to not be fully transparent on this either.  For example they could juice the numbers to reach 5000 and then after the fact say "we had some returns, etc. and have a few extras available" if people want to purchase them after the close of the kickstarter.  They don't have to tell us that "a few" = 800.  Or they could just fake the numbers to 5000 but only make 4200.  Either way I don't really care as I'll get a Sail Barge for $500.

It may temper their enthusiasm for future projects, but hopefully they went in to this with a willingness to learn and explore the boundaries of this new channel.

[Rob]

I would add that Hasbro's magic 5000 number isn't legally binding in any way.

I disagree there.  They could very easily make them anyway and have everyone re-purchase them, but all the existing pre-orders would be out the window, because the TOS when we ordered them said that we wouldn't be charged until they hit 5,000 units sold.   So if they only sell 4,999 and then charge everyone anyway, they've violated a contract and if one obnoxious collector wants to prove a point or make a stink, they can very easily do so.

And I mentioned this before, but having worked with Hasbro's legal department on commercials (and with all kinds of other company legal departments on other commercials) I can't imagine a scenario where they'd be allowed to charge people's cards if they don't get to 5,000 - it's why I still think that the only viable loophole is if Hasbro bought the remainder themselves to resell later.

[Dave]

I think it’s just semantics. Hasbro could sell a bulk amount to a different legal entity like hasbrotoyshop.com or some temporary holding company and not be in breach of their terms.

[Rob]

I think it’s just semantics. Hasbro could sell a bulk amount to a different legal entity like hasbrotoyshop.com or some temporary holding company and not be in breach of their terms.

Right, that's exactly what I suggested.  But I don't think they can just NOT have a deal in place that handles that legality without having a problem.

[JediJman]

I love how some are wanting more incentives like exclusive figures for the money they are paying... something only available to Barge buyers.  I mean, it’s not like you’re getting a book, Jabba, or an exclusive dead Ithorian included in the purchase.  It sounds like they want something new (like never before produced high demand barge/Skiff Guards that are only available through the sail barge to flaunt that they’re true collectors.

I’d think that would do more harm for Hasbro to go that route with backlash from fans that cannot afford the barge.

I personally would love for them to include a few figures with the barge, but I hear you.  If you're not willing to fork over $500 for a barge, is an added $10-15 figure really enough to push hundreds of people to change their mind? 

Personally I think they should have set a dollar target instead of a quantity of barges.  They're looking for $2.5 million to make these things, so just be transparent about it.  Then they'd have the option to add on incentives like other Kickstarter-like offerings.  Not getting the numbers you wanted for the barge?  Offer up an exclusive figure for an additional cost, only available for those purchasing the barge.  You get some new people committing to all the offerings and added funding from the thousands that already signed up.  It's a simple way to get you to your target. 

Take the Sectaurs Kickstarter for example.  They set an initial offering of two figures and a target of $40k.  The funding was off where they needed, so they added two more figures at the same $40k goal.  That caused a surge, but still not enough.  So they added troop builder figures and bumped the goal to $50k.  That was enough to blow away the target and ideally they're still making profit on not just the initial figures, but everything that came after it. 

Barge Backer Update: 2636

[CHEWIE]

I've been thinking the whole time somehow that if they get in the 4k range, they would fenangle the numbers to get to 5000... it's not like Hasbro has been all that transparent in the past, so I would not expect them to be with all of these details either.

I think in the big picture Hasbro, Disney, and the Star Wars brand in general benefit a lot more from them playing with the numbers to make this happen rather than a possible negative press blitz that may push a message that promotes "Star Wars toy flop" as click bait... news of it NOT getting the support could end up with more headlines than headlines of it getting made.

As for adding figures to it, I think a pair of TVC Gamorreans would have been a nice add... a figure everyone loves, and could use more of.  The pig from hell should be released every year or two anyway.    He's one of the few 5poa ones that I'd actually be interested in too.  The old vintage Gammy was easily one of my most cherished figures as a kid.