2021 HasLab - Black Series Rancor

[Dave]

Amen to that.  Backers have dropped down to 4,991 as of 4:45 today.  Yikes!

Now I wish I had tentatively backed the Rancor so I could cancel 

[McMetal]

What a colossal embarrassment. These rubes just can’t stop stepping on their own dick.

I don’t blame anyone for wanting this to fail. Although I think these dopes are too busy sniffing their own farts to get the message that people are fed up and the whole thing has been lazy and half assed from the get go.

Makes me feel even better about backing Galactus though.

I don’t know what I’m going to do about this thing now. Interest low is at an all time low now.

[Diddly]

Hmm, a "new" Luke announced on the same day that Bandai SH Figuarts announces their new Mandalorian Luke, which can also double as a Jabba's Palace Luke... did they even bring up differences between this Luke and the Walmart Exclusive Luke from 2019? (I was working all day and missed the presentation and am just now catching up).

Like everyone else is saying, this is a huge disappointment. I WANTED to buy this thing, and was even preparing to fight with my girlfriend over it. It really is an amazing piece of work. Individual articulated finger joints! Incredible.

But there is just no enthusiasm behind this from the Hasbro team. The choices somewhat make sense, but are mind boggling. I did expect Luke and a Gammorrean, those just make sense even if they're reissues. But Oola and Malakili were RIGHT THERE as Tier 3 and 4 choices, which likely would have had people backing this by the dozens. My personal wish was even for a pack in reissue of Black Series Jabba with the dias. But we're only getting Crumb, who is already being reissued in a $40 Disney set that's easily available online? There were dozens of ways Hasbro could have gone, and it feels like they made the worst possible decision nearly every step of the way.

Not mad, just disappointed. Hopefully people vote with their wallets and show Hasbro that you have to at least make an effort. TVC collectors seem to be VERY pleased with their Haslab offerings, and Hasbro seems/seemed to enjoy showing off the Sail Barge and the Razor Crest. It's a shame they can't show the same love for Black Series.

[Nicklab]

Down to 4,900 now.  I don't see this rebounding.  Not in this form.  I was on the fence about ordering it, but the final two stretch goals cinched it for me - I just can't.

Hasbro needs to understand the nuances that distinguish Black Series collectors from Vintage Collection collectors.  My concerns at this point?  Who on the Hasbro Star Wars team is going to be held accountable?  Because someone is no doubt going to take the blame for this.  Eric seems like a solid guy who loves the franchise and creatures, and was a driving force behind this.  But I think this situation is attributable to the marketing people.

[JediJman]

4889 now...I have to say, I am surprised that the numbers keep going down.  I figured less people would be interested after the lackluster news, but I didn't think we'd see negative numbers ongoing.  Wow.

[Matt_Fury]

Currently at 4,885.  Patrick and crew have to be sweating right now.

[Mister Skeezler]

Maybe they're trying to figure out how they can amortize cost of the loss into the TVC line.

[Rob]

Currently at 4,885.  Patrick and crew have to be sweating right now.

4827.

This is kind of crazy.  I can’t believe how much the unlocks have become the driver here.  To me you either want the Rancor or you don’t.  Looks like it’s just priced $50 or $100 too high.

[GrandMoffNick]

I feel like that's exactly what it proves. The rancor was worth $250. A lot of people assumed they'd get some combo of Oola, Malakili, Giran etc that would be worth the other $100. Oops. So they are bailing.

[Jeff]

I'm wondering now where it will bottom out before it starts rebounding?

Wow, did not expect to stop in tonight and see that this had pretty much been dropping all weekend.

I think you guys are on the money.  Most people assumed $350 included some great unlocks and "new version of stuff we have" is obviously not enough to move the needle for those folks.

I feel bad for those who were really wanting this.  I guess there is still time for Hasbro to fix this somehow and make it more attractive, but no idea if they will be willing to change it up or if they are willing to let it go on and fail?

[Mister Skeezler]

Hasbro's in the unenviable position (of their own making) where if they drop the price—or offer all new unlockables—they'll forever be held hostage by their fanbases demanding more than what they can budget for...even to unrealistic degrees. They should have had a more compelling package for that pricepoint to begin with, so the concept was flawed from the start...and definitely botched in many ways. But if they just take it all back and give fans all the stuff they've been demanding, the Haslab backing community will be a ******* entitled nightmare going forward.

Like I said, they should have had a more compelling package from the beginning, but they didn't. I don't know that it would be a smart move for them to suddenly pivot, unless they want to do this dance every time.

But yeah, when I backed the Sail Barge and the Razor Crest, I had no interest in the unlocks. I mean, yeah I'm happy to be getting them, but I wanted the core item. It seems like this just isn't a core item that Black Series fans give a big enough **** about.

[Matt_Fury]

I agree with everything said so far.  Hasbro set the price point too high, fans expected to get some really good stretch goals and Hasbro did not deliver.  They've also painted themselves into a corner because if they lower the price or change the stretch goas, they'll never be able to get out from under it.

I backed the Razor Crest on day one and never worried about the stretch goals.  To me, the $350 price point for a huge, well detailed vehicle was worth it.  I'm willing to bet that those of you who put $500 down on the sail barge feel the same way.  The stretch goals should be nothing more than gravy.

Down to 4,808 right now.

[McMetal]

4777 as of this posting…what a supreme fail.

They did end up extending the time frame for Unicron, so I would guess they would at least try that. Beyond that I still think they need to do something to stop the bleeding.

[Mister Skeezler]

Transformers are a house brand though, so I think they kind of needed to make sure that didn't fail. And wasn't Unicron still adding to the backer count each day, but just not fast enough? This ****** is losing backers daily.

[Jeff]

They did end up extending the time frame for Unicron, so I would guess they would at least try that.

Transformers are a house brand though, so I think they kind of needed to make sure that didn't fail. And wasn't Unicron still adding to the backer count each day, but just not fast enough? This ****** is losing backers daily.

A couple things about Unicron.  After it was revealed, Hasbro got a lot of feedback that people wanted to back it but needed more time to come up with the almost $600 to buy one.  Hasbro extended the deadline 5 weeks so that it would run through NYCC.  That gave people an extra 5 weeks to save up the $575 AND it gave Hasbro a chance to actively promote Unicron at NYCC.  Fans got a chance to see it in person, take pictures and build hype/buzz online.  I don't recall if they threw in any last minute sweeteners as part of the extension.

The Rancor just feels different.  People aren't really saying "I need more time to save" they seem to be saying "this is too much for what we're getting".  There also isn't any NYCC/SDCC type show coming up where they can promote it.  An extension doesn't really make sense to me because they are just driving it deeper into the Christmas/Black Friday shopping season where people are going to have less money anyway.

I do still hope it makes it to at least 9k for all the folks who really want it.  Given how these things go, a last minute push of FOMO by Hasbro and maybe all those cancelling their orders come back?  Not impossible, I guess.