Personally I think their aiming too big with the choices for Haslab.
Do a Yoda’s hut, or a Hoth Rebel Transport, or an Imperial Dignitaries 5-pack, or Vader on a funeral pyre... or the Tonnika Sisters... there are tons of affordable but somewhat pricey, smaller and mid-sized things they could do that collectors want but probably wouldn’t do well in stores. Not every project needs to be $500 or $700 and enormous.
I think there is a sweet spot of customer needs and economic realities at Hasbro.
My guess is anything under a certain price point ($125-ish) would not have the return and needs to be considered a retail / fan channel item. And anything that gets price prohibitive will limit collector's abilities to buy it. I get the sense that $300-ish is about the right range. Go much higher than that and its too hard for most to obtain.
Another thing to consider is that if they're building things for the collector market there is a finite pool. How many Yoda's Huts or 5-pack of Imperial Dignitaries would you buy at any price? Probably just one unless you're speculating or customizing, but the vast majority of us collectors would only buy one. If you can't sell those lower valued items in a fan channel also then you're probably wasting your potential return on investment.
I think if they're going to do mid-priced items they're going to have to bundle them somehow, either via subscription or just bundle them to get to a sensible price point - e.g. $150 purchase gets you Yoda's Hut and an Imperial Dignitaries pack. Even if they do that they may run in to collectors that only want one of the items and thus split the purchase.
The Barge hit the price point, was unique, and wasn't divisible. I think they need to find the next thing like that. Death Star, Star Destroyer, or whatever and make sure it hits that price point.