2025 TVC HasLab Republic LAAT/i Gunship

[Rob]

Just saw they're tacking on a $34.99 "Haslab Surcharge" to this? 

The $449 price tag, which is really $485 all feels like some hidden tariff pricing in there.  Who knows what this will cost to import a year from now, I bet they're trying to hedge and that it would be more like $350 or $399 in a normal world.

[tmanthegreat]

I decided to back the Gunship. It’s not something I was dying for or anything - and I have one of the older versions - but it’s still a cool design and will be neat to have in-scale and it will look good all loaded up. I’m totally underwhelmed by the tiers, though, plus the fact it doesn’t have the two gunners to complete the crew.

However, I’ll say it: a U-Wing would have been a lot neater, more original, and tied in with Andor and the 10th Anniversary of Rogue One…

[Jeff]

Just saw they're tacking on a $34.99 "Haslab Surcharge" to this? 

This seems to be a way to jack up the shipping price from the flat $6.99 fee they introduced a while back.  If you are a Hasbro Pulse member they will waive this fee -
"Per-item fee covering shipping costs. Free for Hasbro Pulse Premium."

Guess I will have to make sure to renew my Pulse Premium beforehand if I do eventually decide to back one.


edit:  Just passed 1k backers a few minutes ago (~5 hours).  The Ghost did about 1500 in the first 20 minutes...  The Cantina hit 1k after about an hour...

[Scott]

Calling it now…no way this funds

[Ryan]

I think Hasbro is really counting on the younger market getting behind this one, as that seems to be where most of the demand for it was coming from.

The Gunship itself looks great, but $449 for a redone ship that will also be hard to physically fit into the collection room -- backing this one might be hard for me to justify.

It's cool and all, but it doesn't feel worth the cost or the exclusivity of being a HasLab. This is by FAR the most uninspired of the four TVC HasLabs. With the first three HasLabs, we got an all-new never-before-made vehicle. The Ghost came with three all-new, unique figures and a fourth (Zeb) that was also mostly all-new. Then with the Cantina, we got a [mostly] never-before-made playset with two never-before-made figures, two others that are significant updates, and updated Greedo. All of the other figures at least had special coins/accessories.

There is nothing in this set that is truly NEW or unique. With the Gunship itself, we get a remake of a vehicle that had been released seven different times before. Each of the pack-in figures could have used an update to varying degrees, but none of them were high on my want list. Each of them had been made multiple times before, most as recently as in TLC, and had at least a decent version made. Each of these pack-ins feel like they will end up being rereleased in the main line with an alternate cardback and no other changes (unless they just don't include the robe or alternate hands).

The Gunship is currently sitting at 1,110 backers. It'll be interesting to see how it does. I'll probably wait this time until closer to the end to decide if I want to back it, FOMO might win out, but I almost would be ok seeing this one not fund... and it honestly might not.

Just saw they're tacking on a $34.99 "Haslab Surcharge" to this? 

The $449 price tag, which is really $485 all feels like some hidden tariff pricing in there.  Who knows what this will cost to import a year from now, I bet they're trying to hedge and that it would be more like $350 or $399 in a normal world.

FWIW -- If you have Pulse Premium, the surcharge is removed.

[EdSolo]

This is an easy pass for me.  We have enough Gunships as it is.  While it is more to scale, it really doesn't do anything for me.  Adding several Jedi which we already have really isn't an incentive either.  They really needed to go another direction.  Even though I also passed on the Ghost and the Cantina, I would have jumped on board on both of those if space wasn't an issue.

At this point, I'm still holding out for a Death Star or a Star Destroyer.  Those two I would make room for.

[Nicklab]

Comparing this Republic Gunship with the version that was originally released in 2002 is not a fair comparison. They’re radically different offerings from one another. And I am fully mindful of the fact that the Gunship was released 7 times in various forms over the course of 11 years. The final version sold for over $100 and was the first to include the ball turrets plus 3 figures. Meanwhile the secondary market price for the TVC version has exploded - some have sold for over $700!

Where I will take Hasbro to task is over RELATIVE value with comparable Haslab items. Such as? THE RAZOR CREST. That came out 3 years ago and cost $100 less. And I would argue that it was a far better value for customers.  Did Disney have a hand in setting the price there?  Perhaps, since it was a vehicle from a new show, and it was promptly blown up in season 2!  But it helped to promote the show.

But back to the Gunship.  Does it look really cool?  Absolutely.  And the features are great.  However, I cannot get over the fact that Hasbro is revisiting a ship that has been released so much as the Republic Gunship was between 2002 and 2013.  Secondary market prices considered, there are plenty of them out there.  The only comparable situation with the number of releases that comes to mind to me is with the Millennium Falcon.  It was released by Kenner in Star Wars, TESB and ROTJ packaging in the vintage era.  And then in the POTF2 era, plus the OTC version with added electronics.  The 2008 Legacy Collection version was a massive leap forward from that original Kenner mold to something completely new.  But the Millennium Falcon demanded it because the ship was like a character itself.  And so that BMF Falcon saw re-releases in TVC packaging twice - the last time with a massive price tag.  Was the Falcon part of the reasoning for Hasbro to increase prices so much?

Personally?  I blame some of the TVC crowd - influencers especially - who are essentially shouting "Shut up and take my money!"  when it comes to Vintage Collection pricing.  I know there were some focus groups held by Hasbro recently.  I got a questionnaire that led me to believe Hasbro wanted some feedback on that front.  And one of the screening questions was "What is the most you've ever spent on a single item?".   Hmmmm.  That kind of leads you to believe that Hasbro is looking at Haslab like a significant profit center.

I'm having a difficult time deciding whether or not to back this campaign.

[Rob]

Just saw they're tacking on a $34.99 "Haslab Surcharge" to this? 

This seems to be a way to jack up the shipping price from the flat $6.99 fee they introduced a while back.  If you are a Hasbro Pulse member they will waive this fee -
"Per-item fee covering shipping costs. Free for Hasbro Pulse Premium."

Ah okay.  I’ve always had Pulse Premium and just saw this on Blueharvestcollector IG, so I’d assumed it was for everyone.  I suppose if you’re going to back the Gunship anyway, saving $35 makes pulse premium almost a no brainer. 

After sleeping on it, my plan is to not back the Gunship for now.  If it does fund, I’ll want one, but I’d also be perfectly happy not spending this kind of money on that item, so I’ll wait and see and not help push it towards the finish line.

[Jeff]

After sleeping on it, my plan is to not back the Gunship for now.

Same.  It's weird but I almost have this "sad" feeling about not backing this on day 1.   Like I'm letting down my friend by not supporting him for the first time in a long, long time.

FOMO and/or guilt and/or OCD will probably lead me to reluctantly back this by the time we get to labor day weekend, but for now my plan is to wait and see what happens.  Will some of those Instagram accounts that are always harping on "we need more PT in TVC" try to organize some grass-roots campaigning?  Those are the guys that pushed for new Dooku, new Anakin, new Obi-Wan so they better step up for this if they want it to fund.


While I'm here, I'll add these comparison/size pics from the PR package...

[Dave]

Just saw they're tacking on a $34.99 "Haslab Surcharge" to this? 

This is essentially what I paid for the first release of the Republic Gunship from E2, which I still think is a totally adequate toy.  $40 back in the day for the Republic Gunship barely covers the surcharge.  :'(

[Matt_Fury]

Seeing as I was laid off in March and just got hired to a new job last week, I'm really leaning towards not backing it.  This thing will not fit on any shelf in my collection room.  If it were $350, I might be tempted, but this price seems too high for this item.

Don't get me wrong, I love the detail and the rotating rockets the removeable/exchangeable panels and the flight stand...I just really wish we at least waited for the Cantina to be in people's hands before we're hit with another Haslab.  Like I said before, this could be the first TVC Haslab to fail because Hasbro has trouble reading the room.

There are some morons in the TVC facebook group asking about redecos and re-releases of this gunship.  It's like they have no clue how a Haslab works.

[Rob]

Glad to hear you’ve got something new Matt!

I was just digging through the cantina thread looking for a sense of the backing pace…

On June 7 Nick wrote that it had 1,700 backers in 2 hours.  At 1:00 that morning Jeff wrote that it was over 3,000 in the first day. 

This one will be pushing two days in a few hours and is at 1,873. 

It seems to be well below the pace we’re used to.  I read a comment on reddit saying it’s behind the pace of the Black Series Rancor.  Not sure if they were thinking percentages or total backers though.

[Jediknight760071]

I backed one for the sake of momentum, but the total is going to be about $525 with fees and tax. 
In my opinion, there is nothing wrong with the ship, its design, the figures, or anything. It all looks really cool, and again, I hope it funds for folks that want it.
But Jesus, that's a whole hell of a lot of money to spend right now.

I see a lot of folks on other sites/youtube being a bit disparaging of those complaining about the cost. The sort of "if you can't afford the hobby, gtfo" attitude.
Well... the number of backers very slowly creeping up might indicate, people did exactly that.

[Matt_Fury]

Thanks Rob, I'm looking forward to get back to work, it's not my dream job of Launch Director for NASA, SpaceX or any of the other launch companies, but I'm working with the equipment for the range, so I have a hand in every launch which is pretty cool.

Another thing I was thinking about was the Starspeeder 3,000 offered by Disney last year.  This ship came with a numbered, carded Captain Rex, a loose Captain Rex to use in the ship, a pack-in R2-D2, electronic lights and sounds to include a screen that shows all the original ride segments and a light up display stand!  This was not crowd-funded and came in at $350.

The Haslab LAAT Gunship does have some nice detail, but no electronics is only marginally bigger and is $100 more.  I'm not seeing the value right now.

That being said, FOMO might hit me and I purchase one, but it won't be until the last day of the campaign if I do.

[Jeff]

It seems to be well below the pace we’re used to.

We are close to two days and at ~1980 backers so far.

Bumping these #s up again since it's relevant... first week, middle weeks, last week on the pst TVC HasLabs

Barge - 1840 (21%), 1920 (22%), 5080 (57%)
Crest - 8990 (32%), 6290 (22%), 12830 (46%)
Ghost - 8770 (40%), 3330 (15%), 9665 (44%)
Cantina - 4800 (33%), 1800 (12%), 8140 (55%)

Every HasLab is different (as you can see above), but using the patented "Jeff HasLab math" that's about 32% in the first week, 18% in the middle weeks ("the lull"), and 50% in the final week.

So, using that as our guide post, it probably needs to hit these numbers by Friday 8/1 (first week) to show signs of successful funding...

2560 backers, will likely hit the 8k backers and fund.
4480 backers, will likely hit all three unlocks.

#mathisfun*

*caveat - we've never seen a TVC HasLab fail, so the math can't handle that idea yet... I still think this one will fund, but may not get all tiers unlocked.  Not sure how that will affect the numbers if people start dropping out if they don't get the Jedi tiers...