General News
This is an opinion piece. It’s my opinion. I will try to explain why I think that Hasbro’s HasLab is a scam. I am not saying people who support HasLabs are dumb or idiots, there are very good reasons why collectors would want to have the HasLab offerings, most of which have been good products. What I want to achieve is that we all discuss and debate the very idea of crowdfunding by multibillion dollar toy giants and how Hasbro is pulling the wool over collector’s eyes. So please click through for my opinion piece and let’s all discuss Hasbro’s crowdfunding platform.
You want the dog? Buy 10 of these cars and you’ll get the dog for free!
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With only 23 1/2 more hours to go it’s all or, well, much less now. The Cantina currently has 10,337 backers. Greedo will soon be unlocked, probably in the morning hours or even at night, when people on the west coast pull the trigger. But the big question is: will the usual mad dash on the final day be enough to propel the Cantina all the way to 17,000? To achieve this the Cantina needs to almost match the performance of the Ghost, which added 6,827 backers on its last day and successfully unlocked all tiers, but the Cantina had unlocked tier #2 on its penultimate day and easily blast its way past 17k with time to spare on the last day – and the Cantina has not even quite reached tier #1 yet. The Cantina needs 6,663 backers now or not all tiers will be unlocked. And the penultimate day was quite a bit slower than what the Ghost had, roughly 75%. So this could be a close call.
Bite your nails and post your predictions and other thoughts in the comments! This will be the goto HasLab article and thread for the day! Have fun! And remember, it’s just toys.
Will the Cantina fly to Venus or only to the Moon?
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Earlier today the Vintage Collection collectors successfully funded the Tonnika sisters with a cantina on the side. Which means with a little more than 86 hours still to go TVC collectors can now try to get Hasbro to feed them a few more fis… I mean give them more action figures by reaching more tiers! Only a little less than 8,900 backers to go before everything is unlocked!
Go go go! 😉
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We are on the finishing straight for the Cantina HasLab! Only seven more days to go! How do things look? Funding seems to be 100% secure at this point. The big question was and is how many tiers may get unlocked and how the 4th of July holidays in the US may impact backer numbers. Click through for all the details!
Stay on target!
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In all the excitement about the “Stranger” helmet from The Acolyte yesterday it was overlooked that IGN actually revealed Hasbro’s 2024 SDCC exclusive The Black Series set as well!
It is Darth Maul with his speeder bike! Which is the first Black Series vehicle in a long, long time, albeit a very compact and small one. The set will be $59.99. You can get it at SDCC, but you must reserve a time slot online (with a valid badge/ticket of course), then you show up at the Hasbro booth at the alotted slot to buy the set. After SDCC a limited quantity of sets will also be sold on Pulse. I would suppose etailers outside the US will as usual also get a limited number of sets.
Maul has soft goods robes, so he can actually ride the speeder, in addition to his iconic lightsaber he also comes with a probe droid (with stand) and his binoculars. So the only new thing here really is the speeder.
What is your opinion? Is this a good set? I think the speeder is a welcome addition to the line. To make it an SDCC exclusive is… typical. However, SH Figuarts released the speeder years ago as a web exclusive. Unfortunately the speeder was also a limited release and you need to hunt it down on the aftermarket and prices will be pretty high (and it comes without figure, but SHF have a soft goods Darth Maul as well). But anyone not attending SDCC and having no luck with Pulse and has to resort to the aftermarket should see if aftermarket prices for the Black Series set on ebay won’t make the SHF speeder a viable alternative (and it does look better). The SHF speeder goes for about $230 on ebay. First sellers already offer the Black Series SDCC set for $220.
Will you try to get the TBS SDCC exclusive?
SDCC exclusive
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We are more than halfway through the campaign, only 14 days left for the Cantina! How are things? Click through for more!
Out of reach?
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As promised here is the next major update for the Cantina HasLab. Day 11 is almost over, so what are the numbers now, one week later? Click through for all the relevant data!
Update with Thursday numbers in the comments!
$399.99
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That escalated quickly!
Yup! This is happening…
Discuss away… and remember, this is supposed to be fun! Please do not take any of this seriously!
UPDATE: down to 15% now… could this reach single digit territory? As a famous pop culture icon would say: “Fascinating”!
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I have written about surveys and polls that aim to shed light on the demographics of Star Wars fans before. The surveys I quoted all more or less agree that about 40% of the fans are women. And actual movie attendance data by the MPAA supports this, the three movies in their report: The Force Awakens, Rogue One and The Last Jedi were watched by approx. 40% women. However, all of these surveys and polls are US only. But now a new analysis by Parrot Analytics, via Yahoo (who repost a The Wrap article hidden behind a paywall), has surfaced that takes a look at the all time global (so not just the US) demographics of Star Wars fans. They compare Star Wars to Marvel to see where the differences are. And the findings are very interesting! Click through for more!
Star Wars fans in the wild
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Let’s make this quick. Hasbro revealed various new things today!
The Black Series:
- Osha (accessories are her little droid companion and a backpack)
- Shin Hati with a new hat, no with cloth cape, a Target exclusive figure
The Vintage Collection:
- Osha with her droid and backpack and some other stuff
Retro:
- Sol, Jecki, Yord, Osha, Mae, Aniseya 6-pack!
Preorders should open tomorrow at 1 pm!
Click through for some photos!
TVC Osha Aniseya
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While there is virtually zero doubt that the Cantina HasLab will get funded, it is still interesting to compare the current campaign to the Ghost and the Razor Crest HasLabs. And when you do you cannot fail but notice how the 2024 crowdfunding campaign is off to a much slower start than the either the Ghost or the Razor Crest. What does that mean? How do the numbers compare? Click through for more!
UPDATED!
Not as sexy maybe?
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… at least as far as auctions of rare toys are concerned. Until recently a Barbie doll with diamond necklace, that sold for $302,500 in 2010 in an auction, was the single most expensive toy in the world. But not anymore.
A short while ago Heritage Auctions managed to sell a rocket firing Boba Fett handpainted prototype figure from 1979 for an astounding $525,000. So, who of you was it? And you do know it belongs in a museum, right?
But this is once more proof that Star Wars can still be at the top. The pop cultural impact of the first movies and the classic Kenner toys should never be underestimated. Let’s see what a Rose Tico figure may sell for in 2060…
Here you can look at the listing on the Heritage Auctions website! Apparently the new owner is accepting offers, but you have to fork out at least $787,500. Maybe now is the time to play the lottery.
The most expensive toy in the world
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If you follow Star Wars news you probably already know about statements Kathleen Kennedy made about Star Wars fans, male fans specifically, and how women in Star Wars often suffer more from attacks and have it harder in Star Wars because of the male fanbase. I believe this deserves a discussion. So grab your popcorn and click through for some thoughts about all this.
A typical male Star Wars fan?
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Here’s a little Monday Funday to celebrate Revenge of the Sixth… A pretty amazing fan video featuring the final duel from Revenge of the Sith recreated to match The Clone Wars style animation. Click through to enjoy this amazing piece of work!
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Happy Star Wars Day! There are sure to be many deals dropping today so we will add them to this post as they go live. Happy hunting!
May the 4th deals:
- The Black Series Endor Rebel Trooper – Amazon $19.99
- The Black Series Tala (Imperial Officer) – Amazon $12.99
- The Black Series General Hera Syndulla – Amazon $12.99
- The Black Series Paploo – Amazon $12.99
- The Black Series Morgan Elsbeth – Amazon $12.99
- The Black Series Cassian Andor (Aldhani Mission) – Walmart $5.31
- The Black Series Chewbacca – Amazon $7.49
- The Black Series Ahsoka Tano & HK-87 Assassin Droid – Amazon $27.99
- The Black Series Artillery Stormtrooper Helmet – Amazon $78.99
- The Black Series Axe Woves Premium Electronic Helmet – Amazon $86.99
- The Vintage Collection HK-87 Assassin Droid – Amazon $9.99
- The Vintage Collection Luke Skywalker (Jedi Academy) – Amazon $9.99
- The Vintage Collection The Mandalorian’s N-1 Starfighter – Amazon $96.49
- Micro Galaxy Squadron First Order TIE Mystery Bundle – Amazon $11.99
- Micro Galaxy Squadron Assault Class Millennium Falcon – Amazon $37.99
- Micro Galaxy Squadron Ahsoka Tano’s Jedi Starfighters Set – Amazon $13.99
- Micro Galaxy Squadron OBI-Wan Kenobi’s Jedi Interceptor – Amazon $11.99
- Micro Galaxy Squadron V-Wing Starfighter – Amazon $10.99
Click here for the Amazon Star Wars Day Deals page for all other deals
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In the past few days news have made the round that on new Target planograms no shelf space is alotted for The Vintage collection and that there is not even a DPCI number for TVC in Target’s system anymore. What is going on? Click through for the full story!
He may have something to do with it
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Anyone familar with “Betteridges’ Law of Headlines” will immediately know the answer to the question… so spoiler: no. They haven’t. Sure, they made money with Star Wars, quite a bit, but they paid $4.05 billion for Lucasfilm in 2012, which has to be recouped before you can talk about actual profits. For the first time (I believe it is the first time) it’s not some YouTuber who is eternally angry which can be used as a source for this, but Forbes magazine! However, since Forbes only covers the movies I will add other things like merchandise, video games and, well, everything!
All the Star Wars movies and many Disney+ shows are produced in the UK. The reason for that is tax incentives. However, this also means Disney has to provide detailed financial statements in the UKÂ and those are public, i.e. if you know the names of the production companies (think Blue Harvest) you can easily look up how much money Disney/Lucasfilm actually spent on something, and this includes all the movies and various shows. And those numbers are quite… something. If you thought movie budgets at Disney and Lucasfilm are out of control… you ain’t seen nothing yet!
Money sinkhole
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Hasbro will make action figures for The Acolyte. Now the only question is what figures they should or could make…. based on the first trailer I have some suggestions for Hasbro. So click through for my take on what Acolyte figures Hasbro should make.
So many Jedi
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In a movie with many iconic scenes, “Apology accepted, Captain Needa!” is certainly one of those memorable moments, when a sadistic Darth Vader once again disposes of one of his officers like a used paper tissue in The Empire Strikes Back.
And sadly, the actor portraying Captain Needa, Michael Culver, has passed away on February 27th 2024 at the age of 85, news of his death however only broke yesterday. Michael Culver did not appear in all that many Hollywood movies, but like many other accomplished British actors he had a very extensive theatre career and Culver was also always in high demand on British television, where he regularly appeared in various series until 2008, only after that did his tv career slowly wind down, but Culver would still narrate a few documentaries in later years.
So let’s all remember Michael Culver who will never be forgotten by the Star Wars community as the officer who would take full responsibility for losing track of Han Solo, only to become another one of Darth Vader’s victims. But as mentioned above, it would be wrong to limit Michael Culver’s long career to this one movie, some of the series he starred in that you may have heard of outside of Britain are Space 1999, The Professionals or the classic The Avengers.
Rest in peace!
Apology accepted, Captain Needa!
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One thing that always interests me is how Star Wars compares to the competition. How popular is Star Wars, and here I mean the toys really, in 2024, when we compare it to Marvel, GI Joe or Transformers? All Hasbro brands. Hasbro has not released exact sales figures for Star Wars in years, they used to brag about Star Wars sales back in the prequel era, which was about the last time they openly talked about revenue for Star Wars. Back then they even openly talked about Star Wars royalty expenses. Now it’s all top secret. So what can we do to find out how popular Star Wars toys (and here specifically action figures!) are compared to the major competitors? I thought that Hasbro’s own Pulse YouTube channel may be a good source to gauge how popular the various brands are. In the past three years Hasbro had a number of livestreams for all four brands on their Pulse channel and I believe that the number of views for each stream may be a good proxy for actual toyline popularity. As a bonus I will also look back to how things were in the prequel era. But how are things now? Click through to find out!
Who is more popular?
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I looked at Google Trends a couple of years ago. And I thought it might be fun to revisit them, especially with so much more Star Wars content that we got in the meantime. So how does The Mandalorian stack up against the competition? Star Wars or Marvel? Luke Skywalker or Darth Vader? What is trending more on Google? Click through to find out!
How much of an impression does she leave on Google?
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Toy photography is a hobby that enjoys growing popularity. A lot more effort however are animated shorts. Check out a very fun example of an animated action figure video created by DGDX Animation. In this short the Hasbro Indiana Jones action figure saves the Black Series Han Solo action figure from his captors. Watch it right after the jump!
Ford saving Ford
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I would like to discuss something that has been on my mind for a while, in fact, some of the points I will bring up here were mentioned by me before when I spoke about HasLab previously, i.e. that HasLab is – among other things – primarily a profit margin protection scheme, guaranteeing that something will never ever be submitted to the free market mechanism of supply and demand and thus will never see any discounts or mark downs. But today’s article is based on something UK etailer Kapow Toys wrote on X (still a very silly name, what is Elon Musk thinking?) earlier this week. They complain bitterly about Hasbro in a lengthy post. Click through to learn what Kapow Toys has to say and for a discussion about Pulse!
Collectors among themselves
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Inspired by the recent Topps article by Chuck I thought it could be fun to talk about the one Star Wars toy, collectible or any other piece of Star Wars merchandise you regret losing the most. Either because you were a kid and did not know better and trashed something, or maybe because you lost interest and disposed of something as you grew older, or your parents threw away some of your stuff as you grew older… or maybe someone even stole it from you. What is the one thing you regret losing the most?
German 1978 Panini Star Wars Sticker Album
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You have probably heard the story… years ago Zack Snyder approached Lucasfilm and pitched his idea for a Star Wars movie. But Kathleen Kennedy turned him down. So Snyder eventually transformed his Star Wars pitch into Rebel Moon on Netflix. To say the movie has been trashed by both critics and viewers is an understatement… but what would it have really been like if Zack Snyder had made a Star Wars movie? Well, YouTube channel Auralnauts just released a video the other day that answers this important question! They released Zack Snyder’s Star Wars – A New Hope. An 11 minute video reimagining the iconic 1977 movie into a Zack Snyder version. You have to see it to believe it. Click through for more!
Be prepared!
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