@Damien I do wonder if it's "we'll piss off buyers" or instead "our customers are smart enough to know if we reliably re-release Haslab figures, they won't spend hundreds of dollars up front for the incentive of exclusive figures." It's a proven motivator to get folks to shell out money up front, so I could see there being some unspoken rule about it.
I don't think so and only for this specific reason: Toy collectors are NOTORIOUS for not being able to wait ten fucking seconds. This is an entire community of people that will pay a 25% mark-up from some seller on Ebay just to be the first guy in town to have the new wave of Marvel Legends.
I really don't think Hasbro is -too- worried that reliably re-issuing 'exclusive' figures will be a problem for them. The Legends team does it all the time.
Personally, as someone who's backed a bunch of stuff? I don't care if they re-release them, I'd PREFER they do, but I'm not buying for value, If I buy something I'm keeping it til I'm dead or like, have end of life medical bills to pay, regardless of how "exclusive" it is. Same goes with SDCC exclusives, too. I was just talking with a friend about the Hellfire Club set and I mean... I have one, it's one of my favorite sets, it was my Marvel White Whale buy, and I'm mad they DIDN'T re-release those figures since then. It sucks for collectors as a whole to have false scarcity. I mean, I'd be lying if the figures don't usually push me over the edge, but I'm not gonna be mad if they put out Wild Weasel on a retro card at Christmas. More power to 'em. Hell I might buy him twice so I can tinker with his load out.
Honestly, I've never ever ever ever ever..... ever ever ever..... hold on... ever ever ever.... fucking ever, looked at an action figure in my collection that I really enjoy owning and posing and whatever else, and thought to myself 'boy, I really hope fewer people can have this.' How big of a fucking baby do you have to be to only enjoy your toys if fewer people can also enjoy that toy.
ALSO, I'm a collector that recognizes the mortality of action figures. I don't -want- figures to be hard to get for purely the selfish reason that I want to be able to get another one if something happens to mine. What size clown shoes do you put on in the morning if you want a figure you really like to be hard for you to replace?
Some people worry about potential dips in Haslab backers if this happens in the future...bah. Hasbro would also be generating revenue from the sales of the pilot/driver figures in their mainline. The Haslab versions would ship first with mainline versions happening 1-2 years out which be fine, just to give backers a limited first-time experience with figures. Too many people are wrapped up in aftermarket value of their figures. Let more people enjoy the items.
Exactly. And as I said, I really don't think this is a concern Hasbro actually has -- that is people abandoning a project en masse if everything in it isn't exclusive. How many collectors out there are deciding to buy a friggin' RATTLER based solely on whether or not pilot Baroness is exclusive? That guy is a dick and I don't care what that guy wants - and neither should Hasbro.
I was poo-pooing Frag Viper a couple of pages back and I saw him in person today at Target. Yeah....they did a really good job on this guy. If you think you know where this is going.............I DIDN'T buy him, BUT, I'm going to pull my vintage Frag Viper out of storage where he has lived basically since my early 20s when the first thing I did with my own income was buy just about every vintage Joe before their prices started going wild. I'm going to revisit Frag Viper. Maybe I can change my mind about him.
I look forward to your follow up post in the next day or so telling us you went back and bought the Frag Viper because you have basically no self control. We see you and we love you.
Watched the video. That Rattler looks fucking gorgeous. I seriously think I might need to actually consider going in for a Snowcat, because I've sort've regretted not getting any of these HasLabs. Just a little bit. They are crazy expensive - especially in CAD. And I really don't have the space for any of them. But just look at that thing. It's so good. So much love went into it.
I do think the character selection is going to be what sells me or distances me on the Snowcat. Currently, I own one Snow Serpent and no winter-themed Joes at all. If there's a couple good Joes in that box to go with the Snowcat, there's a good chance I'll bite. But I'm definitely less likely to go in if there's some lame-duck figures that I just don't want to own. We'll see.
