I just got out of this line and I fully intend on staying out but holy fuck, playtime is certainly over with the G.I. joe team. Even not collecting this line, I'm still probably gonna pick up a B.A.T
What they believe warrants it are the people willing to pay that price for it. The price does seem... unfortunate for the casual fan, and the use of a kickstarter to produce it seems... exploitative. And I agree with you about the 6” scale being more apt to justify the price. I got the black series snow speeder scaled for 6” figures & was MSRP’d under $130, so I don’t know where I’d put a 1/12 scaled sky striker... (but for a raven, I’m sure I’d find a way ) It also seems like its occupying a spot as a haslab production could/should instead be for a product with a more unrealistic chance at retail. Hasbro isn’t an indy, they’re not an 8(a), and while what they’re doing isn’t illegal, and understandable from a capitalistic, supply & demand perspective... it doesn’t necessarily leave a positive impression on me. I was fortunate to find out about the air wolf kickstarter the weekend before it ended in early October, and that was something in the 1:18 scale I could get behind. Size, accessories, tiers, and from a fan that seemed to be more in line for what kickstarter funding was put in place to help. AIRWOLF™ 1:18 Scale Toy Helicopter I would’ve gotten the 2 for $550 if it could’ve been the regular air wolf and the red one, but then when I realized that tier would also be a later production and shipment by months, I went with the regular and a bunch of their 3.75”, 1/18 scale figures so I could get them in hand sooner. I might be in the minority, but I don’t see what production-wise justifies the price that the sky striker haslab is asking.
IMO making a v1 deco BAT an exclusive would be a bad idea. This better be in the next wave of the general release. They have unlimited redecos of the BAT to use as exclusives.
Ordered a BAT and Outback from Target Spirit, Storm Shadow, and Croc from BBTS. (Also mystery figure)
Picked the wrong day to go hunting, I missed the live stream completely, and almost missed the 4pm Zartan drop, we were up in the boonies with no internet. Almost missed the 5pm drops while we were cleaning up. Anyway thanks @Capirus for the links, you're aces as always. The exact same order, except add and extra Viper and Bat from pulse. Definitely passing on Skstriker, the 30th version is good enough for me. In regards to the o-ring figures, they are tempting, but I think that ship has sailed in regards to my collection.
I'm actually liking the Skystriker a lot more than I thought I would. I never had one as a kid and the last version didn't quite do it for me. All the accessories are cool on this one and they apparently fixed the biggest flaw from the original toy. The wings and landing gear aren't tied together. I'll track the progress and decide whether or not to take the plunge later on. The O-ring figs are a cool throwback but to me the packaging is more impressive than the figures. I was pleasantly surprised at how smooth preorders went today. Got Con Zartan which was my biggest want but also got PP Viper and BAT along with Outback, Spirit, SS and Croc Master.
Outback was easily 1 of my top 5 Joe's. Never had night force or tiger force. I had the og figure when I was a kid but lost all my toys when my mom gave them to a consignment shop to sale and they closed up and never gave them back. I lost everything. In college and later I tried rebuilding but it just wasn't the same and never could find another outback that was reasonable price or good shape. So I was all in anyways on him and don't have to custom old man Hawkeye to do it now. But that diorama with the bat and viper with outback taking them both on...sold on python patrol. Lol
I intend to back it but the price seems high to me. I think the 11,000 minimum for production is what factored primarily into the cost…..and they possibly didn’t think Walmart or other retailers would go for it even stripped down and with a lower MSRP like $60-80. Walmart wasn’t onboard for the 2011 Skystriker and I don’t think they’re any easier to work with now than before.
After much thought, I'm going back in on the line. Today proved to me that the Joe team is ready to take this line seriously, and in that case, so am I.
To clear up any confusion, on social media some have said the Haslab skystriker is bigger than the original. It doesn’t look like it, compare the figures in the cockpit to the jet itself. If it’s bigger than the original, it’s not by much. If it were true 1/18 scale it would’ve been much bigger and dwarfed the display area during the livestream. I didn’t think a Haslab USS Flagg was likely. However it confused me because I was wondering how a Flagg would be enticing if there’s no current joe jets to buy right now. So before today, I thought at best, we might see a retro skystriker(using the 2011 mold) next year at Walmart. I wasn’t expecting an almost all new(if not all new) Skystriker to be in the works. So I do think it’s a possibility to see a Haslab Flagg for the 60th anniversary of Gijoe in 2024. The timing works out since the Haslab Skystriker(if funded) will have been released by 2023. I imagine either more Gijoe jets are planned before 2024 or around there(mass retail, exclusive or stretch goal). After all if you’re going to make a USS Flagg, it’d be useless without any jets on it. The new tail hook mounted on the Haslab Skystriker could be a hint. I know some of them landed in discount stores afterwards but it also depends on your area. I bought them in an area full of naval stations and it sold well. Also it would’ve sold better if it used the Haslab design. The Haslab design looks almost all new save for the wings, missles, engines and horizontal stabilizers. I thought they would’ve just reused the 2011 body to make things easier but the forward fuselage construction looks more similar to the 1983 version. Short of a substantial redesign, it takes a lot of work to get the 1983 and 2011 versions to do what the Haslab one is capable of doing(split canopy, wings able to sweep independently of the landing gear) out of the box. Since this one works the way I’d like out of the box(and since I’ve done the mods myself including making a tutorial for it and know how labor intensive it can be), that’s a big reason I want it. I do think a regular release without all the extras should be sold eventually at mass retail or as an exclusive at the very least. I think this is at least possible. In either case, I highly doubt all the extras from the Haslab would’ve been included.
