Perhaps after the WFC trilogy Hasbro realizes the USA G1 well has a bottom in sight. A few characters Hasbro is fine doing a new toy every year, but for the most part WFC and SS86 are giving the "definitive" versions of a ton of characters. Dipping into JG1 could be an opportunity to extend the "G1 party" for some time. A Haslab backer project actually makes sense for testing the waters here. Like, if they throw a random JG1 character into a line (overlord in TR for example) they don't get great data of how many people are asking for jg1, they just know the sales for that line/wave. Haslab is more "do fans want jg1? Well put your $$$ where your mouth is"
The MP Star saber and kfc victory leo are perfect and in perfect scale with the chug stuff too IMVHO . However I love the JPN characters so I will be buying at least one of these ( probably two as I have two kids ) as back up for my kids MP star saber and Leo in case they brake them while playing. so I can help support more JPN g1 characters being made
I think it's mainstream enough to see regular release, but I don't care how I get it as long as I do. A HasLab means they go the extra mile and GodBomber could be a stretch goal so that would be cool. PowerMaster Optimus alone would be huge for me if he's done as well as WFC has done....everything. I would dig "Apex Armor" a lot though, never owned one before. The timing of Galactus is consistent with past campaigns, I bet there's bragging rights. I'm actually selling off what Marvel Legends I have left for space and to fund Star Saber, don't care about Marvel anymore at all honestly. I doubt I'm alone there, but there's got to be some overlap and Galactus is totally iconic. Gonna be interesting.
That's what worries me, the cost. Especially if it's a HasLab project where the cheapest figure they've offered is Sentinel for $350. I don't mind paying Titan price for a Victory Saber composed of two Commander figures, but anything more than that would be even more egregious than Hasbro's policy of selling Voyagers at Leader price these days.
I mean, I heard claims that big robot dinosaurs wouldn't sell for $50. We're now talking about a winged cannon lion. Being well-known isn't the only factor here, especially with Victory Leo. I can understand why Star Saber would have to rely more on popularity, but between the two, VL could feasibly stand on his own, and a lot better than SS at that, if no one knew their deal. *points to the quote in my sig* I mean... am I crazy to think that the Rule of Cool doesn't come into play with toys a lot more than what's traditionally advocated for in this forum?
I am confident that a HasLab Star Saber will open the door to other prominent JG1 figures. Hasbro's "anxiety" about JG1 characters reminds me of the never-ending fear/weirdness that Western publishers have with anything that is "Too Japanese." Yet it's been continuously proven over the span of decades that Americans regularly consume a lot of Japanese media to the point where the media stops "feeling" Japanese and is more or less just a regular part of American pop culture. Like you point out @orangeitis, at the end of the day we just want cool stuff.
Hell, when Siege introduced weaponizers i was certain SS and VL would show up in the 2nd or 3rd line, since VL is basically a weaponizer. I mean, just look at their combined mode. What does VL do? Break into "shoes", a backpack with wings, and a gun. In Siege, Cog and Sixgun do pretty much that same thing!
I feel like the goal number for Saber is to be able to make enough to be profitable. Stretch goal number for victory saber is enough to make both characters profitable at the same price point. Let’s say Saber hits a number in between that tells Hasbro it’s not enough to include victory Leo in the box but they could do a production of Victory Leo on his own. I know people are hung up on the $200 price point thinking this guy is basically Jetfire v2 but he’s probably going to be closer to a combination of Jetfire and Rodimus Prime in terms of size and engineering. You are getting a lot of gimmicks and moving parts if they stay true to characters toy. If Leo isn’t officially teased a handful of people who follow leakers will be upset. I don’t expect a massive wave of disappointment.
To be fair, I would think that Leo Victory being included in what may be the expected price range is one thing that would be the driving force for most folks to consider. But we’ll see.
Probably a lot more overlap than you think, and Hasbro certainly wants fans to buy buy them all no matter the brand, but it's mostly an issue with exposure and Hasbro not wanting to drown any of the projects out by having too many going at once and risk not getting funded. They only want wins, no more Cookie Monsters. Besides, "budget" was probably the number one issue they got in feedback from Unicron (who also got extended very likely for those reasons). People can budget out their purchases, but even then $600 is a lot to drop at once for anyone, so all the more reason to split them up and give more buyers the chance to acquire funds. And anyway, the only reason we want Star Saber to start now is because we're excited, but there's no reason to rush it. None of these new Haslab projects are even going to be in buyer's hands until late next year as it is, so no matter when the campaign starts we'll have to be patient.
lol yep, you've had that avatar for as long as I can remember. I'd imagine that being in the mainline, but i'd love to see a proper Ginrai down the road.
The Unicron figure should have been posed with a Death Star figure, people's heads would have exploded.
Commander class seems most likely, but I'm more than willing to pay HasLab prices for a God Ginrai figure that manages to be a well done Ginrai, Super Ginrai, God Bomber, and God Ginrai. Give him a proper Powermaster instead of a Headmaster. Design him from the ground up to combine so the God Bomber parts actually connect properly and aren't wobbly crab with the wrong proportions and bizarre wing placement. I don't love base modes because of how they sometimes compromise the structure of a figure but at crowdfunding prices they might be able to make it work. Just give him all the bells and whistles. I'm totally fine paying for a HasLab Starsaber/Victory Saber for the same reasons. When they don't have to stick to a real price point they can actually make sure that Saber, Star Saber, Brain of Courage, and the V-Star are all done well separately as well as combined.
What if the scale is bigger then Jetfire but smaller then Devastator, like a nice middle ground for more gimicks and plastic as a whole, while Victory Saber being 18 inches or closer
18" is still pretty big. Why would a mere lazy retool of a previous mold be considered for a Haslab project?
A little off topic, but the guy who designed Star Saber said he would like to do a MP Ginrai at some point... so here's to hoping.
