Rancor HasLab: My Thoughts

As of now, it looks like the HasLab Black Series Rancor will not get funded, barring a miracle or an extension. So. What does this mean for the Star Wars collecting world? Is it bad news? What about the Black Series line itself? Well, the news is actually good. Remember as Yoda told Luke in Episode 8 "The greatest teacher failure is!". I went into spoiled collectors a couple weeks ago, and stand by that. But let's compare this to another active HasLab, the GI Joe Skystriker plane for the 3.75 inch GI Joe line. When this was announced, all the tiers were shown on day 1. So if you backed it, you knew what you were going to get. So far, it looks like those tiers will be met. Now, had Hasbro come out and said here's the Rancor, and here is what the stretch goals aka tiers are, I think it would have helped. Sure, some of the tiers were not what fans wanted, but the numbers of backers probably wouldn't be continually going down. They'd just stay flat. So, the next failure is lack of fan communication. Back in the good old days, of chat rooms and message boards, company execs could see and sometimes interact with fans there to see what they liked, what they didn't like and what they wanted to see. Collectors are the target market for HasLab products, and finding out what they want is paramount for project success. So far the only failure is the life size Cookiee Monster for Sesame Street. Mostly because: 1. Nobody asked for it and 2. Sesame Street has no real collector market that has deep products. How many Sesame Street toys are on shelves, anyway? Not many if there are at all. To join fan forums or to chat on comment sections cost nothing at all, and Hasbro can learn in a couple of hours what years of marketing research cannot. Besides, this is cheap and doesn't cost Hasbro anything but time, which can be very profitable. Making money is their goal, after all. But what does this mean for the Black Series line should the HasLab fail? Simply put, don't expect a Black Series HasLab for some time. But, hopefully Hasbro learns from their mistakes here. Find out what Black Series collectors want (new sculpts, new figures & less repacks, more accessories. Almost the exact same thing that Vintage Collection collectors want). Then, find something that collectors would want to fork over $350-$500 for. A full size room where Vader and Obi-Wan dulled, or Luke and Vader. Or possibly Anakin and Dooku's duel from Revenge of the Sith in front of Palpy. Or a display for the bounty hunters in The Empire Strikes Back. Maybe Yoda's hut on Dagobah. As far as the Black Series line, it will still go strong and still sell incredibly well. Edit: Rancor Keeper figure to be added to the HasLab! If the Rancor makes it to the minimum of 9,000 you get the Rancor and his keeper! Of course, this hasn't stopped the whining and crying. Want some fun? Go check out the fan sites! This meltdown is hilarious yet also kind of sad at the same time.