Time To Be Serious About Future HasLab's

 Well, the campaign is officially over! And the HasLab Gunship has funded! So that makes the VC a perfect 5 out of 5 in funding. And on Wednesday, we got the final count: 

So the 1st tier ended up getting funded! The good news is that the other 2 tiered figures have a chance to make the VC because they're essential to the Chancellor's Arrest, but my guess is they'll be on ROTS cards, and not on AOTC cards. So, that's the good thing. But this campaign was anything but "good". I saw things from this collecting community that briefly popped up during The Ghost and Cantina HasLab campaigns that came out in full force when the Gunship was announced. So this post is meant to be POSITIVE. But there are some things that have me ticked off. So, this will be my view of the campaign, and what direction that Hasbro needs to do with future VC HasLab's. 

My Gunship HasLab Views:

1. The negative Vintage Collection community rose up from the depths of collecting Hell. 

This really bothered me. Personally, I'm not a Gunship fan. It's cool that there will be one that can hold a lot of figures, similar to what's seen in the movies and Clone Wars series, so it's more screen accurate, something collectors want more of. But I saw a rise of something that popped up the last 2 years just go full on hate like the Sith the last 50 days. Trolls coming into comments sections and bitching, griping and whining about how this isn't what they want, or demonizing people for how they choose to spend their disposable income. However, despite their "efforts" they failed. But their voices have grown louder. The only fun thing was trolling them, one in particular couldn't handle it, which I found hilarious. 

2. The Prequel collectors made a statement: they want more representation in the Vintage Collection. 

I am a Prequel fan, and more importantly a George Lucas fan. I stick with his 6 movies when I watch the Saga. I have doubts in the past about how strong Prequel love is, but if you see any polls on YouTube, the Prequel love is in full effect. Revenge of the Sith beats out The Empire Strikes Back as the best Star Wars movie in polls. The love is there, but do they collect? Well, yes. Primarily Black Series figures. But the Vintage Collection has long been viewed as OT focused, which is true. Now, the Prequel Era gets some love. This is good for the brand, as it can bring in more collectors, and keep the line going. 

3. Hasbro's first major mistake: lack of marketing. 

Fan sites like BanthaSkull & Yakface carried the torch, and that's good. But, a near last minute show appearance isn't exactly the marketing I'm talking about. No comic ads, YouTube ads, or even a TV spot. Showing this at SDCC, or another big event would have also helped. Fan sites and Disqus commentors can only do so much. 

4. Hasbro's second major mistake: competing HasLab. 

The GI Joe Snowcat HasLab was nearing its end as the Gunship began. I personally don't collect GI Joe Classified, but I know many online who collect both GI Joe and Star Wars. With money now being tight due to inflation, tariffs and other factors, it's tough to find space for both, especially if you want them both. It's sloppiness on Hasbro's end. 

5. Hasbro's third and final mistake: nothing about how they'll support the Gunship.

Here is where the lack of pipeline reveals hurts. At Red Five, prototype cards for Padme and Shaak Ti (both will be brand new sculpts) were shown. Steve Evans shared on his IG account a sketch with code names of potential figures. I'm not confirming, but if Hasbro said we'd be getting a new Obi-Wan, Anakin, Mace and Yoda figures with the Gunship on Day 1 of the campaign, we might have had the thing halfway funded or funded in the 1st 2 weeks. 

Hasbro of course doesn't have a great track record building things out. See the Bad Batch, Rogue One and Andor. The Ghost campaign had had a slow drip, yes we got the crew in a standard release, but the lack of villains (I had Agent Kallus arrive this week) and other characters is slow. We aren't a patient society, especially collectors. It took nearly 2 years to build out the Razor Crest. The Ghost is still being built out, slowly. Only the Cantina has had what I would call full support, and that's with Steve Evans back at the helm. But, we need an idea of what's coming. I can understand secrecy with the Black Series as SH Figuarts and Mafex are competing lines, but there is no other producer of 3.75 inch figures besides Hasbro. Let us know who else is coming, please! 

So those are my views on the campaign. So what does Hasbro need to do in the future? Well, it's one thing. And one thing only. 

Hasbro needs to wait a couple years before the next VC HasLab. 

And I mean this in a good way. 3 straight years of HasLab's have drained me, and I don't mean in a good way. While this campaign was a shock, nobody saw this coming, unlike the Cantina which almost everyone saw coming. But the negatives, even for the Cantina which truly shocked me, hit much harder now. But in the grand scheme of things, while HasLab's offer a chance at a dream item, our wallets sometimes need a break. And from a creative standpoint, taking a break can be beneficial. 2027 is the 50th anniversary of Star Wars, but 2028 is the 50th anniversary of the toy line's birth. What better way to celebrate the toy line's 50th than with a Death Star HasLab for 2027, with a delivery date in 2028?! Now, I fully expect Hasbro to ignore this and push out another VC HasLab. And we get to go through wading through negative comments, energy and.....I picked the wrong time to have health problems preventing me from being able to drink. 

What I want to see from The Geonosis Theme for 2026:

1. Smart repacks. Figures like Luminara Unduli, Count Dooku, Jango Fett (single card), and some Clonetroopers, of course. I would prefer a new Aayla Secura but that may be asking too much. But she'd make sense here. 

2. New Super Battle Droids. They need to be able to stand. They're long overdue. 

3. New Jedi. Thanks to the Acolyte, we can get new versions of Geonosis Jedi. I feel with a new Padme, we can get a brand new Obi-Wan and Anakin to go with her. But Mace Windu, Yoda and Ki-Adi Mundi need to be all new as well. Shaak Ti will be all new, and I wouldn't mind a new Barriss Offee either. 

4. Creatures. The Aklay. The Reek. The Nexu. We need them all. Ripped outfit Padme could be packed with the Nexu, plus Obi-Wan with the Aklay, and Anakin with the Reek. All 3 figures with a column that they could be handcuffed to. Perfect! 

5. An upgraded C-3PO. This is the time. Do a Deluxe version with a swappable Battle Droid, with their heads swapped. 

I had another post written if this HasLab didn't fund, and I'm glad I get to toss out that draft. Another thing about this project: I wouldn't be surprised if they offered repainted versions of this and make it a Pulse exclusive, and make more money on top of what they made with this, but likely a run of about 5,000 or so. 

This will be my only blog post this week. Nothing for Sunday as I won't have time to post anything new. I had a lot of figures arrive this week, and I need time to take photos. Thanks for reading! A special thanks to Chris and Nomad at BanthaSkull for allowing me to post this link in the comments section! Please share this link on your social media accounts so I can get more readers!