The Energon Pub

Here were the original prices for some of the past HasLab funded campaigns. Unicron ($574.99), Razor Crest and Sentinel ($349.99), and Hero Quest ($149.99).

I'd assume a single figure should realistically just be a matter of another fan poll. Not crowd funding. Big things ala the Sail barge and Unicron, the on-demand model worked to offset potential shelfwarming. But using HasLab for a potentially MP level figure, it is a concerning turn.

None of the combiner's make any sense as a Haslab option. We already got Liokaiser in CW, so it clearly does not need crowd funding.

Dinoking isn't even that large in relation to other characters in the show, so does not warrant a super huge figure. A CW combiner would work just like Liokaiser did. Same with Landcross.

Even if the character is relatively unknown, combiners are always good sellers and you add more figures to mix and match with CW.

The one thing that makes sense to crowd fund is A box set Star Saber and Victory Leo that combine. It would be large set, it would entail very specific tooling, and does not guarantee selling well except to some collectors that know the character.

Mom and pop won't go out of there way to get Star Saber for little Timmy if its over $100 bucks, but will totally get CW style combiner parts for $25 that turn into cars, tanks and planes that can interact with other figures they may already have.

Overcracker wrote:None of the combiner's make any sense as a Haslab option. We already got Liokaiser in CW, so it clearly does not need crowd funding.

Dinoking isn't even that large in relation to other characters in the show, so does not warrant a super huge figure. A CW combiner would work just like Liokaiser did. Same with Landcross.

Even if the character is relatively unknown, combiners are always good sellers and you add more figures to mix and match with CW.

The one thing that makes sense to crowd fund is A box set Star Saber and Victory Leo that combine. It would be large set, it would entail very specific tooling, and does not guarantee selling well except to some collectors that know the character.

Mom and pop won't go out of there way to get Star Saber for little Timmy if its over $100 bucks, but will totally get CW style combiner parts for $25 that turn into cars, tanks and planes that can interact with other figures they may already have.

We're not just talking about CW level figures. To be a HasLab project, the production values are going to be a lot higher (in theory). A Combiner Team boxset, made to Masterpiece level, would fit that remit.

Also, let's be clear. Nothing HasLab does is even geared towards little Timmy. The kids aren't a factor here. These are for adult collectors.

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:I'd assume a single figure should realistically just be a matter of another fan poll. Not crowd funding. Big things ala the Sail barge and Unicron, the on-demand model worked to offset potential shelfwarming. But using HasLab for a potentially MP level figure, it is a concerning turn.

I would actually say it is more of a natural progression. Unicron needed all kinds of special help just to make it. Some of that was clearly due to Hasbro's completely incompetent reveal and timeline, and being due at the same time as MP OP. But I think it was the price tag that pushed many away. I personally can't justify $600 for a single figure.

WFC has been pushing the regular retail line a bit closer to MP level engineering already. So Haslab going in a smaller direction for a character that may be tough to market under regular channels does seem like a logical next step. Going right to something like Primus when Unicron barely made it seems like a bad idea.

Plus, if it is Star Saber, and a Victory Leo stretch goal, then we are really looking at a pseudo-combiner already if the goal is met. If things do well there is certainly the possibility of additional stretch goals to be tacked on as other Haslab offering did have.

Basically this looks like the opposite approach to me than they used with Unicron. Start small and let it grow to whatever size the crowd-funding will support, as opposed to start really big and cross your fingers that enough will back it.

I think they learned a lot with Unicron on how not to start things out.

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:

Overcracker wrote:None of the combiner's make any sense as a Haslab option. We already got Liokaiser in CW, so it clearly does not need crowd funding.

Dinoking isn't even that large in relation to other characters in the show, so does not warrant a super huge figure. A CW combiner would work just like Liokaiser did. Same with Landcross.

Even if the character is relatively unknown, combiners are always good sellers and you add more figures to mix and match with CW.

The one thing that makes sense to crowd fund is A box set Star Saber and Victory Leo that combine. It would be large set, it would entail very specific tooling, and does not guarantee selling well except to some collectors that know the character.

Mom and pop won't go out of there way to get Star Saber for little Timmy if its over $100 bucks, but will totally get CW style combiner parts for $25 that turn into cars, tanks and planes that can interact with other figures they may already have.

We're not just talking about CW level figures. To be a HasLab project, the production values are going to be a lot higher (in theory). A Combiner Team boxset, made to Masterpiece level, would fit that remit.

The point being, they have proven that combiners sell well and can be made without going to Hasblab extremes. There is no reason to make a random Victory combiner as a Haslab project out of the blue. It would just be completely random. Making the main character and its partner that can combine and has continually been asked for, and barely lost the poll for PotP makes much more sense.

Also, let's be clear. Nothing HasLab does is even geared towards little Timmy. The kids aren't a factor here. These are for adult collectors.

Exactly. What I meant was, releasing Star Saber + Victory Leo at regular retail does not make financial sense. Which makes it a more reasonable choice for Haslab to tackle since it needs much more engineering for all its features and would make an interesting box set.

A random combiner just to test the waters would be kind of odd. Not saying it's impossible, just a bit odd.

This is going to be a big gamble for them with people owning the MP Star Saber already. As someone who already has the MP I can't really think of a major way they could improve it in regards of "playability" which is often my biggest complaint with MPs. He's already a fairly straightforward Transformer. Unicron also doesn't give me very high hopes in the engineering department for these projects either.

Star Saber feels like such a surefire sell at retail after they got away with Sky Lynx at commander, which kids probably know nothing about. He's a cool looking robot dude with a neat gimmick. Even the resurgence of Beast Wars stuff, many of which haven't shown up in media since the early 2000's are selling just because they're neat.

I can understand if this is just a way to get out less safe characters like a power up for Star Saber with Victory Leo, or not leaving him without his rival and making Deathsaurus. If it's all 3 of them for a more reasonable price than Unicron, great! I'll probably get the set. But if it's just a stupid big and expensive Star Saber for no good reason other than it's Haslab I'm fine just having the MP.

Not many own the MP to be fair. As for retailability Hasbro would rather bank on choices that they are fairly certain will sell, once weighing up target market and collector market.

Overcracker wrote:Dinoking isn't even that large in relation to other characters in the show,

Yes he is. His toy was small but he and all of the Victory combiners were proper combiner size in the show. Even Star Saber, Victory Leo, and Deathsaurus were all combiner-sized.

Overcracker wrote: There is no reason to make a random Victory combiner as a Haslab project out of the blue.
A random combiner just to test the waters would be kind of odd. Not saying it's impossible, just a bit odd.

That's the thing. They are not random, within the context of Victory. No more so than Star Saber or Deathsaurus. They are the biggest (literally) characters in that show. Therefore the most viable options for HasLab. It would be the equivalent of calling Devastator "random", in relation to Sunbow.

Galaxy Shuttle was the biggest according to that scale chart evidently though we're all disagreeing with each other over what products are suitable for HasLab and which ones aren't. I think Star Saber is perfect fodder for haslab as it takes all the risk out of it for Hasbro

This is MP-24 Star Saber. A quick search and available stockists list him for under £200. So he is still available for the "many fans" that couldn't get hold of him and think the figure ceased to exist during the last six years.

It seems crazy to WANT to pay more for HasLab to do the same thing, again. As opposed to a boxset of multiple figures to the same standard.

zeroWolf wrote:Galaxy Shuttle was the biggest according to that scale chart

Completely forgot about Galaxy Shuttle. In fact, I overlooked him. Thinking from the [uninspiring] name, it was just another base. Like Deathsaurus' Fortress.

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:This is MP-24 Star Saber. A quick search and available stockists list him for under £200.

Where? I missed out and would like to get him at some point, but everywhere I've looked show him either sold out or going for insane prices.

Sabrblade wrote:

Overcracker wrote:Dinoking isn't even that large in relation to other characters in the show,

Yes he is. His toy was small but he and all of the Victory combiners were proper combiner size in the show. Even Star Saber, Victory Leo, and Deathsaurus were all combiner-sized.

What I meant was he's no bigger than Star Saber or most other principal characters. And just picking one combiner out of all the available ones is random. Just one combiner.

Again if this is to test the waters, it makes sense to pick something that can stand on its own if no further figures make the cut.

Whether Deathzaras exists or not, Star Saber is as has been mentioned just a cool toy with potential. Dinoking would end up being something similar to Volcanicus in concept. Not saying it would identical because it won't. But its the same general idea of a combiner made out of dinosaurs. And assuming they want to scale it with something existing like MP Star Saber, then it would not be all that big anyway.

If they just make it like Titan Class huge for no reason other than to make it be worth Haslab's time, then they are setting up a less than appealing option with a Dinoking that scales to nothing, is it own standalone thing, and may never see any other figures from its show in its scale at all?

£152.00

$150.00 (bidding starter)

$211.00

A few off hand, that I made note of.

Overcracker wrote:Again if this is to test the waters,

Except, everything stated officially so far, says this isn't to test anything. This is a HasLab project for Transformers Victory. Pure and simple. Whether any piece from this project scales with something that isn't Victory or HasLab, seems quite redundant.

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:£152.00

$150.00 (bidding starter)

$211.00

A few off hand, that I made note of.

Not eBay.

Personally I hope Star Saber's full jet mode isn't entirely accurate to the original thing. Or at least not as bad as the MP's jet.
They hopefully put some work into making it look less like a cockpit glued to a barge.

I've never watched Victory, but I do like the designs of both Star Saber and Victory Leo, so if this new HasLab project is indeed Victory Saber as many are speculating, I may contribute to the crowd fund. I sold Siege Jetfire on Ebay a while ago, and I'm still undecided on getting the Kingdom Ark, so I don't have a BEEEEG Autobot in my collection right now. I can imagine Victory Saber looking pretty good next to my two Devastators.

I'm pretty sure it will be a Star Sabre/Victory Leo set, which is great. As for Dinoking. Yes he could work as a CW sized combiner. But...he could also work as an 18 inch Combiner along with Predaking and Devastator. IDW Monstructor was the same size as Omega Supreme, so it could work. I'd be happy either way.

I was talking with a friend about the hypothetical situation where it isn't Star Saber (just to think of what else could be done from Victory) and we started on Liokaiser and had some fun ideas.

The base set is the Liokaiser team with their proper Breastforce partners, featuring the proper combination of six figures and possibly being CW compatible. The stretch goal would culminate in the addition of Deathcobra as a seventh member to swap out with one of the limbs (specifically Hellbat).

Now I kinda hope that Wreckgar was pulling our legs when he said it was Star Saber, because this hypothetical Liokaiser is something I'd be 100% behind.

If I was still a mod, I could have deleted this post instead of just editing it.

I am conflicted on another TF Haslab right now. Glad they waited until Unicron was in hand, but I really hope they learned from the Unicron experience and the 3 last year. The 3 last year rocked. I backed 2 of them.

As for this one, I do not think Star Saber is worth the slot, even with Victory Leo. If anything, the set should automatically include Victory Leo and not have him as a stretch goal as is rumored. A $250-350 Star Saber by himself is just not worth it, the MP already proved that.

To me, Star Saber should have been a commander and Leo a leader. the combination isn't even that complex unless they would mix it up like the Flame Toys one.

I really think this set should be Dinoforce with Pretender shells, or Liokaiser with 6 members and all the little animal dudes. Those 2 sets would be worth it, all new molds, wholly original and unique to the set, and pretender shells would honestly be a huge draw for me.

D-Maximal_Primal wrote:I really think this set should be Dinoforce with Pretender shells, or Liokaiser with 6 members and all the little animal dudes. Those 2 sets would be worth it, all new molds, wholly original and unique to the set, and pretender shells would honestly be a huge draw for me.

I would agree, were it not for the fact both Combiners have possible reuses, and therefore would be more suited for general retail (though a case could be made for the Shells...). Obviously, Dinoking has Monstructor (ME WANTS!), with Yokuryu/Wildfly ready to go:



As for Liokaiser... Well...


Transformers G1 1992 Big Rescue Force Gallery

They might be more suited to general retail because of potential repaints, but Star Saber just isn't big and complex enough to be Haslab. they made Sky Lynx for gosh sakes, that guy is as obscure to the general public as Star Saber is.

For the combiners, To truly get them right with all the members and parts, I think Haslab would be the best way to go, at least for Liokaiser. Dino force and the Monstructor 6 would be great, but I also want the shells to go with the members without making them tiny again.