Haslab Liokaiser Minimum Funding Goal has Been Achieved Before Orders Open in Japan

So with a whopping 6291 backers yesterday, Liokaiser has become the most successful Haslab ever at this point in the campaign, and amusingly, it met the minium goal at exactly the same point as Omega Prime did. Unlocking the core figure means more people will pledge with confidence and we'll likely hit the first tier within the week. The higher price tag, more obscure character, and design controversies may scare off some people compared to previous campaigns but we should clear 25k easily.



Funnily enough, this would have been a good campaign to do an early brid incentive for, compared to the previous project (the Ghostbusters Ectotron), which didn't meet the early bird and nearly failed until the project team decided to include the early bird item in all orders anyway. But I'm glad they seem to have learned after two failures not to do early birds. Or at least be more selective about them.



Full chart with more data here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... sp=sharing

I wonder how many of these are scalpers from China?

You can't scalp a made to order product.

Omegatron. wrote:You can't scalp a made to order product.

Sure you can. Piece of cake. Create multiple emails. Order max number per email account. Wait until 6-9 months after release then double the price you paid. Pay $300 USD each, pick up 10 of them. You profit $3k if you get $600. Even if you only get $450 each, you make $1500.

First-Aid wrote:

Omegatron. wrote:You can't scalp a made to order product.

Sure you can. Piece of cake. Create multiple emails. Order max number per email account. Wait until 6-9 months after release then double the price you paid. Pay $300 USD each, pick up 10 of them. You profit $3k if you get $600. Even if you only get $450 each, you make $1500.

That's not scalping. If anything that's flooding the market. Scalping is when you buy a product before someone else has the opportunity and resell it at a markup. But this product is made to order so no purchase prevents someone else from getting it.

King Kuuga wrote:

First-Aid wrote:

Omegatron. wrote:You can't scalp a made to order product.

Sure you can. Piece of cake. Create multiple emails. Order max number per email account. Wait until 6-9 months after release then double the price you paid. Pay $300 USD each, pick up 10 of them. You profit $3k if you get $600. Even if you only get $450 each, you make $1500.

That's not scalping. If anything that's flooding the market. Scalping is when you buy a product before someone else has the opportunity and resell it at a markup. But this product is made to order so no purchase prevents someone else from getting it.

Oh okay. I perceived scalping as different. Thanks!

As someone who bought two of every Haslab (other than Unicron,I couldn't afford him at the time) with the intention to resell for Unicron money....
Everyone else had the same idea so right now Victory Sabers and Deathsauruses are going for only marginally above the backing price. It's gonna be a while before they really appreciate in value.

King Kuuga wrote:As someone who bought two of every Haslab (other than Unicron,I couldn't afford him at the time) with the intention to resell for Unicron money....
Everyone else had the same idea so right now Victory Sabers and Deathsauruses are going for only marginally above the backing price. It's gonna be a while before they really appreciate in value.

I do wonder if doing more of these Victory campaigns will do anything to bring up the prices/value of the previous ones? Just thinking of what happened to the prices of Legends Grand Maximus when Black Zarak was released (though maybe not on that scale, that was nuts).

Emerje

I guess I really underestimated demand for this set. I was getting worried it hadn't funded yet but as soon as they added in international orders we were good to go. Hopefully the other tiers are funded soon too.

Great to know it's a sure thing now.

Man...time is crazy when looking back. I had to think... I thought I got my OG LioKaisier in the early 2000's, but turns out I got it sometime in 1999!. I paid $300 using a western union wire (definitely risky), but thankfully the transaction worked out. It was MIB, so I could at least take it out and display if I wanted, then put it back in the box. I sold it unfortunately in 2007 as part of a huge lot. But I see now they can easily go for more than $1000. So Paying $300 once again, for a modern update 26 years later doesn't seem so bad. If the timing of obtaining the needed funds works out.

This will blow all of the other Haslabs out of the water as expected.

I finally backed, still not enthusiastically, but sort of contently

D-Maximal_Primal wrote:I finally backed, still not enthusiastically, but sort of contently

That's actually an apt and relatively accurate description for me as well. Like, "I'm not a huge fan but it looks kinda cool and it's a combiner so why not?"

First-Aid wrote:

D-Maximal_Primal wrote:I finally backed, still not enthusiastically, but sort of contently

That's actually an apt and relatively accurate description for me as well. Like, "I'm not a huge fan but it looks kinda cool and it's a combiner so why not?"

Yeah, like I am not blown away, it looks very adequate, and will probably be pretty solid and is a nice size.

Contentment is what I feel I guess.

D-Maximal_Primal wrote:

First-Aid wrote:

D-Maximal_Primal wrote:I finally backed, still not enthusiastically, but sort of contently

That's actually an apt and relatively accurate description for me as well. Like, "I'm not a huge fan but it looks kinda cool and it's a combiner so why not?"

Yeah, like I am not blown away, it looks very adequate, and will probably be pretty solid and is a nice size.

Contentment is what I feel I guess.

A little FOMO maybe too? Understandable.

Dino-Snarl wrote:

D-Maximal_Primal wrote:

First-Aid wrote:

D-Maximal_Primal wrote:I finally backed, still not enthusiastically, but sort of contently

That's actually an apt and relatively accurate description for me as well. Like, "I'm not a huge fan but it looks kinda cool and it's a combiner so why not?"

Yeah, like I am not blown away, it looks very adequate, and will probably be pretty solid and is a nice size.

Contentment is what I feel I guess.

A little FOMO maybe too? Understandable.

I regret I'm still on the fence. I'm pretty underwhelmed by it, but the knowledge that this is probably as good as it'll ever get with this group as an official HasTak release is nagging me to no end.

FOMO, indeed.

I'm just glad it's a HasLab and not an over-engineered MPG.

Anyway, less than 1,000 for Deathcobra and Japanese TTM orders have now launched. We'll probably see their first addition Monday. Like the last couple the TTM backers are going to be added more frequently rather than in big jumps like the other countries so they wont be as noticeable, but the first couple should be big ones. We should easily hit tier 1 this week.

Emerje

Brokebot wrote:

Dino-Snarl wrote:

D-Maximal_Primal wrote:

First-Aid wrote:

D-Maximal_Primal wrote:I finally backed, still not enthusiastically, but sort of contently

That's actually an apt and relatively accurate description for me as well. Like, "I'm not a huge fan but it looks kinda cool and it's a combiner so why not?"

Yeah, like I am not blown away, it looks very adequate, and will probably be pretty solid and is a nice size.

Contentment is what I feel I guess.

A little FOMO maybe too? Understandable.

I regret I'm still on the fence. I'm pretty underwhelmed by it, but the knowledge that this is probably as good as it'll ever get with this group as an official HasTak release is nagging me to no end.

FOMO, indeed.

There with you. Pre-ordered already. Can always sell it.

Brokebot wrote:

Dino-Snarl wrote:

D-Maximal_Primal wrote:

First-Aid wrote:

D-Maximal_Primal wrote:I finally backed, still not enthusiastically, but sort of contently

That's actually an apt and relatively accurate description for me as well. Like, "I'm not a huge fan but it looks kinda cool and it's a combiner so why not?"

Yeah, like I am not blown away, it looks very adequate, and will probably be pretty solid and is a nice size.

Contentment is what I feel I guess.

A little FOMO maybe too? Understandable.

I regret I'm still on the fence. I'm pretty underwhelmed by it, but the knowledge that this is probably as good as it'll ever get with this group as an official HasTak release is nagging me to no end.

FOMO, indeed.

Yes to both of these.

Emerje wrote:I'm just glad it's a HasLab and not an over-engineered MPG.

This is what scares me. Takara lost all trust from me with combiners after Raiden. And I doubt that, as good as it looks and as much as I enjoy Ginrai, God Ginrai will help offset that.

As far as I am concerned, MP scale combiners (I have one official and one 3P) are off the table for me for now until someone instills trust again

D-Maximal_Primal wrote:As far as I am concerned, MP scale combiners (I have one official and one 3P) are off the table for me for now until someone instills trust again

I've relegated Titans Devastator and Predaking to being MP combiners now.

Emerje

Emerje wrote:I'm just glad it's a HasLab and not an over-engineered MPG.

Anyway, less than 1,000 for Deathcobra and Japanese TTM orders have now launched. We'll probably see their first addition Monday. Like the last couple the TTM backers are going to be added more frequently rather than in big jumps like the other countries so they wont be as noticeable, but the first couple should be big ones. We should easily hit tier 1 this week.

Emerje

We've heard the issues (combined) with MPG Raiden team and we're kind of happy we kept our sealed alongside the two that followed which were exclusives. We really love trains.

Dino-Snarl wrote:

Emerje wrote:I'm just glad it's a HasLab and not an over-engineered MPG.

Anyway, less than 1,000 for Deathcobra and Japanese TTM orders have now launched. We'll probably see their first addition Monday. Like the last couple the TTM backers are going to be added more frequently rather than in big jumps like the other countries so they wont be as noticeable, but the first couple should be big ones. We should easily hit tier 1 this week.

Emerje

We've heard the issues (combined) with MPG Raiden team and we're kind of happy we kept our sealed alongside the two that followed which were exclusives. We really love trains.

Good call on your part. I love trains myself, which is the main reason I haven't gotten rid of the set. At the minimum, if they make a generations scaled one, I would disassembled the MPG to have a nice set of trains. And Kaen, because he is perfect as he is.

D-Maximal_Primal wrote:

Dino-Snarl wrote:

Emerje wrote:I'm just glad it's a HasLab and not an over-engineered MPG.

Anyway, less than 1,000 for Deathcobra and Japanese TTM orders have now launched. We'll probably see their first addition Monday. Like the last couple the TTM backers are going to be added more frequently rather than in big jumps like the other countries so they wont be as noticeable, but the first couple should be big ones. We should easily hit tier 1 this week.

Emerje

We've heard the issues (combined) with MPG Raiden team and we're kind of happy we kept our sealed alongside the two that followed which were exclusives. We really love trains.

Good call on your part. I love trains myself, which is the main reason I haven't gotten rid of the set. At the minimum, if they make a generations scaled one, I would disassembled the MPG to have a nice set of trains. And Kaen, because he is perfect as he is.

Ain't that the truth. Kaen is the most beautiful one of the lot! Got him with the JPN exclusive box and extras!

New video update for Liokaiser:

https://www.instagram.com/p/DGn03URuwwQ/

First Look: Transformers HasLab Liokaiser Gray Model Breakdown!

The Decepticons’ ultimate combiner is taking shape!

In this First Up look, Evan from the Transformers team breaks down the gray model of HasLab Liokaiser, giving fans a detailed look at each of the seven Bots in vehicle mode, robot mode, and combined form.
First seen at MegaCon, this is the most in-depth showcase yet! Plus, see Liokaiser next to the last successful Transformers: Victory HasLab—Deathsaurus!

With Tier 1: Deathcobra now unlocked, there’s still time to push for Tier 2 and Tier 3 before the campaign ends on March 24, 2025, at 11:59pm ET! Keep backing, and let’s bring Liokaiser to his ultimate form!

Back this HasLab exclusively on Hasbro Pulse in the U.S., UK, and EU by March 24th, 2025, at 11:59pm ET! See HasbroPulse.com for full terms and conditions.

Have to say, after that video I am 95% in. Deathcobra was a big part of if I was gonna back it. Now its locked in and the cost feels a tiny bit better. Also I been watching Victory again and it is getting me pumped too. It is actually the only season I haven't fully watched, my mistake as I think I may like it better than Masterforce. Hasbro Pulse youtube channel should be running a live stream of it 24hrs a day like Transformers and G.I. Joe it already does. That just might sell it to a few more people who never watched it.

Hero Alpha wrote:Hasbro Pulse youtube channel should be running a live stream of it 24hrs a day like Transformers and G.I. Joe it already does. That just might sell it to a few more people who never watched it.

If they did, however, you just know they would use the Shout! Factory subtitled version that changed a bunch of things in the subtitle translation to make them more inaccurate to what is actually said in the Japanese dialogue. Not just name changes but cramming in references to TFTM, the Bay movies, Aligned, and IDW1 that otherwise do not belong in any 1980s Japanese anime translation.

Why is Evan STILL NOT showing the individual bots with all of the "chest animals" off? I want to see how they'll look with the 5mm hole in the chest. Can't imagine they'd be great, but if there's enough details around to obscure the holes enough, I might bite and back it.

Sabrblade wrote:

Hero Alpha wrote:Hasbro Pulse youtube channel should be running a live stream of it 24hrs a day like Transformers and G.I. Joe it already does. That just might sell it to a few more people who never watched it.

If they did, however, you just know they would use the Shout! Factory subtitled version that changed a bunch of things in the subtitle translation to make them more inaccurate to what is actually said in the Japanese dialogue. Not just name changes but cramming in references to TFTM, the Bay movies, Aligned, and IDW1 that otherwise do not belong in any 1980s Japanese anime translation.

That sounds blasphemous, glad I didn't start with that. Or they use the Omni dub
Actually I do kinda enjoy the Headmasters Omni dub every now and again. Checking in on Billy, Sparkle, Soundwave 2 and the gang.

I was sure I saw photos or a video of the chest animal-less figures somewhere, but can't seem to find them now. Thought it was the greyscale ones.

Only 85 more backers to go before unlocking the second tier.

...and it just unlocked the Electromagnetic Nunchaku tier.

Dawn, this Haslab's on track to blow so far past every bonus that they could make up some serious after-the-fact extras. Lyzack and the Rescue Force would probably be too much to hope for, but I never thought this would happen either.

Bumblevivisector wrote:...and it just unlocked the Electromagnetic Nunchaku tier.

Dawn, this Haslab's on track to blow so far past every bonus that they could make up some serious after-the-fact extras. Lyzack and the Rescue Force would probably be too much to hope for, but I never thought this would happen either.

Lizack isn't happening because Hasbro and Takara don't own the rights to her.

Sabrblade wrote:

Bumblevivisector wrote:...and it just unlocked the Electromagnetic Nunchaku tier.

Dawn, this Haslab's on track to blow so far past every bonus that they could make up some serious after-the-fact extras. Lyzack and the Rescue Force would probably be too much to hope for, but I never thought this would happen either.

Lizack isn't happening because Hasbro and Takara don't own the rights to her.

Then they can do a toy of her newly-discovered identical triplet sister Lubuazack, who happens to look just like her, but somehow different from Leozack, and give her a bio card that encourages collectors to repurpose her, fudging the Botcon/Wings tradition just a tad.

As for Big Rescue Force's elusive arm bots, I keep picturing Deathcobra repainted into Rescue Bots Blades, somewhere in the future, in the strangest of places...

The display stands have just been unlocked!

Sabrblade wrote:The display stands have just been unlocked!

Must have just happened, it was still under 17K a few hours ago after they sent the last email about G.I.Joe pre-orders.

Emerje

If the extra-super-surprise tier continues the tradition of Victory Haslabs coming with 2 Micromasters, the first official toys of Riker and especially Clipper would be appropriate with the first official Deathcobra, since she was framed for killing the elusive Crocohind before he could merge into his rightful place. They'd be easy retools of Siege Blackjack and Hyperdrive too, much less work than Boater and Pipo.

And it just broke 20,000!

Have they still not added Japan's backers?

Bumblevivisector wrote:And it just broke 20,000!

Have they still not added Japan's backers?

Pretty sure Takara Tomy Mall orders have been rolled in regularly since Deathsaurus instead of occasional lumps like with Unicron and Victory Saber.

Emerje

Emily and Evan have posted a new video today announcing Haslab Transformers Victory LioKaiser reaching and surpassing its fully funded goal, currently at over 20,000 sets backed. That means all announced tiers have been reached with a little time left for project backing. The campaign ends at 11:59PM ET on March 24, 2025, this coming Monday.

The video also highlights changes that have been recently made to the figures still in their early stage.

Leozak - Panels added to hide his head in jet mode and the screws in LioKaisers chest.
Gaihawk and Ellbat - Their Chest Animals have been altered so the peg no longer sticks out in bot mode. Also the intakes have been changed on their shoulders to fold back instead of forward so they don't get in the way of the combined mode.
Jaruga - The combiner parts that connect to the top of him have been modified to look like missile pods.
Drillhorn and Killbison - They now have wheels hidden in their tracks so they can roll.
Deathcobra - Thigh rotation has been added and in canon mode all of the Chest Animals can be connected to him.



With just over 3 days remaining we're hitting that now or never point. Let us know in the Seibertron Energon Pub forums if any of the changes were enough to get you on board or not.

We still don't think they have put all the overseas pre-order numbers in as yet. Once they're in, especially Japan, this will blow all other HasLabs away for backings. Hyped that all three tiers are unlocked. There was never any doubt they wouldn't be.

The late edits and additions really help put this over the top. I appreciate the care that's gone into making this the best it can be. You can tell the designers and team really care about the product and the fans. Thanks!

Dino-Snarl wrote:We still don't think they have put all the overseas pre-order numbers in as yet. Once they're in, especially Japan, this will blow all other HasLabs away for backings. Hyped that all three tiers are unlocked. There was never any doubt they wouldn't be.

The Japanese ones have been added regularly already, the big jumps we've been seeing lately have come from the overseas pre-orders. There's always a big burst at the end, but I'm not expecting anything spectacular.

Incidentally, they've added nearly 500 just today.

Emerje

Emerje wrote:

Dino-Snarl wrote:We still don't think they have put all the overseas pre-order numbers in as yet. Once they're in, especially Japan, this will blow all other HasLabs away for backings. Hyped that all three tiers are unlocked. There was never any doubt they wouldn't be.

The Japanese ones have been added regularly already, the big jumps we've been seeing lately have come from the overseas pre-orders. There's always a big burst at the end, but I'm not expecting anything spectacular.

Incidentally, they've added nearly 500 just today.

Emerje

Darn.

I'm with TJOmega concerning the shoulder joints on the tank guys, though, and wish that they had fixed that bit of engineering. Hopefully it looks and functions better than what it appears like.

StrykerTyger wrote:I'm with TJOmega concerning the shoulder joints on the tank guys, though, and wish that they had fixed that bit of engineering. Hopefully it looks and functions better than what it appears like.

They said in the video that they aren't done making modifications, nothing is out of the question, especially if the finally numbers are high enough to justify bigger changes.

Emerje

Emerje wrote:

StrykerTyger wrote:I'm with TJOmega concerning the shoulder joints on the tank guys, though, and wish that they had fixed that bit of engineering. Hopefully it looks and functions better than what it appears like.

They said in the video that they aren't done making modifications, nothing is out of the question, especially if the finally numbers are high enough to justify bigger changes.

Emerje

Hopefully they are reading this thread and others for feedback. All I want is good head articulation(looking up and down) and cover up hollow spots, so far. The new changes are a big plus. I backed right after the 2nd tier opened up, although I was in after Deathcobra.

I've been waiting for this for a while, so within the first 3 days, I backed this. I love the Japanese G1 designs.

Could one of the stretch goals be to get the marketing lady to pronounce the products name correctly?

o.supreme wrote:Could one of the stretch goals be to get the marketing lady to pronounce the products name correctly?

One step at a time. Evan managed to pronounce the name correctly after previously saying it wrong back it MegaCon.

'Course, it doesn't help that half the fandom has been saying the name wrong for all these decades, too. The English dub of Victory by Omni Productions also used "Leokaiser" instead of "Liokaiser", so that probably had some influence, too. And while I haven't watched all of the TFCog fan dub of Victory, it wouldn't surprise me if the name was said wrong in that too, since that fan dub derived at least some of its scripts from the Omni dub.

It's just like how people still call Lio Convoy "Leo Convoy" as well (though, in his case, the TFCog Fan dub of BWII did pronounce his name correctly).

^ Also, the official Hasbro Voyager toy changed Lio Convoy's name to "Leo Prime", so that I get the confusion for. But on all the marketing material for this it still clearly states "Lio" Kaiser.

I haven't listened to the Omni dub in so long, aside form some humor videos on Youtube...I would hope fans aren't using that as a point of reference for accuracy.