Hasbro

Many collectors wonder how exactly Hasbro and Lucasfilm work together. It should be common knowledge that Lucasfilm / Disney control every aspect of the Star Wars brand and that also applies to the toy sector of course. But how exactly is the working relationship? Eric Franer, the designer of the HasLab Rancor, was featured in a CNET article about the Rancor a short while ago (you could call it an advertorial, since it’s basically just an ad for HasLab) and while his replies to CNET’s carefully chosen questions are the usual things you always hear from Hasbro, he did hint at how Hasbro works with Lucasfilm. Click through to find out more!

“Together we can rule the toy aisle!”

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The HasLab Rancor is not the first (approximately) 6 inch scale Rancor on the market. Back in 2006 Gentle Giant released a Rancor + Malakili statue, Regal Robot made a Rancor replica as an extremely limited edition (only 83 Rancors were made) not too long ago and Sideshow Collectibles is offering their Rancor actually right now, estimated shipping date is December 2021. All of these Rancors are roughly the same size, something between 16-18 inches tall (without stand). For this article I want to compare the $350 HasLab Rancor to the $605 Sideshow Colletibles Rancor and the $2,999 Regal Robot replica of the original maquette from the movie. How does the HasLab Rancor fare? Click through for more!

Phil Tippett working on the Rancor maquette

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Gamestop has opened up pre-orders for the most recent Gaming Greats addition: Imperial Senate Guard from The Force Unleashed. Click here for the pre-order page!

BREAKING NEWS!

Well, it seems Hasbro DOES actually listen to fan feedback! They just announced that the Rancor Keeper Malakili will be added to the Rancor! He will come uncarded and will be added to the Rancor as no additional tier, instead he will come no matter what, as soon as the Rancor receives funding. Right now, the Rancor has 4,763 backers. It will need to almost double that number in the next six days to be successful!

So, what is your opinion? Will it change your mind and will you back the Rancor now? Or is it too little too late?

In my opinion Hasbro could have avoided much drama if they had included Malakili from the very beginning. It’s apparent Hasbro hoped to get away with as little as possible, but the fans have spoken. It’s welcome that Hasbro has listened. However, if would be even better if fans didn’t have to voice their displeasure so vehemently for Hasbro to do something! It’s pretty apparent they are quite desperate so late in the campaign.

Click through for Hasbro’s full statement!

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Today’s Bring Home The Bounty announcements included the latest Gaming Greats figure from Gamestop: Imperial Senate Guard. Look for pre-orders to go live tomorrow at 1 PM Eastern. 

On November 19th Hasbro livestreamed their final HasLab Rancor video on YouTube in which they revealed the remaining two tiers. Salacious B. Crumb and a new Luke Skywalker figure. During the livestream the YouTube chat was filled with angry or incredulous comments. First YouTube videos from disappointed collectors who said they would now cancel their Rancor were uploaded that same day, those videos were viewed by a lot of people, often vastly outperforming other videos on those channels, showing an increased level of interest in the shared disappointment. In the days following the livestream the Rancor HasLab lost about 400 backers, it went down from almost 5,150 to below 4,750. So what is the situation now? Click through for more!

Hasbro’s chief of Star Wars marketing at work

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It’s Friday, the perfect time to have some fun! And today’s topic is: Hasbro Star Wars! To better illustrate what it is Star Wars collectors accept and pay money for, let’s take a look at how it would be if other companies did things the way Hasbro’s Star Wars team does them… Click through for more!

A typical Hasbro Star Wars toy

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Ever since Hasbro’s stupendously tone-deaf livestream on Friday the current Star Wars HasLab has lost almost 350 backers. Maybe a small number, at the time I write this 4,811 people still want a Rancor, no matter what-  but still, the damage is done. And the number is still decreasing (actually, 4,808 now).
It should by now be obvious to Hasbro that things are not proceeding as planned. That what maybe they hoped would just be a few disgruntled fans that may cancel their order in the first few hours after the livestream has become something of a real downward trend. It is now Monday morning in the US and anyone at Hasbro who had hoped things will go back to normal will have to realize that no, things are probably not going back to normal. Maybe Hasbro still hopes that the usual boost in the last few days will save the HasLab campaign and make the Rancor a success. Which is certainly a possibility. However, it’s maybe even more likely now that the Rancor HasLab has taken on a new dynamic, a vicious cycle where potential backers see the counter decreasing hour by hour and thus discouraging them from pulling the trigger, because, after all, who wants to back a losing horse at the races?
So what can Hasbro do? What should Hasbro do? Click through to find out.

Artist’s impression of the Monday morning Hasbro Star Wars team meeting

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Hasbro’s Black Series HasLab livestream just ended. The team showed off the painted Rancor prototype and revealed tiers 3 and 4 for the figure, available at 16k and 19k backers. So what are those tiers? Malakili? Giran? Oola? Try again. Tier 3 is a slightly retooled repack and Tier 4 is technically speaking an all new figure, but really just a repack too. What is Hasbro thinking? Click through for more!

Tier 3…..

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Hasbro has now done their full pitch for the TBS HasLab Rancor. Along with the rancor, backers can now hope to unlock:

• Tier 1: Gammorean Guard (POTF Card Back) – 11,000
• Tier 2: Cardboard backdrop diorama with bone accessories – 13,500
• Tier 3: Salacious B. Crumb (ROTJ mini Carc Back) – 16,000
• Tier 4: Luke Skywalker (POTF Card Back) – All new figure – 19,000

So, are you backing? Five minutes before the live stream there were 5,134 backers. Let’s see how those on the fence decide now that they have all of the motivation tiers revealed. Click through for a small gallery and discussion. Let us know if you are backing this.

Click here for the HasLab Rancor Page

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Tune in today at 11 AM Eastern for the latest Hasbro Pulse Fan First Friday featuring the unveiling of the painted model Rancor and the final two stretch goals revealed. Click through and join the discussion and leave your thoughts on the latest reveals. 

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What the HasLab The Black Series 6-inch Rancor needs is an “out of the box” vision like my friend Russ Turk has. A former designer for Toys R Us, Russ mocked up what he would want to see included in the Rancor HasLab campaign. Hasbro is missing the boat by not including world-building with this project. Yes, it’s much harder to world-build in the 6-inch scale, but it’s possible with a clever imagination. Cardboard backdrops and bones are insults.

Hasbro is doing everything to secure a successful campaign for the HasLab The Black Series 6-inch Rancor. But is the effort futile? With lackluster stretch goals and outrageous backer landmarks before you’re entitled to them, this HasLab is souring the customer base. It’s evident Hasbro is in damage-control and panic mode. (more….)

It seems as if Hasbro may become the Rancor’s next meal.

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Gee. Do you think the Hasbro Star Wars team is starting to panic? As confirmed backers back out of backing the Rancor (numbers are going down instead of up), they’ve just announced that on Friday they will show off a painted prototype of the Rancor and reveal the last two stretch goals tiers in the hope to boost the number of supporters. Don’t expect Oola. But expect a repacked/retooled Luke Skywalker (Jedi Knight), probably in The Power Of The Force packaging too, and another lackluster reveal. Or will they surprise us?

JTA has just received intel of the next two Tiers: Tier 3 for 15,500 backers, and Tier 4 for 20,000 backers. Click the image below for the reveal! These next two tiers are bound to reduce the number of current backers further to a much lower number, as evidenced by what Tier 2 did to the backer count today!

*drumroll please* For the second stretch goal (13,500 backers) you can get (what appears to be) a cardboard backdrop and some bones. How is that for motivation? I don’t know, I’m just spitballing here, but shouldn’t a cardboard backdrop already be a part of the packaging diorama? So, does this motivate you any? Let us know if this changes your mind in our comments!

Exciting news, StarWars fans! It’s time to reveal the second stretch goal for the Star Wars The Black Series The Rancor HasLab. When this project reaches 13,500 backers, it unlocks movie-inspired bone accessories and a detailed world-building backdrop to create your very own movie-inspired display!

The not quite cheap Ghostbusters proton pack was fully funded on Friday, the campaign crossed the 7,000 backers threshold and that means Ghostbusters fans can look forward to a really good locking, though quite expensive, proton pack replica. Meanwhile the Rancor crossed the 50% mark on Friday. If the Hasbro livestream was meant to convince people to back the Rancor it had little effect, not all that many people gave the Rancor their support today. The GI Joe Skystriker HasLab also crossed the 50% threshold just now, but both it and the Rancor have slowed down a lot and it will take quite some time before both are fully funded. Now why a $400 Ghostbusters proton pack is fully funded after one week while the $350 Rancor is gaining backers at a snail’s pace and won’t be fully funded for another few weeks is anyone’s guess. There are apparently lots more Ghostbusters fans out there than one might guess. Or maybe people are afraid of ghosts and need something to protect themselves from supernatural apparitions… if you want something to fight ghosts with you can of course still back the proton pack on HasLab.

The Ghostbusters Proton Pack

The Hasbro HasLab Rancor livestream just ended and not much was actually revealed. Hasbro showed photos of a very first prototype, not the actual prototype itself though. And they revealed the very first tier that becomes available once 11,000 people back the Rancor. And what is that tier? A repacked Gamorrean Guard on a Power of the Force card with coin… Click through for a few photos!

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Get ready for the next live stream from Hasbro. Starting at 11 AM Eastern. Use this article for comments and discussion! What are you hoping to see? Will this focus solely on The Black Series? The Rancor HasLab only? Might we see all of the TBS leaks from earlier this week officially revealed? Will TVC be lost in the shuffle this time? We’ll post a follow-up after the event breaking down any news. 

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Hasbro is having another Fan First Friday event this Friday at 11 AM where the topic will The Black Series Haslab Rancor. Click here for the event page.

Week 4 of Bring Home the Bounty showcases the already sold out Walmart exclusive The Black Series Clone Wars figures. But wait… they were available again! But sold out. Maybe they will go back up? Keep checking! I didn’t see the other two in stock, but General Grievous was available for a short time when I checked. Also revealed is the Clone Wars packaging for this set.

Hasbro Pulse has dropped the pre-order for the Lucasfilm 50th Anniversary Princess Leia Organa (Yavin-4), featured on the commemorative The Power of the Force [Green] Card Back. Click here for the pre-order page!

Here is also a closer look at three of the Walmart exclusive The Vintage Collection Clone Wars figures by Genndy Tartakovsky!

With special thanks to JTA reader Matthew W., we have a look at some upcoming and unannounced The Black Series [Phase IV] 6-inch figures including Bib Fortuna (ROTJ), Ponda Baba (ANH), Fennec Shand (The Book Of Boba Fett), Migs Mayfeld (Moraki), (The Mandalorian), Stormtrooper (Jedha Patrol) (RO), Boba Fett (The Mandalorian), Doctor Evazan (ANH), and Princess Leia Organa (Yavin 4) (ANH). Click the image below for a closer look!

The Black Series Rancor HasLab was launched 9 days ago. One day after the Rancor the very first GI Joe HasLab followed. And while the GI Joe HasLab is quite different, it’s much cheaper, it may still be interesting to compare the two. So where is the Rancor after 9 days and how does it compare to the GI Joe Skystriker? Click through for more info!

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