Hasbro possibly doing Tron?

adrienveidt said:
I'm not sure an interior light would make a lightcycle look better since they never had any point-sources or glow to them. The 'circuit glow' was mostly in the set walls but not seen in the CGI exterior shots of the vehicles; and only in the interior of the Recognizer since it was, again, a full set unlike the lightcycle interior, imho. Something to make the lightTRAIL light up as it emerges, maybe; but not the bike itself; and you could get that effect with just a bit of GitD mixed into the plastic itself.

I still think this is exactly the sort of project HasLab should be for, stuff that wouldn't survive on store shelves based on *lots* of evidence; and that the prices as I've estimated them are reasonable for modern grownup toys. I think this project's failure is an indicator that HasLab as a concept is itself a failure since the only successes it's had are things that can arguably survive at retail as well as any other product of that license has done. HasLab only succeeds in cases where it's not needed.
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I'd argue that this projects failure has more to do with the perceived value than anything else. 3.75 figures with some lightcycles and a cool base...for $250? Sorry, I just don't see these as being worth what they're asking. I love Tron, but there is no way I'd plunk down this kind of cash for that kind of offering.

I also don't think things like the Sentinel or Galactus would work at retail. To get a product like that in stores, they'd have to be produced in much bigger numbers than a HasLab, and there is no way they'd sell enough to justify that kind of expense. Retailers are also going to be hesitant to stock them, as they don't want to be stuck with a large toy taking up valuable retail space that likely won't move until it's on clearance.
 
Yeah, I’ve seen numerous Titan class Transformers go on clearance over the years, even guys like Fort Max, never mind the more obscure ones. There’s no guarantee at all that Galactus, the Sentinel or Giant Man wouldn’t have done likewise.

I do feel a lot of the stubbornness and anger from certain vocal sections consumers about this kind of thing really boils down to them being mad they can’t just swoop in and buy a host of bargains on clearance a few months later. Which I get, who doesn’t love a bargain? But there’s a complete lack of realism on their part to accept if firms get burnt enough times line that, they'll just stop playing.
 
TheGillMan said:
I'd argue that this projects failure has more to do with the perceived value than anything else. 3.75 figures with some lightcycles and a cool base...for $250? Sorry, I just don't see these as being worth what they're asking. I love Tron, but there is no way I'd plunk down this kind of cash for that kind of offering.
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Yeah. I don't care about Tron at all, so I wouldn't be in on this if they were 5 dollars and came with a five dollar bill in the package. BUT, this is a 60-80 dollar boxed set at any retail store. Asking 250 bucks for it is grotesque.
 
TheGillMan said:
I'd argue that this projects failure has more to do with the perceived value than anything else. 3.75 figures with some lightcycles and a cool base...for $250? Sorry, I just don't see these as being worth what they're asking. I love Tron, but there is no way I'd plunk down this kind of cash for that kind of offering.

I also don't think things like the Sentinel or Galactus would work at retail. To get a product like that in stores, they'd have to be produced in much bigger numbers than a HasLab, and there is no way they'd sell enough to justify that kind of expense. Retailers are also going to be hesitant to stock them, as they don't want to be stuck with a large toy taking up valuable retail space that likely won't move until it's on clearance.
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That could be the case for pretty much any Haslab offering. Price is always going to be either the most important factor, or top two for any Haslab. There have been a number of Haslabs that failed and perceived value is usually the biggest reason why they failed.

However there is also something to be said for popularity of the brand. I can't say for certain obviously but I would hazard a guess that Tron is niche even in the action figure market. So would there be 10,000 people interested in this even at a lower price? I believe there is for this type of offering at a lower price point. However that isn't always the case as you can find lots of clearance stuff that never seems to sell because of the brand/IP. Marvel Legends MCU Eternals comes to mind.

I agree with you about large items like Galactus and the Sentinel. Which is why I am still puzzled by the TF brand still offering large Titan class figures at retail. Granted I don't see them on the shelves of the big stores (just EBGames) so it is probably an easier sell when the stores don't have to use actual shelf space.
 
I'd definitely agree that Tron is niche, and interest would be fairly low no matter what. I think you might get SOME people to bite at a MUCH lower price point, but even then it's questionable. For me, I don't really do 3.75 figures, but I MIGHT be tempted to get a single figure and lightcycle packaged together as set on its own if I happened upon it at retail (and it was a decent price). If I liked that set, then I might get more of the line to have a small Tron display, but even then that is a whole lot of maybes. To try to sell one big bundle of a brand new line that no one has had a chance to check out, and to try to get folks to fork over $250 for it? That just seems insane to me.
 
Sorry I misspoke about lights in other lines - I was going from memory and totally forgot about Zordon (which I have - although the battery died quickly). I don't have any big ticket GI Joe - whoops.

Also those SW Centerpiece statues - all four of those had lights, and I own all four! Mostly because they were great diorama options, but also the lights looked great. Batteries did not last long, though.
 
Revox said:
Yeah, I’ve seen numerous Titan class Transformers go on clearance over the years, even guys like Fort Max, never mind the more obscure ones. There’s no guarantee at all that Galactus, the Sentinel or Giant Man wouldn’t have done likewise.
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Going to clearance doesn't mean the product itself was a financial failure. If they were unprofitable they wouldn't keep making Titans at all.

Damien said:
BUT, this is a 60-80 dollar boxed set at any retail store. Asking 250 bucks for it is grotesque.
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C'mon, this is ridiculous underpricing. Even when Legacy was out 5 of those shitty SpinApprentice figures with no torso artic, garbage-ass light effect that lit up like a vacuum tube Turing himself used, and miserably-shit joint engineering would have been $50.
 
adrienveidt said:
C'mon, this is ridiculous underpricing. Even when Legacy was out 5 of those shitty SpinApprentice figures with no torso artic, garbage-ass light effect that lit up like a vacuum tube Turing himself used, and miserably-shit joint engineering would have been $50.
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Gotta disagree. I'd say the figures you're talking about were way OVERpriced. To me, this set should be, at most, $60. I just don't see the value beyond that. These aren't lighting up or doing anything special...they're just 1/18 figures with some vehicles and a base. They are far from being $250 worth of anything.
 
adrienveidt said:
Going to clearance doesn't mean the product itself was a financial failure. If they were unprofitable they wouldn't keep making Titans at all.


C'mon, this is ridiculous underpricing. Even when Legacy was out 5 of those shitty SpinApprentice figures with no torso artic, garbage-ass light effect that lit up like a vacuum tube Turing himself used, and miserably-shit joint engineering would have been $50.
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I agree that the amount of unique tooling they are putting into this (mostly in regards to the figures) is another part of the cost. Along with the licensing fees as well because this is Disney after all. Then of course just the increase that has come with tariffs et al.

However they have shown in certain situations they can drop the price. Look at the recent O-ring Ghostbusters 4 pack. Yes that was mostly one mold reuse, but still they managed to get 4 O-ring figures in one pack for $11 each, and according to a couple of different accounts O-ring isn't exactly cheap to make. Conservatively I would say the Tron figures are 3x that price individually. I don't know that $30ish dollars per figure is reasonable.

Either way it looks like it is all moot because this thing isn't going to fund and that will probably be the end of Tron figures from Hasbro. I know they have the Tron: Legacy 6" figures coming as well, but I doubt they'll do any better than the Indiana Jones figures.
 
adrienveidt said:
C'mon, this is ridiculous underpricing. Even when Legacy was out 5 of those shitty SpinApprentice figures with no torso artic, garbage-ass light effect that lit up like a vacuum tube Turing himself used, and miserably-shit joint engineering would have been $50.
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I can go on BBTS right now and get a 5-pack of Star Wars Vintage Collection Night Troopers w/ Enoch, AND an entire Mos Eisley playset for 123 dollars. That's not direct from Hasbro, either. That's including BBTS's profit margin mark-up.

I could get TWO Speeder Bikes, with drivers, for 92 dollars. That would leave me with 158 dollars, from the HasLab price here, to source two more articulated 4" action figures. No matter how you slice it, that price is something every toy collector should find absolutely fucking insulting.
 
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