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Bringing the HasLab Gunship to Life with Hasbro's Steve Evans
113 Plays10 hours ago
He's our friend. He's your friend. He's friend to all—this week we are once again joined by the incomparable Senior Director of Fan Product Design at Hasbro, Steve Evans to talk all about the Star Wars the Vintage Collection Republic Gunship HasLab campaign—AND—to answer some of YOUR burning questions about it.
You have until 11:59p ET on September 8th to back the Gunship—what are YOU waiting for?
BACK THE GUNSHIP
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Intro and other voices by Joe Azzari
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Theme Music is "Game Boy Horror" by the Zombie Dandies
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Transcript
Introduction of 'Adventures in Collecting'
00:00:03
Speaker
Are you ready, kids? Get your parents permission, check your mailbox and grab your shopping cart. It's time for the Adventures in Collecting podcast. I'm Eric.
00:00:15
Speaker
And I'm Dave. Welcome to Adventures in Collecting, where we talk toy news, culture and hauls, along with our journeys as collectors.
Episode Tone and Star Wars Focus
00:00:27
Speaker
Hello, everybody, and welcome back to Adventures in Collecting. Hi, Dave. You are not in your bedroom. No, I flew out to Tatooine for this one.
00:00:42
Speaker
did you Did you did you from the Chicago Bears war room ah to Tatooine? Yeah, yeah. um Well, you you know you picked you picked a very busy time to travel. Of course, it's it's Labor Day here in the U.S. Yeah, it is.
00:01:00
Speaker
Yeah, it's it's it is Labor Day. I don't know what i don't know how many cycles weigh away from Labor Day you are out there on the ah the outer rim. Yeah, it's... I don't know as far...
00:01:11
Speaker
The longest flight I've ever taken. Was it far, far away? yeah there you go. Yeah, see? um In case all of the terrible puns have not given it away, or in fact the title of the episode or the thing that you clicked on on YouTube, ah we are going to be talking all about ah Star Wars today. In fairness, if it's autoplay on your favorite podcast app, it just you didn't see the title.
00:01:37
Speaker
which I hope it's on autoplay on your favorite podcast app. That would be amazing. um But if you have been living under a a rock on Tatooine, or maybe you've just been too busy farming moisture, um you might have
HasLab Campaign and Vintage Collection
00:01:51
Speaker
missed that. ah Don't account for power converters.
00:01:55
Speaker
Maybe you just heard a lot of that here. Maybe you just have a bad motivator and and you haven't made a decision yet. um I did find the sense of water here, though. Listen, this is going to happen for the next like hour. So just buckle up. um if you if if If you didn't notice, ah Hasbro has a new ah HasLab campaign out ah in ah in a line that is near and dear to to both of us, especially especially me.
00:02:23
Speaker
um The Vintage Collection. So ah we've got a new HasLab to talk about, and who better to talk about the new HasLab than ah than Friend.
Interview with Steve Evans from Hasbro
00:02:32
Speaker
and returning guests. So today on Adventures in Collecting, we are welcoming back a friend of the show and someone whose work has had a massive impact on Star Wars collectors everywhere. He's the Senior Director of Fan Product Design at Hasbro and a lifelong Star Wars fan, and one of the key creative minds behind the Vintage Collection.
00:02:51
Speaker
And now he's here to talk all about the latest HasLab project, the Republic gunship. Please welcome back to the show. He's our friend. He's your friend.
00:03:03
Speaker
He has traveled long and far to join us. Steve Evans, welcome back to Adventures in Blackman. I actually just came down from my lounge to my basement. It wasn't that far. Dave, I love Dave.
00:03:16
Speaker
Like, Dave, your humor is as dry as a sand jeans, man. I love it. I actually love it. Hello. How you boys doing? It's been a while. I'm good. Yeah, yeah, it has it has been a while.
00:03:29
Speaker
So, yeah, we're good. We were up at Chubsies, weren't we? Yeah, it was. Yeah, that's right. Actually, that wasn't that long ago, really. in In the grand scheme of things, we saw each other not that long ago. But it's good to see you again.
00:03:40
Speaker
And I'm glad you got pictures now. Last time we spoke, I think, it was just podcasts. You grabbed Dave out the shadows and brought him out the big wide world of televisual extravaganza. I love it.
00:03:52
Speaker
Yep. Yep. And he's doing great. is that Let me tell you, he's doing great. I've gotten used to it quite well. Yeah. Yeah. You've adjusted. You've adjusted.
Generational Impact of Toy Collecting
00:04:03
Speaker
It's a, you know, it's it's the the audio dynamic is one thing, but seeing how, you know, the the highs and lows of the Weinbrecht brothers next. Yeah. Next to each other on your screen. It ah it really. It's supposed to mean, I don't know. which i don't want to do why can't they be the same i would think to this day they're still that way and i and i'm getting it i'm getting it paid back through my children they're definitely the littlest one is definitely me and i can i'm just i can like hear my mom saying all of the things that she said to me as i say them to her and realize that karma so yeah it turns out it turns out like weirdo is is a gene that's passable as well so
00:04:44
Speaker
And we're proud of it. Yeah, weird, weird. i wear or wear my weird proudly. Yeah. Yeah. Anyway, it's nice to see you again, boys. Yes. Always a pleasure. And like I like i just said, we have a lot we have a lot to talk about. A pretty big big thing to talk about. um And that's the the Republic
Republic Gunship Design and Significance
00:05:03
Speaker
gunship. So ah this isn't the first time ah the Vintage Collection has gone...
00:05:09
Speaker
this big with a a HasLab vehicle, but the Republic gunship is really massive. um Can you talk about what made this ship the right choice for a HasLab now here in 2025? Yeah, i think I think we can all agree that you know we've been seeing a lot prequel energy build up.
00:05:32
Speaker
you whether it's at celebration with Hayden coming on and just general, I kind of sound so old, like your generation, you youngsters, that sort of prequel generation that where I like started at Hasbro in 99, just when episode one came out, I literally got the job because I thought I could get freestyle horse figures. It turns out I i could.
00:05:50
Speaker
And um it was it was just such a time. And it's weird to think that that was 20 odd years ago, more than that. And, um, I think we've had that resurgence. That's come back.
00:06:01
Speaker
know, the prequels are hot. Hayden Christensen is like, that is hailed like the new, the new, not the new Messiah. It's a bit grand, but like the reception he gets. And we're seeing a lot of energy in both Black Series and Vintage on on prequels and the demand and the wants and the ask for sort of more prequel.
00:06:20
Speaker
jedis and clones etc etc and we're like you know what we should we should dig back in we had tatooine in 25 as our main story so the ot crew got their fix it's like let's let's bring some pretty cool love back into it for uh for 26 obviously launching in 25 like we do with normally with hazlabs we launch and then we follow up with the theme now in in 26 so We looked at the prequels and we looked at, all right, let's do a ship. We did a play set last time with the Cantina, which is winging its way to many people now and it'll still keep coming.
00:06:52
Speaker
And we were like, what's prequel ships? So we you know what's a prequel ship that's worthy of that sort of HasLab treatment, whether it's size or premium or just kind of impact and presence within your collection and the gunship was a pretty easy one to do so we went let's go and make a definitive gunship so we did that's why we chose it yeah yeah and you know arguably that that moment if you are to think about ships that are can be completed within reason. Right. You know, so some of them are still pretty big.
00:07:23
Speaker
um You know, this does play a pivotal role in the Attack of the Clones film and, you know, and carries through as kind of a visual representation of the clone army throughout the Clone Wars. So, yeah, yeah. I mean, it's it's definitely, you know, a piece of like the larger iconography from from the the prequel era. So I totally totally agree. yeah absolutely.
00:07:43
Speaker
I also think of like, you know, the the whole order 66 part in episode three as well. yeah ah Yeah, that's the other thing. you it carries It carries through, yeah whether it's Clone Wars, Mandalorian, it's seen in that. So I think it epitomizes that Clone Wars prequel there, which I think is the most popular aspect of it.
00:08:01
Speaker
Some people may disagree. they Everyone's got their own bit that they like the best, but we're just like, yeah, let's do a it's do a real gunship. That's awesome. And speaking of the ship, it is huge, highly detailed and has a ton of moving parts.
00:08:16
Speaker
um So what were some of the biggest design challenges um you and the team faced in bringing this ship to life at this scale, at this ah TVC scale? I think you know the good news is that you know Chris Reif is the lead design on on the on the gunship and Emily leads design on the on the figures for this, for our house lab and for this one in particular.
00:08:38
Speaker
Chris has got an amazing history with Star Wars, probably 30-year history, not just with Hasbro, but working with various people and working directly with Lucasfilm. And he's you know he's been intrinsically involved in light a lot of the you know cutaway books and things like that. so this So Ships and him are like cookies and cream. They're just like perfect. So like...
00:09:00
Speaker
There's always a challenge. and We always like a challenge, but like he's a he is he's the perfect guy for it. So I think, you know, there's obviously a challenge in terms of size. How big should it be? We have a we have a sort of a working rule within within Kenner and Hasbro that, you know, big ships reasonably hit like 75, 80 percent of of the actual scale proportionate scale to three, seven, five.
00:09:20
Speaker
You know, there are some things we can do that are smaller than 100 percent. But when you get bigger, it starts disproportionately get really, really big. So it's like, ah how big can we make it? so that it is the right size for our figures.
00:09:31
Speaker
And also, you know, knowing that there's the gunship that was done in 2002, that mold, like that it's a definite upgrade and it is a definitive version. So I wouldn't say that was necessarily the challenge. That's probably from the joy of it.
00:09:45
Speaker
I think the biggest challenge might be um ah we mentioned that it goes through different movies and different iterations. And there are there are things with the turrets, there are things with the lights. And so it's it's the choice of which one do we do? you know we've We've got swappable plates in there that can kind of swap out different insignia and things. So we try and give as much,
00:10:05
Speaker
ah as much vari variety as we can within the deco scheme, because obviously that there are blue ones and there are different color ones. So I think that was probably the biggest challenge. Which one do we do? And how can we make it customizable as much as we can ah without ever having the wrong parts on it? Does that make sense?
00:10:26
Speaker
So yeah that was probably the biggest challenge. Like, which one do we do? And we just, we kind of fell back to that first appearance, Attack of the Clones, and just that sort of, that seems to be the, the control version, the stat that not the standard the most iconic version. It's when you first see it's when you first introduce the Clone Wars began and it was just like, that's that's where we start. That's the one we do.
00:10:47
Speaker
Yeah. And I mean, i see stuff like this, right? And as as somebody who came into Star Wars toys and in in the 90s, you know, with the the relaunch of Power of the Force, and, you i you know, I had the opportunity to play with some of Dave's original Power of the Force figures, you know, when I was little.
00:11:02
Speaker
But, like, I can remember getting the Millennium Falcon for the first time. And as a kid, like... Oh, great. I can squeeze Han and Chewie in here if I try real hard, you know, like especially those Han, that version of Han and Chewie. You had to learn leverage physics very early. Also, they were jacked. So like they were sitting like, you know, arm in arm. Yeah, it was the same mode as well, isn't it?
00:11:24
Speaker
yeah you know the the 90s uh so seeing you know images like this uh you know revisiting that toy as an adult and obviously going like hey wait i've i saw that movie you could fit more people in there um you know seeing you know these images where you have the individual pods and like the uh i was trying to find it in the all these these images that you guys took by the way are like super cool and and really showing you know scale like this one, for instance, like like seeing that, like, oh, you can have somebody in the jump seat. You can have them hanging on to the rail and like all of just like the different display options and seeing that, you know you've got a scale, like you said, that um looks right with the figures like ah yeah they can fit in the doorways. They can sit. They look kind of comfortable in there um and they can sit down. They can bend their legs and sit down instead of like, you know, instead of just going
Nostalgia and Modern Collectibles
00:12:16
Speaker
or yeah they can yeah if if you want to you can bend the legs and fit them in and get the hands up and get it all just just chef's kiss so and i think the pods actually show kind of with the figure in the pod shows really the scale of this at at its best kind of like judge of how big it is right like that's an actual three and three quarter inch or Yeah, three three quarter inch figure in this pod that is a small part of this large ship.
00:12:47
Speaker
Yeah, and the pods aren't crazy out of proportion with the rest of the ship. So i think that's it's about balance and scale and just yeah proportions. You know, the proportions are quite different to this, like ah versus previous ones. So.
00:13:01
Speaker
Yeah, but the the biggest challenge was, which one do we do? So this is the one we went for? Yes, there are loads of others we could have done, but we went for this one. And, you know, ah to that point, right? I mean, this is... I know it's i know it's a big piece, and, you know, it has ah it has a price tag, but, like, this is an an army... Technically an army-building piece. You know, if you have the means and, you know, you have the you know the desire, you could...
00:13:26
Speaker
buy several of these and you could make those different deco changes. You guys included you know different you know sticker sets and plates and things that you can you can do that with, right? and Yeah. and yeah i mean we we like We know that a lot of people go in for these. yeah know we know there are We know there are collectors that will get one.
00:13:44
Speaker
We know the collectors that might not get it. We know the collectors that don't know about it. and We know the collectors that buy seven and like put them all up and have a bigger space than I do to kind of do it. so it's It's like, how do we how do we allow for anyone to kind of collect it the way they want to, which is, you know, which is the beautiful thing about Star Wars. You know, there's a lot of Star Wars collectors out there and they like it, like to do things differently. So it's like, how do we find that sweet spot that allows people to do things the way they want to do it? we yeah We do our very, very best to do that for you.
00:14:16
Speaker
And we we started talking about it, but walk us through some some of the like real like key features and details outside of that just that 20% larger footprint. um what What really sets this apart from ah not only you know other gunships that have been produced, but just kind of in general as ah as a new HasLab?
00:14:34
Speaker
Yeah, I think, so I think, you know, look but let's that's not, there has been previous gunships we did. the heard That mold was done in 2002, so 23 years ago. so And it, look, I love that toy. Like my son, he's 22 now, when he was, however old he was, oh my goodness. He was like five, i went we went and saw Clone Wars at the cinema, Snips and all that little little little stinky.
00:14:58
Speaker
And he was mad into it. And i we got in one of the gunships that we made at the time. And as a parent, I was like, this is huge. My goodness, it's massive. And as like a little five-year-old, he was almost like in it. you know There's nothing better than a toy you can play with when you're in it.
00:15:13
Speaker
Or ground level, you play on your tummy and you've got your figures and it's just all-encompassing. So you know that that's a great toy. That was a great toy. And it's a toy, all right? And there's nothing wrong with that.
00:15:25
Speaker
Love it. It's super charming. I've still got Sam's. It's bat to hell. But it's it looks great. I think the different thing with this one is this is – This is the definitive gunship. The the scale is o much larger.
00:15:38
Speaker
You know, volumetrically, it's like 25, I think it's 24%. So when you when you scale that up that way, that way, and that way, it's quite considerably bigger. And I think people that have come and seen it at San Diego and and at FanX where I've gone, oh my goodness, I didn't realize how big it was So I think scale is one thing, but it's not the only thing. It's not, it's actually not the most important thing in a way. I think proportions for me.
00:15:58
Speaker
So when when we were designing this, And Chris was building. He says, I've got the model. We make one one prototype model. There's one model in existence. There's one gunship, one definitive gunship in the world at the moment.
00:16:10
Speaker
And I say, you know what? What I'd really like to do, want you to save it, build it all up, get it all painted. And I want you to kind of show me it next to the classic, you know, the classic 2002 mold gunship, because I kind of want to get a look at it and I want to I'll know instantly how different it is. and i remember walking into the Star Wars war room that we have and I was like, oh my goodness, wow, first size.
00:16:32
Speaker
Then I was like, is that the right, proportion it looks really stubby and my my brain was like it doesn't look right is it because the actual toy itself is actually quite elongated like if you go back to that one that shows a scale for me yeah absolutely like you flip around like crazy no that's okay you go back to that that's what these are here for yeah you'll see that the um
00:16:56
Speaker
You see that the the note, it's quite stretched. The toy, the original toy is quite stretched out, whereas actually it's quite stubby. And I was like, is that right? And so we pulled up ah the CAD that we had from Lucasfilm and we overlaid it and it was like spot on. was like, oh my goodness, it's actually very different. The proportions are completely different.
00:17:13
Speaker
So that's another thing. The proportions are correct. and And in my mind, things need to be as correct as they can be for TV. See, that's the whole point of that. premium world building thing, like we try and get everything correct.
00:17:25
Speaker
So it's proportion, it's clearly the detail, like the amount of line scribes and detail that we can get in there, we can get the netting and the racks inside and the chairs. So the ability of being bigger and it being TVC is that we can now put in all those details, like those chairs, you sit in those chairs, those pods, you sit in the pods and they're a decent size, you get all the detail scribes.
00:17:44
Speaker
And this is just, this what you're seeing here is just the renderings, the early development renderings. know, I was with Chris today. wish We're taking the gunship tomorrow out to and ah to Red 5, our friends out in East Longmeadow.
00:17:56
Speaker
And we were updating the deco. Like he said, I need to take this. And he went off and he went out to the model shop and added some extra deco that they found. So we're always developing it. So there's more and more detail going into it, more scribings and deco and and and details and things. So I think...
00:18:10
Speaker
Details, how many times I say details? i gonna say again, details is is kind of key. And then obviously swappable panels, you've got the turrets included, you've got, now it's bigger, you've got like little storage areas that you can take off stuff, you've got rotating missiles.
00:18:24
Speaker
So it's all the, all the finicky bits or greeblies, as we call all the greeblies. Mark Boudreau used to call it greeblies. There's that word. Love that word. It's all about greeblies. And there are very specific greeblies for imperial, for republic, for rebels. And I remember back in the day, Mark, God rest his soul, he had a little book of just greeble marks, greebly marks.
00:18:45
Speaker
So when he would do like... As Abbey did the barge, he would go, I don't actually know much about hut grieblies. I must go and research them. So there's a whole load of language put in it that...
00:18:59
Speaker
Mark had great history on and Chris has that great history on and he they kind of know the marks to make and where things go. And if there are bits that he doesn't know, he doesn't have reference on, he can make it up because he knows the language of Republic or Imperial. How that makes sense. So yeah, it's just, it's just a lot more intricacies with, with this gunship compared to the the first, the first toy.
00:19:25
Speaker
I don't know what, if that's a toy, i don't know what this is. It's a, It's a work of art, a centerpiece. I'll leave it to people to name it, whatever they want to name. it Well, I mean, like like the other the other three HazLab ships so far, I'm waiting patiently waiting for my cantina. But I'm i'm currently looking across camera at my Razorcrest, at my barge, and at at the Ghost.
00:19:49
Speaker
And I mean, they they are they are. They are centerpiece. Each one of them could be a centerpiece to my you know to my display, to my collection. The barge is the centerpiece. um But like each one could effectively be, right? Like...
00:20:04
Speaker
Um, and that's one of the things that I, I think I'm so happy you guys are taking this thing out, uh, that the, the prototype out for people to see hands on.
00:20:15
Speaker
yeah Um, my wife is, this she's going, but are you going out again? Where are you going Yeah. That's okay. were we're We're talking to you in the future, right? Because it's September 1st when this airs. But I'll also have probably seen you this weekend. Oh, great. It was lovely you to have seen you. Yeah. so i'm um'm i'm hoping I'm hoping to get out to Red 5 on that the Saturday.
00:20:35
Speaker
um but uh but yeah that's one of the things that i i always stress to people and i've and i've not the barge the barge came into the house stayed in the house and will and has never left and it will only leave if i move if i die or if my house is on fire because it's very i'm grabbing but um almost uh but like with when when i got the barge when i got uh the ghost i actually took them to some friends houses because i was just like you guys like other like toy collectors that i'm friends with that don't necessarily you know, dabble in vintage collection, they might be black series people, they might be, you know, Marvel Legends people and like you just have to see this thing. Like, look at this like these, you know, I don't I mean this and as a term of deer, but these like stupid little details on the inside, like like you can tell which one is Sabine's bunk because there's, you know, the way the curtains are on. And it's like these little tiny things that are that are you don't find in a toy.
00:21:30
Speaker
but you find in a collectible in this kind of like made to order piece of art. fact Their conversation piece is the same way, like when you go into somebody's house that's like an art collector or anything else or like they have this really cool poster on the wall or something. These are are also that you. You you reminded me as you were telling that story, Eric, about how you take it to people's houses and people are kind of engaging with it. It's like and with this ship in particular,
00:21:57
Speaker
And I think the Razorcrest had it as well. This is such an interesting shape that it's actually quite... We're finding there's a lot of people who are interested in it who aren't TVC collectors that are just like, I love that ship. What is that? And it's just a display piece.
00:22:14
Speaker
You know, forget, oh, I put my figures in there. like are They just like the shape of it. It's just a very Star Wars-ian. Is that even a word? I don't know. Is that a word? Star Wars-ian? It is now. should be. It's just, this you know, they're very geometric. You've got the triangle. the And it's just people are going, that's cool. What's that?
00:22:30
Speaker
So that that I'm really encouraged. And I've never really thought about it like that. I've always thought, well, these are for TVC collectors and things. But, like, there are people who like Star Wars or like ships that are going, that's – Pretty impressive. What is that? So that's encouraging. Think about that more.
00:22:46
Speaker
It's like it's like a it's like a sculpture. Ultimately, ultimately and like the at the end of the day. And I mean, like, it's funny, right? Like the this comes with a beautiful, you know, the one of those bases that like, you know, typical.
00:22:57
Speaker
But like my ghost, thanks shouts to um nostalgic Adam on ah on Instagram. My ghost is on a guitar stand. Of course, yeah. And it's amazing. Like it fits in a spot that I never didn't think in a million years I would be able to get it on and display it like fully without the you know the sides off.
00:23:14
Speaker
And like now the first thing that you see when you come up the stairs to my office is the ghosts proudly displayed. So yeah's pride but I took my wing off. So I feel you know me, I like to keep it up there.
00:23:25
Speaker
So like yeah on this one as well, I said, no, the wing comes off and I can take the engine off so I can actually slot it on top of my debt off when we fund it and it arrives. well Yeah, let's do that. Because I like it's really weird.
00:23:37
Speaker
it's really weird um my my bones are too bad for me to get on the carpet and play out my feet play with my ships, but I do like, I always like to be eye level with the figures.
00:23:48
Speaker
That's probably coming out really loud, I'm sorry. So like when it's up on the dead off, I'm a lanky six foot three. So when I stand up and look at it, you can see my roll trap. I am...
00:23:59
Speaker
With my figures. Yeah. And yeah that's important to me. that's Personally, that's really important to be able to get on that because like that's the thing I loved the most as a kid, getting down on my nan and granddad's shag pile carpet. That was Hoth.
00:24:13
Speaker
And everything was down. Sorry. Waxing poetic. No, that's fine. That's what this is all about. That's what we're here for. Yeah. Yeah. So we kind of alluded to it.
00:24:24
Speaker
already but um you know vintage collection has always been about accuracy at scale so how did you balance making this both a playable piece um and a playable vehicle as well as that show piece that we were just talking about for the collectors that just want to display so playability is very interesting and that's that's like ah we talk about that quite a lot and i talk about that with people at the cons and we we chat about it at work a lot this idea of what does play mean now for us and sometimes we'll put little things like in the barge we got like little trap doors still and little the little cell you know still you know we don't do missile firings anymore like i certainly don't put nerf firing things in anymore for the tvc but it's like so we always put a pit on that and and we haven't got missile firing here but the little things rotate and they're little cubby holes you can put people in like little medical bays and things so it's always there's always going to be a sense of fun or
00:25:20
Speaker
interest in there because we all like to have a little play every once in a while. But I think the the biggest part of playing now for for us collectors is this display. Is this like, I want to put it and I want my figures and I want them spilling out and I want them to put against some bad guys.
00:25:37
Speaker
And I want to get that sense of what I did when I was a kid, where I would be doing it don do And I know we all come do it sometimes, but generally it's that it's, it's that capturing the essence, but in a displayable piece. So when your friends see it or you look at it, you remember those times.
00:25:55
Speaker
So I think oh yeah playability is more about displayability because i think that's how we play now and let yeah play for me is reorganizing all of this and changing it around. So like, I got my ghost there.
00:26:07
Speaker
But I might move my ghost and I'll bring gunship and put that there and play with it again by displaying it. So I think that's the that's my deep ethos on play and display. But it's it's important. but We've got to have fun in our lives. you know Life's hard at the moment.
00:26:21
Speaker
And just getting any little bit of joy is really important. So yeah yeah never stop playing. I've said it a billion times and people get fed up. But it's like I really, really, really do believe in that.
00:26:34
Speaker
Well, that's the thing I like about the Razorcrest. Like, I think that's one of the coolest things is the fact that there's that whole, um like, almost like cubby bay of where you assume, like, you know, ah Mando sleeps and hangs out and stores all the carbonite people and all the weapons that go in there. And it's just like seeing that actually exist on...
00:27:00
Speaker
the um the razor crest and that seeing that detail now move forward on every other hazlab and back from the the barge is just like that's the the chef's kiss like play moment i think is just you see you get to store all these weapons like you used to like or that you always hoped you could yeah and now a word from our sponsors
00:27:26
Speaker
This segment is brought to you by our friends at Chubsy Wubsy Toys. A traditional mom and pop toy store in Little Falls, New Jersey, Chubsy Wubsy Toys brings you the best new toys from the brands you love without the hassle of pounding the pavement searching for them at larger retail stores.
00:27:43
Speaker
Visit them in person at their brand new home at 101 Newark Pompton Turnpike Suite 1 in Little Falls, New Jersey, or online at chubzywubzy.com.
00:27:55
Speaker
That's
00:28:01
Speaker
And tell them Adventures in Collecting sent you.
00:28:07
Speaker
And now, back to the show. And, and for me, it's the photography part of it. So like, you I love toy photography. Like for me, that has become my version of play is like lighting these things and like getting the mood right. And, and, and, you know, uh, imposing everybody. And the fact that like, you can get all of these really, really natural poses from, um vintage collection figures, especially now with like the barbell hips, as opposed to those like twists and pivot ones.
00:28:38
Speaker
Um, You know it's just these figures have these figures and these these pieces have come such a long way. And even in in just the construction, right, like like Dave mentioned the Razorcrest, but like, you you know, even on on this, like I can see now just looking at the renders, like all of the pieces that come off, which will allow you to get light into places that like.
00:29:01
Speaker
Yeah. So that way you can make it look like it's... Put that down and light it, or you can leave some walls on this. They designed it with holes and slits in so you can shine and get shafts of light and all this kind of stuff. And like, look, 375 is, you know, a lot of people...
00:29:16
Speaker
i I don't actually, I collect mostly retro stuff. Like I don't actually collect 375, if I'm honest. I don't collect Black Sea. I find it difficult to collect things that are going on and on because I find it intimidating, but some people love it. But like what I love about 375, the scale that makes it unique, and every scale has its own purpose, is that it's obviously world building, right? You can figures, creatures, ships and worlds and play sets and stuff like that. But we've we've coming to a point now where we're getting such a fidelity on what we can do at that scale with photo real and the articulation stuff is that some toy photographers I'm seeing that use 375 are creating these incredible vistas that look like
00:30:02
Speaker
mind-blowing, like mind-blowing, because you've got the ships and the play sets, and they put them in environment. They can shrink down the scale and and still get all that detail. I find it just mind-blowing um how that has changed since our innocent days back in the 70s of just going, clop, clop, clop, with a five-point articulated figure. It's just like, it I'm in it. I do it, and it still blows my mind.
00:30:30
Speaker
Well, I like to tell people that, you know, as as an adult collector, right, you know, I have I have quite a display on my desk at my office at work and like it's I consider it like my overflow. So like I bring a lot of like older things, things that I know I'm not going to need, you know, for the camera and stuff, but things that still, you know, have meaning and purpose to me.
00:30:50
Speaker
But I like when people see my desk, they're like, oh, my God, this is first of all, like overwhelming. Second, can I touch? And I'm like, yeah, please go play. um But. I when people ask me, like, why do you still collect one of the things the reasons like, you know, among many is action figures do now naturally what my imagination made them do when I was bashing them together when I was a kid. Right. Like like I'm just i you know I have I have Hammerhead just sitting next to me and you're going to be on. And this is my most one of my most recent pickups. on the head I do too. hi hello and yeah Mamo Nat on. Okay. Okay.
00:31:30
Speaker
But like the fact that he comes with the the glass of blue milk and he can, he can be raising a toast. Like, it's not like I'm taking ah blue, ah you know, a piece of, of, of rolled up masking tape that I colored half blue and stuck to his hand and like have to imagine that this is happening. Like I can, ah he can hit this pose and I, and I see the, the, the potential with this piece and like you know you guys over over at hasbro one of my favorite like toy community stories shooting the galaxy matt going from being you know uh i mean he's still ah an amazing member of the community but i remember looking at his photography thinking like oh man somebody should hire this guy he's incredible and to see him go from
00:32:17
Speaker
you know, just member of the community, amazing talent to the guy that's actually putting together these dream shots and dioramas at Hasbro. Like just Matt, Matt. I love Matt.
00:32:28
Speaker
Like he is, he's always smiling. He's like a, he's like a little cheeky hamster. He's always smiling with his little chubby cheeks and his beard. often sit, mostly see Matt in the morning when we go, we hit, we hit coffee shop at work and we'll see, and we always, always fist bump, which for an Englishman's really weird.
00:32:44
Speaker
But ah it Matt is my fist bumper. And he's always like, hey, Matt. He's like, hey, how you doing? I said, what are up to? He goes, oh, my God, I'm doing this, this, this. It's just like half past seven in the morning. He's just like, yeah. So it's like, know, I know how it feels to get your dream job. And I love seeing other people that do that as well. Matt is just such a such a lovely, lovely guy. He's one of those guys, like, i don't ah try and dislike him, but I just can't.
00:33:10
Speaker
so man I love you. You know that. But yeah, so it's cool. so yeah so I can't wait to see when this funds when this because we're when, not if yeah we are
Advancements in Toy Design
00:33:23
Speaker
a when podcast, not an if um when this funds. I can't wait to see the product photography that he does for this for the packaging because I'm already like I can already see. We're already setting that up.
00:33:36
Speaker
the The other thing to set that up. The other thing, too, that I've found like outstanding more so about Vintage Collection than anything else, and of course, you know we're talking about clone troopers here who are not necessarily known for their face sculpts, but... Well, we'll get there.
00:33:53
Speaker
but Some of the best face sculpts, I think, that I've been like, you know fall fall on the floor in the middle of like the store, have been the Vintage Collection, like which to me is just more...
00:34:07
Speaker
taking into account like detail and like it's on this smaller thing. So the fact that some of these sculpts of a lot of these sculpts have been the way they are to contribute to even photography and things like that is just phenomenal at this scale.
00:34:24
Speaker
i mean, look at that. Unreal. Yeah, I mean, it's so good. We've come leaps and bounds in in in kind of paint deco apps and things like especially the the facial stuff. And like it is strange sometimes. Sometimes you'll grab a six-inch figure and go, oh, my goodness. But sometimes you'll grab a three-and-three-quarter-inch figure, oh, my goodness. And it's I can't explain it. There's clearly some kind of physics involved because of scale and eyesight and things. And, you know, sometimes when you photograph two pictures tightly to a small one you get to see all the dot matrix you know but when you look at your eye you don't see it it's it's kind of weird like a lens is very different from the eye and everyone's got different eyes and everyone's got different perception of scale when you're holding it so it's it's it's kind of weird but when you get one that you you just i can't tell you the one that i just looked at but i was like
00:35:17
Speaker
the Wow. like the one that Emily, I'm like, wow. I mean, my gosh. ah How? How is this looking? Such fidelity. It's my other favorite word of the night.
00:35:28
Speaker
How do we get the fidelity in that? It's just, it'll, I think it's going to be like one of the top figures of the year when we eventually. Personally, unreal this one was the one for me where I was like, oh, cool. I have a three and three quarter inch Rosaria Dawson. Oh my God.
00:35:45
Speaker
The Jude Law skeleton crew one for me was one where i was like, that is Jude Law's head. like Yeah, when we got to see that the Hasbro breakfast at New York Comic Con last year. Yeah, that was that was insane. That was insane. and So, you know, this project, obviously, you know, it's still we're we're we're still in the process of funding it, you know, but.
00:36:05
Speaker
How long has it been in the works? and like ah you know Take people through a little bit of the development cycle. like What does it take to bring one of these work? Haslabs a little different. Well, I say it's a little different. No, it is.
00:36:19
Speaker
kind of different. It's usually, as we know, and I've been on many interviews, and they always say, how does it take? It's like especially complex thing. It's about 18 months from concept ah to delivery or on-shelf delivery in this case.
00:36:32
Speaker
For Haslabs, we obviously got to spend a lot of time up front choosing it, getting it approved and through concept, sculpt, deco.
00:36:43
Speaker
And then we just create the asset suite that you're seeing in front of you. And then it pauses. And usually when we're developing, it doesn't pause because we don't we don't go to tooling. We don't make molds until it it funds. That's the whole point. So we we do a lot of upfront work, spend time, effort, and energy on that. then we show the world and we go, you like it? If you like it, great, we'll do it. If you don't, then okay, we won't do it So it's still, we started this probably like eight months ago or so, just kind of like what should we do and then work with Lucasfilm.
00:37:10
Speaker
the The interesting thing is that when we show it, like here, as I said, we're still developing it. It's still working progress. We're still finding things and moving things and like, well, let's put that there. Well, actually that shouldn't go there. let's Yeah, so eight months so far.
00:37:26
Speaker
45-day fund window, once we get once we get past our 8,000 minimal, will we can then kind of release release the hounds to do the tooling and then and then carry on.
00:37:37
Speaker
And and so it's usually a year after it funds, depending on the complexities of things.
00:37:43
Speaker
So each Star Wars HasLab feels like it's it's raised the bar. um And talked about it earlier a little bit. um How do projects like the gunship shape what you and the team are thinking about for the future of the line like the story of of the year as it were yeah i think i think you you answered that question there right at the end dave it's sort of like you know i was on star wars 10 years ago blimey it was yeah was it's more than 10 years 11 years ago now and i was on it for like four or five years and then i kind of went off and did some other bits and pieces and i kind of came back and story is really important
00:38:20
Speaker
I was going to say to me, but then I should just put a period
Storytelling and Personal Memories in Collecting
00:38:23
Speaker
right there. Story is really important. It's important for this brand that we love. Like it's one of the great stories ever told, I think.
00:38:33
Speaker
um It is based on fundamental storytelling. You know, it's it's it's classic Grecian storytelling, Japanese storytelling, Roman, whatever. It's just classic storytelling.
00:38:44
Speaker
The fact that we collect, I think, is all about stories. The stories of how we found things, how we missed something, how we couldn't find something, how we're hunting for something. I have a story literally for every single piece in there. I've got 600 stories there.
00:39:01
Speaker
So when I came back, I saw what they were doing with the Tatooine theme and it was, it was, you know, some great stuff. I was like, there's a story that's Tatooine. Let's go back to Tatooine. That's great. Let's, let's do some things we haven't done before. Let's update some things we have and let's, for goodness sake, let's bring a checklist back, a poster that we can then put up on wall and tell a story to ourselves as we look at it.
00:39:24
Speaker
So story is really, really important. So when we went, said, okay, let's do something prequel. Let's tell another story. Now in 26, we're telling the prequel story in TVC. We've also got another story coming in 26, which I'm not going to tell you anything about Mandalorian and Grogu, but like we're having a couple of stories.
00:39:41
Speaker
um So choosing the right ship, as part of the story because Star Wars, the ships are characters. I'll make that clear. Like the Falcon is a character, literally a character. They are literally a character. I've never seen a story that has utilized vehicles without anthropomorphizing them.
00:40:04
Speaker
I said that. That was good. That was well very well done. Like Star Wars. Like Star Wars. So to answer your question, this is teaching us how do we tell
00:40:15
Speaker
better stories? How do we tell evocative stories? How do we tell stories at scale? Because Star Wars is a massive tapestry. We're not at a point at time where we're going to do a TV story. There's thousands of figures, everything. I can't, we can't deliver everything for everyone all at the same time at the time that they want it. It's just impossible. But that is my lot in life to quote 3PO, but we'll do our very best. so I think, I think it it focuses on us on making
00:40:42
Speaker
very edited stories and very choice decisions and that is that is a storytelling skill the less you say the more happy every every scene has to move the story along so I think we is choosing the right vehicle to help tell the right story to the right people at the right time that's a very long window waiting for me to answer it but it's it's it's it's true I don't know whether that came across but like yeah no no that's what it's teaching that how to tell stories For sure. and And I think, too, one of the things that you know has kind of resonated with me over over the years is you know getting into collecting as an adult, regardless of you know whether it's Star Wars or or another IP or another brand, right, is...
00:41:26
Speaker
these pieces also, at least for me personally, help me feel more connected to the stories that I love. So not only is it like the story that that's being told with the toys, like through the, to through the toy line and like through the offering in a given year, but like, it gives me the opportunity to relive that moment and then to be able to kind of capture it and revisit it in a, in a more tactile way than I could by just putting the movie on. And I think that's one of the things that,
00:41:56
Speaker
that continues to draw me, especially to to Star Wars, right? Like something that I i love. Like i I've shared moments that if I think about them too hard, they will start to make me cry with my my children, you know, with Star Wars. But like just in in general, like these pieces, like I look at them and like, yeah, I have really cool stories about individual figures and, and and and you know,
00:42:20
Speaker
the feeling of like getting some of these things in the mail and building, you know, ah play houses out of the cardboard boxes for my kids and stuff like that. Like, and you know, all of those stories are there, but also like these are opportunities for somebody. If, if you were one of those prequel era kids and you know the first time you saw this ship land in Geonosis, you were sitting in a theater with the back of your head glued to the chair and the popcorn in your lap. Like, I hope that when you see this,
00:42:50
Speaker
it can help take you back to that moment, right? Yeah. It's... a And I'm really... I see it in my son. He's 22. So he's... he's clearly He clearly wasn't... He was too young for the prequels. But, like, i am...
00:43:04
Speaker
I live my life through sentiment and nostalgia and that sense of like wishing to be back as a child. I'm i'm lucky I get paid to still be a child.
00:43:15
Speaker
So I'm really happy when the next generation hits it. Like Sam came to me, probably, he won't watch this, he'd be embarrassed. He came to me, think it was just before summer. He'd just finished university and come back home and he has a whole pile of Nerf blasters out there, out the other side of that wall.
00:43:34
Speaker
and he and And his Beyblades, he used to collect Beyblades. He came back and I saw it in his face, that first pang of nostalgia. He came back and he was like, oh, my Nerf blasters.
00:43:46
Speaker
Oh my, and I could see it. I was like, there it is. Cause you've got to be a certain age. You've got to get to a certain age to get the benefit of what that means. So like to have the prequels, to bring the prequels to this generation, just even just to trigger some kind of nostalgic kind of happiness and joy. know, we live in a cynical world. Like it's,
00:44:09
Speaker
Let's not be cynical. You can just have joy. Just enjoy it. like Don't think about it too much. Just enjoy the stuff that we do. So um I'm happy that this generation is hitting.
00:44:21
Speaker
And I guarantee in 15 years' time, we will have the sequel generation. Oh, yeah. It'll hit. 100%. There is no doubt it'll hit. There are people that love. Bethany, my daughter, she was mad on Ray.
00:44:35
Speaker
Absolutely, mate. I got a picture of her. Here's a funny story. I got a picture of her um Halloween. i almost forgot what you called it. Halloween before the movie came out.
00:44:47
Speaker
And she dressed up as Ray. She was besotted with Ray. She'd seen the trailers and she knew I was doing the toys. yeah And she wanted to go with a lightsaber. And this is before the movie came out. And as we know, when the movie out, wasn't.
00:45:00
Speaker
And I was like, yeah, yeah not let's not go out with the lightsaber, darling, just in case someone sees that and goes, it's a hint, it's a tease.
00:45:11
Speaker
So yeah people love this stuff so much. and Yeah, so prequels. want to give some prequel love and i look forward to kind of giving sequel love and air the empire love and Disney plus love and everything.
Star Wars' Generational Impact
00:45:25
Speaker
love There's so much love out there for Star Wars. So yeah, it's funny because I'm, I was born in 81. So tail end of the original trilogy for me, like getting to play like the Jedi coin op game and those figures. that's eric Yeah.
00:45:41
Speaker
Endor levels of nightmare. ah ah Once I got into high school, that was like Eric's age for the prequels. And now my nieces, his daughters are definitely sequel aged.
00:45:55
Speaker
So, yep. Yeah. I mean, my my my youngest, her her middle name is Ray. So, well, yeah, she yeah and they all they have it was Ray for Halloween, Ray for Halloween. Two years in two years in a row.
00:46:07
Speaker
And two years in a That's great. That's great. So um what we're going do now is we're going to head into some Q&A from our followers. So I'm going to try to do this real quick.
00:46:20
Speaker
Around the Stevie, a Q&A create. who um So Dave, ah before we hop into the Q&A, remind our followers, our listeners, our watchers.
Community Engagement and Q&A
00:46:34
Speaker
I tried. um but How can you submit questions for future Q&As? So go to the Internet, you will. I can't do the whole thing like that. at That's pretty Wow. I thought you were going to I thought you were going to let me try.
00:46:46
Speaker
No, please don't. they will Do not but like make your mind. You know, you're going to blow your throat out. Yeah. um Yeah. ah um I have Oasis tonight. How can I do that?
00:46:59
Speaker
Yeah. Don't. Yeah. Don't don't mess that up. That's. The first, right? Yeah. So, thank you. So, when we have a um ah guest that's going to be on, you will go to the internet, as I attempted to say as Yoda, as I did as Yoda, and...
00:47:19
Speaker
You're going to see a story AIC at AIC underscore podcast. It's going to say, hey, we have a guest coming on. And in this case, that guest is Stevie. And um it'll have like this little box that you can tap on to send a question.
00:47:35
Speaker
And we'll get that question. We'll look at it and go, it's a great question. um hopefully i'm i'm predicting the future or we'll look at it and go they can't answer when that character is coming and we'll um so uh anyway when you do that we get to look at them we put them in this section and um it becomes the fan q and a now how do you know that your question got asked well You have to listen to the podcast at your favorite podcast destination of choice or on youtube.com slash AIC underscore podcast.
00:48:13
Speaker
they'll And, um you know, get more news and fun stuff at AIC see underpo underscore podcast on all your social medias. Well done, Dave. It's been a while. love Dave.
00:48:24
Speaker
Dave, I don't get to hang out with you enough. It's always your brother that's always in the way. like I'm always hogging this baby. Brilliant. So but you have like we have indeed vetted through the questions, and we've got three. We've got three for you today. um So three people tapped that little box, and you wrote down three. my More than three people. um A lot of the questions. Mom, you don't count.
00:48:49
Speaker
A lot of the questions were very similar. Because coming there's no character limit. Yeah, yeah, it's true. um A lot of the questions were very similar. So, you know, we did credit three people with these questions, but, you know, a lot of people and asked very similar things. And of course, we did have the questions. And this is when I like to take the time to remind people, we will not waste anyone's time by asking when is X character coming, um especially when we have our friends from Hasbro on. I almost have Emily's version of this, like committed to memory. um We cannot comment on products that have not yet been announced.
00:49:23
Speaker
It's a shame. It's the one time i actually got permission to just tell everybody anything. But there we go. Hey, if you're not going ask the question, then I can answer. You know what? We'll eat crow on that one.
00:49:34
Speaker
um So, ah Dave, would you like to ah handle the first question here? Yes, because this is the most readable at handle. At The Vintage Concepts asks, during the Ghost and Cantina campaigns, specific characters like Sabine, Chopper, Luke, Han, Chewie, and Old Ben were pipelined to give backers something specific to get excited about.
00:50:01
Speaker
While understanding that some pipelines undercut the surprise of reveals, is it possible to re-evaluate pipeline announcements and to help build enthusiasm for the campaign.
00:50:14
Speaker
Pipeline, my favorite word. Now, I've gone on record and saying like, I don't like pipelines. That's the most I've said pipeline in a long time. I know. like we've detail, pipeline. Yeah, so, okay, so pipelines. So my opinions are pipelines. I think they are useful when they are useful.
00:50:30
Speaker
I do think they sometimes spoil the reveals of of of figures because people know what's coming and they get a sense in their mind what it should be. And it kind of makes it, in my mind, a little bit anticlimactic when we eventually reveal the figures. and I really want to reveal the figures now.
00:50:45
Speaker
to honor the team that made them and spent a lot of time sculpting and art. And like, so for example, that one I was talking about earlier that I couldn't talk about, like, I want to reveal that like, ba-boom and people go, what, what?
00:50:59
Speaker
um But like I get, I understand, I understand. And I think, you know, it's it's balancing that surprise and reassurance. I think one of the benefits, and we're only the second, this is only the second year of these stories that we're telling, you know, returns Tatooine, you know, what we're doing for battle of genosis is a similar size.
00:51:20
Speaker
So that helps, i I hope helps kind of, put people's expectations where it should be. But, um you know, as you say, we're we we're in the future. we in the future or in the past? I can't quite tell. So like, who knows? Who knows what will happen by the time we've spoken and the time this goes out on air. So if it goes out on air, my answer may be, have different context to what it is now.
00:51:43
Speaker
But pipelines, I'm not gonna do loads and load of pipelines, because I wanna honor the artists and give you surprises, because there's been a number of surprises that I think people will be really pleased about, like Air to the Empire set. Like, no one saw that coming.
00:51:55
Speaker
And they're just like, but whoa! So i'm I'm not ever going to apologize for giving you lovely surprises. But um I understand. I hear I hear you. let's Let's talk about that later.
00:52:07
Speaker
All right. Our next question comes from Wampa Baloma. That's a good one. and sounds That sounds like a drink. Wampa Baloma sounds like a drink you could get at Galaxy's Edge. I'll have a large Wampa Baloma, please. This was the one I was happy you were asking.
00:52:21
Speaker
um ah ah Okay, so you're asking the market the the guy who is a marketer as a profession to ask the marketing question. Got it. No, the name. I do everything. ah I'm a busy bossy. I take my nose and everything.
00:52:35
Speaker
What can be done? So Wampa Beloma asks, what can be done to raise visibility to hook new TBC collectors? Has there been any attempt to cross-promote the campaign through official Star Wars web channels or even somewhere like on Disney Plus?
00:52:53
Speaker
So number one, it's really important to get new TVC people. I have this phrase at the moment, which I'd say ad nauseum at work, retain and recruit. quite It's quite a clinical thing, but it captures what I'm trying to, what I think we should be doing. We should be you know looking after those people that have been collecting for decades and make sure that they feel heard and make sure they feel loved and give them as much as we can, knowing that I will never be able to give you everything you want all the time when you want it.
00:53:20
Speaker
just impossible. Star Wars is just too big. um But bring new people in. And that responsibility in my mind to bring new people in lies on both of us, meet both sides of this screen.
00:53:33
Speaker
It's like I need to be able to kind of create new products that are going to entice new people. You know, luke our friends at Lucasfilm and Disney are creating new content, you know, to kind of bring new people in. But it also needs the community to look for new people and protect new people and welcome new people in.
00:53:49
Speaker
I think checklists and stuff like that, the 101s that – that's how we came in this community. we I came in this community from looking at backer packs and checklists, and I came at looking at Steve Sansui's book, which I've got over there, which i who I met at San Diego Comic-Con for the first time. I've never met Steve Sansui.
00:54:05
Speaker
Oh, wow. And I grabbed him, and I was like – Oh my God, Steve, your book from script, from concept to screen to collectible, like changed my life. And he was like, was very gracious. Like, Oh, I know who you I'm glad to meet you. Blah, blah. So ah welcoming in new people is really important. um I think on this particular instance, the fact that we took it, obviously we, we,
00:54:23
Speaker
I think we did a good thing at launching it at a convention. So we launching at San Diego, you obviously got Star Wars fans there. You've got Marvel, you've got you got Transformers, you've got Ghostbusters, you've got anime, you've got everything.
00:54:33
Speaker
And getting people to have visibility on that is important. We did the same at Fan Expo. We took it on tour there. And again, a lot of interest, you know, a lot of people from Star Wars, but there were some other people like, oh, what's this? What's that? And i I mentioned earlier, you know, some people are go, I love that ship. They didn't know what TVC was.
00:54:49
Speaker
They just went, love the gun ship. I love the prequels. So it's getting there. And, you know, working with our friends at Lucasfilm, you know, can we get out on their socials? Yeah, we can have discussions about that. Who knows? Who knows what who knows what will happen between now and and when this comes out or the last week as we move into that last week because campaigns are all the same.
00:55:10
Speaker
Yeah. Ramp up. Plateau off, lots of discussion, lots of gray hairs come in, and then at the end it pos it shoots up. So I'm hoping it's going to shoot up over to to to fund this fund the ship.
00:55:22
Speaker
um It'll be a pretty rare ship if it just about funds, and and but I want to bring these things to people. So to answer your question, yes, we're always trying to find new ways of bringing new people in and trying to take it.
00:55:34
Speaker
to different places um in amongst all our day-to-day jobs as well. Like I've done a lot of traveling. I mean, Chris has a lot of traveling on this. So I hope i hope people appreciate that. And I just promise people that like we love this thing that we do and we do give it all. do.
00:55:51
Speaker
we don't there you go all right and Dave the uh the the last question here another easy handle for me to read thank you um at van dyke 4627 asks what goes into the decision ah to as to whether to offer a hazlab at a higher price with a lower backer threshold versus a lower price with a higher backer threshold and are there any considerations being made to add more clones to the project's base offerings
00:56:24
Speaker
Ah, the Rumpelstiltskin
HasLab Project Insights and Pitch
00:56:27
Speaker
question. It's like, is it this or this or this or this? Like, I'm not going to claim to know. the exact formula of this and this. I understand how it works. you you could charge more and need, charge more, need less backers, less backers charge more. Is that right? Or have I but just said the same thing? You know what I mean? It's balanced. It's just working it out. i don't have I don't have the knowledge of how that exactly works, but I know it is something we often talk about and try we we yeah we know how many...
00:56:58
Speaker
We roughly know how many TVC, you know sort of what I'll call elite collectors there are that will take up things like this. you know We know that of certain price. yeah it's of a certain price And so we try and work that out because we want to be able to kind of deliver the best price for the right amount of people.
00:57:15
Speaker
And but ultimately it's about value. that Value is what you get, not what you pay for. So it's it's it's it's ah it's an art, one of which I don't necessarily have the skills to do, but I know there's a lot of there's a lot of discussion, a lot of back and forth on that.
00:57:28
Speaker
terms of the clones, at the moment there is there is no plans to add any more clones to this offering. The offering we've got is the offering that it is at the moment. And I hope people like kind of enjoy that and want i want to one get on it.
00:57:42
Speaker
um If they don't, then they don't. That's OK. So no plans at the moment to adding for adding any clones to the base offering. well Thank you everyone for submitting your questions. um We know, you know, Steve is, is, ah is actually the, for what I'm about to say is one of the bad examples because he does answer so many questions online and is so engaged with everybody constantly that we usually, usually like to say like, we know not everyone gets the chance to talk to you, but more people get the chance to talk to you than they do to most of the people that we have on the show.
00:58:15
Speaker
i think i said that right yeah but um but regardless thank you to everybody for submitting your questions um you know hopefully hopefully you got the answers that you you wanted to hear um but yeah uh with that let's just recap this um this project uh one last time and um and go through the full offering here i So right now as of August 28th, we are at 3,800 backers with the ah the minimum threshold of 8,000. So we're we're closing in on halfway there. hopefully
00:58:51
Speaker
okay um And that base offering is ah the gunship and the two clones, correct? Yes. One card and one person. And then we've got ah we've got three tiers to unlock.
00:59:05
Speaker
So that adds three Jedi to your collection. ah Coleman. Coleman, one of my favorite Jedi names. Good old Coleman. Coleman Trebo. There's a line break there.
00:59:16
Speaker
Coleman Trebo. Robert Coleman. Coleman Trebo. Yep. Or Trebo. However you want to say. that will He will come to your collection 10,000 backers. Saez Tin.
00:59:27
Speaker
ah twelve thousand we've got ah saese tin ah One of my favorite actually, like, I don't want to say b squad Jedi. That's not fair, but like he's, yous um he's, he's your leg off. Yeah, seriously. um One of, one of my favorite members of the, of the, ah the Jedi order. Yeah.
00:59:46
Speaker
And then a tier three at 14,000 backers, agent Kolar. So our, our ah unsung Zabrak Jedi, yeah Jedi hero. Yeah.
00:59:57
Speaker
yeah as i say I remember the last two from episode three and there it is. Yeah. Yep. Yeah. So who knows if you, if, if you're into it, let's back it. Like we've seen crazy, crazy things happen with a hazard. That's, that's, that's what i love about has labs. It is a rollercoaster ride.
01:00:17
Speaker
is a roller coaster ride i tell you and and the way i had brown hair before the uh brown hair before the before the barge the barge is the same you know the barge the what did that turn out that was 8 900 i think we finished on on that yep um and uh look at that now yeah so yeah and we always talk about army building but like jedi council building is kind of like yeah it's It's less spoken of, but here you go. You gotta ah you get a chance to do that.
01:00:48
Speaker
Get your Jedi army. yeah and we yeah Obviously, we've got Battle of Genosis coming in 26, where we will have more figures to complement... said thing.
01:00:59
Speaker
You've all seen my rubbish sketch of the from from poster. So there you go. Yep. So, so Steve, make, make the, the final pitch there's to the, those folks that are sitting on the fence. This is, this episode will air on September 1st, which will be in the final week.
01:01:19
Speaker
literally we week to go Wow. so A pitch. Make that, make that pitch to somebody that's the, the fans that are sitting on the fence. And they don't know which time to get off. Everyone waits to the end. Everyone loves to just wait to the end. They just like to make me sweat, which is fine. It's part the game. It's all right. love it. Maybe more of a rallying cry.
01:01:40
Speaker
i think, I think, all right, let me, let me lay this out straight. I think if you think you've got a TVC gunship already, you don't, you don't.
01:01:53
Speaker
And I think this is your really your only this might be your only chance to get the definitive LAAT forward slash I Republic gunship. And I think yeah past iterations of this have been fantastic toys. This is not a toy.
01:02:07
Speaker
they They were fun toys, but they did not have... This has the detail, the scale, the proportions, the the the design aesthetic that TVC fans...
01:02:20
Speaker
Love, know, and to be frank, deserve. So like we've got one more week when this comes out to back this definitive ultimate version of this beloved ship, of this beloved prequel era that everyone is kind of like rallying behind.
01:02:38
Speaker
And if you can if you can safely afford it and safely store it and have it and not get into trouble with your with your with your other half, Please come on board and and and and and back it for us, and we'll we and it will be that centerpiece of that 2026 Battle of Genosis story.
01:02:57
Speaker
And then we'll just keep going and going and making new stories for you every year. year So that's it. That's my pitch. If that's a pitch, I don't know if that's a pitch. Does that sound like a pitch? I don't know. Nailed it. Nailed it. So you have, until...
01:03:12
Speaker
11.59 p.m. Eastern time on September 8th, 2025 to back the gunship. And you that. Don't wait long. Don't wait too long. Don't do it. Again, think most people understand what HazLab is, but like if you back it,
01:03:27
Speaker
It builds momentum. And yeah know credit cards don't get charged until after the campaign finishes if it's successful. So like some people still ask me that same question. It's get charged now? And I'm like, no, no, no. If it's not successful, you don't get charged. If it is successful, you get charged of the you usually a day or two after the after it closes.
01:03:45
Speaker
So yeah there's no reason there's no reason to wait if you're if you think you're going to you're going to go for it. But again, some people wait. That's fine. I respect that. We have seen that that momentum, that gravity, just all of a sudden just take take flight, and all of a sudden it's like, oh, and all the tiers are unlocked.
01:04:03
Speaker
Yeah. So yeah be the be the start of that momentum. Wait. Be the spark. but There it is. Be the spark. Go to HasbroPulse.com and be the spark to light the fuse.
01:04:19
Speaker
To light the prequel fireworks. There you go. You don't need my word of advice this time. you got eric Eric did it. Yeah. yeah so So there we go. um Steve, thank you as always so much for ah for joining us, um for sharing ah your passion, for doing what you do for for all of us collectors and for the community. Absolutely.
01:04:41
Speaker
um One last time, visit HasbroPulse.com to back the gunship. And ah and Stevie, where can where can all of our friends, if they're not already following you on Instagram, where can they find you?
01:04:52
Speaker
They can find me in my basement. The back door's open. You can just come in, let yourself in, and we'll a fun. leave it now. um So I hang out mostly on Instagram, MrStevey18. ah But i'm I'm around everywhere. I'm around every corner. I'm watching and listening. and planning and plotting. But yeah, come over to Mrs. Stevie 18. I do a lot of just looking at retro stuff, all my old stuff.
01:05:15
Speaker
i haven't done a little I haven't done customizing for a while. need to get back into that. I'm looking over there on my little workbench. you know i will I will kind of repeat reveals. I don't i don't reveal on my thing. that We reveal it through official channels, but I'll often kind of like reiterate. And I'll try and answer questions where I can.
01:05:31
Speaker
Most of the questions are sort of reiterating facts that have already gone out, or I try and guide people to the right places to get the answers they want. But I do spend a lot of my time just kind of absorbing what people are doing out there and congratulating people on great collections or great customs or great toy photography.
01:05:47
Speaker
You know, I think it's it's it's important to be friendly in this community. And I try my best and I greatly appreciate those that are, you know, that are friendly back and do things for the community. There's a lot of you that do it. So I thank you guys for doing what you do. You do it in a very kind of proactive, very kind of,
01:06:08
Speaker
embracing way uh i think it's great so appreciate it thank you thank you and when you do decide to get back to the workbench if you want to do more spilt milk figures just that would be great i got my spilt milk i got one i kept one yeah it' so someone else was talking about that earlier i don't know who else that was but yeah maybe i will who knows i can't reach them right now but i can see them they're right there um yeah well with that it's time to get out of here um it's time to hit light speed on both uh this project and uh and we got to get dave home from tatooine i got a hair for light speed yeah so with that uh may the force be with you and uh go get the gunship
01:06:51
Speaker
Thank you, dear listener, for hanging out with us today. Subscribe, rate, and review us wherever you listen, and then tell your friends to do it. Thanks also to Joe Azari, the golden voice behind our intro. Our music is Game Boy Horror by the Zombie Dandies. Find more about them both in our show notes.
01:07:08
Speaker
Follow us on social media at AIC underscore podcast on Instagram and Twitter. Stop by and say hi. Show us your toy hauls and share your toy stories. Maybe we'll talk about it in a future episode.
01:07:23
Speaker
Don't try this at home. Voidware prohibited. in Some assembly required. Each sold separately. Not a flying toy. Consult a physician if your toy run exceeds more than four hours.
01:07:31
Speaker
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