[GizmoTron]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheBlueMarvel

No worries, I don’t view anything you’ve offered in the way of comments as offensive. However, you’ve potentially read the thread through and should be able to see that there’s been a vociferous few that have done nothing but shit-talk this project making one wonder why they would participate so very often if they don’t give two shits about the Lab itself. By the way, I had a laugh (with you, I hope ) at the scenario with your wife. I only choose women that share a healthy interest in my interests, but that’s not always easy to come by and I’ve been very fortunate in that regard throughout my life.

We don’t line up on how much of a conversational point this HasLab remains to be, as the Marvel Legends team itself seems content to let this trickle away with nary a whimper and I’m inclined to allow them to do so. There are but so many ways to say, “Hasbro fucked up” before you find yourself saying, “up fucked Hasbro.” The numbers are going to keep falling. They know. We know. Nuff said, the countdown to zero includes no prize for anyone…unless Hasbro’s official failure brings some sense of joy.

About the Eternia playset, I was a kid of the 80’s as well and MOTU designs quickly gave way to my interest in other action figures with more realistic proportions and conveyances that look like they might actually work, or at least fit comfortably the figures for which they’d been developed. Nostalgia doesn’t drive me in that regard; I’m not interested in the past being revisited anachronistically; I want properties updated to take advantage of modern sensibilities/manufacturing techniques/standards while also reflecting the essence of whatever the license might be. I used to enjoy 5POA and Playdoh Playsets, but I’d never buy those things now out of nostalgia because my tastes have changed dramatically and this transition happened a long time ago.



All toys are luxuries, in my opinion, whether they are $20, or $200. All of these HasLabs are risky, yet some act like these Labs are money printing machines designed exclusively to bilk consumers with zero potential downside to the manufacturer. Personally, I obviously think these labs are pretty cool as opportunities to get some spectacular shit; I’ve 4 Sentinels (had 5, but gave one away to a close buddy) and I just received 5 Galactus Labs. They’re pricey, I can afford them, and I knew what I was doing when I bought them. In a year, or two, I’ll sell the surplus and more than recoup my money spent using the profit to further propel my collection. I’ve been buying expensive toys since I was a kid. My tastes in Godaikin robots and everything Japanese as a child quickly had my parents rethinking the token-economy they’d set up with me as an incentive for doing well in school. At 14 I secured a worker’s permit and, of course, my first job was at a mom & pop toystore in my hometown. I haven’t looked back since, working from 14 years old to make sure I’m in a position to enjoy at least some of the aspects I dig in life. As you alluded to, none of these toys are actually worth what’s being asked. If you can’t eat it for sustenance, use it as a tool to fix something, or barter with it in a meaningful way, it’s an amenity.

The idea that there is some sort parity between toy cost and actual value is a myth I disabused myself of even as a child. What can happen, though, depending on your taste in toys, is that you’ll nab something that ends up being a collector’s item that accrues in value exponentially. I genuinely believe that Hasbro is offering these sorts of opportunities with their HasLabs. However, depending on the dial-up, consumers will be fickle. I do worry that HasLabs will go the way of the dodo once Hasbro filters through the fallout from these failures and determines this is no longer worth the effort and potential bad social-media footprint given the spectator sport it has become and the inclusion of bad-faith actors who never had any intention to follow though on support. I don’t believe these HasLabs have achieved profitability, nor do I think they constitute a significant money-making arm of what Hasbro does in the big scheme of things. I simply hope we reach the point of a getting a Blackbird, so I can make some of those X-Fanatic toy-monies.

Of course cost is a fact, but value is personal and subjective. I have no problem with anyone who doesn't see a Ghost Rider car as worth a $350 investment because I totally get it. Only issue I ever find is with those that complain how every toy is overpriced yet for some reason buys it all anyway, which is "bad-faith" indeed.

As for the Blackbird, I would be shocked if it ever happens. As a HasLab it would $800+ easily, and I just don't think the market is there for that no matter how many dwindling X-fans are still left out there buying action figures.