crowd-funded "War for Cybertron" Unicron (2019 HasLab)

The modern comics universe has had such a different take on G1, one that's significantly represented by the Generations toys, so they share a forum. A modern take on a Real Cybertronian Hero. Currently starring Generations toys, IDW "The Transformers" comics, MTMTE, TF vs GI Joe, and Windblade. Oh wait, and now Skybound, wheee!
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Dominic
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crowd-funded "War for Cybertron" Unicron (2019 HasLab)

Post by Dominic »

This is a crowd-funded project.

If 8,000 people commit to paying $575 by the end of summer, Hasbro will make a ridiculously ornate and detailed Unicron.

I am man enough to admit that I was intrigued....right up until I saw the price. No way I can even pretend I can afford that. I want it. I was trying to decide if I should actually try to talk myself out of it. But...damn. I cannot even give it serious thought.

https://hasbropulse.com/collections/has ... on-unicron
Last edited by Dominic on Fri Aug 23, 2019 11:03 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: proposed "War for Cybertron" Unicron (2019, Hasbro Pulse

Post by Sparky Prime »

It is a very impressive Unicron, and it's cool that they opened this up to crowdfunding.... It'd be amazing to have one, but $575 from 8,000 people? $4,600,000 total? Ouch.
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Re: proposed "War for Cybertron" Unicron (2019, Hasbro Pulse

Post by andersonh1 »

That's a bit outside my price range. :lol:
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Re: proposed "War for Cybertron" Unicron (2019, Hasbro Pulse

Post by Shockwave »

Yeah, even I'm out. I'd love to get it, but unless I win the lottery...
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Re: proposed "War for Cybertron" Unicron (2019, Hasbro Pulse

Post by Dominic »

Just checked the Pulse listing. In the last two days, buy-in us up to 1,200+, up from ~200. Even assuming some drop off in support, I suspect that this will happen. (We might know by the end of the week.)
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Re: proposed "War for Cybertron" Unicron (2019, Hasbro Pulse

Post by Dominic »

Just checked the counter. It is up by ~200 in 2 days. At that rate, it will take 80 days to get to the minimum donor level, almost twice as much time as they have now (43 days).

Has anyone tracked an effort like this before? Is there often a surge towards the end?
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Re: proposed "War for Cybertron" Unicron (2019, Hasbro Pulse

Post by JediTricks »

Crowdfunded campaigns like this aren't linear, they will sag tremendously towards the middle and pick up again at the end. I didn't buy the Jabba's Sail Barge last year but I watched it closely, that one didn't look like it was going to cross the finish line then magically at the 11th hour it nearly doubled. That was 3,000 less backers at a $175 smaller investment for an item that fanbase really hadn't had before. This is yet another titan when we've been getting year after year of cool titans, it's only 3 inches taller than Fort Max yet costs $400 more (albeit at 3 times the weight), and it's not even the first Unicron large figure we've gotten. And then to tell North American backers that they have to carry all the risk and once funded, Japan will get it via TakaraTomyMall was another kick in the teeth.

What held me back though was their lack of photos of robot mode from the sides or back, and now we know why: stacks of shell pieces each as deep as the body sections they're sitting on.

The pole with which I wouldn't touch this got a lot longer once we saw the SDCC coverage.

ETA: I just checked, they only picked up 100 backers since yesterday. I think this 8000 goal may have been beyond their reach.
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Re: proposed "War for Cybertron" Unicron (2019, Hasbro Pulse

Post by Sparky Prime »

JediTricks wrote:What held me back though was their lack of photos of robot mode from the sides or back, and now we know why: stacks of shell pieces each as deep as the body sections they're sitting on.
Yeah, the stacked shell pieces on his back looks pretty bad. Although, I would say it's an improvement over Armada Unicron, with the two giant shell pieces on his back.
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Re: proposed "War for Cybertron" Unicron (2019, Hasbro Pulse

Post by Shockwave »

Yeah the back is a panelly mess. You would think they'd find some way to fold that into the limbs or something.
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Re: proposed "War for Cybertron" Unicron (2019, Hasbro Pulse

Post by Dominic »

The leg panels are more bothersome than the back-pack, especially for what is essentially a Masterpiece class toy. (This Unicron is/will be better than Masterpiece Rodimus. But, that is damnably faint praise.)

The price tag alone is enough to deter me, which is why I did not spend too much time looking over the pictures. If I were in a position to seriously consider spending ~$600 on a toy, I would have given the pictures more thought. On the other hand, if I had $600 to blow on a toy, I might be willing to lower my standards a bit, because the cost in money and space would be less painful for a conversation piece that I would probably display in planet mode.


-edit: Just checked the counter. Just shy of 1.7K.

That is an increase of ~300 over the weekend, an increase of 150 per day. Even assuming those numbers hold, it would still need ~60 days to make the minimum of 8K committed buyers.


The numbers:

July 15: ~200
July 19: ~1,400
average increase per day: ~240
time needed: 32 days.

July 15: ~200
July 22: ~1,700
average increase per day: ~215
time needed: 38 days


These numbers are deceptively encouraging.

In the space of 3 days, the time needed to reach the required buy-in increased by a week. Put another way, since Friday the time required has increased by ~2 days for every day that has passed. And, two of those days showed a 50% increase over the post-surge buy-in (of ~100 per day). At that rate, the time needed to get viable buy-in (of 8,000) will become even with the time left by midnight tonight (July 22, shifting to July 23).

Worse, the increased daily rate )150 v/s 100 per day) over-lapped with a weekend, when people are likely to have time and a willingness to spend (assuming they have a traditional Friday payday). The weather this weekend may have increased the buy-in, if people were staying home during a national heat wave.


At this point, Hasbro needs ~6,300 more commitments to buy in order for this to be viable. Assuming ~40 days, Hasbro will need 150+ people to buy in per day to make this viable.

Anything less than 150+ per day would have to be covered by a late surge of buy-ins in the last few days. While a late surge in demand is not unprecedented, the more of an average deficit that the surge needs to cover the less likely the surge will be to make that coverage.

In a previous post, JT described a late-run surge that doubled the buy-in. But, as JT described, that was a different situation. The minimum number of people needed to buy in was less than half of the required commitment in this case. The lower price may have made people more wiling to sign up. And, the product offered was not only more unique, it was for a more recognized property ("Star Wars", rather than "Transformers").


Current numbers:
-recorded buy in: ~1,700
-time left: ~40 days
-needed buy in: ~6,300 (for a total of 8,000)
~needed buy in per day: 150+ avg

(In the last ~90 minutes or so, the buy-in increased by 2. I suspect that there will be some "rolling" jump later today, between 7-midnight EST, across timezones, as people settle in for post-dinner internet surfing.)
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