HasLab Deathsaurus

[G.B.Blackrock]

I guess no one was going to be pushed over the brink to order because of BOATER but super weird they did this *after* the sales closed.

It IS a bit weird. But this is also why I'm keen to emphasize that this was a "thank you bonus" (to paraphrase the words from the e-mail) and not a "tier" (hidden, secret, "3rd." or otherwise). To me, a "tier" is designed to incentivize additional backers. Since this did come after the campaign ended, it cannot be said to provide such an incentive, and thus isn't a "tier."

 

[G.B.Blackrock]

It maybe weird but it kind of feels like they were very uncertain Deathsaurus would be fully funded or not and they might of extended the backing window and put these in as Tier 3, but it turns out, Tier 1 & 2 were enough to get people to back this and with the edition of those two, it more than covers the cost and come to think of it, its been a while since we seen a boat Transformer, offically, most of the time its been cars, planes, or creatures, thou resent we had a tape deck, a boom box, a train that doubles as a shuttle, plus Motor bikes are making an appearance, so what have we NOT had as a alt mode resently, about the only thing coming to my mind is farm vehicles and standard cars you see on the street, not racing cars or sports cars

Leaving aside my comments above on "tier," I do wonder what was in Hasbro's mind, and wonder if we'll ever know for certain. To create new transformable toy molds (however small) for a HasLab (outside of the main feature itself) is unprecedented, and Hasbro doesn't stand to make any profit on the investment as it stands (for this reason, many assume we'll see some form of retail release that includes these two). Clearly, someone had already put the design work in beforehand. Was this done back in the time when Micromasters were still a thing (possible, but unlikely, IMHO)? Were these always intended to go with Deathsaurus (a bit more probable, IMHO, although I'm still leaning towards "no")? Were these planned to drop into some larger set at an unspecified point in time (either before now or later)? It's fascinating, really.

 

[Superomegaprime]

It IS a bit weird. But this is also why I'm keen to emphasize that this was a "thank you bonus" (to paraphrase the words from the e-mail) and not a "tier" (hidden, secret, "3rd." or otherwise). To me, a "tier" is designed to incentivize additional backers. Since this did come after the campaign ended, it cannot be said to provide such an incentive, and thus isn't a "tier."

It could of been planned as a Tier if the backers weren't growing as fast as they hoped and trying to avoid the fate that befell the Star Wars Rancor, thou that I believe had other problems connected to the project, such as the broken fan base that left because of how badly Lucasfilm handles public relations and lack of general respect for their customers, but that is a different subject. best avoid due to how toxic it is! Anyway, I'm glad to see this nice surprise of the Micro masters, so I wonder if we are going to see more Victory characters get new toys going forwards?

 

[G.B.Blackrock]

It could of been planned as a Tier if the backers weren't growing as fast as they hoped and trying to avoid the fate that befell the Star Wars Rancor (snip)....

It's possible, and I won't argue that it isn't.

But that explanation strikes me as unlikely. It's a lot of effort for a "maybe" option. I could sooner believe that it was intended for retail a few years ago, but plans changed after the designs were completed.

 

[unluckiness]

Given how chaotic the middle through tail end of Earthrise was, it was probably planned as a retail release but was shelved due to the difficulties with retail at the time and micromasters ultimately getting nixed

 

[Dake]

That seems the most reasonable to me. They had all the assets for them (including tooling maybe), and sales went over by enough they figured they could sneak them in after the fact.

That being said, I see no reason that Hasbro wouldn't tell someone who asks how they came to be.

 

[Superomegaprime]

It's possible, and I won't argue that it isn't.

But that explanation strikes me as unlikely. It's a lot of effort for a "maybe" option. I could sooner believe that it was intended for retail a few years ago, but plans changed after the designs were completed.

I expect it was likely both, the Covid criss and they got put on hold and with the sucess of Victory Saber and the creation of his rival as a prototype, they decided to have these two as a possible third tier if the number of backers wasn't growing as quickly as they hoped for and Hasbro may of been a bit worried after the failure of the Rancor project and how lackluster the tiers were for that project, I believe it came VERY close to being funded but fell just short, I recall people complaining about not having the slave character who ended up in the pit during the ROTJ, thou I think there were other reasons as well

 

[G.B.Blackrock]

Yeah, I just don't think this was intended for Deathsaurus, and the decision to add them came later. I can't prove it, though.

And it's not a tier in any way (potential decisions that it might have been notwithstanding). As it came out, it was never promoted as a way to incentivize additional backers. It was thrown in as a "thank you" for doing as well as it did, but that's an after-the-fact thing.

Let's not forget that NO Transformers HasLab has ever done this well before. This thing blew past Victory Saber, which had more tiers stated up front (plus the one added mid-stream). It's not reasonable (IMHO) to assume they intended this as a Tier for an amount of orders never previously seen.

 

[Platypus Prime]

To create new transformable toy molds (however small) for a HasLab (outside of the main feature itself) is unprecedented, and Hasbro doesn't stand to make any profit on the investment as it stands (for this reason, many assume we'll see some form of retail release that includes these two). Clearly, someone had already put the design work in beforehand. Was this done back in the time when Micromasters were still a thing (possible, but unlikely, IMHO)? Were these always intended to go with Deathsaurus (a bit more probable, IMHO, although I'm still leaning towards "no")? Were these planned to drop into some larger set at an unspecified point in time (either before now or later)? It's fascinating, really.

I hadn't thought of it that way, but you're right...the prior 'add ons' like shields, slug-figures, ships, etc were all 'single piece' or at least very simple mechanically. The prior two minicons were repaints. Even Deathsaurus's throne didn't have much in the lines of moving parts. This is a really unsual situation, maybe we'll find out more during a backer update. Either way, I'm very happy with it!

 

[CoffeeHorse]

Hasbro has gotten better about keeping tail-enders from getting lost in the shuffle between lines. I could see these being items Hasbro wanted to release somehow, but then Micromasters as a whole got canceled. They found a way.

 

[RichardT519]

So the Emperor of Destruction, is going to be on the Menu, is he?

Unless Optimus chooses to pardon him.

 

[PrimalxConvoy]

I hope Hasbro releases the missing members from all the other Micromaster teams for regular retail. These past few years, it's really only been the US that's had exclusive TFs. In Japan, I can't remember any exclusive figures...

 

[Platypus Prime]

I wonder if mini-Doctor will fit down Trypticon's throat? So if he feels bad, he could just take the whole physician instead of just the meds.

...I will try that at some point next year...

 

[Sabrblade]

In Japan, I can't remember any exclusive figures...

TakaraTomy Mall exclusives still count as exclusives.

 

[PrimalxConvoy]

TakaraTomy Mall exclusives still count as exclusives.

They're not exclusive to Japan though and regular TFs in the US are sometimes sold as TTM "exclusives".

 

[Andrusi]

The one other possibility that comes to mind is this being a 4D chess move to get people thinking "I should support the next HasLab even if I'm just meh on the campaign because who knows what kind of crazy content might appear afterward."

(That doesn't strike me as especially likely, mind you.)

 

[Dake]

The one other possibility that comes to mind is this being a 4D chess move to get people thinking "I should support the next HasLab even if I'm just meh on the campaign because who knows what kind of crazy content might appear afterward."

(That doesn't strike me as especially likely, mind you.)

Possible but that seems like a step backwards. They've already moved away from "hidden until unlocked" tiers because of (rightful imo) complaints. Hiding the literal existence of a tier altogether would really annoy people.

 

[Sabrblade]

We got our first backer update:

Transformers HasLab Deathsaurus Backer Update

Hey, Transformers fans and HasLab Deathsaurus backers! We’re here with a long- awaited update for you. Together with our amazing partners at Takara Tomy, we’ve been working incredibly hard to get the Decepticon Emperor of Destruction tooled up and into pre-production! It’s going to be one of the...

hasbropulse.com

 

[Superomegaprime]

About time, I was starting to wonder if we would ever get any updates until its ready to ship!

 

[Darth_Prime]

Honestly. I don’t care about the updates unless it’s the finale colors and box and ship date. Hopefully it’s similar in style to Victory Sabers.