Hasbro Gets Into Crowdfunding With 'Star Wars' Toy
Hasbro has just revealed HasLab, a crowdfunding channel that looks to work much like Kickstarter, but focused on developing projects for the toymaker to put out. To launch the service, HasLab is making an ambitious toy replica of an iconic "Star Wars" vessel.
It's the Sail Barge, known as The Khettana, which is owned by Jabba the Hut and is seen in "Star Wars: Return of the Jedi." Hasbro's version of it is more of a display piece than a toy, with the proposed replica measuring 4 feet long and weighing about 14 pounds when finished, as Gizmodo noted.
The fictional craft, as depicted in "Return of the Jedi," was a 30-meter sail barge that was the favorite desert-skimming vessel of Jabba the Hutt. In the movie, the barge is about three decks high and could carry more than 500 passengers and crew members.
It's also where Jabba met his end, as meted out by Princess Leia Organa and her allies, as the HasLab described the backstory for their inaugural project.
It's a project like this that will be very risky when put out for mass production but is perfectly suited for a crowdfunding campaign to be supported by the most avid, and wealth, fans of the "Star Wars" series.
It's also Hasbro's way of gauging interest in a new project, with Haslab only committing to actually producing an item once it gets enough pre-orders by a preset deadline. Fans who have pitched in to an unsuccessful project will not be charged, and the toy will not be made, so there's little risk for both sides here.
In the case of the Sail Barge, Haslab has set a quota of 5,000 preorders at $500 apiece. Hasbro has until April 13 to see if the demand is there for what amounts to be a $2.5 million project. With the HasLab campaign having just launched on Saturday, Feb. 17, the company has not yet supplied crowdfunding progress details as of this time.
