Would like to see Mego do something similar to HasLab.

[Liu Bei]

For anyone not familiar with the term, HasLab is a crowd funding platform for Hasbro. Essentially they give customers the opportunity to fund/purchase high dollar items that they feel wouldn't perform well at retail. They calculate what it would cost Hasbro to produce the item, and how many backers it would take to make that project feasible. If they can attract enough backers, the item gets made. If not, not.

https://hasbropulse.com/collections/haslab

I'd like to see Mego do something similar with vehicles, playsets, and other high dollar items they feel might not do well at retail. Maybe new Star Trek playsets (like the Enterprise D Bridge) or reissues of POTA playsets, Wayne Foundation, etc... would collect dust in traditional brick and mortar stores, but I bet there would be enough interest among collectors to maybe get some cool stuff built.

What say you, gentlemen? Do you think something like this might work, or is the Mego community too small to muscle that kind of project to the finish line?

[KingKickass1983]

As long as there is not a fee to join the site like with Pulse.

[CrimsonGhost]

…or is the Mego community too small to muscle that kind of project to the finish line?

That would be my bet.

[palitoy]

That was essentially what the Topps deal was. Mego doesn't have any infrastructure to warehouse and ship that kind of volume of orders.
That was what Topps brought to the equation for better or for worse.

I personally would support whacky character choices and oddball items but I am not sure if I'm in the majority.

[Mego-Amigo]

I'm with you on the wacky character choices Brian.

[darkmonkeygod]

Sadly, given how poorly a very, very, very vocal segment of the 'community' reacted to very, very, very typical issues that befall pre-order campaigns, I don't think it's viable for the Mego crowd. Hell, there were pitchforks and torches being raised over the Diamond Previews exclusives and those are available today! That, the purportedly low order numbers, and with as often as I read complaints about a $20 price point - a price point that I can't see being maintained given rising costs in materials, manufacturing, distribution, etc - I don't think bigger ticket items that take longer to fulfill are a sound risk.

[palitoy]

Sadly, given how poorly a very, very, very vocal segment of the 'community' reacted to very, very, very typical issues that befall pre-order campaigns, I don't think it's viable for the Mego crowd. .

Yeah, we can't have nice things.

[TRDouble]

I don’t think it would work. Topps probably soured a lot of people on something like this and I don’t know that the demand is there for playsets and vehicles. I’ve done one HasLab (joining is not required, BTW) and people had issues with a design flaw and… oh well! And I wonder if people would be willing to shell out the cash required to pay for the short manufacturing run.

But I had been wondering if people would be interested in Deluxe Mego figures that cost $5 or more per figure and might allow for characters like Hawkman with a good set of wings, but sold at e- and retailers.

[CrimsonGhost]

Yeah, we can't have nice things.

Indeed!!

[scott metzger]

There's no need for an official crowd funding structure. A simple pre-order is what a lot of companies are doing. I just plopped down some money with Ramen toys for their Apache Commander; if it doesn't get 800 orders, they can't make it and will return the money. If they get that or above, they produce it. Mattycollector did the same with several projects, and their subscriptions were based on hitting a minimum number. The most relevant example here is the "Naughty or Nice" line from Fresh Monkey. The figures are an exclusive to BBTS, and the pre-orders had to meet a certain number or else that piece wouldn't be made. That model would seem a perfect fit for any type of Mego offering that might not fly at retail.

[Brown Bear]

I don't like anything limited or exclusive, especially since most aren't available for Canada. If I can't order directly from Frank Wojo, then I'd rather not see it at all.

[KingKickass1983]

I don’t think it would work. Topps probably soured a lot of people on something like this and I don’t know that the demand is there for playsets and vehicles. I’ve done one HasLab (joining is not required, BTW) and people had issues with a design flaw and… oh well! And I wonder if people would be willing to shell out the cash required to pay for the short manufacturing run.

But I had been wondering if people would be interested in Deluxe Mego figures that cost $5 or more per figure and might allow for characters like Hawkman with a good set of wings, but sold at e- and retailers.

I'd be down for "deluxe" figures. But they need to REALLY be impressive.

[CrimsonGhost]

There's no need for an official crowd funding structure. A simple pre-order is what a lot of companies are doing. I just plopped down some money with Ramen toys for their Apache Commander; if it doesn't get 800 orders, they can't make it and will return the money. If they get that or above, they produce it. Mattycollector did the same with several projects, and their subscriptions were based on hitting a minimum number. The most relevant example here is the "Naughty or Nice" line from Fresh Monkey. The figures are an exclusive to BBTS, and the pre-orders had to meet a certain number or else that piece wouldn't be made. That model would seem a perfect fit for any type of Mego offering that might not fly at retail.

I think the problem with that is none of the numbers would ever be hit.

[Krypt0nite]

I don't like anything limited or exclusive, especially since most aren't available for Canada. If I can't order directly from Frank Wojo, then I'd rather not see it at all.

I don't mean this in an antagonistic way, but this is exactly why the Haslab model wouldn't work. The Topps deal proved there are a lot within the Mego collecting community that share your attitude, and I expect that any Mego product that is necessarily limited will be met the same way.

[thunderbolt]

The Toops thing showed how many were willing to prepay something that wouldn’t arrive for 6 months or more Topps an Mego could have promoted it better outside the little circles of Mego collectors. I never saw them pushed anywhere else. A similar thing through bbts or ee May have fared better.