Is the Future of Hasbro’s HasLabs in Jeopardy?

By: R.A. Rayne

Now that HasLab backers are receiving their G.I. Joe Classified Series Snow C.A.T.s and only two more funded projects remain in production, what is the future of the crowdfunding campaigns?

The last HasLab campaign was the TRON: Heroes of the Grid 3.75-Inch Collector Set, which ran from October 9 to November 24, 2025. The set included five 3.75-inch figures (Flynn, TRON, Yori, Sark, and Program), two Lightcycles with jetwalls, and a USB-powered, LED-lit Grid display base. At its $259 price point, the project failed.

With petroleum “oil” (a major component of plastic) and shipping costs continuing to rise, what is the future of these large-item ultra-collector pieces?

I know that, as consumers, we don’t think about or care about things like Cost-Benefit Assessment, Cost Risk Assessment, or Total Cost Assessment, but for businesses, these are important. Let’s look at the latest HasLab to ship. The Snow C.A.T. shipping box measures about 31 in x 14 in x 17 in, and at the cheapest rate, shipping would cost $150.

Now, 16,437 people supported this campaign, which means (AT THE VERY LEAST) Hasbro is spending around $2.5 million just to send it to us once it reaches their distribution center. That cost does not include bringing the Snow C.A.T. into the country, nor does it include shipping it from the ports to the distribution center.

Before we go on, you also have to remember that from the time the HasLab campaign ends until the product is made, packed, and ready to ship, the cost of sending it to customers will have changed. While this is usually planned for when the campaign starts and added to the price, in recent years that cost has risen rapidly, often without warning, after customers have already paid. This means Hasbro has to cover the extra shipping cost.

So when you add up the extra “unexpected” costs, including making new molds for these special campaigns, some of which are so big that you might not be able to use them again to save money later, a company has to consider all these factors and decide if it’s worth it to keep running these campaigns.

While Hasbro team members have been reassuring that the program will return, there is no set date for the next HasLab campaign or for what capacity it will take. In the meantime, Hasbro is also looking at other options, like “made-to-order” offers, including the G.I. Joe Classified Series Arctic H.I.S.S. tank and the Dreadnoks Thunder Machine, both coming this September. Hasbro might do more of these campaigns and fewer HasLabs, which would mean fewer extras and no more stretch goals for those ultra-rare exclusives.

It would also be nice to see Hasbro release more “troop builder” packs, as we have seen with the Star Wars Vintage Collection and Marvel Legends. These packs aren’t flashy and don’t come in a decorative box or on artful cardbacks, but they do offer customers a chance to army build with multiples of Stormtroopers, Hydra soldiers, and perhaps G.I. Joe and Cobra troops, or maybe animal packs since more and more figures are coming with animals as accessories. Just think about picking up a 3-pack of G.I. Joe Classified scorpions, crocodiles, or Deinonychus. An animal pack like this could be appealing not only to Joe collectors but also to many of Hasbro’s other properties as great set pieces.

Okay, some of you may be asking: what is a HasLab? And who cares about the stretch goals?

On February 17, 2018, at the New York International Toy Fair, Hasbro introduced its crowdfunding platform, HasLab. The idea is that Hasbro announces a high-end, ambitious toy that is usually too big or too expensive for regular stores, and fans “pledge” money or pre-order it during a set period to show support. Each project needs a minimum number of backers. If the goal is reached, backers’ payments are processed, and the item is made. If the goal is not reached, nothing is made, and backers are not charged.

It’s a simple idea, and while not completely new, the concept was new to a big toy company like Hasbro.

As part of the launch of this new project, Hasbro released a 3.75-inch (1:18 scale) Vintage Collection version of Jabba the Hutt’s Sail Barge (The Khetanna) from Star Wars: Return of the Jedi. The project cost $500 and was a highly detailed, multi-level model of the crime lord’s sail barge, measuring about 4 feet long (49.35 inches), 14.64 inches wide, over 17 inches tall, and weighing nearly 14 pounds.

The vehicle/diorama featured soft cloth sails, clear “hovering-effect” feet, rotating cannons, removable side panels that reveal a full interior (including Jabba’s lounge, a jail cell, a kitchen, and a cockpit), and a trap door.

While this was no ordinary ‘toy,’ this collector’s item came with extras, including the slug-like crime boss himself, Jabba the Hutt. This version of Jabba had a new paint job with darker skin, wider eyes, and a photo-realistic face that made him look closer to the movie version than the 2015 figure. Backers also got “Jabba’s Sail Barge (The Khetanna): Behind the Workbench,” a 64-page book explaining the design and development of both the film prop and the toy. The extra reward for reaching a higher goal was a special collector’s edition of Yak Face, a figure originally released in the 1980s as part of the rare Powers of the Force line. This updated Vintage Collection version features a retro Powers of the Force cardback and a classic retro coin.

Hasbro needed at least 5,000 pre-orders by April 3, 2018, to begin production of the vehicle. The campaign surpassed nearly 9,000 backers, and the finished collectible shipped to fans in early March 2019.

After the success of their first HasLab project, Hasbro launched similar campaigns for other brands, including Transformers, Marvel Legends, G.I. Joe, and Ghostbusters, as well as for their 6-inch action figure lines, the Star Wars Black Series and G.I. Joe Classified. While some campaigns did very well, such as the Transformers Legacy Liokaiser (2025), which attracted 34,329 backers and became the most supported HasLab campaign ever, there were also failures. Hasbro’s attempts to create a life-sized Cookie Monster and a double-bladed Inquisitor Reva Force FX Elite Lightsaber were among their biggest failures. Notably, neither project offered additional reward levels, which may explain why they didn’t reach their goals.

But having extra reward goals does not guarantee a project will get support. Take the Star Wars Black Series Rancor campaign. At first, it looked like an easy success, but it might not have been, because fans were more unhappy with the extra rewards than with the rewards they were getting.

Personally, I supported the project. I would have loved to add a Black Series 1:12-scale Rancor to my 6-inch collection. Would I have liked it to be better, or at least to include more exclusive rewards for the extra goals? Yes, so I understand why many people shared their opinions about what was or wasn’t offered.

Hasbro’s stretch goals were as follows. Tier 1 (11,000 Backers): A 6-inch Gamorrean Guard figure, repacked on an exclusive The Power of the Force (POTF) retro-style cardback, with a special collector’s coin. Tier 2 (13,500 Backers): Movie-inspired bone and skull accessories (including a human skull, femur, Tauntaun skull, Gamorrean Guard skull, Twi’lek skulls, and ribcages), along with a detailed world-building cardboard diorama backdrop. Tier 3 (16,000 Backers): A Salacious B. Crumb figure featuring an exclusive mini-cardback. Tier 4 (19,000 Backers): A photoreal carded Return of the Jedi Luke Skywalker (Jedi Knight) action figure with a collector’s coin.

What fans had hoped to see as the perks included Return of the Jedi characters such as Malakili (the Rancor Keeper), Oola, Bib Fortuna, or the Max Rebo Band. Also, many fans believed this might be Hasbro’s chance to re-release an updated version of Hutt Slayer Leia, often called Slave Leia. Especially since this figure wasn’t going to be sold in stores and was a “You have to come to us to get her” type of exclusive. Of course, if she had been included, the project would most likely have been funded, given the fan outcry for this figure. But asking Hasbro to release her again, along with the barely dressed Twi’lek dancer/Jabba’s slave Oola, would be a big request. Their outfits alone would make it hard for them to gain approval from company executives and board members, not to mention Hasbro’s lawyers.

Because the project didn’t include any of these extra reward figures, the Rancor was a hard no for collectors who might have paid to back it. The one thing that could have saved this project was missed by just two weeks — The Book of Boba Fett. The series featured the famous bounty hunter receiving an tribute in the form of a Rancor calf. If Hasbro had just extended the campaign, or started it a little later, and added rewards like a saddle for Boba Fett to ride it, or a Rancor trainer played by the well-known Danny Trejo, Hasbro might have won fans back.

But this raises a good question — what makes a HasLab project sell? Is it the HasLab itself or the extra reward perks? We’ve seen projects that show it’s both. The $549 Transformers Unicron figure didn’t include any extra reward levels. While fans kept asking for more to justify the price, they still supported the project, and most say Unicron was worth the money when they got it and started transforming the huge 27-inch robot.

Then there is the G.I. Joe Classified H.I.S.S. Tank. The basic project was the Cobra tank with the H.I.S.S. tank driver. It also had working lights and measured 24 inches long. For the H.I.S.S., if it reached 8,000 backers (First Week / Fan Vote), the Cobra H.I.S.S. Tactician (Ron Rudat design, with fans choosing the paint from 4 color options) would be included. After that, the extra reward goals included, at 10,000 backers, 2 side-mounted MALHISS missile racks; at 12,000 backers, the H.I.S.S. tank would include a retro Pack (swappable canopy, armor-plating skirts); at 14,000 backers, it would include the first-ever female H.I.S.S. Gunner figure and a weapon accessory pack; and at 16,000 backers, it would include the “Mickey Mouse” Retro Cardback Cobra Commander.

With the ever-changing economic landscape and prices constantly rising, will we continue to see Hasbro offering HasLab campaigns? I, for one, hope the program continues, but I am afraid we may have seen the end of the perks, and the stretch goals might not be what they once were. Either way, I trust Hasbro and know they will try to do what’s best for their company and for us. Without customers, what do they have?

Hasbro HasLabs in order of launch:

• Jabba’s Sail Barge (The Khetanna) (Star Wars Vintage: 2018) – 8,810 backers (Funded)
• Unicron (Transformers: 2019) – 9,434 backers (Funded)
• Cookie Monster (Sesame Street: 2019) – 624 backers (Failed; goal was 3,000)
• Razor Crest (Star Wars Vintage: 2020) – 28,246 backers (Funded)
• HeroQuest 20th Anniversary (Tabletop Game: 2020) – 27,232 backers (Funded)
• Galactus (Marvel Legends: 2021) – 30,780 backers (Funded)
• Combat Jet Skystriker (XP-F14) (G.I. Joe: 2021) – 15,035 backers (Funded)
• Victory Saber (Transformers: 2021) – 26,000+ backers (Funded)
• Rancor (Star Wars Black Series: 2021) – 4,800 backers (Failed; goal was 9,000)
• Engine of Vengeance (Ghost Rider) (Marvel Legends: 2022) – 1,200 backers (Failed; goal was 9,000)
• H.I.S.S. Tank (G.I. Joe Classified: 2022) – 18,857 backers (Funded)
• Deathsaurus (Transformers: 2022) – 27,000+ backers (Funded)
• The Ghost (Star Wars Vintage: 2023) – 21,526 backers (Funded)
• Omega Prime (Transformers: 2024) – 20,000+ backers (Funded)
• Mos Eisley Cantina (Star Wars Vintage: 2024) – 14,737 backers (Funded)
• Giant-Man (Marvel Legends: 2024) – 13,000+ backers (Funded)
• Reva (The Third Sister) Force FX Elite Lightsaber (Star Wars Black Series: 2022) – 1,413 backers (Failed; goal was 5,000)
• Dragonfly (G.I. Joe Classified: 2024) – 25,000+ backers (Funded)
• Liokaiser (Transformers: 2025) – 23,559 backers (Funded)
• Snow C.A.T. (G.I. Joe Classified: 2025) – 16, 437+ backers (Funded)
• LAAT/i Gunship (Star Wars Vintage: 2025) – 9,776 backers (Funded/1 of 3 tiers reached)
• Heroes of the Grid 3.75-Inch Collectors Set (TRON: 2025) – 1,376 backers (Failed; goal was 10,000)