Being one of the most powerful franchises ever created, Star Wars has provided fans with countless characters, worlds, and stories to fawn over across just about every conceivable medium, but any executive will tell you that the real money comes from the merchandise. That includes toys, which are so popular and demanded that they might as well be their own sub-genre.Star Wars toy collecting is big and Hasbro is launching a new initiative to deliver all-new toy designs to Star Wars fans. By funding the project, you can own your own Jabba's Sail Barge (The Khetanna), the first of the planned toys.
Hasbro has announced the launch of HasLabs, a new crowdsourcing platform that hopes to bring sought-after toy designs to Star Wars fans. The first toy on the list is The Khetanna, Jabba the Hutt's sail barge from Star Wars: Return of the Jedi. Despite fan demand, Hasbro has yet to produce a toy based on the vehicle and is using the new HasLabs initiative to finally make it happen. Star Wars collectors can back the project for $499.99 and should it reach 5,000 backers, Hasbro will make the toy and ship it to everyone who preordered. At the time of this writing, the project currently has 845 backers.
$499.99 is a lot of money, but what you're getting is a heavily designed collector's item with all the trimmings. The Khetanna is four feet long and comes with fan accessible interior/exterior decks, two soft cloth sails, and other realistic features that mimic the vehicle seen in the movie. Collectors will also receive a 3.75 inch Jabba the Hutt figure, and a 64-page booklet that goes behind-the-scenes of the design and development of the actual Sail Barge film set piece and Hasbro toy. This also includes set photos, product blueprints, interviews, and more.
Should the project reach its backers goal and you are not one of these backers, the toy will only be sold on the HasLabs website and will not be available at other stores. People have until April 3, 2018, to back the project. Should it not reach the 5,000 backers goal before then, no toy will be made and people who preordered will not be charged the $499.99.
While toy collecting isn't my thing, this certainly seems like a pretty sweet deal for collectors and toy fans. You're getting a highly-designed product with limited availability and it's a Star Wars vehicle that's somehow never made it to shelves before. Of course, it comes with the risk that the project won't be backed and your dreams will die with it, but that's just the world of toy collecting, I guess. If it does reach its goal, however, expect to see HasLabs pitch more toys in this fashion.
If it reaches the 5,000 backer goal, the Khetanna will ship on February 28, 2019, and Jabba's Sail Barge (The Khetanna): Behind the Workbench book will ship starting April 4th, 2018.
