New Looks At The Haslab G.I. Joe Skystriker - Will It Get Funded???

Hasbro G.I. Joe brand team member Emily Bader has posted up a few new images for the Haslab G.I. Joe Skystriker. The images show their gray model for the vehicle as well as the Ace and co-pilot Wayne Ruthel figures that will also be included if the project meets it's minimum goal of 10k backers by December 7th.

According to Emily, they will soon be releasing some videos showing this off in greater detail. While the project started out strong, in recent days the counter indicating how many people have backed this one has slowed to a crawl, currently sitting at 5,260 backers.

It's not unusual to see these campaigns start off strong, then slow down in the middle and finish strong, but since Hasbro has already revealed all the stretch goals for this one, there isn't much to keep the hype going for it over the course of the month. Currently the Haslab Ghostbusters Proton Pack campaign which started a few days after this one has already surpassed it's minimum backer goal of 7k. The Haslab Star Wars Black Series Rancor which started a day before this one has been making a come back. It is currently sitting at 5,014 backers. The Rancor had fallen a fair amount behind the Skystriker when these campaigns started, but it only needs a minimum number of 9k backers to be fully funded. Hasbro also held a second live-stream event last week for the Rancor to try and give it a bigger push, which seems to have had some positive effect.

Hasbro during Pulse-Con suggested that the Skystriker was only the beginning for their BIG plans they have for the return of 3 3/4" G.I. Joe and the classic O-Ring design for their figures. At Pulse-Con they also opened pre-orders for a new 3 3/4" O-Ring designed Snake-Eye and Storm Shadow set of figures which costs $40.

In the last few years Hasbro when it comes to G.I. Joe has been putting most of their emphasis on 6" figures with the Classified line, which is still going on strong and currently sees release at general retail. They had been doing a limited release of 3 3/4" "Retro" products through Walmart which did not incorporate the O-Ring design. That line according to Hasbro is now on hiatus, likely so they can focus on this new O-Ring Pulse exclusive line.

You can often find much debate online among collectors on whether or not the 3 3/4" scale still has a relevant place in today's market with the biggest factor going against it being prices. General retail these days certainly seems to show little interest in carrying the smaller scale stuff anymore over the larger 6" scale figures. Even when you look at a bigger brand names like Star Wars, finding the smaller scale stuff on shelf is usually more difficult than finding the larger scale ones. When you do see 3 3/4" figures at general retail, often you see things like articulation is significantly reduced in order to keep costs down.

There are some rare exceptions to this such as the Jazwares Fortnite and Halo lines, but those also have 6" counterparts and likely deemed by mass retailers these days of having a much larger appeal for kids than say G.I. Joe or even Star Wars.

When it comes to the Skystriker, I've seen many collectors complain about the price which is $229.99. If no other stretch goals were met on this one, that price would get you the newly re-designed jet, 2 new action figures, multiple high-quality decals, a re-fueler tank and ammo cart, display base, missiles and blast effects.

If all the stretch goals are met which means it would need to reach 18k backers, then you would also get 4 additional new action figures. Based on today's market that seems quit a lot for $229.99, but to me the bigger question really is how many people out there are really still that interested in collecting 3 3/4" stuff anymore? From my own perspective I see much more interest from readers when we post a story about 6" G.I. Joe figures over the smaller 3 3/4" ones.

Some have been using another Kickstarter that has been running for a pretty cool looking ROBOSKULL MKII vehicle as an example of interest still being there for 3 3/4". This is a recreation of an 80's Action Force vehicle. For those not familiar, Action Force was originally a European line from Palitoy, which has had close ties to G.I. Joe over the years.

The Roboskull Kickstarter has been fully backed with only 62 hours to go before it ends. The original goal needed was $78,000, and it currently sits at $466,595. That sounds like a lot, but if you look closer it only actually has 1,116 backers. This has a bunch of different tiers you can pledge to, but essentially for the vehicle and a 4" figure the cost of it is $219, not much cheaper than the Skystriker.

At the end of the day I would be pretty surprised if the Skystriker doesn't get fully funded with at least the minimum 10k backers. However whether that is really enough to show the bean counters at Hasbro there is really that much demand for this stuff remains to be seen in my opinion. I imagine both the Skystriker and the sale of that Snake-Eyes/Storm Shadow figure set will have to be really strong to see Hasbro really dump a lot of resources into this new line going forward. I personally hope that happens, but not confident at this time it will.

Remember if the Skystriker is funded, we will be giving one away for FREE. Click here for details on how you can enter to win. Check out the new images below.