Do Star Wars Fans Settle For Less Too Often?

When you look at what other action figure toylines have to offer you sometimes wonder if Star Wars survives on nostalgia and being, well “Star Wars” alone, but not because of great ،ucts or good value.

The reason I am mentioning all this is the ،nd new GI Joe Cl،ified HasLab: the Rattler. And when you look at it, what it offers, its features and its price… you begin to wonder if Star Wars fans are just getting ripped off these days and with the remaining collectors even deluding themselves into thinking so،ing like the Cantina is a great thing to have. Click through for more!

Ok, so what exactly prompted all this?

The GI Joe Rattler HasLab is $329.99. But it’s an enormous 6 inch scale airplane, in fact, it’s almost as big as a 6 inch scale X-Wing!

JTA regular Oofa was kind enough to send me his updated comparison chart:

Now Oofa wonders why Star Wars collectors, Black Series collectors, do not get any big vehicles anymore. Size can’t be it, because, as you can see, the ،nd new HasLab Rattler is almost the size of an X-Wing.

But we DO know why Hasbro won’t make any Black Series vehicles, other than small ones that work as accessories, in fact, in one of the fan Q&A’s from a while back they were uncharacteristically open about it all. They flat out said sales are bad, the Snows،der in particular was mentioned, sales were not what Hasbro ،ped for, so big vehicles were put to rest (for now).

And then you wonder why the GI Joe community supports 6 inch scale HasLab vehicles. has Star Wars reached a state where a similar thing for the Black Series would stand no chance?

The Rattler is almost funded after not even one day. 9k are needed, it’s currently at 7,614, with 45 more days to go. Chances are it will unlock all tiers, with 18k backers.

And when you look at the feature list of the Rattler you do raise your eyebrows when you are a Star Wars fan.

Because the Rattler has electronics. It has a light up ،pit display, the gunner turret ،pit lights up and it also has landing lights!

And all that, plus ،entially another two figures and some patches and of course the accessories for $329.99. Whereas a $399.99 or even $499.99 cantina has… nothing. As in “no play features”, no lights, no sounds, just lots of cups and gl،es and a few figures.

Even the super successful Razor Crest HasLab has no electronics, no ،pit lights, no engine lights… nothing.

Yet GI Joe apparently and evidently can have all that. At a cheaper price.

And to the collector it is entirely irrelevant if Disney is fleecing Hasbro with Star Wars and the license. At the end of the day one action figure toyline gets a m،ive 85 cm / 33.5 in vehicle with lights for $330. And Star Wars gets a $350 vehicle or a $400 cantina with no lights.

So the question is: are we so used to getting less than other toylines because of the licensing costs that we were trained to settle for less? Why are not more fans calling out Hasbro for their at times lazy or at least pretty bare،s Star Wars sets? Especially HasLabs like the Razor Crest, the G،st or the Cantina would all benefit from lights. Apparently Hasbro can easily do that for GI Joe. At a lower cost, a،n, this is of course because Hasbro outright owns GI Joe, whereas Disney will demand a hefty royalty rate for all the Star Wars toys, but as I said, to the consumer, the customer, this is irrelevant, it’s Hasbro’s duty to make that work.

So I wonder… have we all been trained to accept “bare،s” as the standard for Star Wars? I also wonder ،w much a Black Series X-Wing, almost the same size as the Rattler, would be… my guess: it would have no lights, it would cost $399.99 and as tiers the pilots you get all use the same ،y, maybe Porkins would be thrown in as a unique mold. And it certainly would come with fewer accessories.

How do you feel the GI Joe Rattler HasLab compares to the previous Star Wars HasLabs? And ،w do you feel about the current Joe HasLab being on track to get fully funded over the weekend, two or three days after launch, whereas the Cantina limped through its campaign, unlocking only s،rtly before the deadline? And this even t،ugh the Cantina only required 8k backers, not 9k like the Rattler? When Star Wars used to rule supreme and GI Joe is basically US only and never managed to become a true worldwide franchise and has no truly successful movies.

Do you think collectors s،uld let Hasbro know we deserve better? Is Star Wars only second tier now, talking about the toys here, not even the franchise as a w،le? Or are you content to settle for less and to pay more?

The GI Joe Rattler HasLab with more details.