Haslab Skystriker - Funded!

So, on 12/6, the Rancor failed.  Despite a strong last minute surge, it still fell about 500 backers short.  Instantely, this lead to doom and gloom among the Joe groups that the Skystriker was sure to fail, too.  And, at about 85% heading into the final day, it was kind of a possibility.  But, as we neared 12 hours before the funding deadline, the backers suddenly surged.  Over 600 Skystrikers were backed in under an hour.  And, the next hour saw over 400 more.  Slowly, the counter climbed over 98%, over 99%.  And, then, it stopped.  There was a major Amazon Web Services outage on this day.  And, the counter got stuck at 9924.  

But, after a while, it jumped and the Skystriker was fully funded with about 8 hours to go.  From there, the numbers continued to climb.  Historically, about 2/3 of the orders for a Haslab are placed in the final 2 days.  But, the failure of the Rancor and the quick funding of the Ghostbusters Pack put some of that historical context in doubt.  The various Joe forums were full of gloom about the Skystriker's fate.  More collectors than you would think took up a schadenfreude approach and took glee in the impending doom.  But, as the numbers rose, those posts and comments started to disappear.  For a moment some of the toxicity of Joe fandom was beaten back in shared accomplishment that will bring some desired toys to the collecting world.

Now, the Skystriker is happening.  It's the most ambitious Joe toy since at least 2005 and, maybe, since 1993.  It's also a telling milestone.  We know that vintage style Joes are making some kind of a return in 2022 for the 40th Anniversary of the line.  To see a flagship toy get produced by a collector base that's still firmly stuck in the "wait for Ross" mentality gives me hope that a retail Joe line will get a little more of a marketing nudge than it might otherwise have.

Around 3 hours away from the funding mark, the Skystriker passed the Scarlett tier of 13,000 units backed.  This means that pilot Scarlett will be made and it makes this Haslab a better than retail cost proposition.  In the last 90 minutes of the campaign, though, there was a final surge.  And, the Skystriker's final number was 16,784 units backed.  This meant that not only was Scarlett unlocked, but Ripcord, too.  So, the final product will include 7 figures, the plane and the deck vehicles.  Not too bad when you consider what the aftermarket pricing on the figures will be.

In the end, 12/7 was as much fun as February 15th, 2002: the date that the internet exclusive Wave V debuted at online retailers and the entire Joe world was united in their desire to get them and the frustrations as ambiguity set in.  Days like that are rare in the Joe world.  Nearly 20 years between two dates is a lot.  But, for now, there's something to be happy about in regards to Joe.  When those two huge boxes show up at my door sometime in 2023, though, we'll see how the happiness lasts as I try to explain $500 in toy airplanes to my wife.