Discontinued HasLab Merch Just Restocked

News

By RC Staff

20 December 2023

It looks like Christmas came a week early this year for nerds with deep pockets. The HasLab vault reopened on Monday morning, and brought back some discontinued toys for boys and girls on the nice list. These are some of Hasbro’s most wanted items, and most have been out of production for several months. In that time they’ve managed to pick up serious steam on the aftermarket and resell for two to three times retail. Let’s take a look.

What is the HasLab Vault?

So, Hasbro makes a lot of pretty plastic. We should all know that by now. HasLab is a division of Hasbro dedicated to crowdfunded projects.

Designs for a new toy will be submitted to the community, along with a backing goal and deadline. If enough backers pledge support to the project, it gets funded and produced.

This system also means that the toys produced by HasLab are a one-and-done type deal. They make a specific number to satisfy demand, then move on to the next.

In the years since HasLab first launched, they’ve shipped 10 different toys with another 6 on the way. Some of their most popular designs shipped several years ago and have become highly collectible and valuable.

Now HasLab has reopened their vault and is restocking some of the most popular figures to benefit charity. On December 18, Hasbro announced that 6 previously sold out products would be returning for purchase, and making a donation to the Hasbro Children’s Hospital.

Here are some of the highlights of the reopened vault:

HasLab Transformers: War For Cybertron Unicron

Back in 2019, this Unicron figure served as the first design backed and produced for the HasLab system. Unicron is one of the most imposing figures in the Transformers universe, and his toy needed to be equally awe-inspiring.

27 inches tall, fully articulated, and highly detailed, this is big-ass toy with a big-ass price tag. The HasLab Unicron figure cost $547 for backers, but that’s nothing compared to the aftermarket for it.

Resellers have been flipping the Unicron for upwards of $1,500 over the last few years, and it remains one of the most highly sought after figures. After its release in 2019, it has not restocked once until now.

This will likely be the most notable aspect of the HasLab restock. We’ll be looking to see how the market is impacted by the new figures.

HasLab Ghostbusters Spengler’s Proton Pack

This Proton Pack was first shown off and backed in late 2022, with Packs beginning to ship at the start of this year.

Based on the Proton Pack in Ghostbusters: Afterlife, this was an extremely popular product when it was shown off. Enough so that the $400 price tag didn’t stop people from buying in.

Many of these Packs have resold for more than $1,000 through 2023. This restock is coming pretty quickly after the initial release, so we expect the market to stay pretty strong.

HasLab Transformers Victory Saber

Yes, more Transformers. If you didn’t know, mecha fans are pretty well known for having incredible amounts of disposable income.

The HasLab Transformers Victory Saber was available for pledging in 2022, and would ship before the end of the year. Pledges were $180.

At the time of restock, Haslab Victory Saber figures were reselling for around $300. Hopefully the new figures will keep the market moving.

Will the HasLab Vault Reopen Again?

Now that the Vault has officially opened, it begs the question of when it might happen again. A huge part of the appeal of these figures, especially the new ones, is their limited availability. To secure a toy, you need to be on your toes and ready to pledge quickly.

Will this restock affect people’s interest in future products? And will Hasbro reopen the Vault again?

One thing to keep in mind is that Hasbro only restocked a limited number of figures. Only six items out of ten were made available again, and these were some of the oldest and most popular out of the set. Hasbro seems aware that the value of these figures is at least partially derived from their rarity, and is respecting that.

Additionally, 2023 marks the 100th anniversary of Hasbro, and the reopening of the Vault was timed to coincide with a donation to the Hasbro Children’s Hospital.

So yes, it’s a cash grab, but a well-justified one. While it’s clear that Hasbro is perfectly capable of cranking out new toys when the demand arises, they’ve chosen to exercise restraint. The restock on Monday sold out in a matter of minutes too, so it’s not like they made a ton of new toys.

All of this to say two things:

One, the HasLab Vault can reopen at any time. Before this week, there was no precedent for any of these products restocking.

Two, it probably won’t reopen any time soon. Hasbro’s restraint shows they’re being careful about disturbing the “super-limited-buy-it-now” nature of the products. If it does reopen, expect a good reason.

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