The Play With This Too Kickstarter for Lost Protectors gets a full breakdown from John DeLuna and Exvee midway through the campaign. They walk through 16-plus pledge levels, from a $15 button to a $1,600 hard-copy Desolator, and question the value at each step. Both hosts see a line drifting from its Pretender roots toward Masters of the Universe Classics, and Exvee worries about retail pricing.
Who Is Play With This Too?
John explains that Play With This Too is a company of toy industry veterans, including Trent Troop, Rick Alvarez and Aaron Archer, the former head of Transformers at Hasbro. Lost Protectors is a domestic, 6-inch line of highly articulated action figures. Exvee thinks the line borrowed Transformers imagery for early attention, and he would rather see more original ideas. Both hosts compare it to Masters of the Universe Classics, and John notes Desolator was shown beside a Classics figure.
A Monster of a Pledge List
John reads the tiers: a $15 button, a $25 t-shirt, $30 art prints, then $55 each for Bloodbath and Desolator. Bundles climb through $100, $150, $200 and a $250 five-pack, then $450 ten-figure cases. The top tiers reach $765 and $900, or $955 internationally. Exvee adds a $1,600 level for one of two hard-copy Desolators. The campaign goal is $80,000, with stretch goals listed up to $420,000. [Source: BattleGrip]
Simplify the Structure
Exvee would collapse the tiers into one $55 level and use a post-campaign survey to collect figure choices, as Trent Troop’s BMOG Kickstarter did. John calls the layout intimidating, like drinking from a fire hose. Exvee wants a cheaper tier with something tangible, such as a $20 tech drone partner figure.
Is $55 Too Much?
Exvee expects retail prices to land even higher and warns the line could price itself out of its market. He had expected about $45 based on Masters of the Universe Classics. John admits he cannot resolve what a fair price is for an independent figure. Exvee thinks the line needs time to prove itself without an established fan base behind it.
Pretenders, Skullgrin and the Stretch Goals
Exvee does not see the human-based Pretender designs in the stretch goals as being held hostage. He expects them to come eventually if the line succeeds. He feels Desolator loses the cartoonish identity that made Skullgrin work. John is more positive and plans to fund Desolator, while agreeing something is lost in translation.
Contributors: John DeLuna, Exvee
Your snack-size Transformers podcast every week. Get in-depth reviews, commentary and more in 30 minutes or less!