Heroscape: Age of Annihilation is here! Back it on Haslab!

[Yodaking]

Getting a bunch of money up front means they don't have to take out loans and pay back interest on those loans in order to have all the molds made.

[nyys]

Originally Posted by skyknight

I know it seems cliche, but I am as excited for this as all of you. I cannot wait to see their faces when they play this set for the first time. Just the thought of many of our kids being fathers and mothers now and getting to go through this….it’s absolutely brilliant and exciting.

My son was 4 when we played our first game of Scape and 6 when I started taking him to tourneys. In a couple months he'll be 20! Whole new ball game.

[Dad_Scaper]

Yup. "KidScaper" is now studying for his Master's.

[caps]

Originally Posted by Yodaking

Getting a bunch of money up front means they don't have to take out loans and pay back interest on those loans in order to have all the molds made.

I would guess at this point that Hasbro isn't taking out loans for this kind of thing, but just doing it as part of their operating budget. Similar principle though. The difference between starting a manufacturing run with cash-in-hand from purchasers vs waiting to collect cash from purchasers until you have the product in-hand.

[Grungebob]

Originally Posted by Hogg

Haslab was created for boutique collectibles they think wouldn't be viable in retail. HeroQuest is the first project to be available to the public after the campaign ended. The fact that they are selling it in stores says they now know there is a market for these games. I don't see why the HeroScape relaunch would need to be crowdfunded, it seems like they are confident it will go to the retail market (talk about expansions, two year plan, etc.)

Hasbro always has a multi-year plan. We had plans for Heroscape when it was cancelled, we had plans for Battleship Galaxies when it was cancelled. We had plans for Epic Duels when it was cancelled. They have to plan for success so they can follow up a success and meet the demand in a timely fashion. Craig calls it “preparing for success”. If a product doesn’t bring in the numbers (which traditionally could only happen through big box retailers) they simply decline to green-light the plans.

I think a lot will depend on the price. Retailers do not stock items that are too high in price. Walmart and Target do not stock HeroQuest in their stores. That means they don’t have the buyers requesting large lots of a product in advance of manufacturing. They relied on crowd funding for that.

[Hogg]

HasLabs are (except HeroQuest) one-and-done deals, so they don't have multi-year plans.

Edit: The big question I have is when did they decide on a retail release for HeroQuest, was it before the HasLab started (there was wording in the campaign that left open the possibility of future retail release) or was it due to the success of the HaslLab, even though it didn't meet all its stretch goals?

I'm not sure HQ is a good comparison anyway, because a multi-year plan for it is just re-releasing old content. Very little new content has been developed - Two expansion characters, and the mythic tier stuff, which was clearly underdeveloped (Full of errors, not playtested, etc.)

[wriggz]

Originally Posted by capsocrates

I would guess at this point that Hasbro isn't taking out loans for this kind of thing, but just doing it as part of their operating budget. Similar principle though. The difference between starting a manufacturing run with cash-in-hand from purchasers vs waiting to collect cash from purchasers until you have the product in-hand.

I think your mostly correct, the development money is "borrowed" from their finance division which either uses reserves or liquidates investments (or borrows from investers is the rates are good). When revenue comes in it is compared against the investment.

Haslab is about hedging bets and market research and I would argue marketing/advertising for the brand. In no way does Hasbro or AH need investment capital before moving ahead with a game or toy. This is not a start up after all.

[Grungebob]

Originally Posted by wriggz

I think your mostly correct, the development money is "borrowed" from their finance division which either uses reserves or liquidates investments (or borrows from investers is the rates are good). When revenue comes in it is compared against the investment.

Haslab is about hedging bets and market research and I would argue marketing/advertising for the brand. In no way does Hasbro or AH need investment capital before moving ahead with a game or toy. This is not a start up after all.

HasLab replace the big box retail buyers that purchase lots of product in advance of even manufacturing. As an example, Walmart knew waaaay in advance that Hasbro was working on Heroscape. They wanted the product and signed up for huge numbers with an added exclusive agreement. Target and toys R us also signed up. This informed Hasbro’s manufacturing, and it informed their release schedule. Of course, in order to be on the retail shelves, the product needed to meet these retailer requirements. In the case of Walmart, it needed to have a retail price less than $40.

Now, we don’t know what the new retail price will be for HS2, so this is speculation, but if it is too high for the “mass”, they could use HasLab as a way to replace retail buyers up front purchasing with HasLab backers.

This is similar to HeroQuest in that they are not re-inventing the game. They are just supplying new content.

Regardless of how things turn out, I think it’s wise to hedge your expectations whatever your preference.

[Agent Minivann]

Originally Posted by capsocrates

I would guess at this point that Hasbro isn't taking out loans for this kind of thing, but just doing it as part of their operating budget. Similar principle though. The difference between starting a manufacturing run with cash-in-hand from purchasers vs waiting to collect cash from purchasers until you have the product in-hand.

I think large companies do this all the time via revolving credit. It's just a streamlined way to do your day to day business.

[Nukatha]

Late to the announcement party. @Dysole , how about a CoN round with new units once we know more?

[Dysole]

CoN is currently in a "Imma wait and see how much interest we drum up" before I commit to anything.

~Dysole, informationally

[Garenex]

@every one DESIGNER'S NOTES - DAY 018 - “The old unit was destroyed that day protecting her, but found the greater purpose it so desperately wanted. When the new unit came online, the smallest metal scrap of what remained of the old, all that could be found in the still smoking crater, was forged into its new construction. To honor its sacrifice, and his love for her.” (Happy Friday! See Everyone On Monday.)

Sorry, couldn't get the picture right now, but assuming they are continuing the (assumed) trend of releasing 2.0 of SotM, this must be Q10, and the description is talking about his love for Shiori, if I remember from the lore correctly.