Part One:  The Investment Argument For Supporting The Sail Barge

I've worked with some uniquely brilliant economists and statisticians in my professional life. One of the lasting impressions these experts have made on me is that the concept of money or currency as wealth is illusory. Money isn't wealth; money is a vessel of wealth - just as a vase is not water; a vase is a vessel of water. Wealth is often derived from how well you fill up that vessel. You will rarely see me spend $5 on a coffee because that is symbolically pouring the vessel out on the ground. That wealth is gone forever. I will freely spend on things that retain their value after purchase, however, which is why I didn't hesitate to back the Sail Barge campaign as soon as I returned from Toy Fair.

If this is already getting too long and dry, I direct you to a very funny, sarcastic, and most importantly, pithy illustration of the subject by my friend, Paul Harrison's 10 Things More Expensive And Less Important Than The Sail Barge article.

If you've made it this far, you can breathe a sigh of relief. In writing this, I realize it needs to be broken into parts, so this wall of text won't continue too far past the fold. I need to call your attention to the video on the HasLab page. At roughly the 2 minute mark, Star Wars Design Director, Steve Evans, makes a statement that should be the slogan for the Sail Barge campaign:

This could be a collection-defining piece for any Star Wars collector.

That phrase should give you goosebumps. It does me. We're often chasing that collection-defining piece after the fact, and then paying through the nose for it. Here's our chance to get in on the ground floor of that piece (don't blow that chance like George Bailey). Ironic collecting aside, there isn't a single collector who has a 6" inch Constable Zuvio as the centerpiece of their collection, and it's not for the sole reason that the character was cut from The Force Awakens. If Hasbro had recalled that figure due to its cinematic omission and only a few made it to market, it would be legendary, and probably fetch a 10x premium. Same character. Same figure. The only difference is the tried and true economic law of supply and demand.

Prototype rocket-firing Fett figures are pretty underwhelming display pieces. It's an unpainted hunk of gray plastic. Yet those lucky few who own one get the thrill of showing it to their friends and seeing jaws drop. Isn't that one of the greatest thrills in collecting? Having that one piece that you show to someone and their eyes widen, and they say "I've heard about this, but I've never seen one". We love and crave that ownership exclusivity. For once in our collecting lives "luck" in finding that piece doesn't play into the equation at all. We can literally opt into it.

For some, it may be hard to see that right now since the only hurdle to acquiring one is parting with the $500, but that's what this Sail Barge will be in time. A few years down the road it will seem like a dream to some, and merely paying for one won't be the biggest obstacle in acquiring it. It will be a true chase piece. Finding one will be the hard part. And if you're a good curator of your Sail Barge, and you ever find yourself in need of recovering that initial investment, some other collector will gladly jump at the chance to acquire this collection defining piece and will likely pay you a premium to do so. Don't think of it as spending $500. Think of it as moving $500.

If you have some high value loose modern figures, my advice would be to sell them now to round up some cash to plunk down on this Sail Barge. Those figures are subject to being re-released and losing most of their value. This won't.

Part two of this discussion will include some good old secondary market empiricism. Stay tuned.

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