Why The Value Is Already There For The HasLab Cantina

As you can imagine, we're going to be running a lot of Cantina HasLab articles this month. Unfortunately, HasLabs have a bit of a habit of triggering emotions in the community. They're like Uncle Buck's hat. I get it. They're pricey items, and, if they don't squarely hit the target for you, you're torn between having to spend a considerable amount of money and FOMO. It's the collector equivalent of having to decide on calling a bluff in no-limit Texas Hold 'Em. No one likes being put to the test for all their chips.

Because of that, we have to start with some boilerplate that will appear at the beginning of many of these articles:

• We are not trying to talk anyone into buying something they can't afford.
• We're not trying to guilt people into buying something the don't want in order to support the line.
• Though we may talk about value, we're not encouraging you to invest in toys.

The main audience of these articles is going to be for collectors who have the means to back the Cantina, but are on the fence about pulling the trigger for one reason or another. I want to talk about value today, and again I am NOT saying that the primary reason for buying the Cantina should be as an investment, though many will do that. I'm trying to speak to two issues that may require a bit of nuance, so I hope you'll hang with me.

The first is that we all want to be reassured that we didn't waste our money; that our purchases are well bought; that we didn't get ripped off. Well, the least you will ever spend for the Cantina, or the components of it, is right now. Second, $400 is a lot of money, and I assume most of you, like me, need to think carefully before parting with that amount of cash. When making a major purchase, I personally feel better if I know my money is still there after the transaction is completed. I often say there are two types of purchases. There are those where you spend money and those were you move money. I'm a lot more at ease with the latter. Buying tickets to the Super Bowl is spending money. It's gone. It may be well worth if for the memory, but those funds are never coming back. Buying a piece of Super Bowl memorabilia, on the other hand, is moving money. You can always sell it later.

The overwhelming majority of my collection purchases are made with the intent of never parting with them, BUT, I don't know what the future holds. There are numerous ways in which I could find myself in need of funds as I age. I more freely make collection purchases if I feel like the money is still there in case of emergency. I am supremely confident that the Cantina will qualify in this regard. Yes, you're money will be tied up for a little over a year (and I'm not dismissing the significance of that), but once delivered, you can feel safe that if you need to access your hard earned dollars, they will be sitting right there, ripe for the plucking.

If recent HasLab trends hold, the Cantina will back. With the possible exception of the the Marvel Ghostrider HasLab, the backing levels in the first week are met or exceeded by the backing levels in the last week (with a very slow period of glacial backing in the middle). At the time of this writing, we are only into our fourth day of the campaign and it is just over 50% backed. So if the last week mirrors the first week, it will cross the 8,000 backers threshold, but not by a lot. At anything under 11,000 backers, the included Wuher and Tonnika Sister figures will be some of the rarest non-variant production figures in the history of the entire 3.75" Star Wars line outside of the Glasslite Vlix. I'm reasonably sure more vintage Yak Face figures were produced. The value of those three figures will be off the charts. The Tonnikas more so since they will be character debuts.

Now you may say that paying $400 dollars for three figures is terrible value, and at first glance, you'd be right, of course. It's a "no duh" statement that paying $133 for something that typically sells for $17 is terrible value. But HasLabs, once the campaign is over, no longer function on primary market mechanics. They're at the whim of the secondary market. Tell me you wouldn't consider $400 to be good value for these two buggers today:



If the campaign goes over 11,000, any loss in value of the exclusive figures will be made up for by the stretch goal figures (at each 3,000 backer increment) with their exclusive cards. Again, if you're being cautious about backing the Cantina because you want to make sure you make a smart purchase, the scarcity of the three exclusive figures makes it a genius-level buy.

CLICK HERE if your would like to back the Vintage Collection Cantina HasLab

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