Hasbro to fans - "Put up or shut up."  Well, not quite as bluntly.

Today Hasbro announced HasLab, it's own crowdfunding site. The goal is to do Kickstarter-like runs for ridiculously great toys for ultrafans, and they kicked it off with the most improbable thing in the line's rich history - Jabba the Hutt's Sail Barge.  Yes, a 3 3/4-inch Sail Barge.  No, you're not dreaming.

With Cloth sails.  And a prison.  And a galley.  And a cockpit for drivers.  It's 4-feet long and will include Jabba. It is completely ridiculous up close, easily the biggest Hasbro Star Wars toy.  It's $499.99, and has an exclusive decomposing Ithorian prisoner.  And metal chains.  And cannons.  And smuggling compartments.  And a trap door.  And opening vents.  And a sliding throne.  And... a lot.  It has a lot.

I asked Mark Boudreaux how long ago they started working on this, and he said in the Fall last year.

If it reaches its goal, it should ship in February 2019.

You won't be charged for this item immediately - but according to the site you will be charged tax and the full amount of the item in Spring 2018.  

Now while $499.99 is a lot - it would be the most expensive retail price on a Hasbro or Kenner Star Wars item ever - it's also the biggest, and significantly larger than the big Millennium Falcon.  Shipping in the USA is included and there is no overseas option at this time - but obviously, there will be fans willing to mule for you if you're willing to pay the freight.

A booklet documenting the toy will ship to you in April if the item meets its goal of 5,000.  Several fans and industry people asked me if I think it'll meet its goal.  The Jedi Temple Archives petition capped out far below this number, but at press time it has 433 supporters.  My hunch is it'll cap around 3,000, but I also hope to be very wrong.  I supported it during the panel, when there were 0 supporters still.  For all I know I might be in the first ten.

I don't know how Hasbro will do with this, but Mattel delivered Castle Grayskull and Hasbro has largely been good about delivering according to plan and on schedule lately.  Every Kickstarter has a month or two delay, or in the case of some things, years.   Hasbro said they would do more things for other brands too if this is a success - and even though it's pricey, consider what $50 gets you.  Or $100.

A TIE Silencer is cool, but for $50 it lights up, shoots rockets, and seats one figure.  This could house a significant portion of your Jabba Goon collection, and droids.  Did you get Entertainment Earth's Jabba Bartender droid?  It's on sale.   Or how about Skiffs back in the day?  Or Pote Snitkin, or Ree-Yees, or Slave Leia, or Gamorrean Guards, or... I could go on.  They could have a home now.  The action figures you've been buying since 1997 for such an environment now have a potential home.

For years you guys have written in asking how, if, or when this might ever happen.  This is it.  It's really a possibility now.   If you total up how much you spend on toys in a year, it's probably worth it.  If you can give up coffee or soda, you might be able to pay for it.  (And skip a few illnesses.)   Give it a thought - and here are pictures from the Toy Fair Showroom of the early prototype.

Click here to support the project now.  Or keep scrolling to see more pictures.

This Jabba is just a placeholder.  They were discussing using that new printing "real face" tech that we see on 6-inch Black Series figures to get an even more real, crude, rude, and disgusting Jabba the Hutt figure in the final set.