That's very true about selling at a loss. They've been through that once with the 1989 batmobile, but it's my understanding that it wasn't by design.
It's a very strange time, but there are a couple of things that may level the playing field for Jazzinc a bit.
First off, HT has to fend off Inart/Queen Studio who is making an aggressive attack on their core business, -action figures. What I find interesting on that front isn't so much that they've already declared that they're making the batmobile (which is significant), but they're putting their best foot forward with the Ledger Joker and following up with The Batman figure. They're actually inviting a "who made it better" comparison. And if it is deemed that Inart did, in fact, do it better, HT may be in real trouble, depending on the price point.
IMO, the Ledger Joker is the figure that put HT on the map and is also their most criticized. For whatever reason, the Ledger Joker is super iconic in the 1/6 world and HT has been widely criticized for both their lack of improvement with a v3 product, and also the lack of figure availability. I believe that, if available worldwide, the Inart version is going to be a very hot seller that will affect HT greatly. I don't' expect they will deliver in the numbers that HT does when they release a product, but the PR and brand awareness pendulum will definitely swing their way, and that is something that I think will bother HT a great deal and embolden Inart further. HT seems to thrive on creating product excitement, which tends to build momentum, taking them into their next offering with a bit of a tailwind. I don't see HT ignoring that particular threat.
Secondly, with the success of the batman movie, I think it's fair to assume that demand for this batmobile will be significant, which when selling at a per unit loss, is a great equalizer. If you couple that with the fact that there will certainly be no advanced electronics with this (e.g. sound cards, custom boards, etc), it will most likely be a lackluster offering. Plus, there's going to be that estimated market cost "fudge factor" that HT is going to have to try and figure out in order to quantify exactly how much money they are willing to lose on this. That's got to be of significant concern to them because it's a moving target and they can anticipate a high demand. They seem to already understand this because they've already crossed the $300 price point with the base Batman figure.
If HT is going to sell at a loss to try and drive out Jazzinc, I believe they are really in a precarious position. They have to balance how much they are willing to lose, versus how willing they are to take the flack for possibly making a delivery that falls short of expectations. They have a lot of licensors watching, and I'm sure they'll all take notice of any subpar delivery.
HT has a lot to defend, but admittedly, they also have a lot of resources. It is interesting that Inart has taken the position of basically declaring war on HT, seemingly without concern. It's sort of like when Columbus landed in America and burned his ships. I find that very inspirational and it's hard not to cheer for them.
I would love to see Jazzinc be the first to market with this, especially since there is already a prototype, but I also completely understand that doing so is not without risk. Regardless, I'm a buyer for the Jazzinc version whenever it's available
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