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07-15-2019, 05:30 AM | #1 |
$25 Cool
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Virginia
Posts: 1,403
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With the failure of a couple different Kickstarter campaigns over the last month or so we’ve seen a lot of back and forth over potential mistakes made by the campaign creators, and I don’t want to re-litigate that here(so please don’t do so without reason, they’re probably still licking their wounds so let’s not rub it in). Personally I backed both campaigns and wanted them to fund because I liked the figures. They each had their issues but I think the positives out-weighed the negatives.
But going forward maybe it’d be helpful to spell out what we actually *want* in a Kickstarter. Call it free customer research for anybody starting another campaign. So maybe we can break it down. The factors I think that need to be addressed plus my thoughts. Feel free to point out what I missed or where you think I’m wrong(or right!). Scale: - 1:18 is good for army builders because of space and cost issues. Encourages people to buy more. - 1:12 is potentially good for the company because it gives them more profit per figure, making it easier to produce. Also a more popular scale. Price: - The price per figure in a Kickstarter should be less than retail. It’s not a preorder, it’s an investment in YOUR toy company. They are called ‘rewards’ for a reason. - Related to that: the really BIG Kickstarters for gaming figures get so big because the cost per figure gets lower the more that gets unlocked. This encourages All-In pledges which drive the bigger campaigns. - Packaging for the Kickstarter figures shouldn’t be fancy. Packaging costs money, I’d rather pay less and get the figure in a bag. Hasn’t hurt Marauders doing it this way. Make the latecomers pay for the packaging. Untapped 1:18 Genres: - Vikings - Ninja (though Hasbro made a bunch) - Samurai - Cyberpunk - Post-Apocalypse - Crime/Noir/Detective - Soldiers from between the Medieval period and 20th Century - Retro-futurist Sci Fi Realistic goals: - One main character/figure buck that can be turned into multiple through simple and relatively inexpensive deco changes. This encourages a low initial funding goal which can often fund easily and in turn make it easier for the stretch goals to snowball. A whole wave of figures with a high goal is very risky. Timing: - Tax Season, Fall, not after another 1:18 Kickstarter |
07-15-2019, 05:53 AM | #2 |
Action Unlimited
Join Date: Jul 2018
Location: North Haverbrook
Posts: 1,016
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Would having a flexible goal Indiegogo be better? This way the fund raiser gets the money even if it doesn't fund and can move into limited production. Now the problem would be that they get nowhere near the needed amount to even get started. In that case, they would need to offer a full refund.
I also agree that lower initial goals does remove the psychological barrier of early backing when the pledge drive is far from funding. Also ramp up the reward schedule, ala Reaper Bones or the early Game Tiles KSs. Economies of scale are very powerful. Once a mold is cut, the cost per unit drops dramatically with scale. Instead of opening new bits, have built in bonus figures or doublers at a certain pledge level and above. For example for $100 you get 4 figures, but this goes to 5 then maybe 6 or w/e as the drive "suffers" from a virtuous cycle. Shipping could thus be an issue, but this is charged separately anyhow. Further to the above- along with lower goals, charge MORE per figure. The true believer early adopters are the cash cows, slaughter them then make the payout more attractive over time so the the fence sitters and finally the penny pinchers get onboard. The higher pledges from the cows will allow for faster growth, especially when combined with lower goals. As value to the customer increases, more customers will be compelled to join in the fun. From a toy figure perspective- we are paying for your molds from which you will reap a lifetime of benefits. Enduce us to give you money. It is not a one-off transaction, it is a partnership. This is not retail and the game behaves in a very different manner. There are no shareholders to please, so stop being greedy. Cover your costs (with a safety margin for unforeseen risks) and give out lots of love. More will be returned. The long tail is where the money is, not the KS. MTF is getting rich as FRAK. Last edited by Adventure Fun; 07-15-2019 at 06:03 AM.. |
07-15-2019, 06:08 AM | #3 |
Cobra Viper
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Charlotte, NC
Posts: 112
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I too have been thinking on this subject...
Couple of things I have noticed... 1) Price-per-reward on some of the latest Kickstarters seems to be a bit on the high side. In the case of action figures, you tend to want to buy/support more than one reward and I believe people get a bit shell-shocked at pledging $70+ then shipping for a couple of figures. 2) Along the same vein, the Kickstarter owner needs to do some research on previous similar Kickstarters. If similar Kickstarters only funded $100k, then it’s going to be difficult to fund your Kickstarter for $200k. The Kickstarter customer base is limited and not likely to produce significantly different results. 3) I would say balance your stretch goals better. Some of the more recent Kickstarters had their first stretch goal at nearly 50% more of the original funding goal. To someone visiting your Kickstarter, that gives the impression that they are completely out of reach. 4) Balance your initial offering to meet what you think you can actually get funded. Too many Kickstarters here lately want to offer too many figures before establishing a following for both the line and the Kickstarter creator. -LV |
07-15-2019, 08:42 AM | #4 |
A Makeupless Clown
Join Date: Sep 2015
Location: Ohio
Posts: 5,270
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I think most of the bases have been covered here already but I just want to deeply underscore the price-per-figure aspect. No action figure KS since the Valkyries has offered an all-in that made the "PPF" really attractive. Even Marauders' subsequent kicks have had lackluster all-ins. That dampens interest and relegates a lot of backers to the onsie-twosie level who might have otherwise gone big. For Marauders, that's OK at this point, actually. A "barely" funded kick for them is still a success because it gets them new tooling (especially since, as we've seen, they routinely sneak extra stuff into the new molds that they don't put into the rewards but are quite able to sell after fulfillment). MJ gave his pound of flesh in his first two campaigns but all the new fish just want to jump straight into the level where all of their sunk costs get back-filled, every penny of new development is covered with room to spare, and they'll have a warehouse full of paid-in-full, retail-ready, packaged product ready to sell after fulfilling backer rewards. In other words, they structure the campaign in such a way that they think it removes nearly all financial burden and risk from themselves. I totally understand that desire, but it doesn't seem to fund so well.
Consider your sunk costs as actually sunk. Make them up in profits from sales AFTER you launch your product. That's how this game works. If you don't believe in your product enough to take the risk in the implementation phase, why should hundreds of backers believe in it enough to take that risk for you? Put in enough padding in the budget to cover USPS price increases (there will probably be several between funding and fulfillment time) but make it cost the actual estimated cost (plus 20% or so, just in case) plus boxes, tape, and labeling estimates per package. And stop right there. Don't bloat shipping prices way out of proportion just to backfill losses in other places. It's unattractive. Bobby Vala, for example, was telling someone in the KS comments to remember to add $20 to cover the domestic shipping on 5 additional figures to add to their all-in pledge. That's GIJCC-level "additional" postage there. And actually, for bagged figures like MTF (which, yes, they all should be except for an upper-tier pledge level for people who really, really want colorful cardboard around the figures), free domestic shipping on all pledge levels (where the projected postage cost is already included in the price for the first figure and then the add-on figures cost less than the first figure) is a good way to go, psychologically speaking. People who pledge will have already broken the entry barrier and any additional figures they pledge for will only make them feel better about stretching their already-included-in-the-first-figure-price shipping dollar. It also simplifies the calculation people have to do in order to pledge more money for more of your stuff. That's a good thing which encourages impulse buying and pledge level increases. All of that makes initial funding faster, which drives stretch goal pledging, which unlocks stretch goals, which drives add-ons, which...you get the idea. Set it up the way you yourself would be enticed to pledge more and more. You don't want to price it to where the only argument in favor of increasing your pledge is "well, you want the project to fund, don't you?" That only takes people so far. Tug at their bargain strings because after the molds are done the plastic is cheap.
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07-15-2019, 09:34 AM | #5 |
Crimson Nerd
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Virginia
Posts: 12,578
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Going off of MGR, the best idea might be to start smaller if at all possible, though finding a "niche" grows more difficult over time as more product hits the market.
Still, MGR started with just accessories/weapons, and after he built up a lot of brand loyalty in the community with those offerings he launched the action figure portion. Even if you're not offering product, engaging with the community beforehand can go a long way. Don't just show up to hype your product and then disappear afterwards. |
07-15-2019, 09:45 AM | #6 |
I just want foam gliders.
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Tooele (two-willa), Utah
Posts: 18,727
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I've always felt most stretch goals were waaaaay unatainable. A lot of them end up unlocking only because the creators change mid-kick.
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07-15-2019, 10:00 AM | #7 |
Cobra Viper
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Charlotte, NC
Posts: 112
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Some things come down to basic business mathematics.
I'm going to use the "Valaverse" KickStarter as an example, because I'm guessing it's failure to fund is one of the reason this thread was created.... Valaverse had only about a 4% (+/- 5%) chance of success out of the hopper. These numbers are a little subjective based on how you consider what other KickStarter projects are considered 'similiar'. Let's just look at one equation of success for Valaverse. If you look at similar projects, the best number of backers was probably around 400 (I would supply where I got 400 from, but I'm at work and KickStarter is a blocked site.) Simple math would show then that to fund, Valaverse would have needed an average pledge of a whopping $425!! This means that the average backer would have had to buy roughly 3 of every available figure!! Sadly, despite other influences, this projects viability was practically in the 'impossible' range from a mathematics point of view. This is where you can't just focus on the product side, you also have to focus on the business side to be successful. Again, sadly this is where this KickStarter failed. |
07-15-2019, 12:42 PM | #8 |
Bucketbot
Join Date: Jan 2016
Location: ATX
Posts: 1,402
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Don't offer your product to the wrong market.
We saw the Valaverse six inch figures being discussed here, but I went to some large Facebook groups for six inch figures and saw no chatter there beyond what other 1:18 scale figures were posting. The Unslain figures were were seen as 1:12 figures, simply scaled down to 1:18 figures. I saw discussion in 1:12 figure groups on Facebook, but not here, and not in 1:18 figure Facebook groups. Outreach needs to be focused on the communities who are already buying your product. My two examples above, deal with scale. But if you make a 4 inch tall stuffed animal, you probably need to focus on stuffed animal collectors, not 1:18 scale collectors. |
07-15-2019, 02:18 PM | #9 |
$25 Cool
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Virginia
Posts: 1,403
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The thing about 1:12 is that the vast vast majority of 1:12 figures are licensed, popular properties. Even the few successful 1:12 kickstarters, 4H were already a 'brand' so to speak. Army Alphas and Articulated Icons were built around providing army builders for established brands(Hand ninja, AIM/SHIELD soldiers) or IP work-arounds (Snake Eyes, Storm Shadow, Ninja Gaiden). So while it makes sense to go where the money is, all the money in that market is oriented around well-known properties. Doing an original property for that market is inherently risky.
Quote:
Put in enough padding in the budget to cover USPS price increases (there will probably be several between funding and fulfillment time) but make it cost the actual estimated cost (plus 20% or so, just in case) plus boxes, tape, and labeling estimates per package. And stop right there. Don't bloat shipping prices way out of proportion just to backfill losses in other places. It's unattractive. Bobby Vala, for example, was telling someone in the KS comments to remember to add $20 to cover the domestic shipping on 5 additional figures to add to their all-in pledge. That's GIJCC-level "additional" postage there.
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07-15-2019, 03:10 PM | #10 |
Cobra Viper
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: RI
Posts: 485
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Excellent analysis. I've trimmed the quote above just to avoid folks having to scroll twice, but I think you've nailed several crucial "nuts and bolts" considerations in the full text of your original post, Zap. Very well said.
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