Topic: General rant

[Reconsgt]

Ok,

 All we hear in the news is the gloom and doom of the ecomomy right so what do I see when I stopped at a local Shopko to take a peak,  $21.99 comic packs, $12.99 basic figs, What the heck is going on, now some is local retailer pricing but alot of it is with Hasbro, in 2 years figures have risen something like 70%   from a $4.88 figs to a $7.47 at Walmart, Target is similar, even Hasbro.com is a joke,   we actually pay more from the "source" than through a middle man.

Why do we as collectors pay it?   Do we really need to considering many times, you can get these items on the secondary market a year later for almost half the price?

I'm done,    No more Hasbro for me at retail  period,

[James]

I'm with you. I have been going with the secondary market for about a year now. I'm getting the feeling that Hasbro has lost touch with collectors, is overcharging for their product which is often inferior to what they turned out in years past, and is driving the Legacy line into the ground. If they absolutely have to charge so much, they should work a lot harder to make it worth the collector's dollar.

[Darth C]

With these price increases, Hasbro is going to kill the line.  That is one of the main reasons why I stopped buying 2 of each and then to stop collecting all together.  I would have needed to take on a second job just to support my hobby!

[Tamer]

Yepper I am out of one of everything cause of that more than anything. I just can't afford to get one of each. Look at how many collectors we have known are now out of this because they just can't afford to keep up. I have to stick to my favorite movie and then it is rough.  Sooner or later Hasbro will learn, but it will probably be too late by then.

[Darth Aussie]

i've been saying that for years but our dollar exchange rate controls that here for us. Wehen i started collecting, figures were under $10 AUD ..now they have hit $17.99 AUS. i won't go into how much vehicles, deluxe and playsets cost here. I'm back to just one fig, maybe an exclusive now and then. Unless things get much better economy wise, i can foresee Collectors will be the biggest losers here......

[Clonehead]

That and it wouldn't be much more cost effective to send stuff your way, Greg. The shipping fee would kill it for us.

I picked up the Scramble at Yavin BP at Target, yesterday, and paid over $23US for it. No, I haven't been picking up one of every carded figure since the FU wave. Just too pricey.

[Darth Aussie]

It used to be cost effective years ago but yes with freight escalating heaps, it certainly kills trading OS. Ask Shawn what costs he has incurred (and he's a great trader/ friend and  i appreciate it heaps) to do our trades over the last years.


I've just resigned myself to picking up the newer figs whenever i see them, nothing else these days

[Clonehead]

I hear you, buddy. I am only picking up the figures that really interest me, now, or the ones that I want to customize.
  As far as vehicles go, it's gotta be something pretty special anymore, for me to pick it up. Kind of hard to do effective reviews of Star Wars toys when I'm too cheap to pick all of em up.

[Darth Aussie]

I hear you, buddy. I am only picking up the figures that really interest me, now, or the ones that I want to customize.
  As far as vehicles go, it's gotta be something pretty special anymore, for me to pick it up. Kind of hard to do effective reviews of Star Wars toys when I'm too cheap to pick all of em up.

Ditto......

[DocOutlands]

I am only picking up the figures that really interest me, now, or the ones that I want to customize.
  As far as vehicles go, it's gotta be something pretty special anymore

Yah, I agree on this, for sure!  Now, I'll say this - I *am* willing to cough up the bucks for GOOD figures!!  Once Hasbro started putting articulation into more than hips, shoulders, and necks, I could justify a price increase, because the manufacturing complexity went up, too.

I mean - FX7, FX6, and Tredwell droids with TWO DOZEN articulated arms?!?!  I'll take all of that sweetness I can find, thanks!  Even at a price twice that of what the first "new" POTF2 figs cost.

Or is that rationalizing my addiction?   

[Clonehead]

I am only picking up the figures that really interest me, now, or the ones that I want to customize.
  As far as vehicles go, it's gotta be something pretty special anymore

Yah, I agree on this, for sure!  Now, I'll say this - I *am* willing to cough up the bucks for GOOD figures!!  Once Hasbro started putting articulation into more than hips, shoulders, and necks, I could justify a price increase, because the manufacturing complexity went up, too.

I mean - FX7, FX6, and Tredwell droids with TWO DOZEN articulated arms?!?!  I'll take all of that sweetness I can find, thanks!  Even at a price twice that of what the first "new" POTF2 figs cost.

Or is that rationalizing my addiction?   

I won't be mad at you if you want to rationalize your SW addiction. It just makes me feel better about mine. I do like that new POTF FX 7 and went out of my way to pick one up loose from our own Darth C "thanks again, Chad" and still feel that he could star in a non clone themed future diorama. "no, Shawn, that's not the one that you are made to be fretting about"

From what I gather with my aussie connection, "hi Greg" the collectors over in Austrailia have even a larger mark-up to contend with even after the currency conversion. That hasn't slowed their passion for it, from what I can tell.

[Darth Aussie]

Hi back Clint..lol... Yes i 'll agree with you there too. The love of the hobby certainly won't slow most collectors with the prices the way the are here......i was one .....but also As our New recruit Doc says, Good figures are certainly easier to pay for...... . The quality in some figures u see coming out are excellent...

[Darth C]

It was tough for me to quite cold turkey, but Hasbro made it alot easier to do.  Remember the old saying, "Don't bit the hand that feeds you"!

[Phatty]

I hardly even look anymore.  It's tough to pay $8 for a figure, and since they haven't put one out in months that I was DYING to put into my collection, it's been even easier.  I don't think I'll be doing army building anymore, and quite frankly, I'm debating on selling a bunch of stuff simply because I don't care any more.  Gentle Giant and Sideshow make fantastic pieces, and I'm much more willing to pay for something like that, which appreciates over time as opposed to depreciates like the SW figs seem to anymore.  Hasbro must think they're Oil Barons or something, believing that no matter how high they raise prices, people will still buy them.  Personally, I'd rather pay that same cost to buy some of those Marvel Universe figures, simply because they're new and different.  However, like G.I. Joe, I'll eventually tire of that same thing, too.

Hasbro may have the license until 2018, but will there be any want for them by then?

[Tamer]

I think the bottom line is the price per figs means everyone will only be after the ones they like. We will say no to repaints and any figs that lack articulation.  We have been padding hasbro's pockets with our one of each approach and lets face it, we have niether the money nor the space for that much hoard. It is gonna take a lot, if anything for that matter, than can knock me out of my TESB focus now. Heck, I may even just switch to Battle of Hoth alone eventually.