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I'm already priced out. Collecting most 1/6 stuff just isn't worth it anymore because of the prices. -
I have 11 Hot Toys, and I think I'm done with them. I think initially there was some justification of price as collectors could resell for as much or more than they paid, but now with so many version available of the same characters, that's mostly dried up. It's hard to put down $250 for a brand new figure, and that's not even an expensive one by their standards.
So if Hot Toys can get command an ever increasing price, good for them. It's not like it's medicine, but they won't be getting much if any more of my money going forward. Unless they do Iron Man. I just wish they make an Iron Man figure.Comment
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So this guy's justification is the company was always intended to sell directly to the customer in Hong Kong, so unless you are indigenous to that market you are outside their intended price points? Excrement. And then he suggests that there is no scalping or overpricing in Hong Kong? Huh? So if Sheba in Hong Kong goes down and picks up a box of Iron man figures at counter price to sell to Joe America in New Jersey, he's telling me the mark up is purely expense rated? That's ridiculous. By his own definition he's so busy picking up his figures directly while visiting the corner food market for his fish fingers, he doesn't see the mark up many of these companies have on foreign business. I would agree with him when he says he only knows about his own marketplace. He's trying to blend the private seller with the distributors as if the two are equal. They are not.
And what does he truly know about internal costs to justify this notion that Hot Toys is absorbing a 30 to 40% uptick in manufacturing costs while only passing on 10% of that to the consumer? I'm sorry, but unless you are a project manager or CFO, you can not speak to that overview. Complete nonsense. It's supply and demand. If Hot Toys could sell these for $1000, they would do it. This notion that capitalism is a unintended consequence in the process and that everyone is just getting by with a modest profit because they couldn't sleep at night if they were living too well off this business is enough BS to choke a giant squid. Pricing and availability will always be relative to demand. It comes down to that one line we use often in this hobby - vote with your wallet. If companies were taking too much off the top, they will lower their prices and continue making goods for the consumer. If the price was not high enough to adjust because the profit margin was small to begin with based on demand, then the lines will be cancelled, product will cease to exist, and in some cases these companies will go out of business.
Hot Toys have been around long enough that they clearly have a comfortable profit margin and consumer base to maintain their product lines to continue moving forward. It's not for everyone, but the ones who routinely invest are clearly plentiful enough to sustain the business. In terms of what they are worth? Well that will always be subjective. People can fight like cats and dogs over the merits of a $25 dollar figure but find no issues with one considerably smaller for three times the price. Expectation and a general desire to have something all plays a role, but I don't think any of it really matters if at the end of the day you are happy with what you buy. That is the only measure that truly has merit here.Comment
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groan.... 8 min of my life that I will never get back..so glad I didn't watch the rest of this ****eComment
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[old man voice] I remember the Good Ol' Days, goin' to Media Play or Spencer Gifts and picking up Sideshow 1/6 scale Universal Monsters for $30. And we loved 'em! Yep, them were the days. [/old man voice]Comment
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and at the 35 second mark I stopped watching.....Just his overall attitude about people complaining was an extreme put off.Comment
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Yeah, those were the days...and you know what? Sideshow is to blame IMO for the current pricing on 12" figures. They started off as you said, in retail stores for affordable prices, then they got the bright idea to sell direct to the public, which should have actually lowered the price, but instead, they lowered production numbers and raised their prices from $30 to $100 in the space of three years. Absolutely ridiculous, and pure greed on Sideshow's part. Maybe good business for them, but they really put the screws to all the collectors who made them a success by supporting the 8" line. Even series 5 of that line was produced in smaller numbers than the previous four waves.Comment
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thanks guys for saving me time. lolComment
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Once you need a payment plan for an action figure...something is really wrong.
If they sold in larger quantities, at lower prices, we'd all be able to join in, and they'd still make decent money. HT just smelled the money in our collector pockets, and went for it. I don't buy HT figures, simple as that.
My favoriet piece of the video is when he says they get a special plastic bag in Hong Kong, because "it can really rain a lot in HK". Yeah, that's what we want, a special plastic bag. I live for special plastic bags, and as we know, HK rain is unlike any rain in the world..
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"When things are at their darkest, it's a brave man that can kick back and party."Comment
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I love HT figures for the sheer detail alone...in most of them anyway...but I agree, being able to make a profit off them is just about over...they produce way too many of each figure now...and even their "limited exclusives" are not limited or exclusive half the time...last one I made a profit on was a Chopper Predator figure from years ago...
You have to buy for your own enjoyment alone...I personally love their Iron Man, Arnold figures and SW line...Comment
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This isn't my world but that whole justification for the "Super Secret Gold Club" felt all kinds of "Beanie Babyish".Places to find PlaidStallions online: https://linktr.ee/Plaidstallions
Buy Toy-Ventures Magazine here:
http://www.plaidstallions.com/reboot/shopComment
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