War of the Gargantuas Vinyl Figures

[kingdom warrior]

Whoa those small figures are awesome!!!

[Gorn Captain]

I have a serious question.

What justifies some crazy high prices for vinyl figures like this ? (and others too, see below Gargantuas)

Why is a vinyl toy in the toy store the same size $15.00 but these are that X 10+

I know they may be Japanese import, but vinyl figure prices are insane. I've long stopped buying them.

[Werewolf]

I have a serious question.

What justifies some crazy high prices for vinyl figures like this ? (and others too, see below Gargantuas)

I don't know. Maybe it's a licensing issue? Like they have reach a certain price point so not to be in conflict with Bandai's vinyls? Because, otherwise, I really don't get it either. They cost way more than what Bandai does in the scale and doesn't seem really any nicer.

[cjefferys]

I think a lot of it comes down to economies of scale. Bandai pumps out tens of thousands of each of their vinyl figures and can sell them for ten or fifteen bucks a pop and make a profit. The expensive ones are put out by small, boutique companies in editions of a couple hundred or less, I'm sure they end up paying more for production per figure, plus since they are more limited, collectors are willing to pay more compared to Bandai's mass market vinyls. But then again, X-plus is no Bandai but they are not a small boutique company either, and these probably won't be that limited, so in my eyes their new Godzilla vinyls are more expensive than they should be. The Harryhausen vinyls they made around 10 years ago weren't nearly this expensive (I guess Toho's more expensive licensing might come into play a bit, but still....)

[BENDY]

I have a vinyl frank conquers the world, thought I was the only weirdo who liked it.

[4NDR01D]

Those are awesome Chris, what a lucky score.

[LadyZod]

Those tiny Gargantuas (oxymoron) are great. I actually came across one in a bucket of $1 toys at a small convention a year ago. Saw it, showed my husband (who's the TOHO freak in the family) and before I could say anything he snatched it from my hand and said, I'm buying this for a $1.00. Good thing he did. A little kid sidled up to me and started poaching my pile.

[GUYx1]

If you get on the daily Japanese Toy DEALER mailing lists, they solicit for presales months in advance, so you usually have the chance to pay outrageous prices ahead of time if you REALLY can't live without it. But the sheer volume of amazing yet unique items is really painful.
A lot of the LIMITED release, due to cost, end up being sort of novelties. I've nailed down whole sets, but solely collecting toys so exclusive NOBODY else has them at all, feels kinda wankerish and takes a lot of the fun out of it for me. I'd rather not even display stuff if they become that rare.

In Japan, the companies try to keep quality high for items of even limited interest. However they prices will be much higher for say characters form 60's properties than for the latest throw away Ultraman tv character. Prices also go down if the items are manufactures outside of Japan. Like those 1 inch Ultraman figures which are super cool, but do not fetch much money at all in Japan.

Many of the special release toys are only licensed to be sold for 48 hours, at one particular show in Japan. Even though the companies are big, It's almost like megomeet. Sometimes it is a resin custom maker making 'licensed' Microman custom kits as limited editions of 10. However a lot of big companies are making specialty items that (presold whenever possible) are sold in quantities that are rather small quantities for them. Maybe less than 100 produced. Versus the massive amounts of Bandai vinyls toy you see everywhere. These tend to be really hot at the show, sell out fast, get marked up quick for Yahoo Japan sale , but if you get really lucky and are deep into the scene, you might be able to get one occasionally for a deal if people are hurting for $$$ before the next show. There are ALWAYS tons of limited figures and only so much money to buy them. (Again, a lot like megomeet exclusives)

[hedrap]

GuyX1 is pretty spot-on about this. I've bought kaju collectibles since the 90's and you have to consider they're really geared towards Japan/South Korea first with everyone else second. The American market hasn't been apart on Bandai's radar - for Godzilla stuff - until the past several years and they're the big commercial company. X-Plus is their little brother who makes amazing stuff but for an even smaller crowd.

To show how niche the Gargantuas are, Bandai made nearly every kaiju possible in their 90's, 8-inchish format - save for those two and Frankenstein. Even when they went to 6-inch with Titanosaurus and a few others, those three didn't register.

EE is also tacking onto that price. Years ago, they would have been about 50 each. 75 seems about right for inflation and materials.

If I had the spare cash, I'd pick 'em up just to be a completist.

[J.B.]

M1-IchiGo did a nice job with the sexy duo and the misunderstood Frankie.

[Gorn Captain]

They're so huggable...