WGSH Versus DC Retro-Action: Rate of Inflation

[megomania]

People are not going to buy NEARLY as many of these when they are (seemingly) priced at around double what they should be.

Again, LOVE 'EM, but I am being realistic here.

Meh. Let's see - I bought (4) GA's, (2) ea of the rest of Wave 1, and (1) ea so far of Wave 2...only because my local TRU's don't have them yet. Once they arrive I'm buying (1) more of each. And so on, and so on, and so on of the upcoming waves.

So count me out of your poll

[Werewolf]

I've also wondered why the nicely-made MOTU Classics line is online-only...

After the retail disaster that was the 2002 MOTU reboot, retailers wouldn't touch MOTU. Toy makers can't sell what stores refuse to order.

[PNGwynne]

^ I was wondering about that, too.

Is it a purposeful niche market? I've also wondered why the nicely-made MOTU Classics line is online-only...

[Meule]

Mego sold them everywhere, not four pegs at one chain. If Retro Action was also at Wal-Mart and Target, it would be a different story.

So what's stopping Mattel from doing that? And selling these worldwide?

[JDeRouen]

It is what it is. Heck, I'd like Mattel to send me figures for free, but they're probably not going to do that.

If we don't buy them at $19.99, they'll either a) lower the price, or b) cancel the line. I'm betting on the latter option, but you never know.

The bottom line is, if you don't feel it's a good value for you, don't buy them.

[Astronut]

Let me ask you this. Just a hypothetical.

A lot of people - us hardcore Mego geek types - have stated they would be willing to buy *double* the amount of these if they were priced in the neighborhood of $10. I was thinking the exact same thing even before reading those sentiments here in the forum; I would happily buy two of each at $9.99 a pop. That's not to say *everyone* would buy two, but I imagine a *lot* of us would. At the very least we would be more inclined to buy MORE of them it would seem.

So. If that were the case, Mattel would be raking in *approximately* -- *roughly* -- the same amount of revenue for these. On top of that, it would be raking in more cash from the non geeks, the little Johnny's... more money overall... the line has legs and avoids being cancelled prematurely... the line eventually expands into other retailers... ka-ching!

Like I said, I know this is all hypothetical but wouldn't that be a better scenario for everyone overall? Just a thought.

[CrimsonGhost]

Also, with a straight face, can you honestly say that a typical consumer is going to look at these figures (the size, the cheap-retro look etc) and then look at that $19.99 pricepoint and not say to themselves, "Wow, that seems kinda high..." Of COURSE these are priced too high. You don't have to have a degree in economics to see that.

Or perhaps the typical customer thinks "I'd rather pay $20 for a retro figure than $20 on two little Star Wars figures or GIJoe figures"

I don't know or care what the typical consumer thinks. The price is what it is. It's your choice to buy it or not.

Back in the 70's, the license was probably cheap for DC and Marvel. However, times have vastly changed in the way licenses are handled and the value of these properties in particular. I defer to Palitoys superior knowledge in the area of licensing.

[Astronut]

No it's not safe to assume that, it's incorrect. It may be more like 20 times, Mego sold more than one million Action Jacksons in 1972, one could conjecture that Superman would fair even better.

Okay I'll grant you that. I was not taking AJ into consideration. Obviously the body was already produced in large quantities.

[Werewolf]

If Retro Action was also at Wal-Mart and Target, it would be a different story.

When I was a kid Megos were everywhere. Kmart, Sears, JC Penny, Kaybee Toys, Ben Franklin, Woolworths, grocery stores, drugstores, hardware stores, etc. Mego's production runs were also so high I was still finding the 8 inch Dukes of Hazard figures at Kaybee up to the early 90s.

[samurainoir]

Something else to consider when wander the aisles of TRU (at least in Canada). The 3 3/4" figures like GI Joe, Marvel Universe/Iron Man/Spiderman, Star Wars etc. are selling for about ten bucks.

[palitoy]

I think it's safe to assume that when Mego first manufactured and brought WGSH to market in the early 70's, its production run was not 10 times the amount of Mattel's.

No it's not safe to assume that, it's incorrect. It may be more like 20 times, Mego sold more than one million Action Jacksons in 1972, one could conjecture that Superman would fair even better.

The fact of the matter is, Retro Action is a boutique brand, not a mass market item like the original WGSH. Mego sold them everywhere, not four pegs at one chain. If Retro Action was also at Wal-Mart and Target, it would be a different story.

Is $20 too high? Yeah, I think $17.99 would be better but every Mattel DC comics line is about $2-$3 too expensive IMO. I think it says a lot about the high cost of licensing these days.

[Werewolf]

I didn't ignore that, I understand what you're saying. But I think I have a valid argument (read posts above).

Just try and keep in mind Mattel sells millions of Barbies. Barbie will sell more dolls in a couple of hours than the entire production runs of most collector toys. Barbie also doesn't have a license fee.

[Astronut]

Today's Mego-like figures are a boutique market with boutique prices. Back then they were mainstream toys.

I guess I am naive then, I thought that since these were being sold at TRU (Joe Bag-o-Donuts brick-n-mortar retail chain) the idea was to get these selling at a wider range. Little Johnny. My little Johnny. Your little Johnny. No? We really want to price them at a level that limits to hardcore collectors? That's not how I imagined it. And I don't think that's how "it has to be" if Mattel looked at the big picture. Burn bright and burn out fast. That's what's going to happen and it's kind of sad IMO.

[jacoblb]

I think the opther aspect in relation to cost is what the perspective buyers are willing to pay. While I do agree that Mattel ought to reduce the price for the retro line, indeed not just on their retro figures because I stopped buying DC Universe figures due to their $5 increase, but $20 seems to be the norm of which people are paying for these types of figures. Castaway, BBP, et al., charge just as much.

[Astronut]

Yeah, I think people are ignoring the points I made of Barbie's huge mass market production runs versus the tiny runs of limited niche market items.

I didn't ignore that, I understand what you're saying. But I think I have a valid argument (read posts above).

Not trying to be an a hole here, I love the product, I am just stating my opinion re: the price.