Action figure economics

[EMCEtoys]

With a lot of emphasis on "sort of", right? Financial planners aren't given a sizable chunk of your portfolio ("preferred stock"), and they aren't given a Golden Parachute clause that guarantees them a huge (as in, huge) bonus even if your portfolio tanks.

If corporations are going to pay irrational sums of money regardless of the quality of governance... then I wish they'd just hire me as a CEO. I'm sure I'd be more than capable of running their company into the ground for $25 million.

See, this is where we get into a whole 'nother area of discussion, the modern CEO as robber baron. Not to get to far into it, but my dad once told me how his boss at The Phone Company (when it was just "The Phone Company") started as a lineman and worked his way up to President.

Those days are gone. Nowadays, business schools spit out MBAs ("Mediocre But Ambitious", I call them) and get them placed to run companies. Has nothing to do with their passions or interests. Everything is a widget.

I'm also reminded of that Lieutenant in "Aliens" who was put in charge of a battalion of seasoned Marines even though he had no real combat experience.

Anyway, to put it in perspective, in our circle here, we are dealing with the Product Design and Manufacturing levels down. The CEO thing shouldn't even come up as a factor in our discussions about all our toys, no matter how we feel about the current state of the CEO position.

IMHO.

(...Tep)

[EMCEtoys]

I'll shut up now.

[PNGwynne]

^Please don't--no one else feels obliged to, and your perspective is interesting.

[zeedox]

Why so hard to get licenses tho?

Seriously don't these products promote the property? I don't see why folks like KISS don't realize that the original megos is why I even care about them at all! I mean I can't name 3 songs.

Then I saw the Anthrax figure today and I am just not interested in the guy with the strange beard. I mean I would prefer a John Boy repro.

[samurainoir]

I'm also reminded of that Lieutenant in "Aliens" who was put in charge of a battalion of seasoned Marines even though he had no real combat experience.

Ripley: Hudson! This little girl survived longer than that with no weapons and no training.
[to Newt]
Ripley: Right?
[Newt apes a salute]
Hudson: Why don't you put her in charge?

[Werewolf]

monster high has a larger run, is a mattel-generated property (like major matt mason), has retail and media partners all over the country and is probably priced to sell in order to get the property exposed.

god know, it worked in my house. :-)

Exactly, Monster High is a mass market toy line aimed at children sold at a wide variety of retailers. Monster High is also sold and marketed beyond the dolls. There's all kinds of tie in merchandise like totebags, purses, jewelry, novels, etc.

[EMCEtoys]

Ripley: Hudson! This little girl survived longer than that with no weapons and no training.
[to Newt]
Ripley: Right?
[Newt apes a salute]
Hudson: Why don't you put her in charge?

http://cache.io9.com/assets/resource...liens-newt.jpg

And I'm sure Newt went on to create a kick-*** elite xenocide shock force with no help from Colonial Marine brass.

(yeah, yeah, I know...but I don't count the next movie)

[JediJaida]

Oh good! Someone who hates that abomination of a movie even more than I do.

I don't know much about economics as a whole, but I'd like to voice my opinion here if I may.

The reason that Barbie makes so much money is because there are so MANY of them! You've got Astronaut Barbie, Doctor Barbie, Airline Pilot Barbie, Fashion Designer Barbie, Playline Barbie, Collector Barbie, Basic Barbie, etc. Then you've got the clothes, the friends, the accessories like the Beach House, the cars, and other stuff.

Just take the kid sized Barbie bicycle, kid scooter, and I don't KNOW what else!

I don't know if there's any way for companies like EMCE, ZICA, CastAway, or DocMego to meet that kind of demand.

Barbie is a juggernaut, plain and simple. She's been around since my sister was ten years old (and she was born in 1949, so you do the math), and I don't know if anyone can come close to emulating that kind of success.

Would I like to see more from the above companies? Sure I would. I'd be the first one sending in a paypal payment, and haunting my post office box for goodies I've purchased.

Do I have any affection for Barbie? Heck and no!

I'd rather get a plethora of DocMego girl heads, reroot the suckers, plop them on bodies, and sew up my own outfits. It's cheaper that way, and I get a doll that I actually LIKE, rather than buy a cutesy putesy vacuous looking dispstick that I'll just put in the closet in a few months.

[Brue]

So I have wanted these since I heard about them. But i am cheap.

So I never made the 15 mile trip to Toys R Us.

I knew I would be near it for other reasons so I bought a gift card counting toward my gas rewards card (worth about $6.50)

They had Black M, 2 face, sinestro, aqua, super and batman.
i wanted sin or 2 face b/c i have the other in mego or custom.

all 4 sinestros had bent cards. oh and they are older so MAYBE they'll go an sale sooner.

so i am the proud owner of two face!!!!

though i am cheap, i think 20 bucks is fair. i pay that for pretty much ANY mego WGSH.

when you figure the DC direct figures are over 15 it adds up. is someone making a profit? yes. that isn't a bad thing considering we want more made. they don't make more if they don't make money.

as far as inflation comparison - $4 hurt when I was 10 / 11 yr old. 20 hurts at 43 but prices are doable.

[Doc]

Plus Ive never seen a tutorial on how to fix a Barbie right out of the box. I dont think its a pure this figure cost alot. I think its a this substandard figure figure cost alot

For the record I dont remember any of my megos falling apart right out of the box. And to honestly say for my $3 in 1970 I still have a few of my original megos. And they went through hell and back

[Astronut]

I still have a few of my original megos. And they went through hell and back

That should be chiseled on a monument.

[Werewolf]

rather than buy a cutesy putesy vacuous looking dispstick that I'll just put in the closet in a few months.

I know it's popular and fashionable to bash Barbie but I don't think that's really fair to Barbie or the woman who created her. Ruth Handler was a founding member of Mattel and a toy visionary. Bashing Barbie and Ruth without really knowing and understanding how she came to be is one of my biggest toy pet peeves.

[Brue]

lighten up francis, i don't think that was a barbie bashing comment.

what do people here pay for custom figures? $60? a lilttle less - a lot more?

how about a quality custom card and bubble -$15?

what would you pay Doc for a suit? $10 - $20? a head? $10 painted? +10 Shoes/boots = $10, body $10+.

Mego meet custom - $50, $60 ????

This is a complete sealed carded custom figure. AND it is part of Mego history
How is anyone complaining about 20 bucks??????

[Werewolf]

lighten up francis, i don't think that was a barbie bashing comment.

Lol, understood. Sorry to interupt the endless complaints of the price of $20 super hero dolls. I'm kidding! I'm kidding!

Besides, I took my rant elsewhere to not derail the thead.

[samurainoir]

I know it's popular and fashionable to bash Barbie but I don't think that's really fair to Barbie or the woman who created her. Ruth Handler was a founding member of Mattel and a toy visionary. Bashing Barbie and Ruth without really knowing and understanding how she came to be is one of my biggest toy pet peeves.

I think many of us are aware that Barbie was based on a german prostitute doll.

I believe that bashing is centred less around her origins and more about her unrealistic bodily proportions and it's impact on the self-image of the millions of young impressionable girls who are raised with her as their model for idealized adult woman-hood. Not unlike some of the criticisms leveled at mainstream superhero comics and the unrealistic female bodily proportions they use to cater to adult male fanboys.

Although I guess those proportions are understandable if you know how she came to be.