Action figure economics

[Meule]

We're still debating the $20 price tag?
Would it be cool if they were cheaper? Of course!
Is it gonna happen? Likely not, so let's drop the subject already

[PNGwynne]

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??????

Exactly!!!

Mattel could & should improve the figure, but we're not being robbed.

I might quibble about skin tones, costume fabric, even emblems--but Retro action is not junk. Even as custom/kitbash fodder, they're valuable to me.

Too, Akrak has pointed out that Megoes could indeed be fragile and suffered in quality at times. And nearly nothing is fabricated as well is it was thirty-forty years ago...

[Astronut]

No but I do recall having battles and subsequent shoe box casket funerals after one of my guys went down from a snapped elastic. Heh. I bet I lost 4 or 5 guys that way.

[Brue]

One Christmas day in the 70's I got 2 Batman megos. The one that came in a box quite literally fell apart within the first day.

good point

we do seem to romanticize our memories of megos. our selective memories recall the best of our childhood love of megos. they had problems as well.

did anyone lose a glove from one shortly after you got it?

[Joltrider]

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

One Christmas day in the 70's I got 2 Batman megos. The one that came in a box quite literally fell apart within the first day.

[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.

[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.

[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]

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.

[Astronut]

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

That should be chiseled on a monument.

[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

[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.

[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.

[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)

[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.