>Check the toy aisle at walmart>Legends/Black series are $30>Those shitty pokemon figures are $17>a single beyblade is $15this is not sustainable. The hobby is going to die.
It's bad. It's real bad. And it's only going to get worse.
>>11598179It's absolutely not sustainable. Prices have been rising for years now, but now I think they're reaching a point to where it pushes out too many buyers.
>>11598179Inflation has been a thing since Roman times. Prices will continue to climb, people will continue to spend and both will continue long after we are gone.
>it's another whining about pricing episodeI've already seen this one. Can we change the channel and watch something else?
>>11598219When prices rise above inflation rates is when it's a problem. And it's doing that now.
>Every thread I go into it's just people arguing about prices.
>>11598258Not everyone's as well-off as you are, Michael
>>11598220All the shows have the same writer, so it wouldn't matter anyway.
>>11598179Americans need to realize they are the most pampered little princesses on earth. It's 2-3 times more expensive where I am and people still buy toys.The tariffs are short term and that's the only real difference from the past.
>>11598179I doubt it's going to die anytime soon, but I do think it's on the way to becoming more niche again. From what I'm seeing, the tariffs combined with prices that were already getting fairly high beforehand have a lot of collectors checking out or at least taking a break on the hobby. Especially newer collectors who got into it during covid. I'm seeing the same thing in the anime figure/statue hobby where a lot of people are selling off their collections.>>11598220>>11598258>Clicks on thread that's obviously griping about prices in the OP>"Guys, can we stop talking about rising prices?"
I've already passed on 10+ figures I would've bought under the old MSRPs. McFarlane Toys' MK Klassic line just isn't worth the prices so it's easy to just not collect that line.A couple legends and a couple more DCMV that were edge cases I also skipped due to being either $28 or $35(!)I waited for M. Bison to drop to $20 since I didn't like the way they did his eyes and it was worth it at that price. At $20 I probably would've bought Jada's Akuma, but given it's starting at $30 instead of $25, I doubt it'll get down that far. It just doesn't feel worth it given his design is mostly Ryu/Ken's and only one of his headsculpts looks decent.I think the psychological barrier past $25 really shoots up, since $25 is a quarter of $100. Once you get past that you start to really think about how much money you're wasting on figures.It's easier to justify high prices for a high end figure like Inart or some Yamaguchis that have a wow factor, but for domestics its very hard.
>>11598179Don't act like you actually wanted any of those peg warmers anonAnyway, now that I've started collecting imports, I don't really blink at anything that's around $30. It's like two fast food meals
>>11598179Kids don’t buy toys, only 30yo programmers who make 7figs do
I'm buying more old stuff on the secondary market, but i was already head that way before, because I don't like the current trend of toys. So it's actually surprised me on how much more expensive things are now, thanks to these threads.Hasbro pushing 1:12, especially with GI Joe, basically made me stop buying anything Hasbro. With STar WArs basically being dead, it's very hard for me to buy anything in their 3.75" line because of how much Disneyshit they release and re-re-re-re-remakes of old figures aren't necessary.NECA and Mezco still release cool shit from time to time though, but they're releasing less shit now than they used to and I'm not really a fan of nostalgifagshit.McFarlane does some cool stuff, but since I'm not a big DC fan, i pass a lot of what they produce.With imports, Figuarts have shit up their engineerig, so I don't pay attention to them anymore. Figmas release something cool from time to time. Most imports are kinda shit in general, but that's mainly because there's not a lot of anime/manga shit i'm excited about lately.So I have less new shit I buy... so it's made me look back on what i missed out on over the years. Been buying vintage McStatues. Army building older figures. Old imports that aren't expensive anymore because they were only flavors of the month. Robots. Looking at various other lines because they have pieces/accessories i want to give to another figure or be part of a diorama.So i've been making people who want to get rid of their old shit happy and I'm actually enjoying my hobby more, because it's made me look at what I already own and enjoying that. Less hunting, more playtime.
>>11598219Rome fell lol
>>11598179>>Legends/Black series are $30>>a single beyblade is $15Good thing I don't collect those>>Those shitty pokemon figures are $17All that's left are the bad ones like Zeraora. Also Sonic, Mario and The Simpsons are like $11 each
>>11598220you choose which threads you click on
I'm noticing there's no good online deals on desirable figures anymore either. It's always obvious stuff they are trying to get rid of
>>11598786You mean barely 6 figures
>>11598179>what are discountsCmon guys
I'm not a collector, but this market is kind of confusing when manufacturing is cheap enough that hobbyists are printing plastic junk en masse. The fact that plastic pricing has stayed consistent, or dropped in price over the last few years adds to the confusion.
>>116016543D Printing is not how companies make real action figures. It is much more expensive than that. 3D Printed figures are inferior and easily fall apart.
>>11602480Okay, but you can still print your own molds and cast them from a durable resin yourself? It's not like the process is classified or copyrighted, the Kenner patent is lapsed.
>>11598179>a single beyblade is $15For a CX starter, maybe. BX boosters are much cheaper.
>>11598219>Prices will continue to climbUntil a major economic collapse ya dumbfuck
>>11598789>Hasbro pushing 1:12, especially with GI Joe, basically made me stop buying anything Hasbro.1:12 has been the standard for decades now. If anything it's more shocking they took this long to do a 1:12 Joe line.
>>11598219>muh death and muh taxesdoesn't mean industries don't die along the way you raging faggot
>>11602740They won't be durable. Resin is not as durable as PVC/POM/ABS
>>11604707IT's not shocking at all, given most of the market for GI Joe is in 1:18 and Hasbro is relearning that, with how poorly the Classified is doing that right now. "Relearning" because Hasbro has tried to up the scale for their GI Joes nearly every decade with disastrous results. The upscale EXtreme GI Joes in the 90s killed the toyline. Sigma 6 (8" figures) in the 00s almost killed the franchise too, if it hadn't been for TRU and Target's support for 1:18.With Classified, sales seem to go further and further down every year, to the point where many Walmarts aren't even carrying the line and the line showing up at Ross for $5-6 every year. Plus, indie stores keep stock for most of the waves for years, which is pretty bad given how few toys they actualy release.I think Hasbro came in at a really bad time to try to push a 1:12 GI Joe line, with a shitty movie as its main marketing tool and then the economic downturn + tariffs situation. Even if we were in a better situation, the GI Joe line wouldn't be flourishing, since most fans want it in 1:18 scale.If Hasbro weren't hard up for money, right now would be the perfect time to sell 1:18 lines, since it's a more affordable option. IT's literally what they did in the 80s and 00s.For whatever reason, they refuse to lower prices or offer cheaper options. And we also see this with food, entertainment, and other luxury good markets (luxury good market = non-vital shit, not in the gold/premium sense).
>>11605371>IT's not shocking at all, given most of the market for GI Joe is in 1:18*Was in 1:18. The 1:18 market is nowhere near as big as it used to be, and 1:12 is the dominant scale now.>with how poorly the Classified is doing that right now. Classified is doing pretty well considering the line had been dead for a decade up until that point, and had been on life support since the 90s.>The upscale EXtreme GI Joes in the 90s killed the toyline.That had less to do with the scale and more to do with the toys just not being very good.>Sigma 6 (8" figures) in the 00s almost killed the franchise tooFranchise was already pretty past its prime by then, and Sigma 6 does have some fans, unlike Extreme, so they must have done something right.>Even if we were in a better situation, the GI Joe line wouldn't be flourishing, since most fans want it in 1:18 scale."Most fans" stopped caring years ago, hence why 1:18 is vanishingly rare these days. G.I. Joe was a flash in the pan all things considered; Transformers also died off at the end of the 80s, but managed to completely revive itself with Beast Wars in the 90s and is still going strong today. Classified is honestly doing pretty well for a Joe toyline, probably BECAUSE it's 1:12 and thus has more appeal to both the remaining Joe fans (who care more about the characters themselves than "muh scale") and also newer fans (who will prefer 1:12 offerings due to them being more common nowadays).>If Hasbro weren't hard up for money, right now would be the perfect time to sell 1:18 lines, since it's a more affordable option.That's exactly why they won't. 1:18 is only slightly less expensive to produce than 1:12 but consumers expect much lower prices, thus making it economically unviable. 1:12 sells and is profitable, 1:18 doesn't anymore and isn't.
>>11605585oh look, it's the newfag who has no idea what he's talking about and needs to make shit up just to argueRemember when Hasbro didn't even need to pay Target for a front cap, at the front, because GI Joe was a hot seller just like STar Wars was back in the day?I remember.You don't remember, because you're a zoomer from a third world country.
>>11605638Oh look, it's Subjectanon pretending everyone not from his particular part of the US is a "third worlder".
>>11605371Classified is doing fine. Rarely do you see new Classified figures drop to under 17 bucks or so. Occasionally you get an outlier but they tend to keep the prices up there. A toy line in freefall like the Sorny Shapes collection drops to like 14 bucks from 50 or 12 from 30.Star Wars Black Series is another example of a line in freefall which I am heavily taking advantage of in many sales and at Ollies. $10 was literally too much for Black Series at Ollies so they had to drop them to 4.99
>>11606340Also it's not just on major retailers either. I see people offloading ANH Leias and RotJ Palpatines for 5 bucks. I have no idea why Hasbro renewed SW unless it was required to renew Marvel.So yeah, Classified is fine.
>>11606340I take it you don't follow GI Joe then.Classified has been found at clearance and places like Ross and Ollies every single year, and places like BBTS have stock from years ago on sale without selling out. Like, every single wave goes for insane discounts that you don't see for anything but failed toylines like Overwatch.Star Wars and failed movie toys from Marvel only reach $2-6 after shelf warming at Ollies for months, but GI Joe comes to the stores at those prices the day they're put on shelves.
Its all gonna shrink back to 3.5 again.Much cheaper to produce and make vehicles
>>11606699I do follow Gi Joe. You're showing exceptions, not the rule. My Ollie's only has Origins movies figures left, no new classified figures, and my Ross' has literally nothing.And the origins stuff at Ollie's is still at $7-8 unlike Star Wars at 4.99
>>11607064>Exceptionuhh... if they're being found in NATION WIDE CHAINS like Ross and Marshalls, that's not an exception. Nevermind you can find nearly every wave at these nationwide stores every single year since launch. Everything is ~75% off, instead of the 50%-25% like you usually see Marvel Legends, Dragonball, TMNT, or DC Multiverse lines if they show up at Ross.Go look at the older GI Joe general to see deluxe sets for as cheap as 1.99 when they were originally $35.Also, take a closer look at that image i posted. Those GI Joes are 4.99, not "$7-8".In many photos in the GI Joe thread, you can also see that the MSRP is $15-$12, which means Ross/Ollies got them when Amazon/Target/Walmart dumped their stock at clearance prices, instead of being remainders from a distrubtion warehouse somewhere (actual MSRP would be listed).STores dumping their stock like this is why a lot of Walmart stores don't even carry GI Joes anymore. In my area, 3 Walmarts don't carry the line, and i have to travel further out to an actual Super Center WAlmart to find them. These "distribution" issues have been an increasingly common report since the movie line failed (it's not a distribution issues, it's simply these specific walmarts no longer being able to carry GI Joes due to poor sales).And the reason you probably have trouble finding Joes in your area is because deals like this are hard to pass up for resellers. Even if they sell them at 50% off MSRP, they make a good profit.
>>11607109They're still $7-8 at my Ollie's. Also my Ollie's literally never gets any new Joes and I never see Joes at normal stores like Walmart or Target. The line is mostly online exclusive now and that is where the prices stay high.
