Tsutsukakushi wrote:Noticed online on all of the forums. half of the buyers for these DJD toys have decided not to but any DJD toys.
People talk a lot of smack online T.
These are popular characters from a company known for high quality.
People are a bit PO'd right now that there was an unexpected price hike, and are getting their panties in a twist. But unless these same folks haven't noticed ALL toys have hit a big price hike recently.
The upscaled legends that pass as deluxes these days are getting close to $20 in my area. Even target and Walmart are around $18.99, up from $14.99 a year ago.
Looking at the regular release Hasbro figures all the contributing factors to a product's cost are down.
Size is down
complexity (parts count) is down
plastic quality is down
But cost is UP ... almost 20% up!
For 3p, most of those factors are held the same, the size and complexity for the vast majority of the 3P figures are the same for sure. People can say what they want about plastic quality, but IMO most 3P plastic beats what is coming out at retail by a long shot. But whatever, 3P prices, while high, have been pretty consistent, especially from the same manufacturer, for a while. It is nonsense to believe that wahtever is affecting overall toy prices wouldn't eventually hit the 3P space.
Now, will this affect people's buying decisions? Sure it will! Was I willing to buy this figure at the lower price? Yes I was. Am I willing to buy him at the higher price ... I dunno, I'm still deciding.
A lot of people are in my boat, I'd wager. The natural reaction to a price hike is to hold their breath, stomp their feet and squeal with nerd-rage, but some fraction of that caterwauling group will still want the figures enough to pony up the funds. I suspect I'll probably end up getting at least a few of the characters.
