The Energon Pub

Sun Nov 22, 2009 12:29 am

Do you honestly think that the masterpiece figures are worth what they sell for, or do you think they should go for less?

News Credits: 1452 · Sun Nov 22, 2009 2:59 am

They're impressive figures. Well... they are called masterpieces after all. I'm not sure that the price tag of $100 is fitting, but we're experiencing alot of inflation lately. Howerver like $60 for Masterpiece Skywarp is a pretty impressive deal. If you're worried about money issues, just try to deal with fellow collectors who will most likely want to get rid of it at lower prices.

News Credits: 9 · Sun Nov 22, 2009 6:33 am

I think that they are overpriced but, apart from Grimlock, I've managed to get them much cheaper.

Sun Nov 22, 2009 7:01 am

Yeah, I think they're too high in price. I shelled out about $100 for the G1 colored MP Starscream, but for the repainted seekers and them being around $100 (or more especially on ebay) is too high IMO. I've been wanting MP Thundercracker pretty bad, but I'm not willing to shell out that much, especially for a repaint. $60 isn't bad for the Walmart exclusive Skywarp. I paid more than that for my MP Skywarp.

News Credits: 2 · Sun Nov 22, 2009 10:04 am

I think Masterpiece figures aren't too far away from their "worth" in price. I can't deny the high level of toy design. MP Optimus Prime is just so perfect. MP Starscream isn't as flawless but it's a great representation of the character. I can't say much about MP Megatron and MP Grimlock as I don't own them but they look great too.

Considering that the normal lines of toys are not anywhere close to MP level design(The exception is RotF Leader OP, which is an exceptional mainline toy that is on the path to Masterpiece. I don't count Binaltech/Alternators or Alternity as "normal" since they're designed for the collector market), MP figures stand alone and so are more "rare", which will also bring up their price.

News Credits: 609 · Sun Nov 22, 2009 10:21 am

I've stuck with US only, and I'm rather happy with the prices ;-)

Sun Nov 22, 2009 3:56 pm

I only own two MP figures, both the North American releases.

20th Anniversary Optimus was well worth the $100 or so that I paid for him... I just wish he'd come with a trailer! Of course, that would have cost more, so...

Masterpiece Skywarp (my Fav G1 Decepticon) was likewise worth his very affordable $60 price... considering how many figures are in the $40-50 range, a jump of $10-20 for a Masterpiece figure isn't really that big a deal to me, considering the size and detail of the figures make them impressive display pieces. I wouldn't spend the money on them for a child who's main objective is to play... but for me, who simply likes to display them (and tranform them every now and then) they are perfect.

Consider this: Alternators and the new ROTF Human Alliance figures were/are priced in the range of $40-50, and MP Seekers are a bit bigger, while MP Prime is significantly larger.

Sun Nov 22, 2009 8:45 pm

I like the US prices much better than having to import them, but I think they were worth it at $100. I was frustrated when Grimlock came out at 150. Of course, that didn't stop me from buying him. I won't pay that kind of money for a repaint though.

Mon Nov 23, 2009 10:57 am

It depends on what a person really wants to spend their money on. I was happy to pay $105 including the $20 shipping a couple weeks ago for my MISB (now open) MP-06.

I will spend that again-I now have the Masterpiece bug and want all of them. I am going to pick up the other Seekers first, and then move on to Prime and Megs. I think they are unbelieveable!

News Credits: 3 · Mon Nov 23, 2009 12:25 pm

SJ21 wrote:I like the US prices much better than having to import them, but I think they were worth it at $100. I was frustrated when Grimlock came out at 150. Of course, that didn't stop me from buying him. I won't pay that kind of money for a repaint though.

I agree with this. $150 seems too steep, especially for what Grimlock was (or more so wasn't,) but $100 seems more or less fair...especially when you see these 3rd party companies putting out smaller figures and add-ons for $80+.

News Credits: 1 · Tue Nov 24, 2009 11:44 pm

For the ones I've imported I've gotten them, give or take, for $100.

You need to remember that we are paying retail PLUS an import markup, so it's not as outrageous as it may seem.

Grimlock was $150, and while he is great THAT price, I must agree, was robbery.
A 50% increase in price AND a 30% reduction in size?!?!? Great fig, poor scale, and a lot of $$$.

If you were able to pick up the first US release of Prime, he was available, on sale, for $25 near the end of his release. That was a stellar deal. I was just getting back into TFs with the alternator line, so he was a brilliant addition to them.