The Energon Pub

Kanyon wrote:I say don't worry about any of this "gas gouging" like price speculation that was reported, if it happens it happens. Some stores in the U.S. (K.B Toys, K-mart, TRU kinda and the local Central store Meijer) already have a higher then the manufacturer suggested retail price on certain figures.

Since Hasbro is the I'd say toy giant of well..Toys like at the moment Blizzard is the leading company of games with WoW (for now anyways) I wouldn't be suprised if Hasbro figures remained at the same MSRP while others stay the same since G.I. Joe, StarWars and Transformers are the 3 leading action figures or series that sells the Hasbro name.

Again this is my guesstimation.

Working in the Video game industry, I can safely say Blizzard is far from being the leading game company. sorry this is off topic.

Toyotus Superion wrote:

Kanyon wrote:I say don't worry about any of this "gas gouging" like price speculation that was reported, if it happens it happens. Some stores in the U.S. (K.B Toys, K-mart, TRU kinda and the local Central store Meijer) already have a higher then the manufacturer suggested retail price on certain figures.

Since Hasbro is the I'd say toy giant of well..Toys like at the moment Blizzard is the leading company of games with WoW (for now anyways) I wouldn't be suprised if Hasbro figures remained at the same MSRP while others stay the same since G.I. Joe, StarWars and Transformers are the 3 leading action figures or series that sells the Hasbro name.

Again this is my guesstimation.

Working in the Video game industry, I can safely say Blizzard is far from being the leading game company. sorry this is off topic.

Oh they aren't? THought they were with 9 million suckers I mean customers playing WoW and what not..yey for oftopicness

Kanyon wrote:

Toyotus Superion wrote:

Kanyon wrote:I say don't worry about any of this "gas gouging" like price speculation that was reported, if it happens it happens. Some stores in the U.S. (K.B Toys, K-mart, TRU kinda and the local Central store Meijer) already have a higher then the manufacturer suggested retail price on certain figures.

Since Hasbro is the I'd say toy giant of well..Toys like at the moment Blizzard is the leading company of games with WoW (for now anyways) I wouldn't be suprised if Hasbro figures remained at the same MSRP while others stay the same since G.I. Joe, StarWars and Transformers are the 3 leading action figures or series that sells the Hasbro name.

Again this is my guesstimation.

Working in the Video game industry, I can safely say Blizzard is far from being the leading game company. sorry this is off topic.

Oh they aren't? THought they were with 9 million suckers I mean customers playing WoW and what not..yey for oftopicness

Actually, no they arent. They have a huge install base. Thats it. The game is mostly pirated, so they are losing revenue that way. And they are nearly only a pc game company. PC gaming is like arcade gaming, nearly extinct. And ironicly, the reason for this is because most consumers aren't playing anything but WoW. PC gamers are killing their own hobby sadly.

Jestermon wrote:We claim to be all about capitalism down with communism and such, and preach it around the world until someone outstrips us like Japan in the 80's then we pout about how “amurcn” (insert good ole’ boy accent, or Yankee labor worker, it is your choice) goods are best and how we need that $30 and hour since we are special.

Even though “amurcn” cars and other goods are perceived by many Americans as being sub par to foreign cars and goods.

Just because we pay some one a lower wage in another country does not make it a sweatshop(our preconception), the global monetary exchange makes our currency vary around the world, if anything I think the 10% increase might be due to the falling dollar, and the fact that they are afraid to admit it.

Every one is blaming China for the poor cheap toys, when it was the U.S. company that paid for these items, it is their fault that they did not inspect their own goods, they more then likely paid for substandard product and got what they paid for.

It would be economic suicide for the Chinese just to decide to tasters choice their normal paint with lead. China is not an ignorant 3rd world country(as we perceive it ) they are a thriving economic power.

This is ridiculous when you question if a product is made in China when if you have any toys at all and you can not read China on the actual toy in front of you, that should show you how great our “amurcn” educational system is.

QTF.

China's going to continue making TF toys, and it's going to stay that way. Like it or not. Know that every time you buy a Transformers toy, you are supporting the Chinese war machine.

Don't like it? Quit this hobby.

Raymond101 wrote:QTF.

China's going to continue making TF toys, and it's going to stay that way. Like it or not. Know that every time you buy a Transformers toy, you are supporting the Chinese war machine.

Don't like it? Quit this hobby.

If you don't like supporting the Chinese War Machine, you not only have to quit Transformers collecting, but pretty much quit buying anything made from plastic, rubber, resin etc etc.

The Chinese economic growth has been because of the continual growth of it's export market, due to it's cheap labour and manufacturing costs.

I dislike the Chinese government because they have destroyed much of the historical and spiritual heritage of our great ancient country!!! That and they are killing off the Huanghe, our civilization's cradle!

Those are the things I despise more about the politburo -

yet some of the guys here seem more concerned about the quality of the toys they get from China. LOL. Give me a quality toy anyday, but Shortround, if you really want to criticize China, criticize their wanton destruction of Buddhist and Taoist monuments and their half-arsed care of the Dunhuang and Longmen Buddha Caves. Criticize their genocide of the Tibetan people. Criticize their trivialization of the nation's environmental problems. Criticize their censorship, their cowardice in the face of brave Chinese who have some pride in their country.

Toys are cool and all, but there're more pressing priorities to criticize my country's government about.

would this explain why BBTS and others stores take so long to get stuff?

[/quote]Actually, no they arent. They have a huge install base. Thats it. The game is mostly pirated, so they are losing revenue that way. And they are nearly only a pc game company. PC gaming is like arcade gaming, nearly extinct. And ironicly, the reason for this is because most consumers aren't playing anything but WoW. PC gamers are killing their own hobby sadly.

Hate being off topic on this but ya Blizzard makes 1 "decent" game and people flock to it like that new sporty car in the car lot.

I quit WoW and for good reasons. Sadly only a few of us don't play this Warcrack game and we can't support the better companies while everyone else is off KILLING TEH INTERNET DRAGONNZZZ.

Kanyon wrote:

Toyotus Superion wrote:Actually, no they arent. They have a huge install base. Thats it. The game is mostly pirated, so they are losing revenue that way. And they are nearly only a pc game company. PC gaming is like arcade gaming, nearly extinct. And ironicly, the reason for this is because most consumers aren't playing anything but WoW. PC gamers are killing their own hobby sadly.

Hate being off topic on this but ya Blizzard makes 1 "decent" game and people flock to it like that new sporty car in the car lot.

I quit WoW and for good reasons. Sadly only a few of us don't play this Warcrack game and we can't support the better companies while everyone else is off KILLING TEH INTERNET DRAGONNZZZ.

Blizzard is unique among video game companies. They don't go for quantity they go for quality. Regardless of if you enjoy the genres they tend to work in they have always made high quality games. And they tend to only put out one game at a time and take their time with them.

What I think has killed the PC market more then anything is that so many companies seem to want to put out as many half assed games as they can as fast as possible and thus we keep getting more and more broken or simply crap games dropped on us.

And worse is that even when a decent independent developer comes along the publishers force them to put out flawed software in a vain attempt to meet meaningless deadlines. In an effort to make a quick buck they ruin the chances for a long term gain.

tentagil wrote:

Kanyon wrote:

Toyotus Superion wrote:Actually, no they arent. They have a huge install base. Thats it. The game is mostly pirated, so they are losing revenue that way. And they are nearly only a pc game company. PC gaming is like arcade gaming, nearly extinct. And ironicly, the reason for this is because most consumers aren't playing anything but WoW. PC gamers are killing their own hobby sadly.

Hate being off topic on this but ya Blizzard makes 1 "decent" game and people flock to it like that new sporty car in the car lot.

I quit WoW and for good reasons. Sadly only a few of us don't play this Warcrack game and we can't support the better companies while everyone else is off KILLING TEH INTERNET DRAGONNZZZ.

Blizzard is unique among video game companies. They don't go for quantity they go for quality. Regardless of if you enjoy the genres they tend to work in they have always made high quality games. And they tend to only put out one game at a time and take their time with them.

What I think has killed the PC market more then anything is that so many companies seem to want to put out as many half assed games as they can as fast as possible and thus we keep getting more and more broken or simply crap games dropped on us.

And worse is that even when a decent independent developer comes along the publishers force them to put out flawed software in a vain attempt to meet meaningless deadlines. In an effort to make a quick buck they ruin the chances for a long term gain.

Well that is true. Blizzard makes good games but have poor customer service. Then again that's common in most companies that create products. In my opinion anyways

DISCHARGE wrote:Think about what it cost to ship those items across the ocean.
The money saved on that step alone would supplement the
cost paid to the home grown producer,
I'm sorry if this sounds bullish, but I am more for
increasing the wealth of the U.S. over any other country.

Shipping via large freight ships is extremely cheap, especially for the kind of bulk they're dealing with. It wouldn't make any sense at all for the toys to be made here. The end product would be incredibly expensive ... there would be no way we could have a $10 Transformer any more.

Jestermon wrote:Every one is blaming China for the poor cheap toys, when it was the U.S. company that paid for these items, it is their fault that they did not inspect their own goods, they more then likely paid for substandard product and got what they paid for.

Not necessariy. When an a company partners with a company/factory (foreign or domestic) they make arrangements on "good faith" that the products will be up to certain standards. Sometimes the companies are on the up and up and produce quality product. Sometimes they aren't. A few years ago, Palisades toys got reamed when the Chinese factory they used went behind their back and used another Chinese subcontractor to manufacture their line of Micronauts reissues. The plastic was sub par and led to a recall and lots of angry fans who had parts break off as they were removing them from their packages. Why did they do this? The Chinese company could keep the difference from the money they saved from using the company they subcontracted with as pure profit. For example if Big US Toycompany makes a deal with Foreign Toys to produce their line of 60 Minutes action figures for $1 Million and then turns around and finds Toys Made Cheaply will make the entire batch for $700,000 then that is $300,000 that Foreign Toys pockets as "profit". Palisades thought by using a new Chinese mfg for the replacement wave would solve the problem but that company did the same thing. They didn't release their third wave of the toys because the QC of the last waves ruined the image of the line and it was cancelled. I've heard that this is common in China and other countries where the labor laws are lax.

Jestermon wrote:It would be economic suicide for the Chinese just to decide to tasters choice their normal paint with lead. China is not an ignorant 3rd world country(as we perceive it ) they are a thriving economic power.

While I agree that China is becoming a thriving economic power,
the problem has more to do with greedy business owners who don't care if lead based paint or other caustic chemicals is going on children's toys just as long as they are getting their money. I am sure there are many reputable Chinese companies that take pride and want to produce high quality merchandise. Fortunately it seems at the moment that Hasbro is working with companies like these. The US has had many of types of these problems in the latter half of the 19th and early parts of the 20th century that China is going through now. It is just too bad that the Chinese government doesn't seem too serious about it until foreign governments have to get involved.