The Energon Pub

i_amtrunks wrote:

Liege Evilmus wrote:Outside of the basic scout class, and the elimination of the $15 bots. TFs haven't realy gone up in price in a very long time.

My Beast Wars deluxe figures, off a TRU shelf $9.99.

My Movie Deluxes off that same shelf $9.99.

Hell, I even remeber paying close to that for KickBack WWWWWWWWAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY back in the day!

Price hikes are bound to happen eventualy, but we haven't had it so bad. Don't get me wrong, I'm not happy about it, and it is yet another reason to avoid the Animated line, but these things happen.

That's all well and good for those of you in the USA.

We've had near constant prices rises here in Australia, mainly on the Deluxe line. Deluxes used to be around $22, but they had edged their way up to $28 by the end of Classics/Movie. Thats with the Australian Dollar getting stronger against the US Dollar.

So I'll export some to ya, simple solution, besides weren't you saying in the Target Wave 3 thread that your hoping for those by spring, hell I haven't seen them yet, but I bet I will befor then!

Get a PayPal account, cost plus shipping that won't be jacked up on 1 condition...

You gotta take these items and wave them over your head outside you local merchant's window doing a "HA HA, F-U" dance!

Outside of that, I don't see anyway of getting around your nations inflation rates!

-sucks, but don't feel to bad, everything else here skyrockets all the time with no sign of stopping! I just kinda got lucky here in this hobby

1337W422102 wrote:I predict more cost cutting. Transformers will now be marketed as 'Ready to Paint! Paints not included.'

2/3 of the TF market is repaints though!?!

I doubt they'd go give up that much of their money

Dead Metal wrote:

megatroptimus wrote:

Dead Metal wrote:Hey we in Europe oredy pay duble from what you in the US have to pay, now they want even more?!
F that!

What's the minimum/average wage where you live?

€400 is as far as I know the lowest income per month!
And you have to pay your bills with that befor you buy your toys!

$5.75 USD, and before you guys get all huffy over the us dollar, keep in mind, whenever I go on Ebay and see something in italic, it's either, double that amount in USD. If it's Aulstralia, it's half

As far as TFs go price wise, we're a middle ground, which is never a good place to be cause we get it from both ends!

"Your costs are two low, you suck!" or, "Our costs have to be raised to match yours cause of import rates and stuff, you suck!"

Still it doesn't change the fact that your all closer to China where this stuff is made, so I don't understand why your no going about trying to get this stuff direct from Takara Petition people!

Ah Well, to the world at large...

I thank God for oceans and Canada, to keep us safe from you all and give us a place for the french!

Seibertron raises a valid point. Toys and consumer goods have been steadily declining in price for the past 2 decades.

Give Hasbro/Takara a break. The toys they are producing now are more sophisticated, and a lot cheaper than the original G1 stuff was. Some of my old G1 boxes still have their pricetags, and the basic number price has roughly stayed the same on comparable sized figures for over 20 years, while many other things have doubled, trebled and more.

I remember saving money for long periods of time to buy some of those figures. TF prices today are essentially a fraction of what they were then, and for an adult, we are basically talking pocket-change for a deluxe class figure. When you see what people are willing to pay for them on ebay, you can see that the store prices are more than reasonable, considering value people place on these toys.

I don't like price increases any more than the next guy, but you've got to admit, they're long overdue, and it's hardly extortionate.

No matter the cost I will get the Transformers I want.

OH NO!!!! PRices are going up. Heaven forbed. oh well, thats enough of me being sarcastic. My theroy is if you don't want to pay it, you don't need it. lol. anyway back to your normal whining.

Mr.Bond007 wrote:why's everybody having a fit? It's not like there are tfs on the shelves

Some companies could be holding out until the price increase.

Bumblethumper wrote:Seibertron raises a valid point. Toys and consumer goods have been steadily declining in price for the past 2 decades.

Give Hasbro/Takara a break. The toys they are producing now are more sophisticated, and a lot cheaper than the original G1 stuff was. Some of my old G1 boxes still have their pricetags, and the basic number price has roughly stayed the same on comparable sized figures for over 20 years, while many other things have doubled, trebled and more.

I remember saving money for long periods of time to buy some of those figures. TF prices today are essentially a fraction of what they were then, and for an adult, we are basically talking pocket-change for a deluxe class figure. When you see what people are willing to pay for them on ebay, you can see that the store prices are more than reasonable, considering value people place on these toys.

I don't like price increases any more than the next guy, but you've got to admit, they're long overdue, and it's hardly extortionate.

But quality and material durability has also gone down drastically.

The savings they get by subcontracting these toys to China, is not proportionate to the lowering of prices.

Black Bumblebee wrote:So what if a $40 toy will suddenly be $42. Is that going to kill you? Nope. Will get poisioned by said toy kill you? Well... I think you can answer that yourself.

It will for people on budgets like my self. Not all people can just suddenly afford to pay upped prices. And what about people that dont have jobs or get allowance from there parents. What are they expected to do go ask for a raise so they can afford to buy the toys and games they want? I never once bought an over priced figure when i could get it cheaper some were else. When TRU was selling the classics deluxes for $13 i didnt buy there. Even when i could afford to i didnt. By saving the few extra bucks by shopping at a store with the normal price i was able to get even more TFs. Now that i have no job and have to spend what ever money i do get on bills i cant afford to pay the few extra bucks for toys. And i know there are other people out there in similar situation. I think that these big time corporations can afford the testers them selves. If they care so much about there consumers they should take the money out of there pockets and helps us out. But then again this is how the lowly middle class American thinks. Now to finish with a quote that i think fits in this discussion. "While the banks get fat And the poor stay poor And the rich get rich And the cops get paid To look away As the one percent rules America". (Queensryche)

Megatron_Wolf wrote:

Black Bumblebee wrote:So what if a $40 toy will suddenly be $42. Is that going to kill you? Nope. Will get poisioned by said toy kill you? Well... I think you can answer that yourself.

It will for people on budgets like my self. Not all people can just suddenly afford to pay upped prices. And what about people that dont have jobs or get allowance from there parents. What are they expected to do go ask for a raise so they can afford to buy the toys and games they want? I never once bought an over priced figure when i could get it cheaper some were else. When TRU was selling the classics deluxes for $13 i didnt buy there. Even when i could afford to i didnt. By saving the few extra bucks by shopping at a store with the normal price i was able to get even more TFs. Now that i have no job and have to spend what ever money i do get on bills i cant afford to pay the few extra bucks for toys. And i know there are other people out there in similar situation. I think that these big time corporations can afford the testers them selves. If they care so much about there consumers they should take the money out of there pockets and helps us out. But then again this is how the lowly middle class American thinks. Now to finish with a quote that i think fits in this discussion. "While the banks get fat And the poor stay poor And the rich get rich And the cops get paid To look away As the one percent rules America". (Queensryche)

If I understand you correctly and $2 more per figure is going to kill you (per the original question), then perhaps you are in the wrong hobby. Collecting Transformers is a very expensive hobby. Fortunately it has not been affected much (if at all) by price inflations. The Transformers brands has been one of those things that has stayed pretty consistent in price over the past 23 years. Kudos to the-powers-that-be for making it as such.

I know it sucks to hear that the prices MIGHT go up. The $9.99 Transformer is the best selling figure of the Transformers line. I really doubt that we are going to see any significant price increases. The bottom line is that the toy companies, such as Hasbro, need to keep their products at a certrain price advantage to the old school game systems such as theN74.

No offense to Any Chinese memebers, but, **** CHINA!!!! Can't they do anything right? They treat their people like ****, overwork them, allow their people to be enslaved by american companies and now they cant even put out decent unleathal product?!

Why should we have to pay higher prices? Damnit Hasbro, take a loss and cut us some slack!

What is N74?

I don't understand all this hate.... the only people we should be hateful towards are the people in charge of China for their "unfair" business practices, and using cheap and poopy materials. They're paying dirt to their workers, and paying very little to make a product they go around and we buy. F*** that, its not Hasbro, its the producers fault the prices are going up, and the producers of pretty much everything worldwide now is China.

I'm not trying to start up a debate, but this is just the way I see it, and I can hardly see why you would want to blame Hasbro at all in thid, considering the article doesnt say anywhere that this is all because of Hasbro.

Prowl76 wrote:No matter the cost I will get the Transformers I want.

Same here. i'd maximize the use of my money by getting only the figures that i want.

Auto Bot wrote:But quality and material durability has also gone down drastically.

I'm not so sure that it has. I think some of the new movie figures may be more fragile than the chunky plastic of previous lines like Cybertron and Armada, but that is mostly down to the intricity and complexity of the movie designs.

If you go back to G1 stuff, I always liked the use of die-cast, but some of them were poorly made, such as my old Mexican manufactured Optimus Prime. There are others where the plastic has become very brittle, and in many it was brittle to begin with.

Bumblethumper wrote:

Auto Bot wrote:But quality and material durability has also gone down drastically.

I'm not so sure that it has. I think some of the new movie figures may be more fragile than the chunky plastic of previous lines like Cybertron and Armada, but that is mostly down to the intricity and complexity of the movie designs.

If you go back to G1 stuff, I always liked the use of die-cast, but some of them were poorly made, such as my old Mexican manufactured Optimus Prime. There are others where the plastic has become very brittle, and in many it was brittle to begin with.

Barricade is made of cheap plastic!

Seibertron wrote:
If I understand you correctly and $2 more per figure is going to kill you (per the original question), then perhaps you are in the wrong hobby. Collecting Transformers is a very expensive hobby.

I beg to differ. Transformers can be an expensive hobby... if you choose to be an undiscriminating completist, but other than that, it can be either as cheap or as expensive a hobby as you want to make it(and can afford to pay).

A good deluxe figure offers value that is hard to beat. You'd spend more on a meal or a night out, and that's money you'll never see again, where as you can enjoy Transformers again and again, and they do tend to hold at least some of their value.

I've been selective about what I get. I'm not just going to buy every lump of plastic Hasbro craps out. And it's rarely worth getting the repaints. There's a lot of figures in the current line that I could afford to get, but won't be getting. Neither of the Megatrons impress me, so I'm passing. Skip a few like that, and in time I can justify getting another Masterpiece.

Dead Metal wrote:Barricade is made of cheap plastic!

How so, and compared to what? He doesn't feel cheap to me. I've been fairly rough with mine, and nothing has broken, no joints have loosened, and he looks great.

Bumblethumper wrote:

Dead Metal wrote:Barricade is made of cheap plastic!

How so, and compared to what? He doesn't feel cheap to me. I've been fairly rough with mine, and nothing has broken, no joints have loosened, and he looks great.

His legs are of different sises, the "hands", chest, arms and legs are made of a plastik that if compared with previos stuff like Classics ore ather movie figs is farly cheap.
It ant KO plastik but not as good as it used to bee

The plastics on the most of the movie figures, especially the movie characters in the voyager and deluxe classes, feels inferior to the plastic on figures from other lines.


I don't mind if the price of toys goes up a few dollars to 1) pay for the current fiasco and 2) insure safer quality in the future.


I don't see how anybody in their right mind could blame Chinese people for this problem. It is the actions of a few greedy individuals that caused this problem. Our American "Walmart" culture is also to blame.

My greatest concern is for the Chinese workers, who are basically peasants making chump change a week, and who may have no idea of the health issues they might be facing due to the lead in the paint they worked with. After all, they had more exposure to it than anybody.

To complain about the cost of a toy going up a few dollars is downright selfish when you look at the "costs" other people in the world are paying.

Lapse Of Reason wrote:The plastics on the most of the movie figures, especially the movie characters in the voyager and deluxe classes, feels inferior to the plastic on figures from other lines.


I don't mind if the price of toys goes up a few dollars to 1) pay for the current fiasco and 2) insure safer quality in the future.


I don't see how anybody in their right mind could blame Chinese people for this problem. It is the actions of a few greedy individuals that caused this problem. Our American "Walmart" culture is also to blame.

My greatest concern is for the Chinese workers, who are basically peasants making chump change a week, and who may have no idea of the health issues they might be facing due to the lead in the paint they worked with. After all, they had more exposure to it than anybody.

To complain about the cost of a toy going up a few dollars is downright selfish when you look at the "costs" other people in the world are paying.

I think so too, but right now I'm paying for a toy that cost the compony like 0.50 USD, the same price as for a toy that is of better quality, paint and material and is made in Germany.
I just find it unfaire I just get riped of hear.
They cost the same to make, cost less to deliver but cost way more then anywere els?!

Dead Metal wrote:

Lapse Of Reason wrote:The plastics on the most of the movie figures, especially the movie characters in the voyager and deluxe classes, feels inferior to the plastic on figures from other lines.


I don't mind if the price of toys goes up a few dollars to 1) pay for the current fiasco and 2) insure safer quality in the future.


I don't see how anybody in their right mind could blame Chinese people for this problem. It is the actions of a few greedy individuals that caused this problem. Our American "Walmart" culture is also to blame.

My greatest concern is for the Chinese workers, who are basically peasants making chump change a week, and who may have no idea of the health issues they might be facing due to the lead in the paint they worked with. After all, they had more exposure to it than anybody.

To complain about the cost of a toy going up a few dollars is downright selfish when you look at the "costs" other people in the world are paying.

I think so too, but right now I'm paying for a toy that cost the compony like 0.50 USD, the same price as for a toy that is of better quality, paint and material and is made in Germany.
I just find it unfaire I just get riped of hear.
They cost the same to make, cost less to deliver but cost way more then anywere els?!

I know your "$0.50 to make" comment is intended to be an exaggeration. I'd guess it cost about $3 to $4 to make a deluxe figure, and about $2 in packaging and marketing. Movie characters may have to pay a fee to Paramount, but I'm not sure of their agreement with Hasbro. This could explain some cost-cutting on movie figures.

Have you considered that the increase in price in your country might be related to import taxes levied by Germany? From what I understand, Germany adds a 19% VAT on imports. Read more here: http://www.german-business-portal.info/ ... Print.html

There we go again, your typical American thinking he deserves everything for free with no effort. Jesus, we get a lot of toy for the money, and even with a $2 increase, a deluxe figure would still be a heck of a value. If that $2 kills you, then yes for sure you picked the wrong hobby. Go collect dollar store plastic soldiers instead.

I don't think it costs them $4 to make a deluxe, they want to make at least make 70% what it cost them to make it, then the store want that to.

And I don't thnk that 19% extra are going to let the toy cost €17 instead of around €7!

megatroptimus wrote:There we go again, your typical American thinking he deserves everything for free with no effort. Jesus, we get a lot of toy for the money, and even with a $2 increase, a deluxe figure would still be a heck of a value. If that $2 kills you, then yes for sure you picked the wrong hobby. Go collect dollar store plastic soldiers instead.

Who are you talking about? I consider myself a "typical American" yet I don't go around thinking I'm entitled to everything for free with little effort. Therefore I will try to ignore your unfounded, biased, stereotyped comment.



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