The Energon Pub

I was at my local ToysRus in Westbury, NY today. They finally had some good stuff on the shelves, but they raised their prices since I was there two weeks ago.

RID Dreadwing: $30.99 (All RID Weaponizers had this price tag.)
RID Deluxe: $17.99
MP Thundercracker: $89.99 (They had a whole box of them above the display shelf.)

I bought the Dreadwing, but later returned it after finding one at my local Wal-mart for $19.96. It scanned for $21.96, but they gave it to me for $19.96 because that's what the sign on the display said. Deluxes were scanning for $15.97.

The size of the RID Voyagers is much smaller than the old voyagers. $32 is highway robbery. Paying anything above $12 for a deluxe always feels wrong to me. I blame Hasbro for the reduced sizes and the retailers for the price above MSRP.

I saw and picked up dreadwing for 21.96 here in laurens, sc. I noticed the deluxes at a bit over 15 bucks. The same figs I got from BBTS for about 5 bucks cheaper. I thiink that 17 and some change, plus tax, is pushing it for a deluxe. Walmart and target can let stock rot on the shelf before I pay that.

Wow...

So it really is going to be everywhere and wasn't just a hickup.

Well, this regrettably ends my interest in collecting lines outside chug, since there will basically be no way for me to afford it. I will keep my g1 esque Prid figures and sell off the rest, and unless this ends I won't be dipping into new lines anymore.
This is one certain way to kill a brand, since a lot of us wont be willing to bow to scalper level prices on shelves anymore than we will online, and now these things are barely going to move off the pegs, which will be the final nail in the already terrible distribution debacle.

Double post

QBKiller94 wrote:I bought the Dreadwing, but later returned it after finding one at my local Wal-mart for $19.96. It scanned for $21.96, but they gave it to me for $19.96 because that's what the sign on the display said. Deluxes were scanning for $15.97.

My local Wal-Mart finally got in a case of Voyagers that had one Dreadwing, but since I already had him on order from www.hasbrotoyshop.com, I left it on the shelf.

Apparently the Prime line Voyagers have gone up a bit in price at Wal-Mart from $19.96 to $21.96, but thankfully I've noticed the shelf price has gone unchanged by the employees. I recently bought a second Bulkhead (to be painted up as a Generations Trailbreaker) and it rang up $21.96. I disputed the price as it was still listed as $19.96 on the shelf. Fortunately for me (though sadly when you look at as a whole), I got it for $19.96 based on my word alone since they've cut back on employees, there wasn't anyone to double-check the shelf price.

At another Wal-Mart I was able to find and purchase a Prime Vehicon, but it wasn't on file when the cashier scanned it at the register. My honesty kicked in and I informed her it was priced on the peg for $15.47. Once again the cashier went on my word because they don't have the employees they used to have to do a price check, let alone enough employees to make sure that everything that comes in through the back is in the system and scannable.

Funny, I brought it up about this price hike a few weeks back on Deluxe figures and especially Star Wars action figures selling at $10 a pop. I guess it just hadn't hit everywhere and affected everyone yet enough to earn a forum discussion until now.

At this point I don't even care. Shrek-formers own most of the pegs in the Transformers section anyway.

The FOC Combaticons where $15 a piece with free shipping on HTS so I just bought them there.

If I wanted to pay ebay prices for Transformer figures I wouldn't have shut down my profile there 2 years ago.

If retail wants to play this game with pricing, then to hell with them. Being the larges toy company in the world, Hasbro really needs to think of better options to get their product out there. Cutting the middle man should lower the cost.

But certainly all of the fault doesn't fall on retail. If Hasbro continues to shrink these deluxe figures to the size par with G.I.Joe men, then I'll just have to find another hobby. Simple as that!

i agree totally! ive been collecting transformers for 20 years now. its insane how the prices have grown. ive always counted on walmart to be the lowest price. then target. now its starting to be a rip off everywhere. 16 bucks for a tiny figure? please. not even just the transformers but almost all the other toys. as the econmy falls will prices keep rising? i agree...is there no end?

I very tempted to stop collecting now. Although I will definitely be getting the Masterpieces. I cannot say no to them.

Cliff Jumper wrote:I very tempted to stop collecting now. Although I will definitely be getting the Masterpieces. I cannot say no to them.

I'm on the brink of bringing my collecting to an end. Sure, I still have the rest of the Prime line, and hopefully Beast Hunters will do justice (I'm a big Aligned fan), but not a lot in FoC/Generations has impressed me. I've gotten to the point of only wanting 4 figures from a line. That's when you know it's bad; I used to collect all the figures.

Yeah, my Wal-Mart has been selling deluxes at around 16 bucks! My local Meijer, however, has them for only around 13 bucks. Unfortunately, Wal-mart, as always, has the better selection...

So I went back to my local TRU today (where they charged me $17.49 each for FoC W2 figures) and found they had the GDO deluxes in stock. What was odd however was that they were only $14.99 each which is less then the regular Generations deluxes (priced at $15.99 each). Considering this is TRU which as already known for higher prices AND they were exclusives I was really surprised at this pricing.

Oh and just to rub it in this same TRU had NINE MP Thundercracker on the shelf.

I was also going to mention that my local Meijer has deluxes at $12.99. STILL an easy pass.

a Cobra Viper wrote:I was also going to mention that my local Meijer has deluxes at $12.99. STILL an easy pass.

Yeah, true, unless its a figure I really wanted. Like a lot of people, I've been more selective about my toy purchases and have been turning to Japanese action figure lines like SH Figuarts and D-Arts instead of anything made in the US.

...And the US Samurai Gigazord. I've been working on that.>.>

Wow. Remember when stores used to battle each other to have the LOWEST price in town? At least it's easier to pass on these things because they suck.

User897 wrote:Wow. Remember when stores used to battle each other to have the LOWEST price in town? At least it's easier to pass on these things because they suck.

Who knows maybe this is temporary. If too many people stop buying then hopefully prices will decrease. Though this may be a pipe dream. Well more Ultra Act for me Schwah!!!

Yeah my local Target had the prime figures at @ 18.29 after months looking for a vehicon finally found one but pass cuz of the price. Hasbro is starting to make the figures smaller for deluxe and more expensive

Wow 18.29 for a deluxe is insane. That's almost how much Classics voyagers cost.

I really hope Hasbro doesn't think that free DVD justifies the price.

xBigbotx wrote:Yeah my local Target had the prime figures at @ 18.29 after months looking for a vehicon finally found one but pass cuz of the price. Hasbro is starting to make the figures smaller for deluxe and more expensive

Glad I got my Knock Out when it was $15.00.

FellintoOblivion wrote:I really hope Hasbro doesn't think that free DVD justifies the price.

That's just it. The so-called "free" DVD ain't so free! If it's going to jack up the price so much, then ditch it!

Going by what we saw at SDCC (this DOES include the DVD):

It seems Hasbro has the price set to $15, it's the retailers jacking the price up further. If we're going to complain, it might as well be to the right people!

xBigbotx wrote:Yeah my local Target had the prime figures at @ 18.29 after months looking for a vehicon finally found one but pass cuz of the price. Hasbro is starting to make the figures smaller for deluxe and more expensive

Appalling. So they think a DVD sweetens the deal?
Is this the future of Transformers; a tiny crappy figure and a few extra tidbits thrown in to fill out the packaging?
Suuuure, a low res cartoon episode, a poorly designed clear plastic weapon or a cheap little robot that turns into a gun or hat? For twenty bucks? Here, have my money Hasbro!

Noideaforaname wrote:....it's the retailers jacking the price up further. If we're going to complain, it might as well be to the right people!

That is why HasBLO needs to take responsibility for their product! If they really did care, they would work with their retail partners, instead of letting them do what they want once the orders are filled! I am so tired of the "Once the product is delivered, it's out of our hands" crap!

User897 wrote:

Noideaforaname wrote:....it's the retailers jacking the price up further. If we're going to complain, it might as well be to the right people!

That is why HasBLO needs to take responsibility for their product! If they really did care, they would work with their retail partners, instead of letting them do what they want once the orders are filled! I am so tired of the "Once the product is delivered, it's out of our hands" crap!

Would you blame Hasbro for scalping or would you blame scalpers for scalping?

User897 wrote:That is why HasBLO needs to take responsibility for their product! If they really did care, they would work with their retail partners, instead of letting them do what they want once the orders are filled! I am so tired of the "Once the product is delivered, it's out of our hands" crap!

It's a tricky situation. Yes Hasbro can talk to their retail partners, but honestly it wouldn't do much good. I work for a distribution/manufacturing company and sadly we have very little control over what companies sell our products for once they're bought from us. We have "suggested" prices on everything, but if our customers want to charge more, there's nothing we can do to stop them from doing it. What would end up happening is our retail partners would simply say "fine, we're no longer carrying your product". And that would be the end of it. Do you honestly think Wal-Mart would care about losing out on the Transformers line if Hasbro said "lower the prices or we'll stop supplying you"? Granted Hasbro does have a bit more pull because of how many products they have on the market, but the bottom line is there is nothing stopping WM from charging whatever they want, other than consumers. Hasbro has little to no influence or say once product is sold to retail outlets. There is no legal ground so all they can do is suggest, but it's up to the stores what the tags say.

RhA, I won't even dignify that with a reply.

Bubbah, I couldn't agree more. That's what can be so damned frustrating. I know it's not the BUSINESS thing to do. Of course, business and morality rarely go hand in hand. We can take it or leave it. Until the number of "leavers" outweigh the number of "takers" and cause financial harm to the manufacturer as well as the retailers, the system will never change. This is the flipside of being an avid fan and collector. We care for the property more than most.