skywarp-2 wrote:ok so in what 5 years, judging by the state of inflation, the Botcon sets are going to be like what a Grand!!!!
On ebay the 2007 Botcon set, bid starting at $520.00!!!!! Loose Bagged version.. not even the real boxed set!!!!
Screw that f-ing Shite!! What a f-ing ripp off, see this kinda F-ing Shite is why i can't stand crap like this!!!!
http://cgi.ebay.com/BotCon-2007-Transfo ... dZViewItemDefend it all you like Counterpunch, I still say the Botcon exclusives are too freakin Expensive, and should have been made for all fans.. this bites!!!!!
Those prices have nothing to do with Botcon and everything to do with scalpers. Don't bash Hasbro or Botcon because some one bought a set and then started reselling it for a higher price. The fact that sets are selling for those prices however proves that Botcon could have charged even more then they did and still sold them. Botcon prices have actually remained mostly unchanged for hte last five years. In fact price per unit has actually gone down some since 2003.
Rip offs like this on ebay really piss me off.. and not only that its what a sign of the times nowadays!!!! I hope this crap brings the franchise to its knees and causes serious changes to occur, like with what happened in the comics industry when in the 1990s there were too many exclusive covers and such and it became a hobby that was tiring and expensive and not worth it anymore, thats another reason i quit comics, and this stupid Botcon stuff is sending me that way with this hobby..!!!
Thats not going to happen here though, because there aren't enough exclusives to go around. The prices are the result of the items truly being "Exclusive" as opposed to be mass produced and jsut having that label stuck on them. They are exactly what Botcon wants them to be. Its proving to be a sound business decision for them, which as a club member I applaud since more profits means better stuff for us in the future.
Defend this crap all you like, it still doesn't negate the fact that there are like a Bazillion exclusives being released this year and on top of that the Hot Rodimus alternators figure also became an exclusive for the SDCC comic con, and sells on eBay for like 55.00 MISB.. what a rip off considering it'll be available to order from Hasbro's own toyshop!!!...
You complain about it being sold for $55 by an Ebay seller, then mention that it will be sold by HTS. Well then skip the ebay seller and buy it from the store. Its only a rip off if you let yourself be ripped off. To blame the seller because you were stupid and paid the price when you knew it would be available cheaper is simply shifting the blame to the wrong the person.
Forget the Disgruntled Brits, what about us disgruntled Non-Botcon Attendees??
its not my fault I can't go this year, and get stuff at a cheap rate just by being there.. I have a company to run..most of us have to work or are just unable to afford to go.. then they charge over 200.00 for the repaint sets, and expect us to just abide by it, because of production costs?? how much does Paint cost these days!!!!???
At least with the Masterpiece line up i can get a decent and pretty detailed figure at like what 88.00 to 100.00... While a repaint box set that includes figure originally sold in US stores for like 10.00 a piece, which have been repainted are now 50.00 a piece!!!
First its more then jsut repainting on a few of them. Second when producing a smaller batch ( in this case 1400 as opposed to several hundred thousand as Hasbro does) the costs per unit goes up dramatically. Add in re sculpting some parts, repainting, and shipping costs and the price per figure is significantly higher then a retail release. A fact that you and others continue to ignore. The Masterpiece figures are mass produced, and the repaints have no remolding which makes them even cheaper to produce then the first run since the price per unit get spread over both runs.
Also look at Classics Starscream, who now goes for 25-30 bucks a pop. He was a retail release, and now his price is inching up to match the price for the Botcon figures.
This is stupid!!! I really wanted those Botcon sets, and yeah i didn't jump at the chances to buy one because of the price.. you know not all us fans out here in the world have the money to save up to buy stuff like that!!!!!
I'd rather shop around and forget Botcon exclusives even exist!!! but it does bite though because the stories and expanded content are cool..
but too damn rich for my Blood, I'll Pass!!!!!!!
my rant is over!!! Don't like what I just wrote, sorry..and if you feel my pain, then feel free to rant as well!!!
I can understand if they are out of your price range. But bitching and complaining because they aren't catering to your budget demands isn't going to help. Hasbro and Funpub are companies, they need to make a profit, thats the bottom line. They are producing toys in order to sell them at a profit. The only way they are going to lower prices is if they aren't selling well enough and they are getting stuck with back stock. Considering that this year sold out, last years is now sold out, and most of 2005s figures are sold as well means that they are apparently doing their job right and that means prices aren't dropping any time soon.
what would be damned decent of Hasbro would be to release the Botcon sets at a fair and reasonable price, one per month, available from their website with a wide release, so everyone could get them!!!!
That way those of us who can only muster enough cash from paycheck to paycheck after our bills are paid can afford to get those sets one at a time, instead of flooding the stupid cons with exclusives and expecting everyone to have saved their tax return money to buy all that crap up!!! its insane, ridiculous, and greedy!!!!
its not fair to the fan community, and is completely and utterly Capitalistic to a fault!!!
Which is exactly why they are doing it. Like I said, Hasbro and Funpub exist to make a profit. They aren't here to make you happy, they aren't here to make the fandom happy, they make and sell toys to line their own pockets. And everyone knew the rough estimate of the Con set cost last year, we all knew that the con set this year would cost around the same as last year. We also knew that the SDCC exclusive would probably be in the same price range and would likely have a HTS release as well. Its not like they jsut sprung this all on us two days before the con.
If you couldn't afford it I'm sorry, but guess what, thats life. We can't always afford everything we want. I managed to get the Botcon figures this year, I'm skipping the SDCC ones. But to pull that off I had tighten my budget substantially. I did that because it was worth it to me.
this is not a way to build a loyal fanbase, and certainly bolsters animosity for those sets and exclusives!!!There are those of us, who may never be able to afford to attend a Botcon, or afford to get these stupid sets!!! thats the reality of the situation...
With all the merchandise that is being released, and the previous toys that we have to hunt down, plus the Botcon exclusives, SDCC exclusives, ect,, ect,, its a wonder why any of us are still here collecting!!!!
Again pleasing the fan base is not their priority, nor should it be. We are a small fraction of their market. The Botcon set is targeted at the small 15-20% of the market that adult collectors fill. Thats what exclusives in general are set up for. And you know what, they could always go back to the old club/con concept where you could literally only get them at the con. In which case they'd be even more limited and probably be selling for even more then they already are.
As to why people are still collecting. Because as you said, there is so much to collect, this is a great time to be a TF fan. We've got so many toys to choose from that their is literally something for every taste. And stuff is in every price range so people from pretty much any tax bracket can afford to by a little TF merchandise.
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