The Energon Pub

I went to Wal-Mart yesterday and checked out the Transformers aisle.

"Wow, these Transformers Prime toys are pretty damn small. Why didn't I realize that last time I went?"

I mean, yeah, the Prime Soundwave I got is kind of small, but Bumblebee and Cliffjumper take it to a whole new level.

So then I check the prices.

THE PRICES.

THOSE MOTHERFUDGING PRICES.

THEY WANT $13 FOR THESE!?

I don't think I payed $13 for Soundwave...

So then I left with DOTM Deluxe Bumblebee and Deluze Barricade as well as a bag of beef jerky. Cool toys.

$16.99 in Canada. Plus tax. Around 17 and change after all is said and done. I don't buy them.

monstergrotusque wrote:$16.99 in Canada. Plus tax. Around 17 and change after all is said and done. I don't buy them.

Hasbro Toy Shop seems to have the lowest prices, but shipping and handling ruins that. Toys R Us is just being absurd.

TF Prime deluxes: € 19,99 in the Netherlands (priced down from € 21,99).
Sorry Wheeljack, I like your look, but at those prices, I gotta leave you hanging.

I think people would still complain even if these things were free.

alldarker wrote:TF Prime deluxes: € 19,99 in the Netherlands (priced down from € 21,99).
Sorry Wheeljack, I like your look, but at those prices, I gotta leave you hanging.

That's insane!

Here's the obligatory fact sheet for increased prices:

- eternal inflation
- increased oil prices
- economic crunch

And for the Europeans, including me:

- import duties
- VAT calculated into the price (differs by country, for the Netherlands it's a whopping 19%, 6% for consumptions like food and drinks)

I'm not gonna bother looking for past threads that have dealt with this topic...

Blurrz wrote:Calm down weeaboo, it could be worse.

Why do you always call him that?

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:Here's the obligatory fact sheet for increased prices:

- eternal inflation
- increased oil prices
- economic crunch

And for the Europeans, including me:

- import duties
- VAT calculated into the price (differs by country, for the Netherlands it's a whopping 19%, 6% for consumptions like food and drinks)

I'm not gonna bother looking for past threads that have dealt with this topic...

This ^

It isn't gouging, it's economics. Even without escalating oil prices, inflation assures that prices for everything in every economic system will only increase with time as more currency is printed/created (which is always necessary as population increases and earnings/wages for individuals increase to attempt to keep up with an increased cost of living, which they always do). It is a constantly growing cycle that feeds itself until currency loses most of its worth. It is inevitable. The more money in existence/circulation (this includes the virtual money held in banks' computers and the currency used for trading on the various stock markets of the world), the less value an individual piece of currency has.

A single unit of currency will always have less buying power ten years from now than it did 10 years ago.

Considering prices elsewhere, $13 isn't bad... $15 is pushing it though, if they do end up using that price scheme for the FOC Generations line, especially given the notably reduced size of many of the figures. :\

Moreover, how did you find Dotm Barricade? xD I thought those things flew off shelves.

The damn DOTM deluxes are freaking $16 at Target. It pisses me off. And all they ever have are a bunch of Bumblebees for DOTM and Prime.

LOST Cybertronian wrote:I think people would still complain even if these things were free.

Free? Oh, that's great. Who's going to pay for my gas to pick these things up?

In Asia:

(USD prices)
Legion : $9.50
Commander: $15.80
HA Basic: $$19.80
Deluxe: $22.20
Voyager: $43.80
HA/ Ultra: $55.80
Leader: $87.70
MP rodimus: $143.60

We need a hug.

Seeing people complain about prices tends to get my goat.

Why?

Because if TF prices had kept pace with, say, gasoline, then a Basic (roughly the size of G1 Prowl, for example) would cost $31 !

Gas in 1984 was an average of $1.21 a gallon, compared to an average of $3.50 a gallon right now. Prowl cost $10.99 in 1984, so...

my big problem is getting less for more money. TRU prices aside, I can live with $5 legion class, and $9 Cyberverse commanders. It's things like Hasbro cutting the articulation on Clone wars figures and still charging the same $8 for them, but now you don't get ankle, wrist and knee articulation. Same with the new Avengers movie toys, the price went up, quality, paint and articulation went down. So far I don't think TF toys are suffering from this as much as other lines. I don't mind the $20 for voyager figures, or the $13-$15 for deluxe, as long as they are making good figures. I hope how Hasbro is handling other lines doesn't start happening with TFs, or I'm going to have a whole lot more money to spend on Legos.

RAcast wrote:Considering prices elsewhere, $13 isn't bad... $15 is pushing it though, if they do end up using that price scheme for the FOC Generations line, especially given the notably reduced size of many of the figures. :\

Moreover, how did you find Dotm Barricade? xD I thought those things flew off shelves.

It was just there. Someone I knew wanted it, so that got me interested. There's actually one more still there that I saw about 45 minutes ago. I'd put it in the sightings, but that section isn't anonymous.

By the way, are they doing this to the ponyfags bronies and little girls too?

Blurrz wrote:Calm down weeaboo, it could be worse.

Anyway, $13 for a deluxe isn't that bad, but TRU sold me my PRID Optimus voyager for $25... If I hadn't been so paranoid that I wouldn't find it elsewhere (turned out to be silly in retrospect) I wouldn't have paid that much.

It Is Him wrote:

LOST Cybertronian wrote:I think people would still complain even if these things were free.

Free? Oh, that's great. Who's going to pay for my gas to pick these things up?

Lmao...^

RhA wrote:We need a hug.

Hugs

On topic

I have come to the conclusion that the hobby I have chosen is a rather pricey one at times and will continue to get pricer. I understand this, accept it and make sure that I know what I want when I go to the toy aisle. My advice to those who are struggling with this concept is to have a side fund for transformers and contribute to it every now and then. Your not going to wake up one day and find figures for half off unless you only collect movie figures....