Gamestop Raises Preorder Prices by 30-40% on Transformers

See ya collecting!

I'm probably stating the obvious, Gamestop is gauging in price. 30% tariff (up from existing 20%) doesn't necessarily translate to +30% MSRP.

Wonder if others will follow.

We have not heard as yet about CDN price increases and we may never see them. The Titan Star OP price is $205 up here. However, with the EB Games (formerly Gamestop Canada) 10% discount (Platinum Member) that falls to $185 before taxes with free S/H.

To buy it from Gamestop US it would now be US $210 which works out to be CDN $305 MSRP and then $275 with the same discount before taxes with free S/H. These are now way cheaper (CDN $90) in Canada, even with our weaker dollar. Crazy!

I do not trust that amazon.com will honor the price of the preorders that I made. So I cancelled everything.

Looks like I won't be buying from Game Stop. Pretty much everywhere. I'm gonna have fun looking at my incomplete Superion and incomplete Devastator.

-Kanrabat- wrote:I do not trust that amazon.com will honor the price of the preorders that I made. So I cancelled everything.

I'm actually the opposite, at least on cancelling. Your pre-order authorization is for a certain amount. If the actual price at the time of shipment will be higher and they want you to pay that, it would require a second authorization because you only authorized a certain amount. If they do try to make everyone re-authorize at the higher price, so be it. I'll make my decision then, but I wouldn't cancel until I know for sure.

Oddly enough, for the regular retail figures like SS deluxe VW Bee and AotP voyager Heatwave, Amazon looks like they are matching the available pre-order pricing with their algorithm on figures I did not pre-order. The reason I believe it is their algorithm is because their exclusive Wreck and Doom sets are still at the original price. It will be interesting to see if that jumps up whenever Hasbro raises the price for those 2 sets on Pulse, which should be the only other US based website that they could look at.

Solrac333 wrote:Looks like I won't be buying from Game Stop. Pretty much everywhere. I'm gonna have fun looking at my incomplete Superion and incomplete Devastator.

They will now be known as Inferion and Deficientstator.

megatran wrote:

Solrac333 wrote:Looks like I won't be buying from Game Stop. Pretty much everywhere. I'm gonna have fun looking at my incomplete Superion and incomplete Devastator.

They will now be known as Inferion and Deficientstator.

In both cases, an arm and a leg are starting to cost, well, an arm and a leg.

I'll show myself out.

TF-fan kev777 wrote:

megatran wrote:

Solrac333 wrote:Looks like I won't be buying from Game Stop. Pretty much everywhere. I'm gonna have fun looking at my incomplete Superion and incomplete Devastator.

They will now be known as Inferion and Deficientstator.

In both cases, an arm and a leg are starting to cost, well, an arm and a leg.

I'll show myself out.

You both win this convo!

-Kanrabat- wrote:
I do not trust that amazon.com will honor the price of the preorders that I made. So I cancelled everything.

I don't know if their policy has changed as I haven't bought anything there in years, but when I use to buy game books there, I would occasionally find preorders that were obviously mispriced. They always honored the price. Sometimes I would end up with new books at 85-90% off cover price.

TF-fan kev777 wrote:

megatran wrote:

Solrac333 wrote:Looks like I won't be buying from Game Stop. Pretty much everywhere. I'm gonna have fun looking at my incomplete Superion and incomplete Devastator.

They will now be known as Inferion and Deficientstator.

In both cases, an arm and a leg are starting to cost, well, an arm and a leg.

I'll show myself out.

Don't despair. There are options.
Put aside a few dollars each week and before you know it you'll have a foot in the door or a leg in.
Put your hand up and ask someone for a leg up.

Dino-Snarl wrote:We have not heard as yet about CDN price increases and we may never see them.

I have news but have yet to find the time to write the story, but it's confirmed that there is no increase to Canadian MSRP. Any change to MSRP and distribution is only for the US market.

So while people say that Hasbro is just looking for an excuse to raise prices, they are not increasing prices worldwide. If they increase prices, it's just for the US and just so that the government does not scold them for charging a separate fee on the item highlighting the tariff.

So Amazon has now raised their prices to match Gamestop. I'll say it again, these figures are not made in China, they're made in Vietnam where the current tariff is 10%. Transformers are being given unreasonable price hikes tso they don't have to raise prices on toys for younger kids. Hasbro is taking advantage of us.

Side note, this article from Business Insider shows how dire the situation was at Hasbro. It says they're pausing some of their pricing plans since the tariff was reduced, was planing to cancel lines, and considered making some lines international. They also mentioned this would have changed planed retailor promotions.

Emerje

william-james88 wrote:

Dino-Snarl wrote:We have not heard as yet about CDN price increases and we may never see them.

I have news but have yet to find the time to write the story, but it's confirmed that there is no increase to Canadian MSRP. Any change to MSRP and distribution is only for the US market.

So while people say that Hasbro is just looking for an excuse to raise prices, they are not increasing prices worldwide. If they increase prices, it's just for the US and just so that the government does not scold them for charging a separate fee on the item highlighting the tariff.

I think if the sales drop substantially under the new prices we could see international prices increase so it isn't just Americans shouldering them (though by all rights we should be) allowing US prices to become more manageable. Basically the same as what they're doing to us so they don't have to raise the prices on children's toys.

Emerje

GODD

william-james88 wrote:So while people say that Hasbro is just looking for an excuse to raise prices, they are not increasing prices worldwide. If they increase prices, it's just for the US and just so that the government does not scold them for charging a separate fee on the item highlighting the tariff.

IMO This won't stop it. Pretty much nothing will.

For the record, I saw a headline / news report on someone's phone saying "Trump tells Walmart to hold the line on prices and 'eat' the difference (new tariff-related costs)", if this were true it comes across as "use your profits to uphold my promise to the people, or, even better, negotiate with China so they pay you and you forward the collections to the Govt."

Delta Supreme wrote:

william-james88 wrote:So while people say that Hasbro is just looking for an excuse to raise prices, they are not increasing prices worldwide. If they increase prices, it's just for the US and just so that the government does not scold them for charging a separate fee on the item highlighting the tariff.

IMO This won't stop it. Pretty much nothing will.

For the record, I saw a headline / news report on someone's phone saying "Trump tells Walmart to hold the line on prices and 'eat' the difference (new tariff-related costs)", if this were true it comes across as "use your profits to uphold my promise to the people, or, even better, negotiate with China so they pay you and you forward the collections to the Govt."

I like the second one, let's go with that.

Delta Supreme wrote:

william-james88 wrote:So while people say that Hasbro is just looking for an excuse to raise prices, they are not increasing prices worldwide. If they increase prices, it's just for the US and just so that the government does not scold them for charging a separate fee on the item highlighting the tariff.

IMO This won't stop it. Pretty much nothing will.

For the record, I saw a headline / news report on someone's phone saying "Trump tells Walmart to hold the line on prices and 'eat' the difference (new tariff-related costs)", if this were true it comes across as "use your profits to uphold my promise to the people, or, even better, negotiate with China so they pay you and you forward the collections to the Govt."

Were you or someone added to that secret encrypted Signal app chat by accident?

Well, Trump says his deal with China is done and it so far looks like a terrible deal for us.

US gets-

• 55% tariff on imports (up from 30%)
• Mineral rights from China

China gets-

• 10% tariff on imports from the USA
• Chinese students can attend US universities again

So basically things are even worse for US consumers and China gets a great deal on imports and education. Yes, Chinese factories will hurt from this, but there's still no sign of alternatives to Chinese manufacturing for US consumers. Great deal for US billionaires who not only get to sell to China at a low tax rate but also get access to rare minerals to make the stuff they're selling there. But this deal seriously screw average Americans. It's also been pointed out that these minerals come from the notorious western region of Xinjiang known for their prison and slave labor mining. Republicans that are wrongly claiming Chinese factories are sweatshops as an excuse to move manufacturing out of China should be outraged over this, but they wont be since it's Trump's plan and he doesn't care so why should they?

Emerje

Emerje wrote:Well, Trump says his deal with China is done and it so far looks like a terrible deal for us.

US gets-

• 55% tariff on imports (up from 30%)
• Mineral rights from China

China gets-

• 10% tariff on imports from the USA
• Chinese students can attend US universities again

So basically things are even worse for US consumers and China gets a great deal on imports and education. Yes, Chinese factories will hurt from this, but there's still no sign of alternatives to Chinese manufacturing for US consumers. Great deal for US billionaires who not only get to sell to China at a low tax rate but also get access to rare minerals to make the stuff they're selling there. But this deal seriously screw average Americans. It's also been pointed out that these minerals come from the notorious western region of Xinjiang known for their prison and slave labor mining. Republicans that are wrongly claiming Chinese factories are sweatshops as an excuse to move manufacturing out of China should be outraged over this, but they wont be since it's Trump's plan and he doesn't care so why should they?

Emerje

On another US Transformers fansite (which I won't name), you will get an automatic ban just mere mentioning the T word(s). Glad we can have a mature discussion here, including posting factual news updates.

There are no winners in a trade/tariff war for the ordinary folks.

I'm not even from the US, but I've been asked by my work to look at alternative supply arrangements (secondary & tertiary suppliers) as assurance of supply strategy should preferred suppliers go bust for whatever reason. I already have a full workload thankyou very much.

I work at a factory where we mainly use steel and aluminum to create and build our machines. At first, the Trump tariffs slowed our work to a crawl for a month or two. But my competent boss found some work-around and now, we are so swamped with work, we have trouble to keep up!

So, if people know what they are doing, I'm sure everything will balance itself out.

-Kanrabat- wrote:I work at a factory where we mainly use steel and aluminum to create and build our machines. At first, the Trump tariffs slowed our work to a crawl for a month or two. But my competent boss found some work-around and now, we are so swamped with work, we have trouble to keep up!

So, if people know what they are doing, I'm sure everything will balance itself out.

Yeah, though right now it just sounds like companies are willing to move their factories from country to country as many times as it takes to avoid moving to the US. They seem to be banking on being able to outlast the Trump presidency.

Emerje

I was looking at the art for this thread and credit to the person or persons for the depiction of Trump, I think (please be listening ) the Powers should consider a type of Fans project/release like for Windblade and the creation of a figure based on the image for this thread and be a Terrorcon I feel.

Well this can only be a win/win situation for fans given current events and to have a figure representing/resembling Trump and the tariffs that affect us fans....'nuff said!

Vietnam goods to the US to be slapped with 20% tariff. Many of Hasbro Transformers toys nowadays come from Vietnam.

Apologies if providing news that is factual, apolitical & on topic breaks the rules here. Another Transformers site that I won't name locked the thread as soon as it popped up.

I was watching the news and it talked about inflation rising in the US. Toys, of all things, got a mention.

Some much needed good news just came in, though nothing is final and it's full of Trumps inability to give details when tweeting. It looks like Trump signed a deal where tariffs on Japanese imports will only be 15% (after threats of 25%) in exchange for Japan investing $550 billion (where? In what?) in the US and more US exports to Japan including automobiles and rice. Now don't get me wrong, it's 5% more than the 10% deal we had before, but since Trump is simple minded this sounds like he's sticking to his "blanket tariff" plan so things like car parts and steel imports will see a drop in tariffs. Hopefully details are good and we (or I) aren't getting excited over nothing.

Emerje

If you're an American and you've got any pre-orders coming out of Japan at the end of August, maybe 40th Selection Lio Convoy which was delayed to this month, well, you're going to be waiting a little longer. As of August 27 Japan Post is suspending all shipments to the United States. That includes EMS, parcel, small packet and everything else in between. This is on top of DHL also suspending shipments from most (all?) exporters in Japan, leaving really no options to get stuff out of Japan short of freight. And just to add insult to injury this administration has also brought an end to de minimis exemptions, the rule that prevented duties on imports for personal use totaling less than $800 from all countries as of August 28. How that works out is not quite known, some say there's a $80 flat rate on all imports while others say it's 15% up to $80. This uncertainty is part of the reason why Japan Post is suspending deliveries in the first part.

Below is the statement from Japan Post as it appears in English on their website.

On July 30, 2025, the U.S. government issued an executive order titled “Termination of De Minimis Treatment for All Countries” regarding mail to the United States.

Under this executive order, starting August 29, 2025, mail containing goods imported for personal use (taxable mail) will no longer be eligible for duty-free treatment, and tariffs will be imposed. On August 15, 2025, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced new guidelines regarding the elimination of de minimis rules, which require that transport operators pay customs deposits to CBP and prepare customs declarations. The procedures that transport operators and postal operators in each country must follow to comply with these guidelines are not clear, however, making implementation difficult.

Therefore, starting August 27 (Wed.), in line with other national postal operators, we will temporarily suspend the acceptance of postal items (small packets, parcels, and EMS (goods)) to the United States that contain the following items:

• Individual gifts with a content value exceeding 100 US dollars
• Goods intended for sale for consumption

In addition, we will continue to accept letters, postcards, printed matter, EMS (documents), and postal items (small packets, parcels, and EMS (goods)) containing gifts between individuals with a value of less than US$100.

As an alternative to the above suspension of acceptance, our international courier service, UGX (U-Global Express), can handle shipments in compliance with U.S. customs regulations:

UGX (U-Global Express)

We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and appreciate your understanding.

The latest information on the status of international mail items to be sent to destination countries and regions can be found here.

This is going to put a big damper on Americans importing from Japan until things are sorted out. Let us know in the Seibertron Energon Pub forums if you're being affected by this.

Australia Post is also suspending shipments to the US. For parcels with a value of above US$100.

Who is responsible for this mess?

Let's hope that the things sent from Canada won't be fuk'd.

I don't understand why HLJ doesn't just turn FedEx and DHL shipping back on. I just finished out an order on Japan Rabbit using DHL. Yeah, I'll have to pay duty on it, that is the unfortunate reality of the policies put in place by the idiocracy running the US government.

ScottyP wrote:I don't understand why HLJ doesn't just turn FedEx and DHL shipping back on. I just finished out an order on Japan Rabbit using DHL. Yeah, I'll have to pay duty on it, that is the unfortunate reality of the policies put in place by the idiocracy running the US government.

From what I'm reading, and I may be completely wrong, the Trump administration expects the shipping companies to pay the tariffs up front and charge the receiver on arrival which they simply aren't set up to do at either end.

On August 15, 2025, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced new guidelines regarding the elimination of de minimis rules, which require that transport operators pay customs deposits to CBP and prepare customs declarations. The procedures that transport operators and postal operators in each country must follow to comply with these guidelines are not clear, however, making implementation difficult.

So in typical Trump fashion he's made an order and set a date without even an ounce of thought put into it so neither the shipping services nor the CBP have a clue what they're supposed to be doing, effectively putting the entire system in limbo. It's the exact same line of thought that demands American made products and food without actually building the factories and farms to do it first. He is not an intelligent man, he's reactionary, he doesn't think things through and why should he, he's a billionaire.

Emerje

DHL at least is equipped to charge the recipient for duty fees. They pay customs up front, then send you an email with an invoice, then you pay DHL the duty amount and a processing fee. I imagine FedEx is similarly capable. It's not like this is a brand new system for them, other countries have had import taxes and similar charges for a long time and DHL/FedEx are international couriers.

It is a big paradigm shift for USPS and the lack of clarity and preparedness is not at all a surprise, so other postal systems simply saying "nah, we're good" is understandable. When international trade policy is determined based on one idiot's whimsy, this kind of chaos is inevitable.

Not just Japan. A number of countries have made this move until they can get their systems updated and make sense of the ever changing policies.

Burn wrote:Not just Japan. A number of countries have made this move until they can get their systems updated and make sense of the ever changing policies.

That's the problem. It's a moving target. Business & stock exchange hate uncertainty.

Who knew that the man in charge right now would be the reason I would stop collecting Transformers because of his stupid policies?