Price Increases at Target

Mkall wrote:Wow, those prices are now on par with their CDN equivalents

Wow, I had the exact same thought seeing those.

To our dear American friends, Welcome to our world.

I'm not paying 50 bucks a Leader now, unless it's really good. Hopefully this isn't going to be a permanent change nationwide in all stores.

Will have to have a tighter grip on my wallet.

Whoa!
I hope my targets don't have raised prices!
Dang.

Editor wrote:

Mkall wrote:Wow, those prices are now on par with their CDN equivalents

Wow, I had the exact same thought seeing those.

To our dear American friends, Welcome to our world.

This is probably just Target.

One less reason to shop at that sucky store .

Almost welcome to the rest of the world US friends.

That's a shocker, actually. I don't think I've seen prices that high before. (K-Mart, K-B, and TRU generally have/had high prices, I don't count them.)

Oddly, Target usually hits prices like $45.99 while Wal-Mart's at $44.88 or whatever. A difference of anywhere between 5-20 cents, tops.

But to see dollars as the difference...wow.

That's more expensive than the MSRP. =\

Sheesus....

That's a real smart move, with the economy in the toilet and all. Who the F**K do they think they are? I will try to get out to a couple targets in my area soon. Hopefully this is not a nationwide trend, and the prices bumble_bee_68 found are some local, VERY temporary fluke.

-JT

Glad I got Superion before this happened.

Dead Metal wrote:Almost welcome to the rest of the world US friends.

Hey, remember when Voyagers were $40? Those were the days.

Something for our American friends to consider.

Hasbro has said that prices would be going up. The prices you are seeing are bringing your prices more in line with what the rest of us have been paying for years.

In the states, this hasn't been as big a deal because you were trumping the rest of us in the sheer volume of fans in the continental 48. With the combined factors of production, material costs going up, and the economy reducing the amount of units being sold, this should be coming of no surprise.

yikes...good thing i bought my leader prime with discount at TRU =], it was 40 bucks ^_^

damn it! that sucks. well better start saving for jet fire.

What the hell?! Good thing I just used my 20% coupons and got my two leaders yesterday. Should have gotten them last week when they were all on sale.

Guess I won't be buying from Target if this holds true.

Oh well.

that sucks! I went to K-mart and Prime was 49.99 not 44.99 like at Wal-Mart.. not sure what the target here has them priced as.. I will check it out here when I got get my paycheck and cash it..I will update once I find out..

I do not think this is a nationwide thing, a search of Target's online store - and store search revealed RoTF Optimus Prime to be $44.89, Voyager class figures were $21.99, and Deluxe figures were $11.89. A call to the store near me (New Jersey) revealed that these were indeed the prices they were charging. So, if you live in the Essex County area of New Jersey ... you're safe.

Mkall wrote:Wow, those prices are now on par with their CDN equivalents

I was going to say the same thing. This is a sign of a weak $US when retailers bought the figures months ago. The $US has since recovered but retailers cannot absorb the difference.

Shame, really. Most the scout class toys are hardly worth $5 let alone the new $10 fee after taxes.

Target frequently throws sales...like a couple of weeks ago I got $32 Leader and $7 deluxes after coupon. Generally the prices have been increasing but I'm actually paying less than what I was paying back in 2007, $40 Leader and $10 deluxes, if you could find them in stores.

Not to mention stuff goes on clearance at Target very often. I recently bought a Universe Ultra for $6. I know someone who got Animated Mangus for $10. Wal-Mart and K-Mart wait a long time before they put TFs on clearance. TRU? nah.

damn luckly I just need Jolt and Longhaul and I got all three leaders ($50 jeeze) This was a really bad move on hasbro or target's part. With familes saving money and getting tigher budgets a price hike is the last thing stores need. Now things are going to sit on the shelves even longer. I hope this is only in certain areas or is only temp cause prices are already high enough.

leaders for the price of supremes, scouts for the price of deluxes, deluxes for the price of voyagers
thats a hell of a deal, so when they go on clearance they will be normal price

Editor wrote:Hasbro has said that prices would be going up. The prices you are seeing are bringing your prices more in line with what the rest of us have been paying for years.

Until non-US prices go up, WHICH THEY WILL.

There's already been a slight increase in Australia with the ROTF line.

Given the state of the economy right now this is about the dumbest move either Target or Hasbro (whichever is responsible) could have possibly made. Even with a 10% discount there is no way in hell I'm buying any TF stuff at Target. Scary thing is, if they are going that high in mark-up, I'm thinking that it must be Hasbros doing which means Wal-Mart and everyone else will be next.
Looks like I'm not getting ANY RotF figures and neither are my kids. Not unless they buy them themselves. Their mother and I sure won't be buying them. Hasbro just screwed up.

T-Macksimus wrote:Given the state of the economy right now this is about the dumbest move either Target or Hasbro (whichever is responsible) could have possibly made. Even with a 10% discount there is no way in hell I'm buying any TF stuff at Target. Scary thing is, if they are going that high in mark-up, I'm thinking that it must be Hasbros doing which means Wal-Mart and everyone else will be next.
Looks like I'm not getting ANY RotF figures and neither are my kids. Not unless they buy them themselves. Their mother and I sure won't be buying them. Hasbro just screwed up.

Knee-jerk reaction FTL.

Seriously, you'll deny your children a figure because you can't have one? (I mean, that's what this boils down to.) And don't blame Hasbro, just yet. A quick check over at Hasbro Toy Shop tells you the prices haven't gone up everywhere. It's most likely just Target.

Take a chill pill, and give it a bit of time to make sure all the facts and figures check out before your rant and boycott get out of control.

I don't like the idea of a price increase as much as the next person, but until I know for sure what's going on, there's no point in boycotting anyone, or depriving yourself or your children of an action figure simply because one store was reported to have upped their prices.

There's still Wal-Mart, TRU, and yes, even K-Mart. Besides that, a poster in this thread checked the Target website and his local store and the prices have not increased.

This could also be a pricing error on behalf of that store's management, not the entire chain, and not Hasbro.

Knee-jerk reaction FTGL. (For The GIANT Lose.)

He's not boycotting, he simply cannot afford the higher prices.

A lot of people will be in the same boat.

Burn wrote:He's not boycotting, he simply cannot afford the higher prices.

A lot of people will be in the same boat.

If the prices are going up. If. We have no confirmation outside of one store's prices.

If the raise in price is real and stays that way or continues to climb, then it's time to be angry and consider walking away.

Autobot032 wrote:

Burn wrote:He's not boycotting, he simply cannot afford the higher prices.

A lot of people will be in the same boat.

If the prices are going up. If. We have no confirmation outside of one store's prices.

If the raise in price is real and stays that way or continues to climb, then it's time to be angry and consider walking away.

Luckily they didnt kill optimus- or we would be paying through the nose for one.

I'm barely making enough to cover my current toy purchases with all the bills, especially with the last increase. I loved the $8 sales but I guess they were a way to lure us and then raise prices again. I don't like it and I would buy TF's again but if this is widespread I might be down to 2 or 3 toys every few months.

The Target that i go to has leaders for $44.99 deluxe for 12.99 and scout for 8.99 but my informant tells me they will go up in a month or so......did not/could not tell me why or for how long though.

Cheetron wrote:I'm barely making enough to cover my current toy purchases with all the bills, especially with the last increase. I loved the $8 sales but I guess they were a way to lure us and then raise prices again. I don't like it and I would buy TF's again but if this is widespread I might be down to 2 or 3 toys every few months.

Oh believe me, my figure buying has come down to the lowest possible. So far out of ROTF I've purchased:

Scout:
Dune Runner
Ransack
Scalpel

Deluxe:
Chromia
Mudflap
Rampage
Ravage
Sideswipe
Sideways
Skids
Soundwave
Wheelie

Voyager:
The Fallen
Mixmaster
Optimus Prime (for parts)
Starscream

Leader:
Jetfire
Megatron
Optimus Prime

Human Alliance:
Bumblebee with Sam

Now, that sounds like a lot, and it is, but compared to the first movie's toys, that's a drop in the bucket. Every figure tossed our way, I went out and bought if possible. Heck, I even have Ultimate Bumblebee from the first line.

This time, I'm choosy with what I buy. If it's in the movie, I buy it. If not, it sits on the shelf forever. If it's a repaint of something I already own, forget it.

EDIT: It also helps that I try to buy from HTS as much as possible with their discount codes and coupons. Plus, PayPal and eBay have codes so that when you make certain purchases you get free shipping and whatnot. Those little bits add up in the end and make it far more affordable this time around.

Autobot032 wrote:EDIT: It also helps that I try to buy from HTS as much as possible with their discount codes and coupons. Plus, PayPal and eBay have codes so that when you make certain purchases you get free shipping and whatnot. Those little bits add up in the end and make it far more affordable this time around.

It's called smart shopping and I think we're going to see more and more of it in the future.

When A/E/C was out and TF popularity wasn't what it is today, I took advantage of online sites and they're free shipping if you spent over a set $ amount.

It worked out great for me. Their prices were VERY competitive with retail stores and due to the lack of popularity at the time, the majority of the figures I couldn't find in this town, and even had trouble finding them 100km's away at the bigger stores.

Even now i'm starting to hold back on purchases and waiting for big sales. K-Mart Australia royally screwed us over by making the bulk of the Transformers line "Too hot to layby" which meant we couldn't take advantage of their Christmas layby which allowed you to keep something on layby until Christmas Eve. You were only allowed to use their usual 8 week layby and conidering how much I wanted to put on layby, well I wouldn't have had it paid off in 8 weeks!

I don't doubt over the next few years we'll see a lot of the big retailers "tightening their belts" either by raising prices or taking away customer friendly services like extended layby's.

But hey, hopefully i'm proven wrong on that one.

This is a very dumb move. Increasing the prices that much. Who is going to buy that? A scout class now cost as much as a deluxe used to be. Leader class is now the price of a Supreme class. Voyager is now the price of an Ultra. I was planning on picking up Leader Optimus Prime. But this overpriced stuff might turn me away. I will check and see if my Target is doing it. Hopefully it has not hit IL.

WOW

So far my Target hasn't gone up

To everyone that's upset, I am sorry

I did'nt mean to make anyone upset, or to "boycot"
Target, I was just as shocked as anyone and this might
just be my store or district here in South Florida

If I did make anyone upset, I am deeply sorry - - -
I did not mean it, and just FYI, starting Sunday, July 12th,
Target will start to "price match" any item, except electronics,
so just bring in a competitor's current newspaper ad listing
any TFs that we also carry, and we will match their price of that
TF figure - but you gotta bring the current newspaper ad - not
"web ad" to Guest Service at the front of the store w/ the TF figure you want
to purchase Hope that takes the sting out a little

my target has leader figs for only 44.99.

the rest are the way they should be, must be just in that area..

So target is becoming kmart? What the hell. Just another reason why i do my shopping at TRU and walmart. Target never has any thing any way so this wont effect me to much. That is until the other stores follow suit.

As I said before, I'm not going to worry about it until we have some reliable confirmation on all of this.

I rarely shop at Target, anyway. The closest one is 40 miles away, and aside from finding The Fallen, and a few other odds and ends (like exclusive figures), I hardly ever use their services.

I spend most of my money at Wal-Mart, once in a blue moon, TRU, and lately it's been BBTS, HTS, and Amazon.

Heck, I think the last I bought anything at TRU was the first wave of Classics. No...I take that back. Last thing I bought from them was the NX-01 Enterprise model, before that it was Classics.

Target only receives a little bit more of my business than TRU, and even then, I can usually overlook their services as being unimportant.

Man, what is this world coming to...? 50 bucks for a leader??? I remember for the first movie line it was just 40! Man, I wish it was 2007 again If this happens at my Target, thank God, cuz it gets crap in. Wal-Mart gets in everything AND has it on sale

Tekka wrote:

Dead Metal wrote:Almost welcome to the rest of the world US friends.

Hey, remember when Voyagers were $40? Those were the days.

Yea those where happy days.

Burn wrote:There's already been a slight increase in Australia with the ROTF line.

Tell me about it, deluxes went up by 3.5 euro, Voyagers by 7 euros, Leaders by 15 euros and scouts by 2.

The current price for one deluxe over here is $27,87.

That has to be local, probably someone in the Toy Dept trying to see if they can get away with it.

The Target by my job had carded GI Joes for $9.89 for a long time, they were the only Target around here that had them at that price, the others had them at $6.89. The price came down after they stopped selling.

$50 for a Leader fig?! Looks like I'll be buying them at Walmart from now on. Hopefully, they won't follow suit, too.

Okay. Well then, I guess I'd buy TF figures at Meijer and Wal-Mart only. The Deluxes at Meijer are actually $11.99 or something like that. Voyagers at Meijer are $21.99 as for leaders are $41.99, I think. I don't know. I got my Universe Hot Shot there and it's been a while since I went to Meijer. Plus, before I saw TF2 in theatres, the Target prices were lower than 50, 25, 15, and 10 bucks. I only got Leader Prime, Leader Megatron, Voyager Starscream, and Deluxe Bumblebee and Soundwave, all for $145 plus tax.

Yeah, those are the prices at my Target too...oddly enough, the Voyager figures were still $21.99 tho.
I'm betting that with all the sales at various retail chains we will still be able to hunt down good deals on the figures we want...at least they waited until after the release of these figures to increase the prices. Honestly I can think of 3 or 4 figures I would have skipped had the price point been this high.