Analysts predict 10% increase in cost of toys next year
Friday, September 14th, 2007 1:45AM CDT
Categories: Toy News, Rumors, Company NewsPosted by: Bed Bugs Views: 13,584
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However, these new safeguards to protect us from such an error from happening again is going to come with a cost, and it is predicted that toy companies will be passing the buck onto the consumers.
Current estimates from analysts at MSNBC.com predict the costs of Chinese made toys to go up by about 10% for the consumer, starting next year. Even still, there is the possibility that it could be even more than that.
We will keep you posted going into the next year on whether or not Hasbro intends to raise the price of Transformers or not as soon as possible.
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Posted by Megatron Wolf on September 14th, 2007 @ 2:12am CDT
Posted by Flux Convoy on September 14th, 2007 @ 2:42am CDT
Posted by Noisemaze on September 14th, 2007 @ 2:43am CDT
Megatron_Wolf wrote: This is frakin bullshit man. Hasbro has enough damn money. Maybe they should cut us some slack for a change and pay for it them selves. It could be like them saying "sorry for not shipping enough products out. Because we screwed you we'll pay for this". Thats what should happen.
You wanna know what REAL bullshit is? Botcon exclusives!!! If the fandom doesn't mind paying $300.00 for a Botcon Thundercracker, a figure that's only worth $9.99, then this won't phase them in the least.
Posted by the purifyer on September 14th, 2007 @ 2:46am CDT
$30 a deluxe is already raping my wallet.
Posted by Flux Convoy on September 14th, 2007 @ 2:49am CDT
Noisemaze wrote:Megatron_Wolf wrote: This is frakin bullshit man. Hasbro has enough damn money. Maybe they should cut us some slack for a change and pay for it them selves. It could be like them saying "sorry for not shipping enough products out. Because we screwed you we'll pay for this". Thats what should happen.
You wanna know what REAL bullshit is? Botcon exclusives!!! If the fandom doesn't mind paying $300.00 for a Botcon Thundercracker, a figure that's only worth $9.99, then this won't phase them in the least.
I didn't pay $300 for one figure. I paid for six. Plus getting to see friends I made the year before, plus attending the panels, plus the ridiculous good time I had both years straight. Then, there's meeting Cullen, joking with the Hasbro folks, haggling and making jokes with vendors in the dealer room. You really open a heated debate by bringing in the Botcon argument. Especially where it doesn't have any bearing on this subject.
Posted by Noisemaze on September 14th, 2007 @ 2:56am CDT
Flux Convoy wrote:Noisemaze wrote:Megatron_Wolf wrote: This is frakin bullshit man. Hasbro has enough damn money. Maybe they should cut us some slack for a change and pay for it them selves. It could be like them saying "sorry for not shipping enough products out. Because we screwed you we'll pay for this". Thats what should happen.
You wanna know what REAL bullshit is? Botcon exclusives!!! If the fandom doesn't mind paying $300.00 for a Botcon Thundercracker, a figure that's only worth $9.99, then this won't phase them in the least.
I didn't pay $300 for one figure. I paid for six. Plus getting to see friends I made the year before, plus attending the panels, plus the ridiculous good time I had both years straight. Then, there's meeting Cullen, joking with the Hasbro folks, haggling and making jokes with vendors in the dealer room. You really open a heated debate by bringing in the Botcon argument. Especially where it doesn't have any bearing on this subject.
I didn't say the convention is bullshit, I said the exclusives are complete bullshit! Idiots are paying $200 - $300 for Thundercracker alone on Ebay. If the fans have no problem paying that much for 1 deluxe figure then a 10% price increase won't phase them at all.
Posted by Psychout on September 14th, 2007 @ 4:12am CDT
Posted by i_amtrunks on September 14th, 2007 @ 4:36am CDT
I won't mind too much if the figures go back to the higher quality figures we got in the Classics and Cybertron lines.
However if the terrible quality of the movie toys becomes the norm, I'll be extremely pissed off.
Posted by Bonger on September 14th, 2007 @ 5:16am CDT
Noisemaze wrote:Flux Convoy wrote:Noisemaze wrote:Megatron_Wolf wrote: This is frakin bullshit man. Hasbro has enough damn money. Maybe they should cut us some slack for a change and pay for it them selves. It could be like them saying "sorry for not shipping enough products out. Because we screwed you we'll pay for this". Thats what should happen.
You wanna know what REAL bullshit is? Botcon exclusives!!! If the fandom doesn't mind paying $300.00 for a Botcon Thundercracker, a figure that's only worth $9.99, then this won't phase them in the least.
I didn't pay $300 for one figure. I paid for six. Plus getting to see friends I made the year before, plus attending the panels, plus the ridiculous good time I had both years straight. Then, there's meeting Cullen, joking with the Hasbro folks, haggling and making jokes with vendors in the dealer room. You really open a heated debate by bringing in the Botcon argument. Especially where it doesn't have any bearing on this subject.
I didn't say the convention is bullshit, I said the exclusives are complete bullshit! Idiots are paying $200 - $300 for Thundercracker alone on Ebay. If the fans have no problem paying that much for 1 deluxe figure then a 10% price increase won't phase them at all.
Well, these are well worth it if compared to other exclusives that demand a similar price.
But, that is off topic.
You make a good point. If Deluxes become 11 or 12 bucks, it won't stop any of us from buying them.
Posted by Auto Bot on September 14th, 2007 @ 5:20am CDT
Posted by Black Bumblebee on September 14th, 2007 @ 5:58am CDT
First off--we use a country with a cheap labor force to make these toys. We know it, you know it, etc. China labor is cheap because they don't have as many government restrictions.
Look at the scandal that came out recently about the contaminated cat & dog food that poisoned a large population of the world's furry friends. Where did this come from? China.
We have a love/hate relationship with them. But we can't stop using them, either. If company "a" decides not to use cheap labor, and instead uses, say, an American labor force, they will get beat out by company "b" that doesn't have the same ethics.
And so now we're having to pay a "little" for the inconvenience of making sure that our toys won't give us cancer or some silly stuff. Boo f-ing hoo. If the toys were actually being produced by a well paid working force instead of unregulated sweat shops, they'd be a lot more.
So what if a $40 toy will suddenly be $42. Is that going to kill you? Nope. Will get poisioned by said toy kill you? Well... I think you can answer that yourself.
Posted by Liege Evilmus on September 14th, 2007 @ 7:20am CDT
My Beast Wars deluxe figures, off a TRU shelf $9.99.
My Movie Deluxes off that same shelf $9.99.
Hell, I even remeber paying close to that for KickBack WWWWWWWWAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY back in the day!
Price hikes are bound to happen eventualy, but we haven't had it so bad. Don't get me wrong, I'm not happy about it, and it is yet another reason to avoid the Animated line, but these things happen.
Posted by i_amtrunks on September 14th, 2007 @ 7:26am CDT
Liege Evilmus wrote:Outside of the basic scout class, and the elimination of the $15 bots. TFs haven't realy gone up in price in a very long time.
My Beast Wars deluxe figures, off a TRU shelf $9.99.
My Movie Deluxes off that same shelf $9.99.
Hell, I even remeber paying close to that for KickBack WWWWWWWWAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY back in the day!
Price hikes are bound to happen eventualy, but we haven't had it so bad. Don't get me wrong, I'm not happy about it, and it is yet another reason to avoid the Animated line, but these things happen.
That's all well and good for those of you in the USA.
We've had near constant prices rises here in Australia, mainly on the Deluxe line. Deluxes used to be around $22, but they had edged their way up to $28 by the end of Classics/Movie. Thats with the Australian Dollar getting stronger against the US Dollar.
Posted by Counterpunch on September 14th, 2007 @ 7:31am CDT
TFs will just get a little smaller.
Prices will remain consistant.
Posted by Creature SH on September 14th, 2007 @ 8:03am CDT
Posted by Dead Metal on September 14th, 2007 @ 8:05am CDT
F that!
Posted by Moonbase2 on September 14th, 2007 @ 8:15am CDT
Dead Metal wrote:Hey we in Europe oredy pay duble from what you in the US have to pay, now they want even more?!
F that!
Now that is INSANE!!! I can't believe it costs that much for you guys. Or for Australians. Ridiculous.
Posted by Dead Metal on September 14th, 2007 @ 8:21am CDT
Moonbase2 wrote:Dead Metal wrote:Hey we in Europe oredy pay duble from what you in the US have to pay, now they want even more?!
F that!
Now that is INSANE!!! I can't believe it costs that much for you guys. Or for Australians. Ridiculous.
A Deluxe costs from 15-18 Euros, Alt Ravage costs 27 to 30 Euros and Voiger from 25-30 euroes.
Now let that be translated into USD then rethink your post.
Posted by gogleman374 on September 14th, 2007 @ 9:02am CDT
Posted by lanzajr26 on September 14th, 2007 @ 9:44am CDT
Counterpunch wrote:Won't happen.
TFs will just get a little smaller.
Prices will remain consistant.
Maybe further on down the road but current and upcoming lines (Animated) already have their molds cast and done, I doubt they'd go through the expense of recasting those figures at this point. We'll probably see even cheaper grades of plastic or fewer paint apps before we see them get even smaller.
Posted by olokin on September 14th, 2007 @ 10:06am CDT
Posted by Switchpoint on September 14th, 2007 @ 10:09am CDT
Posted by Stickshift on September 14th, 2007 @ 10:13am CDT
The problem comes when companies let their eye off the ball and miss someone cutting corners. As far as I'm concerned, companies should have a QC infrastructure in place to deal with this already, they just need to weed out those not doing their job properly.
Unless legislation is passed making third party testing manditory, this is just Mattel trying to claw back lost revenues and everyone else in the sales chain getting fat off their markup (which you can bet will stay the same even though they have done nothing themselves to justify the increase). The other toy companies will just follow suit because the precident has been set.
Posted by Flux Convoy on September 14th, 2007 @ 10:16am CDT
Posted by Auto Bot on September 14th, 2007 @ 10:37am CDT
Counterpunch wrote:Won't happen.
TFs will just get a little smaller.
Prices will remain consistant.
I like smaller toys. But not down to the Legend size.
Posted by Anonymous on September 14th, 2007 @ 10:44am CDT
Posted by Anonymous on September 14th, 2007 @ 10:47am CDT
Dead Metal wrote:Hey we in Europe oredy pay duble from what you in the US have to pay, now they want even more?!
F that!
What's the minimum/average wage where you live?
Posted by Sledge on September 14th, 2007 @ 10:48am CDT
Posted by publicvisage on September 14th, 2007 @ 10:53am CDT
Posted by City Commander on September 14th, 2007 @ 11:15am CDT
Auto Bot wrote:Counterpunch wrote:Won't happen.
TFs will just get a little smaller.
Prices will remain consistant.
I like smaller toys. But not down to the Legend size.
just look at the Hybrid style line.
Freaking awesomeness at 4 inches!
Posted by Seibertron on September 14th, 2007 @ 11:21am CDT
Posted by Auto Bot on September 14th, 2007 @ 11:25am CDT
megatroptimus wrote:It's amusing to see some people scandalized by a small 10% increase yet they don't care for scalping prices or inflated shipping charges on Ebay.
Actually, that's my worry. You increase the official SRP by 10%. The scalpers increase it by 100%.
Posted by Auto Bot on September 14th, 2007 @ 11:27am CDT
The Master Blaster wrote:Auto Bot wrote:Counterpunch wrote:Won't happen.
TFs will just get a little smaller.
Prices will remain consistant.
I like smaller toys. But not down to the Legend size.
just look at the Hybrid style line.
Freaking awesomeness at 4 inches!
That's an exception. But the truck mode is not so good. Grossly disproportionate. Design is focused primarily on making the robot look good.
I prefer a balance of attention to both robot and vehicle. Even thought both won't be perfect.
Posted by Seibertron on September 14th, 2007 @ 11:37am CDT
Posted by Seibertron on September 14th, 2007 @ 11:43am CDT
The Transformers prices, if anything, have gone down in price considering the current size and features that we have with today's figures. I'd love to see someone run some inflation numbers on the examples that I provided to see how much G1 Grimlock should sell at retail if you added inflation to his price.
Posted by tom brokaw on September 14th, 2007 @ 11:45am CDT
Posted by Seibertron on September 14th, 2007 @ 11:50am CDT
The Inflation Calculator wrote:What cost $12.99 in 1985 would cost $24.31 in 2006.
Also, if you were to buy exactly the same products in 2006 and 1985, they would cost you $12.99 and $6.94 respectively.
http://www.westegg.com/inflation/
Posted by Auto Bot on September 14th, 2007 @ 11:51am CDT
Posted by Auto Bot on September 14th, 2007 @ 11:58am CDT
Seibertron wrote:Lo and behold ... I found a website that allows you to do calculations on prices. Here's what it said about a $12.99 Grimlock from 1985.The Inflation Calculator wrote:What cost $12.99 in 1985 would cost $24.31 in 2006.
Also, if you were to buy exactly the same products in 2006 and 1985, they would cost you $12.99 and $6.94 respectively.
http://www.westegg.com/inflation/
I don't get it.
Posted by videriant on September 14th, 2007 @ 12:02pm CDT
Seibertron wrote:Lo and behold ... I found a website that allows you to do calculations on prices. Here's what it said about a $12.99 Grimlock from 1985.The Inflation Calculator wrote:What cost $12.99 in 1985 would cost $24.31 in 2006.
Also, if you were to buy exactly the same products in 2006 and 1985, they would cost you $12.99 and $6.94 respectively.
http://www.westegg.com/inflation/
US Inflation. =P Somebody needs to do an adjustment for our friends overseas.
Posted by Hoistimus on September 14th, 2007 @ 12:02pm CDT
Posted by Seibertron on September 14th, 2007 @ 12:08pm CDT
Auto Bot wrote:Seibertron wrote:Lo and behold ... I found a website that allows you to do calculations on prices. Here's what it said about a $12.99 Grimlock from 1985.The Inflation Calculator wrote:What cost $12.99 in 1985 would cost $24.31 in 2006.
Also, if you were to buy exactly the same products in 2006 and 1985, they would cost you $12.99 and $6.94 respectively.
http://www.westegg.com/inflation/
I don't get it.
Wikipedia has a pretty comprehensive page that talks about inflation. Here's the link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inflation
Wikipedia wrote:Inflation is the persistent rise in the general price level as measured against a standard level of purchasing power.
Posted by featofstrength on September 14th, 2007 @ 12:11pm CDT
gotsta have my plastic crack
Posted by metalformer on September 14th, 2007 @ 12:50pm CDT
the purifyer wrote:Oh come on they're expensive enough down here already.
$30 a deluxe is already raping my wallet.
Now THAT is expensive! In my areas some stores sells them for almost $15!
Posted by Dead Metal on September 14th, 2007 @ 3:25pm CDT
megatroptimus wrote:Dead Metal wrote:Hey we in Europe oredy pay duble from what you in the US have to pay, now they want even more?!
F that!
What's the minimum/average wage where you live?
€400 is as far as I know the lowest income per month!
And you have to pay your bills with that befor you buy your toys!
Posted by Agent 007 on September 14th, 2007 @ 3:34pm CDT
Posted by Dead Metal on September 14th, 2007 @ 3:40pm CDT
Mr.Bond007 wrote:why's everybody having a fit? It's not like there are tfs on the shelves
It's becows the high prices and the poor advertising that they are all shelfwarmers here in Germany, so Hasbro please put the prices down!
Posted by Counterpunch on September 14th, 2007 @ 3:51pm CDT
Posted by 1337W422102 on September 14th, 2007 @ 5:42pm CDT
Posted by Liege Evilmus on September 14th, 2007 @ 6:52pm CDT
i_amtrunks wrote:Liege Evilmus wrote:Outside of the basic scout class, and the elimination of the $15 bots. TFs haven't realy gone up in price in a very long time.
My Beast Wars deluxe figures, off a TRU shelf $9.99.
My Movie Deluxes off that same shelf $9.99.
Hell, I even remeber paying close to that for KickBack WWWWWWWWAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY back in the day!
Price hikes are bound to happen eventualy, but we haven't had it so bad. Don't get me wrong, I'm not happy about it, and it is yet another reason to avoid the Animated line, but these things happen.
That's all well and good for those of you in the USA.
We've had near constant prices rises here in Australia, mainly on the Deluxe line. Deluxes used to be around $22, but they had edged their way up to $28 by the end of Classics/Movie. Thats with the Australian Dollar getting stronger against the US Dollar.
So I'll export some to ya, simple solution, besides weren't you saying in the Target Wave 3 thread that your hoping for those by spring, hell I haven't seen them yet, but I bet I will befor then!
Get a PayPal account, cost plus shipping that won't be jacked up on 1 condition...
You gotta take these items and wave them over your head outside you local merchant's window doing a "HA HA, F-U" dance!
Outside of that, I don't see anyway of getting around your nations inflation rates!
-sucks, but don't feel to bad, everything else here skyrockets all the time with no sign of stopping! I just kinda got lucky here in this hobby