holy crap transformers are expensive!

[RNSrobot]

Originally Posted by lifedragon99

You don't need near you. Online delivery to home is the best.

I don't think you can actually sign up for the Edge card online.

[delrue]

I haven't been able to find a way to sign up for Edge online. GameStop sells out of in demand preorders pretty quickly, usually on the same day that they are put up for sale.

[Robimus]

You really want that Motormaster, or Soundwave or Jetfire or Skylynx because your worried about missing out - get it. I'm not saying never go the extra mile. I don't think anyone would look at the Motoraster and think to themselves "well, that's a peg warmer for sure" prior to its release.

But do you also have to have, on day one, the Impactor, the Arcee, the Terrorsaur, the Jazz, the Smokescreen, the Draculus, the X-Men jet, the Jurrasic Park crossover........if you absolutely, positively have to have every one of the seemingly hundred plus releases Hasbro is making each year on day one I think you might be getting a little to caught up in the hysteria that is generated by parts of this hobby.

Mileage will vary for different people with how close they live to stores and number of stores in their area. But in addition to those big box stores there are dozens of smaller indy shops that can help. Conventions are back post covid, B/S/T forums like here and TFW.

A lot of options out there. Is there risk, sure. But if your upset enough to complain about the prices - most of us are including myself - but you aren't willing to try and adjust your habits........That's a square peg and a round hole.

Originally Posted by RNSrobot

Respectfully disagree. There are few real sales. Figures that are in demand are often very hard to find if you haven't preordered. Folks are now scrambling to find a motormaster.

If you want it, pre-order is virtually a must or you pay MORE buying it later, not less.

[RNSrobot]

Originally Posted by Robimus

You really want that Motormaster, or Soundwave or Jetfire or Skylynx because your worried about missing out - get it. I'm not saying never go the extra mile. I don't think anyone would look at the Motoraster and think to themselves "well, that's a peg warmer for sure" prior to its release.

But do you also have to have, on day one, the Impactor, the Arcee, the Terrorsaur, the Jazz, the Smokescreen, the Draculus, the X-Men jet, the Jurrasic Park crossover........if you absolutely, positively have to have every one of the seemingly hundred plus releases Hasbro is making each year on day one I think you might be getting a little to caught up in the hysteria that is generated by parts of this hobby.

Mileage will vary for different people with how close they live to stores and number of stores in their area. But in addition to those big box stores there are dozens of smaller indy shops that can help. Conventions are back post covid, B/S/T forums like here and TFW.

A lot of options out there. Is there risk, sure. But if your upset enough to complain about the prices - most of us are including myself - but you aren't willing to try and adjust your habits........That's a square peg and a round hole.

I largely agree. The days of "gotta catch 'em all" are long over for me. It was a different story when deluxes were 19.99, and you could count on bi-monthly 25-40% sales at TRU. Seriously, I never bought toys full price. If I did, I just waited until a good sale and brought the receipt in for the LPG. Or I went to WalMart (or Zellers, or Target, or Superstore) for the price match. Combiner Wars --- I got every single toy for at minimum 20% off, many for more.

Those days are long gone. Wal-Mart no longer price matches. Toys R Us is charging wildly over MSRP for reasons. Target failed, Zellers is apparently coming back but I wouldn't count on it for toys, and Superstore's toy section is far from up to date.

hasbro wants their record profits and they're gonna gouge the die-hard collector to get them.

I remember in like 2009... TRU had a 40% off sale on Transformers Animated. I think I drove around to every single TRU in the lower mainland. What I couldn't find at TRU, I got at the competitors with price match. I went from 0 to an almost complete collection in two days for insane prices. Blurr at Superstore for 12 bucks or whatever. Long gone. Those days are long gone.

[Robimus]

I paid $50 at Marshall's for Earthrise Sky Lynx.

No, they didn't seem plentiful there either, some good fortune was involved. But it wasn't a complete fluke. I watched the sightings forums here, sightings started coming in, so I made it a point to frequent those stores in my area.

Both Leader Grimlock and Slag ended up on clearance at Walmarts as another example, but now have sky rocketed on the secondary market. But by watching the sightings forums here I put myself in position to get them on sale.

There are ways to do this with certain releases, but patience is key.

Originally Posted by canprime

Exactly.


However you really didn't save $60 on Sky-Lynx because if you picked up the WFC version you paid more than $60....... (kidding of course).

[RNSrobot]

Originally Posted by Robimus

I paid $50 at Marshall's for Earthrise Sky Lynx.

No, they didn't seem plentiful there either, some good fortune was involved. But it wasn't a complete fluke. I watched the sightings forums here, sightings started coming in, so I made it a point to frequent those stores in my area.

Both Leader Grimlock and Slag ended up on clearance at Walmarts as another example, but now have sky rocketed on the secondary market. But by watching the sightings forums here I put myself in position to get them on sale.

There are ways to do this with certain releases, but patience is key.

It's surprising to me how many people slept on Grimlock. He was a great toy, a true Leader class. I suppose in the early days of SS86 people thought it might be short-lived but I dunno. I fully expected that we would see the rest of the Dinos, especially one Slag leaked. Now that Sludge is out and Snarl is incoming, with Swoop on the leaks...

[Magnimus]

On top of them being expensive at release and then sometimes going up to crazy amounts in the aftermarket, there's so many quality issues. Yellowing. Breakages. The worrisome reliance on clear plastic at integral and high stress points in the figures. It's almost not worth it. Why shell out these prices for a figure that might discolour or break in a few months (if not right out of the box).

[MapleMegatron]

Originally Posted by Jonnydark

I haven't bought a transformer in store in a while but Earthspark is amazing. The style is like Animated meets Prime. But this little bumblebee was 36 CAD. Ouch! Hes so cool... But he was more expensive than anything i bought this week.



I guess i value him that much... But dang... This hobby is going to transform my wallet into a desert. Lol.

36$ is the standard deluxe price point for all 6 inch articulated figures these days. Price has gone up on everything, so you'll see that on transformers deluxes, star wars black series, marvel legends, GI Joes and He Man figures. McFarlane DC figures are slightly cheaper, but they lack key articulation points, so have less parts and thus are cheaper. Transformers has double the parts and double the development time as those other figures so by comparison, they are the better deal. But it just makes those non transforming action figures seem so damn pricey by comparison.

About that specific Bumblebee though, try looking at Walmart. We were lucky, even though those toys were deluxes as well and also came with a build a figure piece, Walmart had them at 29.99 instead of 36.

Also, I disagree with the notions that one should always wait to get figures if they want the best price on something they really want. That might have been the right tactic in 2014, but with the unpredictability of retail, your best bet is to buy the figure you want when you see it. Of course, if you don't care for the figure/character, or need it right away, then that's a different story. Then you can wait till it's a clearance item and get it for cheap and if that doesn't happen, doesn't matter.

Since Titans return, it has definitely helped to fork out the money when I saw what I wanted because there are some figures I never saw again for the same price (Windblade, TopSpin, Slugslinger, Misfire ect). The gamestop platinum card that someone previously mentioned is really the best tactic.

Anyways, glad you like that Earthspark Deluce Bumblebee, I think it's an excellent Bumblebee figure and I too think it's worth the price of admission. It's a shame hasbro fumbled that distribution for the holiday season in the US though.

[Whisky Tango Foxtrot]

Originally Posted by MapleMegatron

36$ is the standard deluxe price point for all 6 inch articulated figures these days.

Only if you insist on having them built for you.

[RansakWORK]

I do not mind the current pricing for things I really want. Snarl's price ill pay without batting an eye but instantly become critical of all the repaints and "adaptations" of figures from other cartoons.

Tarn is a cool figure, but outside my "G1 Animated Series" wheel house so the 50 dollar price tag starts to seem very large. The Walmart exclusive legacy beast wave was laughable and easy to pass on. The increase on prices really makes the impulse buying hard.