Poll: Would you buy a Haslab Titan Class toy?

[evenstaves]

Originally Posted by RNSrobot

Or the current headmaster reissues. That line came out in 2016-2017. Those toys are four and under years old. There is not a single thing that justifies now charging $33 for toys that were $20 a few years ago. They're literally straight redecos (whatever on the Takara heads, that's still not "new")

I was lit thinking this last night when spotted the headmasters in a WM
"32.99? Man, I got these for less than $20 (sales etc) brand new, back when they came out"

Must be the new boxes, must be the "maybe a bit more paint? maybe the deco changes?"
It's not the Takara heads - a head is a head is a head, the old ones had heads too

What it really is, is simply that they price scaled to match the current Kingdom/SS86 deluxe price, which 32.99
"these are deluxes, deluxe cost 32.99, hence these cost 32.99"
Doesn't matter what it used to cost, it's what it costs now (regardless of how much it cost to "produce"

If I want these for $20, gotta hop in a time machine

[canprime]

Originally Posted by evenstaves

I was lit thinking this last night when spotted the headmasters in a WM
"32.99? Man, I got these for less than $20 (sales etc) brand new, back when they came out"

Must be the new boxes, must be the "maybe a bit more paint? maybe the deco changes?"
It's not the Takara heads - a head is a head is a head, the old ones had heads too

What it really is, is simply that they price scaled to match the current Kingdom/SS86 deluxe price, which 32.99
"these are deluxes, deluxe cost 32.99, hence these cost 32.99"
Doesn't matter what it used to cost, it's what it costs now (regardless of how much it cost to "produce"

If I want these for $20, gotta hop in a time machine

Exactly. Inflation is a b@#$. Pretty much everything costs more now than it did 4 years ago. Also I am pretty sure most companies haven't changed how they make their products in the past few years but are charging more.

That said I agree that the price is getting out of hand. Which is why I haven't bit on a lot of recent offerings. Unless on sale as others have said.

The reality is the hobby is getting too expensive so who knows where we'll end up in the next couple of years.

[Sun Swipe Prime]

Came across this video of someone who worked in the toy industry explaining why big playsets aren't sold in retail anymore. Their channel has some interesting takes on toy collecting if anyone is interested.

https://youtu.be/W9nxL54mM20

[RNSrobot]

Originally Posted by evenstaves

I was lit thinking this last night when spotted the headmasters in a WM
"32.99? Man, I got these for less than $20 (sales etc) brand new, back when they came out"

Must be the new boxes, must be the "maybe a bit more paint? maybe the deco changes?"
It's not the Takara heads - a head is a head is a head, the old ones had heads too

What it really is, is simply that they price scaled to match the current Kingdom/SS86 deluxe price, which 32.99
"these are deluxes, deluxe cost 32.99, hence these cost 32.99"
Doesn't matter what it used to cost, it's what it costs now (regardless of how much it cost to "produce"

If I want these for $20, gotta hop in a time machine

For sure.

I would argue that transformers were actually quite reasonable compared to other toylines, given their complexity, for quite some time. A price jump was to be expected. The jump they've taken...
Like you say, that's just "the cost of a deluxe now."

It is what it costs now. It isn't what it HAS to cost now. That doesn't make it okay. And it's a big reason why I'm largely out of the hobby.

[imfallenangel]

Originally Posted by Sun Swipe Prime

Came across this video of someone who worked in the toy industry explaining why big playsets aren't sold in retail anymore. Their channel has some interesting takes on toy collecting if anyone is interested.

https://youtu.be/W9nxL54mM20

Interesting video BUT.. some huge flaws in his arguments.

1) there are a LOT of very big "toys" and such still in stores that sell for less than what a similar sized Transformers would sell for. So it's not as clean cut as he's making it to be about only space and value of sale of the item really matters.

2) space wise, I rarely see any store that doesn't have a fair amount of empty shelves, so empty space would equal loses according to what he's saying. Seriously.. better to have a shelf filled with something that can sell, over a client finding nothing on a shelf and walking empty handed and going elsewhere to buy it.

3) there are still a LOT of playsets in stores, some examples: Barbie stuff are all huge, TrU has a 3rd party line of giant military vehicles that are fairly on the cheap (compared to TFs), then the younger kids stuff with giant Power Rangers or Marvel or DC playsets (Imaginext and such).

https://www.toysrus.ca/en/Soldier-Fo.../14A52C32.html

https://www.toysrus.ca/en/Fisher-Price-Imaginext-DC-Super-Friends-Super-Surround-Batcave---English-Edition/E4C44BA1.html
(heck, change the bat symbol to an Autobot/Decepticon one and do a few adjustment and that one could sell as a TFs one easily)

So while I'm not saying that his arguments are all bad, but it's not as clear cut as he's making it to be. It's about maximizing profits according to what the manufacturers will provide/produce and actually be able to distribute. It's a balancing act for sure, but not really why they aren't doing large playset... Unicron has proven that there is a solid demand (hell, every Titan has), but why sell one large toy for 300$, when they can try and sell you 10 smaller ones at 50$ each, or sell you an incomplete one and make you get the "accessories" to complete it.

[Sun Swipe Prime]

Originally Posted by imfallenangel

Interesting video BUT.. some huge flaws in his arguments.

I think it's interesting in that it gives us a peek into the thinking of the people on the other side of the retail equation. Regardless of the flaws, it's insight into how someone on the retail side looks at things vs. how a collector looks at it.

It's like looking at two sides of an argument. The truth often lies in the middle.

[CyberDragon10K]

I was wondering when more people would start finding Spector Creative on YouTube. I've linked a handful of his videos on TFW2005.

I don't have the room to keep buying Titans, I only really wanted Scorponok because I still have the G1 one from my childhood stuffed into my parent's attic.

[Pascal]

Depends on the character.

[Digibasherx]

Originally Posted by CyberDragon10K

I was wondering when more people would start finding Spector Creative on YouTube. I've linked a handful of his videos on TFW2005.

I don't have the room to keep buying Titans, I only really wanted Scorponok because I still have the G1 one from my childhood stuffed into my parent's attic.

Scott's not bad, but some of his videos tend to drag a bit coz he reiterates the same points a few times in each video. Overall it is pretty good, and I think he gets harped on more than he deserves for Matty Collector.

[Digibasherx]

Also kinda interesting I just PO'd Black Zarak on HP, the shipping's pretty reasonable given you can order a bunch of items, they'll all ship separately and still be the same price.