And where is that exactly?

Boards and forums like this, it should be about helping each other out. Ebay, though, it's Thunderdome; feel free to try and maximise your profit. The thing is though, I'd love to see the ebay accounts matched up with the Ark accounts.

Apologies for the double post but I came across this post elsewhere the other day and it really sums up the collecting game to a tee. It's a long read but the dude speaks the truth about the situation.

^ good read and makes perfect sense. also love the title: birth of a toy scalper..

Houston

What are you talking about? G1 Metroplex hasn't passed any modern drop tests. Not to mention that Metroplex is a different mold from Fort Max and a much smaller toy as well, so the criteria for passing is not the same for both toys.

Japan doesn't have the same safety regulations as the US, hence Takara-Tomy's ability to re-issue both Metroplex and Fort Max in Japan as part of their Encore line.

Not if you have kids. Especially young ones.

I always assumed a lot of what that article says. I know scalpers wouldn't exist if people didn't pay them and that the scalper market has actually created a lot of this high prices we see the week someone hits retail. The only cure is mass distribution which peg warmers can blockade.


When I like products I want to support it as much as I can. It's why I shake my head sometimes when I see people saying that want something but are going to wait to get it till it's on clearance or something. Up here we have regular sales (every couple weeks) so it's a bit different but it we don't buy certain things they aren't going to keep making them. Like the big Star Wars vehicles that are probably a bit overpriced like the BMF or AT-AT. If those shelf warm stores will tell the companies they don't want that kind of product anymore and we won't get it anymore. Just look at the Sentinel. Most of us didn't want the purple/silver color so we let it sit, especially once they announced the classic was going to ship. The classic version never hit retail but only made it to discount stores. Once stuff is at the discount store it is considered a failure by the toy company and primary retailers. I even remember hearing about the gigantic battle packs warming at Wal-Mart and we haven't seen any new packs since. Yet collectors pay high prices for that stuff once it's gone from the store. I keep noticing packs like the Sabertooth/Wolverine one that warmed forever become pricey once they are gone. I think a lot of us have that "I'll get it later" mentality and then it vanishes without us realizing. Either it goes on clearance, they send it to a discount store, or it gets sent back to the manufacturer/destroyed at the store. For me, if see something at retail and pass a few times I will never pay more than retail for it later on. I only pay for stuff I never see on the shelves.

Iceman,I have to say based on past experiences I learned to buy it now rather than later for certain things. Stuff thats on the shelf one day will most likely be gone the next. I've had that happen more time than i'd like.

I think that is more and more true these days. There are a few things you can count on hitting retail in mass but a lot of it you may only see once, if at all. I know I passed up on the XMO Weapon X tank thing for $10 because I had already bought Weapon X. It sat there for a couple of weeks and when I decided to go buy it they were all gone. Now I'd have to pay triple that to get one just or the tank.

Legends may be back but increased price keeps me from getting them like I used too (TRU had them for $20 or more) while MU is now my main Marvel focus (I know the odds of seeing several waves are slim during movie season, remember last year the 2 main Marvel Lines where Spider Man and Avengers)

They're actually $15 now at Target, and have been for over a month. That includes the new IM line as well. Actually I saw Legends dip below $13 for a while recently. Don't hate on the line because TRU loves to price hike.

To be fair, fans can (and will) bitch about anything. Even things that Hasbro gets right.

There also is a small part in your equation: the MU fans that don't live in US or UK and can't properly buy some unless they or their friends go to the USA do some shopping.
When you only have one chance to get your toys, an empty shelf is depressing.

Saw the 3.75" Wolvie figs at my TRU today... they were $11.46 each... my gawd. Those seriously looked like discount figs... everything was smaller... the packaging, the accessories, the figure itself... can't believe they were that price. I still remember pondering when Joes would finally break the $10 mark at retail. These are amazing times we find ourselves in.

Wolverine is a smaller character, so they could be ok scale-wise. You guys have it easy price wise compared to everywhere else on the planet

Well, it pays to live in the same country as the toy manufacturer. I would venture to say the same thing is true for collectors in Japan when it comes to certain toy lines.

Agree about the size, however these figures are about on par with the dollar store figures in accessories and articulation (and plastic). They should be priced similarly all things considered. They are realistically closer to the Batman and Superman Dollar Store figs (which are priced $5 or less). The only difference is the Dollare store figures have bending elbows and swivel shoulders where The Wolverine line have 70's Star Wars era articulation so up /down straight arms and legs is all you get for your $11+. Scary stuff.

I think myself as very very lucky to go to Japan 3 times a year for my job, I wish I could go to the US as well so I could do a lot more shopping :cool:

I wish I could go to Japan that often for my job, for the same reason as you. ;)

Sad but true, Hasbro just cares about its main customers the kids. We are a small margin of their profits :(

Yeah but we have money!

Kids buy what the parents allow them to... we adults buy entire waves and pricey bigger items.
It'd be interesting to see the ratio kids/adults on expensive things as Shield Helicarrier or Bruticus Cybertron set

I'd love to see that as well, but I would hazard a guess and say that they will be about equal or tipping in favor of the parents. We collectors are an extremely fickle bunch and when it comes to big-ticket retail items, we are also quite patient. When the Helicarrier was first released to retail, how many of us said "Oh that's cool, but I'll wait for it to go on clearance before I pick it up"?

So my theory is that we might buy more of those kinds of items when all is said and done, but we most likely paid far less than most parents.

I came back into this thread and it seems like Hasbro's failure to cater to action figure collectors will spell the demise of the company.

Check their website guys, they sell a lot more than MU, ML, GI Joe, Transformers, and Star Wars.

Doubtful. Adult collectors a small fraction of Hasbro's overall business. We're not even the target demographic for most of its products. If every single adult collector stopped buying Hasbro products forever, I'm quite sure the company would continue chugging along just fine. And hey, maybe it won't have to listen to the whining and complaining from some of our more vocal brethren anymore.

You don't say. :rolleyes:

Sarcasm to my sarcasm? How quaint. A lot of people forget about just how many IPs and other products Hasbro puts out. 3.75 Wolverine/Iron Man 3 lack of articulation don't mean shit.

And people who complain will always complain. Color, height, scale, articulation, packaging, characters. Pick one :)