[Captain Nash]

Quote:

Originally Posted by K Dubious

I'm no expert, but I think you all have the business model incorrect for who can say or dictate what.

Hasbro sold retailers cases upon cases of figures and were paid based on whatever agreement they had. Now Hasbro is completely out of the equation when it comes to pricing or discounting. They give MSRP (Manufacturer Suggested Retail Price), but the store can sell them for whatever price they want.

So can Hasbro, I love that Hasbro has such a large ebay presence now and if you were looking hard enough you could have had the entire Hulkbuster and Ulton wave for $6 each, with free shipping! Plus they discount items quicker on ebay than HTS.

Also part of the problem is shared SKUs the store carries Spider-man legends at a $20 price point, they can't discount Boomerang without discounting all other Spider-man waves because the SKUs are the same.

Some retailers discount items based on how long they have been in stock Like Gamestop. They actually discount so aggressively that some manufacturers don't appreciate them since they quickly discount an item and the perceived value is then lessened since it can be purchased for less than the MSRP.

Just some food for thought

That was the "however that works" part. I wasn't sure if the distributor or the retailer makes thoese decisions, but that's quite possible it's on the retailer end. The SKU factor is definitely a problem, as you're right, they wouldn't want to discount Green Goblin figures and Absorbing Man figures at the same time (not yet for AM anyways.) Still, with the glut of backproduct there's gotta be something they can do. It feels like at times I will take weeks between going hunting, and when I do, I feel like I'm seeing exactly the same figures at the stores, which would make me think little or nothing is being sold.

Kind of the downside to so many waves. Retailer stock probably worked much better when it was 3-4 waves a year, but then, as collectors we are left with nowhere near as much to choose from.