Transformers Prices

[imfallenangel]

Originally Posted by Dark Rage

That receipt is from Canada, you can see HST tax on the receipt.

Didn't see that..

As per my post, I do remember that prices did change for many people but that it was a bit of a confusing time as it didn't change everywhere overnight, so I remember people talking about the price hike while I was able to get a few "last ones" at the time and surprised to see that I was still finding them at 15$.

Part of this is that I also remember the peg warmers from the leftover CW (when POTP was at it's end) that went on liquidation for 10$ at TrU and debating getting some (which I wish I had).

[xueyue2]

Originally Posted by savagephil

Not sure if you remember but I remember prices of deluxe went up to 18.99 but couple years later it was 15.99 for deluxe I think beginning of combiner wars it was 15.99 and thrilling 30 was 18.99. Come to think of it titans return was 15.99

I remember pretty clear that transformer prime price at Walmart was 16.99. Because when I bought deluxe figure at full price then I was talking to myself: this is expensive, maybe I should only buy at sale from now on.

[Marcotron]

Deluxe prices jumped from 19.99 to 29.99 with the advent of putting them in boxes instead of blister packs. They did this for the Last Knight movie "premier edition" figures, and haven't looked back since. Since then, I have been more selective in my purchases.

I got the Origins Bumblebee, brought it home to the wife, and got yelled at for spending so much on such a tiny toy. Earthrise Cliffjumper is not a deluxe. Stand it next to Legends class anything, and they're the same size. So yes, we are paying a lot more for the same size toy, and the box is half empty.

Out of everything announced for Legacy, it looks like the only thing I'm going to need to buy is core class exo-suit Spike.

[ssjgoku22]

Originally Posted by Marcotron

Deluxe prices jumped from 19.99 to 29.99 with the advent of putting them in boxes instead of blister packs. They did this for the Last Knight movie "premier edition" figures, and haven't looked back since. Since then, I have been more selective in my purchases.

I got the Origins Bumblebee, brought it home to the wife, and got yelled at for spending so much on such a tiny toy. Earthrise Cliffjumper is not a deluxe. Stand it next to Legends class anything, and they're the same size. So yes, we are paying a lot more for the same size toy, and the box is half empty.

Out of everything announced for Legacy, it looks like the only thing I'm going to need to buy is core class exo-suit Spike.

Now they're not even putting windows on the boxes, so what's with all the price increases? I'm still going to buy my Transformers, but I'm dropping every other line that I was collecting due to the price increases of everything.

[Marcotron]

Originally Posted by ssjgoku22

Now they're not even putting windows on the boxes, so what's with all the price increases? I'm still going to buy my Transformers, but I'm dropping every other line that I was collecting due to the price increases of everything.

You'd think, the point of reducing the amount of plastic in the packaging was to make things cheaper, while going green for the environment. Note, the toys are still made of plastic, so I don't know how much difference the plastic inserts make. Either way, the cardboard only packaging should be reducing costs, not increasing them.
I highly doubt they are diecutting the cardboard, as that would be quite expensive to do the variety of shapes they cut.

[ssjgoku22]

Originally Posted by Marcotron

You'd think, the point of reducing the amount of plastic in the packaging was to make things cheaper, while going green for the environment. Note, the toys are still made of plastic, so I don't know how much difference the plastic inserts make. Either way, the cardboard only packaging should be reducing costs, not increasing them.
I highly doubt they are diecutting the cardboard, as that would be quite expensive to do the variety of shapes they cut.

It's all money-making. They can lie all they want, but they're testing the water to see how much collector's will be willing to pay for a figure. If it continues to sell, they'll up the price in the future again.

[imfallenangel]

Originally Posted by Marcotron

You'd think, the point of reducing the amount of plastic in the packaging was to make things cheaper, while going green for the environment. Note, the toys are still made of plastic, so I don't know how much difference the plastic inserts make. Either way, the cardboard only packaging should be reducing costs, not increasing them.
I highly doubt they are diecutting the cardboard, as that would be quite expensive to do the variety of shapes they cut.

Originally Posted by ssjgoku22

It's all money-making. They can lie all they want, but they're testing the water to see how much collector's will be willing to pay for a figure. If it continues to sell, they'll up the price in the future again.

Yup for both of you...

Consider something (that everyone that argues about it simply don't get), take a look at food products and the packaging.

Lots and lots of plastic and cardboard (and Styrofoam), and yet, it's about about what's inside. The containers are absolutely an extremely low cost item, negligible really, otherwise they'd lose a lot of profit from it and would find alternatives to save money.

I applaud the switching to the cardboard as I've always hate the plastic body shaped coffins, but I would rather them just go with the approach that they've taken with the exclusives, so generic boxes with labels with name. Sure, they could do a monochrome print on the box cheaply enough too, but I'd be fine with recycled papier-mache egg-cartoons type for protection (like Sky Lynx and the other larger figures did) and such.

I actually hate the fancy shaped boxes more than the tiny plastic window to be honest, and as I've stated at other times, I would prefer the toy be in the mode (robot or alt mode) that would use smaller boxes.

If shipping costs are part of the price increases, I would think that they have some sort of genius in their management that would go "hey, smaller boxes means we can ship 3-4 times more product with the same container space!".

It's not rocket surgery...

[Echotransformer]

You guys are hitting the nail on the head...it's the fact we're getting hit in two directions:

-Prices going up
-Size of the figures going down

And let's not forget cost of the packaging is being reduced...oddly, this is one of the few things I agree with (Totally aligned with IMFALLENANGEL here)...provided the QC of the figure inside is robust and we don't end up with swapped figures, etc...in the end this is the right thing for the environment, no question. I even like the idea of having to save less packaging for some 'future resale' because the value will focus more on the figure.

That said, Hasbro MUST expect to loose MISB collectors with the way they are heading with packaging (unless more creative solutions ensue). Hopefully on occasion collector packaging (like the G1 retro style Walmart Headmasters) will be issued.

But back to the figures...the size reduction is alarming. They are so tiny it's like we're moving into an 'even more' minature world. And it's oddly unsatisfying at times. I opened ER Double-dealer can kept feeling like it was a Voyager wtihout the trailer accessory Prime had or the goofy weapons Shockwave had...I still felt...ripped off...maybe even moreso.

I think we can say clearly there is more paint on the latest figures, but I would also say that hollowness is the same if not worse, so for the sake of arguement that cost to profit equation 'cancels out'.

So...where is all the money going? I'm guessing there are a few possibilities

-Hasbro's market is shrinking, so they need to charge more to maintain profits (i.e. more collector focused, and/or fewer collectors investing like they used to)...this is highly likely IMO
-Hasbro's a big company, so if TFs profit more, that could balance a toy line that is not profitable...net company profit is the same (less likely, IMO, but still probability in a publicly-traded company)
-Hasbro is simply making more profit (to be honest I doubt this, but I can see why others may think this is the case)
-One thing for sure, Hasbro is not likely making LESS in any of these scenarios...again, this is a publicly traded company...but if this insane inflation does keep up, I do wonder if they will simply see a trailoff of collectors because we simply can't keep it up and the line will start to die off again.

So like others, I'm maintaining my budget and buying fewer figures. But as I start to have incomplete lines, I'm loosing interest...and it's a slipperly slope, let me tell you. Once you miss this or that, it's easy to start bowing out entirely.

[Echotransformer]

Update with latest Hasbro earnings via Seibertron.com:

Full-Year 2021
Net revenues increased 17% to $6.42 billion
Wizards of the Coast and Digital Gaming segment revenues up 42%
Entertainment segment revenues up 27%
Consumer Products segment revenues up 9%
Operating profit of $763.3 million, or 11.9% of revenue, up from 9.2% of revenue in 2020
Adjusted operating profit up 20% to $995.2 million, or 15.5% of revenue, an expansion of 40 basis points year-over-year
Net earnings increased 93% to $428.7 million, or $3.10 per diluted share
Adjusted net earnings increased 41% to $723.4 million, or $5.23 per diluted share
EBITDA up 32% to $1.04 billion
Adjusted EBITDA up 23% to $1.31 billion
Year-end cash of $1.02 billion; Generated $817.9 million in operating cash flow for the full-year 2021 and paid down $1.08 billion in long-term debt
Paid $374.5 million in dividends to shareholders during the year

[Dark Rage]

I should have bought Hasbro stock.