Quote:
Originally Posted by canprime
I agree.
My oldest is 7 years old, and he will play with anything. That is when he isn't nose deep in his tablet. When I do the laundry he will come down and play with me with the Transformers Cyberverse figs I have. Most of them I got on deep discount. He doesn't care about the regular figures because that doesn't factor into his play.
Same goes for birthday parties. Whenever we go, the gifts are usually less than $40 total. Those Titan class figures are a godsend. A 12" figure of a superhero, etc. for $10-$15? Perfect gift.
I have not, and probably never will pay $40 for a single figure for my kids. Unless that is something they specifically ask for. Hell I am unlikely to pay $40 for a regular ML, for myself, going forward. Except on those rare occasions where it is a figure I really, really want.
The fact is that most modern toys, ML, SW, TF, etc. don't hold their value already. At the new $40 price point? Why bother when you can get the vast majority of releases on the secondary market for retail, or less?
As someone pointed out, if TRU does a sale now, you would be looking at $32 for an ML (20% off $40) on sale!!! So basically full retail from last year is your best bet?
Also as others have pointed out, this is just TRU, but I doubt it will be long before others have to bring up their prices as well.
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But you're coming from a background in collecting. Hell, you're a member on this board.
My brother asked my dad to get a transformer for my nephew's birthday, and he paid over $50 for a deluxe class figure on Amazon (which was $33 at retail), simply because he didn't know any better. And it was still available at retail in stores. (I picked it up with my EB discount and he returned the Amazon one.)
Point is, not everyone tracks these prices like we do, or buys as many figures as we do. Yes, $40 per figure is nuts if you're buying a case at a time, multiple times a year. But if you're just getting one or two, a couple times a year, you wouldn't even know. And my dad will happily spend any amount of money on his grandkids.
Now, obviously there are people of all different income levels, so yes, even a few bucks once a year can make a big difference, and I'm not discounting that. But TRU is seems happy to test the limits. Since they hiked prices before christmas, they obviously feel like they can do it again.
But at this point, they are way outside the regular price increases in the market, and for anyone who is price sensitive, they will be off the table except for rare circumstances, like exclusives, and even then, we'll see.
