Well that's ... comical. But yeah $13 for a deluxe is overboard.

Deluxes cost $10 when the size class was introduced with Beast Wars in 1996. According to this inflation calculator, $10 in 1996 dollars is $13.09 in 2007 dollars (2007 is the most recent year the page would calculate for.) I don't see what the big deal is about this.

 

The big deal is wages haven't gone up that much, people are losing their jobs, the economy's in a recession, etc. Hasbro couldn't have picked a worse time to jack up their MSRP and (while I understand that we're all collectors here and need to justify our purchases) people need to stop making excuses for corporate greed and start standing up against it. Prices will go down if sales don't go up.

 

They've cancelled TFA anyway, so it's not like there's any real incentive to keep paying retail for them.

 

While I agree that if you think something has been priced unfairly, you shouldn't buy it (in fact, I believe it's everyone's responsibility to find the best price and to not follow through is their own damn fault), I don't see where all this bitching about corporate greed is coming from. If they weren't greedy, they wouldn't even be serving us due to:

A. Not having an incentive.

B. Not having the monetary means.

 

And in a recession, individual people aren't the only ones to suffer. Companies lose profits too. In order to survive, they must rework their pricing based on the demand. If there's less demand, they have to make as much money off of it as they can by raising prices.

 

You might think that companies like Hasbro and Walmart are obscenely rich and that they'll never run out of money and that they're just being overly greedy because they can, that's actually not true in most cases. While they have a lot of money, it's not all theirs. Their investors, depending on the nature of the company, often own most of the money. If the company doesn't do all it can to keep profits up, investors will leave at an exponential rate and the company can tank in a short amount of time.

Besides, lowering prices is more often done out of corporate greed than raising them. Large corporations like Wal-Mart and Hasbro often lower their prices specifically to drive their smaller competitors (who have smaller cash reserves and thus are more dependent on maintaining a profit margin) out of business and corner the market. Now if another company came along that wanted to sell transforming robot toys it would be easier for them to gain a foothold in the market as they wouldn't have to keep their prices so low to remain competitive.

 

And even without this, $13 for a well-made transforming toy is still pretty cheap (just look at how much the typical, say, Macross toy will set you back) and if you still think it's too expensive then you can wait for the new Scouts to come out, which'll still be cheap (although possibly not as cheap as before) and which also look to be fairly high-quality. Hell, even the Legends toys are getting fairly respectable these days.

 

This is an origional price tag on an origional Sky Linx.

 

Price wise we've been pretty lucky, I think the problem here is that it's an overnight lead. If it went 10,11,12,13 that would be one thing, but it went 7.77 right to 13.

 

It's like jumping in a cold lake tired!!!

 

I understand the need to raise prices though, I think the thing that irks me though is that most of the Animated figures on average are smaller than previous lines, and the quality of plastics have been less than stellar.

 

If your gonna raise the price, fine, but don't deminish the overall quality while your at it. Then again, the HTS prices are only a dollar higher. I just wanted to make that clear as this is a Walmart gripe, and not a Hasbro one.

Well that's ... comical. But yeah $13 for a deluxe is overboard.

Deluxes cost $10 when the size class was introduced with Beast Wars in 1996. According to this inflation calculator, $10 in 1996 dollars is $13.09 in 2007 dollars (2007 is the most recent year the page would calculate for.) I don't see what the big deal is about this.

 

The big deal is wages haven't gone up that much, people are losing their jobs, the economy's in a recession, etc. Hasbro couldn't have picked a worse time to jack up their MSRP and (while I understand that we're all collectors here and need to justify our purchases) people need to stop making excuses for corporate greed and start standing up against it. Prices will go down if sales don't go up.

 

They've cancelled TFA anyway, so it's not like there's any real incentive to keep paying retail for them.

 

While I agree that if you think something has been priced unfairly, you shouldn't buy it (in fact, I believe it's everyone's responsibility to find the best price and to not follow through is their own damn fault), I don't see where all this bitching about corporate greed is coming from. If they weren't greedy, they wouldn't even be serving us due to:

A. Not having an incentive.

B. Not having the monetary means.

 

And in a recession, individual people aren't the only ones to suffer. Companies lose profits too. In order to survive, they must rework their pricing based on the demand. If there's less demand, they have to make as much money off of it as they can by raising prices.

 

You might think that companies like Hasbro and Walmart are obscenely rich and that they'll never run out of money and that they're just being overly greedy because they can, that's actually not true in most cases. While they have a lot of money, it's not all theirs. Their investors, depending on the nature of the company, often own most of the money. If the company doesn't do all it can to keep profits up, investors will leave at an exponential rate and the company can tank in a short amount of time.

 

You're comment about pricing based on demand is correct however it is also backwards to how it works. That item that is flying off of the shelves is always increased i.e. TFs. While on the flip side if something isn't selling they drop the price to get the product out of the way for better selling products. i.e. Indiana Jones figures (which you can still find a good selection of in the clearance aisles at Wal-mart.) Thinking back to November I seem to remember allot of over stock of TFs on the top shelves while right now for the most part they disappear from the pegs so fast that if you aren't there the morning they get put out you won't get what you want.

It's kind of a mixture of both and it takes judgment. Companies have to gauge what the highest price they can use that won't decrease sales by much if any at all (or, conversely, as we saw in the holidays, what the best price is to increase sales). In a low demand market, like now, the increased price is how they're making up for lost revenue. The people that are GOING to buy are GOING to buy at the increased price (basically, us, since retail is usually the cheapest for current figures).

 

It's complex and head-achey and each product type is subject to different rules of thumb.

Well that's ... comical. But yeah $13 for a deluxe is overboard.

Deluxes cost $10 when the size class was introduced with Beast Wars in 1996. According to this inflation calculator, $10 in 1996 dollars is $13.09 in 2007 dollars (2007 is the most recent year the page would calculate for.) I don't see what the big deal is about this.

 

The big deal is wages haven't gone up that much, people are losing their jobs, the economy's in a recession, etc. Hasbro couldn't have picked a worse time to jack up their MSRP and (while I understand that we're all collectors here and need to justify our purchases) people need to stop making excuses for corporate greed and start standing up against it. Prices will go down if sales don't go up.

 

They've cancelled TFA anyway, so it's not like there's any real incentive to keep paying retail for them.

 

I know they canceled the pointless gold repaint of Grimlock, and the Hydro Bumblebee but when did they say all of Animated was canceled? My daughter wants that Arcee.

 

There's a topic about it under the News section. Here's the link. http://forums.TFormers.com/talk/index.php?showtopic=106550

 

Take it with a grain of salt. This may very well be a false rumor. I think it's fake.

the way i read the rumor is "walmart and target aren't ordering anymore animated product from hasbro." not "hasbro isn't producing anymore animateed."

 

we knew it wouldn't continue during the movie anyway. didn't we?

It's not really worth arguing about. If you think they're worth $13, then by all means pay $13. Lord knows I buy a lot of overpriced crap. If you don't think they're worth it, don't pay. If people don't pay, prices will come down. Personally I've never seen a Hasbro Deluxe I would pay a nickle over $10 for, but that's just me.

 

And I still don't think people are going to pay $13 a pop to buy Animated Swoops and Universe Ironhides they didn't want when they were $7. I expect a major clearance prior to the movie.

Swoop doesn't belong in the Deluxe class line, thats a frigging Scout!

I payed 14 Shrute bucks for the new Prowl.....

how much would you spend on an MP Grimlock tho? lol