Also, your line of reasoning is flawed. You assign a price-figure for a general release to that of a limited release. First of all, simply because it is an older mold with new colors does not mean that there are no costs involved. And, because of the limited amount of toys, the costs per unit will end up higher. $100 /100,000 = $0.001 cost-per-unit, where $100 /10 = $10 cost-per-unit. And do not forget the costs for designing a new packaging, printing it and such. The price-difference doesn't come from the fact that it's rare, but from the fact that producing it is just so expensive.

 

Until Hasbro opens their accounting department to us, noone will truely know the unit cost of producing these figures. That said, I do think FP and /or Hasbro is overcharging their fans. A friend of mine was part of the team that 4 exclusive SW figures for the SW Insiders Club about 10 years ago. They asked for an exclusive run of 12,000 units for each figure (all new molds and tooling). The standard production run for SW figures at that time was way over 100,000 units. To make profit for the club, they charge $12 per figure compared to the $6 mass retail.

 

This Botcon 5 figures set only has 2 new toolings/molds (wings for Thrust and Dirge) and yet the figures are 650% retail cost. New tooling/molding is the most expensive part of producing a figure, so unless the production run on this set is A LOT less than 1000 units, the numbers just doesn't add up for me.

 

As for the claim that if Botcon didn't produce these figures, they would NEVER be made. I'm not convinced. The 4 SW exclusives figures required 9-12 months to produce after the contracts were signed. FP probably (I'm totally guessing here base on the SW exclusive deal) obtained an exclusive contract around last summer/ fall when the line was just starting to hit retail. No one other than Hasbro will ever know if FP locked exclusive rights to these seekers early on or retailers like Walmart and Target just plain turn down the deal.

 

I'm happy for the fans who will have an chance to complete their seeker collections, but at the same time disappointed that others won't have the opportunity to do so, be it financial resources or time. I'll probably make my own Thundercracker and Thrust can call my Classics seeker collection complete.

 

BTW, there could still be a silver lining (abeit small) to this thread. The SW Insider exclusive deal only had a limited exclusive time window. They were eventually discounted to smaller retailers 2-3 years later. Hopefully FP contact is similar.

The reason for the high price is because it's a LIMITED PRODUCTION RUN of these figures. They're not making millions of these, they're only making a few hundred. Yes, it sucks the price is so high, but in reality it is a necessary evil. At least FP is making money, which will ensure future conventions will go forward without problems. I still have a beef about their system but I am glad that they're doing it this way so conventions can continue.

 

I can afford this set but I do not believe it is worth it for me to get it.

 

I am unfamiliar with how many retail figures are made of say Cybertron Optimus Prime, but are they really in the millions? I find that a bit hard to believe. If someone can prove me wrong, by all means do so as it would be interesting to have indisputable information on this.

 

 

Well, considering there are more than 3000 Wal-Marts in the US, and assuming that each Wal-Mart received 10 Cyb. Primes, there are at least 30,000 figures just to supply US Wal-Marts. I would guess the production run for any mainline release figure would be at least 500 times larger than any convention exclusive. There's ovbviously economies of scale there. It may not be a big factor in a straight repaint of an existing mold, but there's probably only one straight repaint (Thundercracker). The rest have remolded parts so they'll cost more to produce. Yeah, that's not going to account for all of the price/figure differences, but it's not insignificant. Exclusives are also produced differently too; the QC is much more controlled. A normal production run would have a few figures run through the system to make sure the quality was at a certain level...that's where some of the 'test shots' come from. Exclusives don't have that initial QC check...that's why you hardly see test shots of convention exclusives popping up for sale before release.

Until Hasbro opens their accounting department to us, noone will truely know the unit cost of producing these figures. That said, I do think FP and /or Hasbro is overcharging their fans. A friend of mine was part of the team that 4 exclusive SW figures for the SW Insiders Club about 10 years ago. They asked for an exclusive run of 12,000 units for each figure (all new molds and tooling). The standard production run for SW figures at that time was way over 100,000 units. To make profit for the club, they charge $12 per figure compared to the $6 mass retail.

 

This Botcon 5 figures set only has 2 new toolings/molds (wings for Thrust and Dirge) and yet the figures are 650% retail cost. New tooling/molding is the most expensive part of producing a figure, so unless the production run on this set is A LOT less than 1000 units, the numbers just doesn't add up for me.

 

BTW, there could still be a silver lining (abeit small) to this thread. The SW Insider exclusive deal only had a limited exclusive time window. They were eventually discounted to smaller retailers 2-3 years later. Hopefully FP contact is similar.

 

Interesting..........reinforces my point that FP is a bunch of crooks. With the likely demand, however foolish for this price, I seriously doubt that the run will be less than 1000 figures.

 

As for the potential silver lining......does anyone know if any TF Botcon or simliar exclusives have gone to other forms of distribution? I'm not talking about general release retail exclusives, I am talking about CONVENTION exclusives.

Considering that the MOVIE will be hitting at the same time as BotCon...

 

...does anyone care about this?

 

There's one group of people that care about this: The angry, angry movie haters who sit around and dream of Classics returning in September after the movie bombs.

 

And I love how expensive and inconvenient Botcon has made it for these people to get a proper G1 fix while they'll be tripping over movie toys at a reasonable price.

 

I'm a dick. :redface

 

 

Yeah, you are a dick, opposite of opinion but just as bad as the movie haters.

 

 

I for one just like the Classics line. I know the rest of you are burnt out on Armada, Energon and Cybertron but I really liked Classics and would have bought every original piece (including repaints) in that line.

 

Well, you'd have spent more on every figure in a full line than this exclusive set will cost you, so what's the gripe? Get the set and complete the collection.

 

 

How do you figure that? I only care about the jets, and those would total $30 if sold in stores. Any new toys would also cost $10 to $20 each depending on the size class. In all, at retail price, I would get far more Transformers Classics for $329 than I would a convention set with only three toys that I actually want.

 

I'm not talking about the number of bots you get, just what the total amount spent on every Classics toy would be if it were a full line.

 

But that still equals far more Classic than I would get in the convention set. What is your point?

 

If the Classics line means as much to you as you said, just consider getting the set. That's the point. Why is this taking so many posts?

 

I like Classics as a normal, retail toyline. I'm not going to waste $329 for three Seekers.

There is a line. Anyone willing to pay the prices they are setting here is beyond the line of stupidity, and I feel sorry for them that they don't have self control, and are unable to tell crooks like FP and Hasbro "NO MORE".

*is going to cross the line of stupidity*

 

*doesn't need your pity*

 

 

As for the potential silver lining......does anyone know if any TF Botcon or simliar exclusives have gone to other forms of distribution? I'm not talking about general release retail exclusives, I am talking about CONVENTION exclusives.

well, the club exclusive comic (not covention) is going to be collected and sold in stores, 2 years after it's first appearance in the club magazine.

I'm gonna wait to see exactly what they are and whether or not there are remolds.

 

I am seriously tempted to get this set, but I have become a very big "exclusives" whore, so I may very well be spending the crazy stupid money. However I do agree that since they are so overcharging for these figs, the Club may be screwing itself since the Classics craze will have waned and the Movie figs craze will be in full force. I would much rather be spending my money on all the myriad of Movie figs as opposed to Classics right then, so we shall see what actually happens.

 

As of right now though, I am thinking about it...

*is going to cross the line of stupidity*

 

*doesn't need your pity*

 

well, the club exclusive comic (not covention) is going to be collected and sold in stores, 2 years after it's first appearance in the club magazine.

 

Fair enough. I just keep thinking about the old saying about a fool and his money.........which should make me less shocked about the willingness of people to pay this level of highway robbery. I don't know why I am so shocked.

 

As for the comic you've mentioned, it is slightly encouraging to see that their might be a slim precedent to follow there. I personally wouldn't be interested in the comics, though.

*is going to cross the line of stupidity*

 

*doesn't need your pity*

 

well, the club exclusive comic (not covention) is going to be collected and sold in stores, 2 years after it's first appearance in the club magazine.

 

Fair enough. I just keep thinking about the old saying about a fool and his money.........which should make me less shocked about the willingness of people to pay this level of highway robbery. I don't know why I am so shocked.

 

As for the comic you've mentioned, it is slightly encouraging to see that their might be a slim precedent to follow there. I personally wouldn't be interested in the comics, though.

 

Geez. And I thought I was a dick.

i hear people saying that theyve had enough of thie mold after ss sw and rj. but for me im the opposite. ss was great, sw was just the same, but the paint scheme was better. and the remold for ramjet made me love the mold again. which is why the price of these buggers is so painful.

*is going to cross the line of stupidity*

 

*doesn't need your pity*

 

well, the club exclusive comic (not covention) is going to be collected and sold in stores, 2 years after it's first appearance in the club magazine.

 

Fair enough. I just keep thinking about the old saying about a fool and his money.........which should make me less shocked about the willingness of people to pay this level of highway robbery. I don't know why I am so shocked.

 

As for the comic you've mentioned, it is slightly encouraging to see that their might be a slim precedent to follow there. I personally wouldn't be interested in the comics, though.

 

Geez. And I thought I was a dick.

no friggin doubt. I think it's funny that one toy collector is telling other toy collectors that they're spending their money like fools.