I wanted to start a thread on this, as this discussion has no place in the Fort Max thread. This is however related to the new ever increasing prices of KOs.

Let me start off by saying, I have no issues about KOs. I own a KO Devastator myself. I do not judge you for your KO purchases. But let me state something. A KO Devastator is not a vintage Devastator, and should not be considered as such.

Having said that, the new prices for KOs are rediculous. $300+ for a Fort Max, is a ridiculous number. I am not saying KO companies need to give this stuff away, but let's review a couple of things:

1- When you buy something real, you pay for the Quality Control and the Research and Development the company that created put into the item. Takara / Hasbro charged what they charged because they spent all the time to account for these things.

2- The KO company needs to make a mold and create the figure out of the mold. There is no comparison between that and an original. If you argue making a mold takes R&D and QC, you have to be kidding. It takes no where close to the time, and the QC is not there. Even in the best KOs.

3- You as collectors are responsible for rediculous KO prices, and you as consumers can control this. Do you think Fort Max has $300 of plastic in it. Do you think the total time and money involvement in producing 1 piece comes even close to $100? We can never know. But if we assumed it was $100 you realize the profit margin on these figures is close to 300%.

I am not sure how it is justifiable to pay a 300% mark up on an item that is a copy. Let's look else where for comparions:

- A rolex is $5,000. A 100% replica of said rolex sells for roughly $500. Let's keep in mind that this is not a bad price because the rolex has all of the moving parts in it that don't come cheap to make. Even at that, the profit margin on fake rolex's are not 2900%

- Generic Medicine is extremely cheap compared to the real deal. It has the same ingredients an all.

Now, the thing that you guys don't seem to realize is that these prices will continue to go up the more you decide to buy. The only answer is to boycott one of these runs to state that this is not acceptable.

I want to be able to buy KOs myself. But come on, can you really defend the KO prices on these items? Do you not realize KOs are more expensive then Hasbro / Takara reissues?

Do you not see that your only hurting yourselves protecting these price points?

[Edit] Changed some items to keep the point but make others happy.

 

I don't doubt some of what you are trying to say. But unless you have links to back up your claims of cost and profit, it is purely conjecture and a baseless discussion.

 

I do not have anything to back up the $10 price point. I could do all the research needed, but once I had that info, I would most likely just start my own KO company and rip everyone here off.

I do know enough on the costs to make something and the production process and the cost to do business in China as an outsider. China as an insider is even cheaper.

Do you think Chinese factories pay american prices to their workers? Do you think Chinese companies are paying american prices for their resources?

I really think people need to educate themselves about this stuff to really understand.

 

Agree: who did confirm that a Fortress Maximus ko costs $10 at the producer ? If you start with a wrong assumption, I doubt you'll arrive to a good theorem. And who did confirm that isn't qc on the G1 replicas ? I found a lot of qc missing on some official reissues like Encore Bruticus and Commemorative Soundwave, them yes real knock offs in terms of quality...

You said

Wow !!! I didn't know this !! Thank you for the unknown before info  

Definetely

Yes, cause are better than most of official reissues out there ! I want to pay the quality over the legitimacy of the brand, but seems that the quality is a second factor they care of at haskara recently  

 

There are copyright laws in the US so you could do what they do.

But you’re making a lot of assumptions, I think if you backed up your statement with facts you would get a better response. You seem to believe very strongly about the pricing, but that’s only a guess at this point, I have no idea what these will go for but I think 300 is wishful thinking after shipping.

 

LOL. Nice.

 

Again, if you are attempting to beat some sense into us unwashed heathens you should bring some actual facts to the table. Do you have proof there is no quality control of any kind? Do you know how much it costs the factory to set up the molds? Do you know how much the raw materials or labor costs? Do you know how many units are produced? Do you know how much it costs to produce the styrofoam, box, sticker sheet and instruction manual? If not, I suggest you find the answers to those questions before you attempt to discuss KO pricing.

 

Hey Cheem, I think your a little crazy to think that these KO's are better then ones coming from Hasbro/Tank..They are OK at best but take a look as the reviews..Each one ends pretty much the same way..Its pretty good for a KO.

 

I agree with Alucard77, and I might aswell restate the point I made in my Fort Max thread:

With an original its not just R&D and QC thats cheaper, its

1. marketing campaigns
2. profit for stockholders
3. licensing fees
4. copy rights

I could go on, but suffice to say that a toy with that amount of plastic can be found at your local toystore from anywhere between $50 and up, and thats with all that PLUS having the toy shipped to your toystore AND the toystore taking a big enough cut to cover their expenses.

The pricing on KOs are rediculus...and it decievs collectors who only wants originals

 

You need to read this bolded part until it is seared into your brain for all of eternity.

 

The bottom line is the bottom line. Something's only worth what people are willing to pay. A company (or individual) can get away with selling something for an inflated price because consumers are willing to pay it. The value of the materials are inconsequential.

Your plea to the masses will fall on deaf ears. I know what you are saying, but you aren't going to change people's minds by explaining it to them. It's simple supply and demand, wrapped up in Capitalism. The only way the prices would drop would be higher supply and/or lower demand.

This goes for anything, not just KOs.

 

No Primo, I found some replicas (ko is a bad term for these things, at least for me) very better than some reissues, I said you also in chat: my Devastator replica that I used for the CD kits is pretty good, nothing to disappoint. Instead reissues like Encore Bruticus left me with the open mouth: very cheap plastic, stress point without I move nothing yet, molds problems.... so why should I be a little crazy bro if reality gives me the facts to talk so ?

 

The irony of ironies.

 

Have you not messed with the encore Bruticus?

That things is bad. Straight bad.
Hasbro should have made a new mold and gone from there. But they didn't want to, because of the prohibitive cost of producing a new one.......

 

I must step in to say that I do own a few high quality G1 KOs and the ones I have are very much comparable to the originals in terms of quality (I have both original and KO of the same figure. Don't ask me why   ).

What I'm trying to say is that there are varying standards when it comes to KO figures and not all are bad/good. The best can beat recent reissues by HASBRO/TT. The worst...well I'm sure we're already familiar with that.

Anyway I digress.

 

Yes, perfect !!! That thing is a shame for the collectors market but it's 'official' so people doesn't claim so much....

 

Alucard77 must really hate Crazydevy

 

Yes, I remember our chat..but other then Bruticus please show me another..
Wwe have had Bruticus reissued so many times in the past RID, ENCORE that this was boind to happen.

Yes I do remember the reviews of him, still he's pretty damn hard to find on the secondry market.

 

Well going by his extensive knowledge of the cost to produce toys, The CD parts are probably only about $.05 to produce...so ya we are getting screwed, but we are all fools for allowing it to happen to us....

 

He is a MISB Bruticus Giftset. Beautiful, until you open the box. It is worth the price Has/Tak charged for it, but it is a craptacular toy.