I've seen both Hasbro and Takara MP01 side-by-side... sometimes the more "toyish" colors of Hasbro toys make it SEEM like it's cheaper, but the flexibility, durability seems the same to me (I'm not a chemist, so I can't speak on it as being definitely stronger or weaker.)

Many times, the Hasbro edition will be retooled to correct imperfections in the Takara molds.

 

But doesn't that just strengthen my argument? It doesn't matter why its cheaper, it is still cheaper. My point wasn't that, my point was that its cheaper over there and there is far too much complaining and little by us foreigners who have to sometimes pay double.

"Congratulations, Americans, you are really lucky and get it cheaper then us foreigners, so celebrate!"
But thats not what happens. Ever.

 

So complaining about a situation that I, as an American, have never dealt with before opens the gates for people from other countries to hate me? That sort of reminds me of how when I have a shitty day at my job and complain about it to my grandma she drifts off onto how I have it easy these days because she had to deal with racism and would have killed for my job.

Bottom line is that some people just want to vent about a shitty situation going on in the toy industry. When people do that, they're basically looking for someone to share their pain or just listen. It gets really annoying to have the typical "one uppers", usually from other countries, jump into the thread and say something along the lines of "Hah! Welcome to my world in (insert country here). We've been paying more than that for years!". Really, who cares? The thread is about how Americans are coping with the price increase. If you want to jump in and whine about your country's plight and how Americans are ungrateful or whatever, make your own thread.

 

The threads are everywhere though. Everywhere. Or not even threads, it manages to weave its way into every non-related thread in the toy forum. Its unavoidable. The complaining just never ends.

Surely you can see why people who's "$4" increase is a "$15 RRP" find the complaining annoying too? I mean, sure, a little complaining is good, but its getting ridiculous.

I don't hate America or Americans at all. I do hate that the entire Toys forum is falling into an abyss of people complaining about prices.

 

No no you see, I really want you to hear about my problems. I don't really care if you're having it worse because then we'd have to stop hearing about my problems.

 

No, your argument has no strength, because you are pitting logic against emotion, and when you do that, emotion usually always wins. Americans have the right to complain about whatever we want to complain about. The USA was founded because we complained about economic practices we thought were unfair. Our parents, schools, and government fill our heads will ideas of entitlement, that we are OWED certain things, due to the sacrifices of our predecessors, so when our PERCEIVED reality doesn't fit the rhetoric, the simpler-minded out there complain, because unfortunately 99% of Americans don't understand economics. They JUST see a dollar more leaving their wallet.

 

Uh Oh, the cliche 'FOX News lies' line. Can you yourself seen/heard proof that they lie or mislead people or are you just being one of the sheep and going with what you read on the internet?

BTW: I don't work for FOX.

 

So you hate teenagers. Cool, so do I  

Seriously though I'm willing to bet people with steady jobs, steady income and a bit of disposable cash are in the same boat as me. We've just accepted it and will judge for ourselves whether these new, smaller, higher priced figures are worth the extra money. If they are, money is spent, if they aren't they sit on the shelves.

But I'm definitely not doing impulse buys anymore. It's going to become a selective process and not just splurging on something because it's a new TF toy. That's where the difference, for me, is with these new price points and smaller toys.

Would I have continued to splurge at 12.99 a figure, generations 2010/11 sized? Yup. But the rules got changed so my rules have to change as well.

 

Exactly. My collecting has slowed a lot recently, but that's okay, because A) it saves me money to only buy one or two TFs every couple months at retail, and B) gives me a chance to go back and buy older ones I never would've considered due to current releases.

Impulse buys are saved for Bot Shots and Cyberverse Legions  

 

Retailers do not cater to Collectors. They cater to scalpers and people who buy toys for their kids.

Order online. That is what I do. Gas saved in the long run and a ton of headaches having CERTAINTY you will actually get what you want.

 

This makes me wonder...

How are all those scalpers gonna unload their Airachnids? I mean, based on evidence from the past, they'd snap her up quick (she's short-packed AND an evil female character), but pretty much the entire collecting community knows she's a hunk of ass.

 

I can understanding people being annoyed if threads are "hijacked" by people complaining about the price increase, poor plastic quality, and/or shrinking figures. However, this thread was created to let off a bit of steam. If you don't agree with the OP, don't click on the thread...simple as that. People are wasting more time going into a thread whose topic they KNOW annoys them, and taking the time out to post in it. If it bothers them that much, they should just ignore it.

I think all the Bumblebee threads are annoying. So you know what I did? I stopped posting in those threads and participated in threads whose topics I found interesting.

 

They'll probably still all get sold once the figure is no longer available in stores and people regret not getting her at the time to complete their TFP cast.
And there'll always be someone that can't find the figure right now (in their country) and/or doesn't care what reviews and community say about it.
Scalpers survive, if not with selling this then with something else to make up for it.

 

Doesn't matter to scalpers, they'll take the eventual hit. It's just one toy out of many that they are trying to scalp. For every airachnid they lose out on, something else gets bought much higher then it should. They just chance everything that *could* be in demand. I would assume the profits are much much higher then the hit they take on eventual losses.

Tis the life of scalping fun.

 

Even if you don't make money on an Airachnid, you can always sell it for cost since it's short packed, someone will want it to complete their collection. Buying them when found at retail is a no brainer when you know it's hard to lose money on a figure like that.

 

A week or so back I started this thread:
http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/trans...ur-wal-mart-raise-their-deluxe-price-too.html
In the 1st line I stated it was for Americans only. A lot of b.s. was absent from the thread. Might not be a bad idea to continue that practice.

I see- bitterness based upon envy.
Got it.

Here's the thing: Australia's dollar might be on par with US's, but TF's are double. Sounds bad until you consider that Australia wages are approx. double that of the US's.

And recently the NEWS has reported that Canadians are (generally) more richer than Americans.

But don't lets this stop someone from another country yet from doing everything they can to debunk it and still put America(ns) in a position to hate upon.

It's not exactly as if people are forced to read threads- let alone respond.
Sometimes it's as if they think threads are all for and about them- and if it doesn't meet their approval then that's license to shoot!

 

I literally don't think I could agree more with everything you've said. Excellent post.

 

Starting off insultingly and belligerent, a wonderful way to start off you argument and make it seem valid. Personal attacks on my character will not phase me kind sir.

To your point of saying people can not afford their distaction. As I said in my previous post, a luxury is a luxury, you don't need it. They have other luxuries they have previously purchased.

Never did I say people could not feel disappointed. That is a natural feeling that we as humans feel. Also, if you are standing for free speech, why are you trying to say I should not use mine?

Oh, is this why you took offense to my statement?

 

Are...are you kidding me? $4 is a 33% increase from what I was paying only a year ago. It's FIFTY PERCENT more than what I had been paying for deluxes EVERY YEAR UNTIL 2010.

If a $4 increase for what was once a $10 toy isn't a big deal to you, then I'd very much like to borrow one of your solid gold rocket jets for the weekend. I have a thing in France.

Oh, and for me, in Brooklyn, it's not a $4 increase. It's a $7 increase. My local comic shop, with their normal markup, now sells deluxes for...ready?...$21.

 

Fellas, Please, if retailers really wanted our money, they'd figure out how to move those Deluxe Bumblebees that have been warming pegs for a whole year now... I'd say put all those little yellow bastards on clearance and just let the Prime stuff roll in.