I was debating buying the 6 pack of RTS legends from the TCC for $30 plus shipping. It came out to $5 each which is what they'll cost in stores. I just didn't want to pay the shipping and was gonna wait. If legends go to $6 everywhere ( even Wal-Mart ), I'll just hit up the club. Membership has it's rewards.

 

Interesting arguments all around..but as for the scouts, just wait until WM and Target clearance them out or they will eventually wind up at Big Lots or Dollar General for $4 or less--you may have to wait a little longer but you get them cheaper. Also, TJMaxx seems to be getting more deluxes and voyagers in my area, sometimes even waves that I didn't see at these retailers before, again you just play the waiting game.

Seriously, it's true, if these retailers don't sell them (my Target and WM have pegs full, same ones all the time) then the price will either go down or they'll put them on clearance. Just have to be patient.

 

To be honest the reason why transformers dont sell so well here is cause of the price if there is a ripple effect from this i can perdect even less will sell over here....

 

I don't think this will change my RTS/Gen buying habits, BUT I think I'll be more selective on the movie toys.

 

& people are complaining... Pfffft! Do you have any idea how much TFs cost retail around the world? I live in Sydney, Australia & the last time TFs have been reasonably priced here was during the BW era. Over here, TRU, Target, Big W, K-Mart etc. all slug us way too much for our TFs but we continue to buy them. & why do we do that? 'Cos were f#ck'n morons that's why... *shakes head*

 

If you can't afford it, don't buy it. If you want it but can't afford it, then find a way to a) make more money, b) wait for it to go on sale, or c) trim you budget elsewhere to fit it in.

 

those prices are nuts

 

Heres a big   in the general direction of people in Europe etc who come in these threads....EVERY time a toy price increase in the US comes up, you come in here with a snotty attitude, and expect some kind bowing down/shutting up people in the US. Yet you completely ignore the difference the difference in sterling and euro to the dollar. When you guys import from places like BBTS, you basically pay 75% to HALF of what we pay. You make out like bandits on the conversion of the weak dollar, so cry me a river.

Sure a transformer costs twice as much in Europe, guess what, a gallon of milk or a pair of pants costs TWICE as much too. Heres the kicker, a cashier working at argos or woolworths or whatever makes TWICE AS MUCH as a cashier here in the US working at walmart or target.

This nonsense has gone on AD NAUSEUM, and you DON'T pay more than us for your transformers relative to YOUR native economy. From someone who has been to germany and england...give me a effin BREAK!

 

Most of you guys here are missing the point. Is Target choosing to raise prices or are they just passing along a price hike from Hasbro? If everybody else will raise their prices also you need to get your preorders in now.

EDIT: And if the price is increasing in the US, what's to keep it from raising worldwide?

 

These are the prices we have been paying in Canada for years now, you get used to it after awhile, I find it makes you more picky on what you buy.

 

THIS!!!!!!!!

 

Not even close. Well, ok, kinda, but not really in the way you're thinking about it.

On the assumption that this is possibly Hasbro raising prices and not entirely a Target initiative then this is basically inflation and rising costs of materials. TF prices have almost certainly been held artificially low thanks to the practices of Walmart et al. Every few years the price must go up and it's been a dang while, it's well overdue for a hike on all sizes.

Regarding the complaints of "foreigners" claiming justice, as someone else pointed out they're all dumbasses. The perceived cheapness of toys in the USA is almost entirely due to currency differences, their relative value compared to other standard consumer products and wages (i.e. buying power) is pretty much the same. Only a few European nations really have absurdly priced toys. But to be fair even with all that TFs are a wee bit "cheaper" in the USA anyway.

 

ITALY..the ONLY damned country on the planet that customs will C-block a package for a toy not being made of WOOD.

WTF is that about? some folks have not gotten out of the 1940's it seems...

 

Hollo, ieh com from teh yer 3016 ad. do to inflaycion wee in teh fewcher ameereca got to payh fivh thosan dollaeers for wat yew kall a scout, twennty thosan dollaeers for a delucks and wun millyen dollaeers fur teh masttrpece.

Wee in fewcher gelus ov yew and yor lo priced Tronfoaamerz.

 

Well no kidding!  

 

While your argument may be true for UK and Scandinavia (I don't know for sure), it certainly doesn't hold true for my country.

When I import TFs (which I have to do, since we only get a dozen TFs per year in our stores), I have to pay import taxes in the vicinity of 30% on top of invoice price PLUS shipping. If there is no invoice, the customs officer finds the HIGHEST PRICE for which the item sells on the internet and uses that price as the base for the customs calculation.

And the average salary here is around 400 USD per month (net). I make more, of course, but I still make about five times less than my US counterpart.

 

your argument about import taxes has nothing to do with a items price...that is FEES your GOVERMENT charges...a price hike in a transformer is exclusive to a transformer..

VAT, or any other IMPORT taxes...hit ANYTHING that the goverment has labeled "inclusive" to that tax..

that has nothing to do with the item price.

IT is part of what taxes you incur to have the item delivered to you...not the cost of the actual item.

yes you pay it so it comes out of your pocket..but it is not the cost of the actual product ...meaning you did not pay the import taxes to the business you ordered the transformer from...you are paying the import taxes to your government.

 

I really don't understand your argument. Every single Transformer I buy in a store includes those same customs fees and VAT, plus a hefty retailer's markup on top of everything.

Incidentally, even though TFs are made by Hasbro, which is a US company, the price you pay for it in the US also includes a number of taxes and duties - including export fees from China, transportation costs, fees that were paid to various toy-testing agencies and other government bodies, and so on. It is utterly impossible to discuss the price of a TF if you do not include all those fees in the price; the issue is that when you buy at retail, those fees are hidden from you, whereas when you import, you become aware of them.

 

In the end, the derp of the moon toys look like trash, I don't think classics in any form is going to go on too much longer, and maybe some prime toys, but after all those lines are said and done, what do we have to look forward to anyway?

these last few years were this span of about 20 years renaissance of our beloved brand, but nothing lasts forever, so it only makes sense they are going to try to get as much cash off the tail end of these glory days as they can!

I am in no way saying ohh transformers is dying.. its all going away blah blah blah..
just saying we are on the down slope of the mountain of epic that was animated, classics in all forms and the movie hype..

face it PCC and DrpOTM are a step down, of course with some exceptions granted for cool ones along the way 

 

Just to pick up on this point, I did a quick google.

Average salary of a cashier in the US in December 2010: $20,700
Average salary of a cashier in the UK in January 2011: £15,534

So yes, paid more, but not TWICE AS MUCH, as you emphatically state. UK average salary = $25,858 on today's exchange rate.

Milk is around $3.50 a gallon in Indiana (first google result I found). Gallon of milk here (around £0.80 per pint, 8 pints to the gallon) is £6.40, i.e. $10.24. So a 24% difference in pay is rationalised by a 192% markup? Fair enough.

Obviously you need to bear in mind that's an isolated example and can't be used to illustrate everything (i.e. not everything over here is 200% more expensive than you have it!). I'd also point out that by choosing cashier you're picking one of the lowest paid jobs. I'll pick up mine as an example: I work as an HR Officer, not a high-flying one, just a normal, run-of-the-mill HR role. Paid around £24k at the moment, decent wage etc., so don't take me as complaining about that. Doing a couple of googles suggests that HR Officers (not managers, executives, anything like that - OFFICERS) earn around $74,230 in the US. So don't go thinking you earn half that we do, cos you don't  

My point isn't "oh boo hoo we're hard done by" at all, so don't start thinking that it's a personal attack on you, because it's not. As I said earlier in the thread, the point really is you're catching up on the rest of the world. The buying power of companies like Walmart, Target etc. has been keeping prices artificially low. I assume you know how supermarkets work, i.e. "we'll pay you $x for a deluxe transformer, nothing more". But there comes a point where Hasbro simply can't meet that price as they would be making a loss. So prices HAVE to increase, and the supermarket will increase their prices accordingly.

I think the point is it's not that "it's worse everywhere else in the world", more you've had it good for a while longer than you should have done