Found this old thread here on TFW:
Remembering back------ Cost of G1 toys in the 80's

Which links to this great resource on 80s prices and ads:
The Vintage Space Toaster Palace

Which had this:



$28.84 in 1986 is about $66 now. $15 clearance price is about $35 now.

EDIT: That page also had a Target Ad for Constructicon singles for 3.97 (DCPI anyone?) and Fred Meyer had them for 7.99 (on sale from 11.99)

 

I fondly remember talking my parents into getting one for me as a 6th grade "graduation" present from Zayre Department Store for about $15. I actually found a clipping of the ad though Google... It was $14.91 in May 1986 and says it had sold the previous year for $32.99...

 

For actual contemporary prices, pleasesavemerobots.com is a useful resource. It sources its information from advertisements of the era.

Here's the page that covers Devastator giftsets. It shows a low-end price of $24.99, but notes that the "regular" price for a couple of the places that had sales would have been $32.99.

Plugging those numbers into this inflation calculator, and using December 1985 as a date (chosen as representative of the advertisement dates used), we see that those prices give us a range of $57.65 to $76.11 in August, 2018 dollars.

Personally, I never saw Devastator as cheaply as $24.99, but usually more in that $30-range. This would suggest that the $74 figure that Wal-Mart is charging is pretty close to what Devastator actually cost back in the day, adjusting for inflation. Arguably at the high end of the range, but certainly not over-inflated (as many of the TRU Commemorative Series prices were).

 

What's the date on that specific ad? For a clearance price, one assumes it was quite some time after Devastator first came onto shelves, which more than skews the results.

UPDATE: I found it. December 1986. A full year later.

 

Thank for posting these guys. So given the cost of inflation, Walmart's current 2018 price of $74 plus tax is pretty much in line with the 1985/1986 retail price.
I wonder about the other G1 80s toy reissues that Walmart is currently selling.

 

They are mostly in line. Hot Rod's a little over priced but not by much. (Should only retail around $22.)

 

Megatron: "Behold my mightiest creation, Devasta...



...oh"

It really is amazing how warped childhood memories can be. I knew the guy was built out of six figures the size of matchbox cars, but somehow was still unprepared for Devastator being such a wee lad. Gotta wonder what "today's kids" would think of him. His combined form barely reaches the knee of CW/UW Devastator, and the individual components are pretty iffy in looks and engineering. For all the endless complaints of the fandom, its hard to ignore how far these toys have come in the last 35 years.

I am having fun with him though. The G1 nostalgia is through the roof. Opening up the original packaging, spending twenty hours applying foil stickers like a Swiss watchmaker. Your $75 definitely goes toward the experience as much as the toy itself.

I can't speak for the quality of this reissue compared to the original, but taken on its own merits, the plastic seems good to me. This doesn't feel like a cheap knock-off. The tolerances on mine are perfect as well...with the exception of Scrapper's head which is a pain to pull up out of his torso when transforming him to robot mode.

He's definitely (almost painfully) a product of his time, but I can't help loving him.

 

His small size was very discouraging. However, I had bought the jets so I pretty much only bought the minibots because they were kind of in scale. I don't remember how I explained away Soundwave, Shockwave, and Megatron though.
Anyways, I had bought all 6 Constructicons when they first came out on cards, so when I walked into Ben Franklin and saw the cool gift set I was less than thrilled. I didn't re-buy them though.

 

Kind of bummed the minibots don't seem to be showing up. Those are the ones I'm most interested in.

Also, it's super neat to see what the prices of these guys were back then. I came around a bit later, so this is all new info to me.

 

Well, my Walmart finally got in some of these. I was there earlier, and they had what looked like 6 Devastators & Starscreams, & about a dozen Hot Rods, but no minibots. I'm starting to think Bumblebee will forever elude me, unless the prices on ebay actually come down from the triple or more they currently are.

 

pics please

 

yea, 42 devys is pic worthy

 

when I went to check out devastator, the wm toy lady was incredulous they were $74, I told her they were remakes of the originals, but she could not understand

 

Starscream ~$17
Hot Rod ~$10
Devastator ~$32

 

I got Devastator! No mini bots yet.

 

I 'memba buddy of mine bought season one of G1 Transformers in the early-mid 2000's pre-youtube days... One or two episode in man... we were all WTF! That was not how I remembered it. lol!

Well, I appreciate everything now, but that was a bit of a shocker. I would not start collecting TFs until nearly a decade later after that and two live movies in.  

Glad you love and appreciate G1 Devastator.  

 

Got my Devastator and 2nd Starscream yesterday in the mail to go with my first Starscream, two Hot Rods, two Swerves, and one Tailgate. Sucks that Walmart canceled my 2nd Tailgate and that Bumblebee and Outback both continue to elude me.

 

Thanks man, this was awesome to see. I think I got mine at $4 to $6 each depending on where I got them and if they were on sale. I thought Bumbleebee was only 2.99 thou so new price seams high but still hoping to find him.

 

For all my negative comments made earlier, I find myself having enjoyed the figure and experience a great deal...so much so, I find myself wanting to buy another. I'm trying to resist.

 

Picked up Starscream the other day, and will get Hot Rod soon. I'd love that Devastator box set. I have all my originals, but got them individually carded back in the day. Never saw the box set back then.