There has been a lot of discussion about quality of figures. I decided to go through some of mine and pull deluxe figures off my shelf. I've got about 10 years of figures. In that time the deluxe figures have gone from $10 to $20. I'd say the peak was the ROTF Deluxe in terms of price/quality. I don't have any Transformers older than the Energon molds. I also didn't buy and of the War for Cyyperton game toys because I thought the quality was terrible. First up Deluxe Breakaway and Movie Jazz Breakaway is an older mold. He is the largest Deluxe figure I have. Although he is blocky the figure has decent articulation. No ankle tilts or waist swivel. His hands are molded to his forearms but the whole piece rotates. The figure is built really well and has stood up to my son playing with him for two years. Jazz is from the 2007 movie and represents the beginning of the modern toy era. Built well, a lot or articulation, fairly easy transformation. I remember these being $10. I bought a lot on sale for $7 after Christmas. 2008 Camaro Bumblebee and Prime Ratchet Bumblebee and the ROTF toys are amazing. The mold detail, paint, features, and articulation are off the charts for a $10 toy. Yes, the transformations were difficult. The Prime figures were really good. I think I paid $12 for the deluxe figures. The figures weren't as complicated as the movie figures but they were still very good quality. Great articulation, most had ankle tilts, wrist, and waist swivels. They also came with great weapons. Wheeljack's swords are awesome. DOTM Starscream and AOE Lockdown Where it all went downhill. DOTM toys were the same price but the scale shrinked and the complexity dropped. Points of articulation were removed, mold detail and paint apps were reduced. The figures were packed with the giant gimmick weapons, but it didn't make up for the lower quality figure. AOE Lockdown is just terrible across the board. The scale was even smaller than DOTM and there is less articulation than a legends class toy from years prior. Bad plastic, cheap joints. I think it is the first deluxe without real hands. Sadly a trend that would survive going forward. With a retail price of $16 the figure isn't even worth half that. The Deluxe figure of today $16.99 - $20. Better than AOE figures but still a low point compared to everything else before. The Combiner Wars figures lack hands and ankles. I'd rate articulation as OK. Paint is minimal but the mold detail is generally very good. However considering the mold reuse, I would hope so. The RID figures are simplified and the articulation is better than CW, but the paint apps are not good. When you put a Transformers Prime figure next to a RID figure it isn't even in the same league. $5 more and so much less.
But, if it were just inflation, either the price would go up, or the quality would go down, not both. Also, plastic is actually cheaper now than it was in 2009. What the hell, Hasbro?!?
Couldn't have put it better. Bear in mind that we also used to get deluxes for less than $10 US when the Classics came out. NOW that gets you a Legends/Scout class. It won't ever get better. You want deluxes the way they were in the late 2000's? Be prepared to pay $25 US for them.
Wfc/foc figures are awesome! I have both optimus primes, megatron, starscream, Shockwave, bumblebee, deluxe soundwave. Which are all awesome figures! Now foc grimlock and sideswipe are trash though
Nice comparison and reviews! It's nice that you don't just suggest a lower quality, but actually show us and describe what's changed. Your ability to oversimplify the situation is astounding!
It isn't just inflation, but inflation is probably the best word to use. Plastic and production cost has little to factor in, though it can greatly effect the process, price/design quality is more dependant on the economic system corperations are built on, which is to say shareholders/investors demand profit above all. To parrot the much smarter Goaliebot (smarter than me, I'm not trying to put you down or nothin') basically Hasbro's real customer is the shareholder/investor. (we'll say investor because I'm never sure what the difference is an it'll save time) They're Hasbro's boss, and they say Hasbro has to make a consistently incremental profit over. No matter what. To simplify: So if a Deluxe is $10 one year, and it costs $5 to make, Hasbro must make at least $5 in profit per unit. But if production costs go up, even a bit? Hasbro either has to charge more, or spend less. Plus, the investors want increased profit, let's say $6. But it costs $6 to make now, so either Hasbro has to charge $2 extra per unit, which retailers may not want to pay, (remember, your money does not really go to Hasbro, retailers are the ones who actually buy the figures) or cut production costs down to $3. And as time goes on, investors want a higher and higher profit, regardless of what that entails, and if Hasbro can't do it, the investors will just find someone else. (Plus there's the markup the retailers put on for their own profit, and their investors are also demanding higher profit from them) And this is a simplification, so there's more factors I'm not mentioning or may be even aware of, but the overall sentiment is the same: these toys must cost less and yeild a higher profit or Hasbro (or whatever company, happens to pretty much everyone) is "fired." As for plastic costs, that's a whole other can of worms. (one of the aformentioned factors I didn't include above) What little I've learned, it's never about what things are like "now." Figures are planned ahead, and I don't just mean the actual developement process, so we may not see the affects of the current drop in plastic prices for a while. And even so, it's not that reactive. Even if plastic costs are higher now, the design process can't rely on them to stay that way. So if plastic costs $5 a pound now, they'll still design figures as if plastic costs $6 or $7, in case it goes back up once the figure goes into production. And redesigning already planned figures just starts the process all over, meaning delays in releases and the possibility that conditions will change again. And again, this is all a very simplified version of things. There's facets either unpredictable or unknown to me. It's why people take entire university course in these things. And don't forget, hasbro not only (semi)recently changed factories, but they also increased worker wages at their factories. We can't assume we know how things work just from the consumer's perspective.
Ugh I thought the whole FOC line was awful. I mean FOC Bruticus is just terrible, even when compared to a CW figure.
I cant speak for bruticus cause i never got that figure but the ones i mentioned above are awesome. Quality and the way they look just like the game. Hell, wfc optimus is one of my favorite chugs evah
FOC Starscream was a pretty slick mould, though I never got the actual Starscream from the FOC line. It was nice to have a G1-ny seeker with biceps and thigh swivels for a change. That said, not a single other FOC toy really grabbed me, personally.
i've said it before but everything would've been a lot easier to take if it wasn't the price increasing with the quality declining. if it had been one or the other we'd be a lot happier.
It would be easy to swallow if things just got more expensive. Or just shrunk in size/quality. But in 10 years they have become abysmal.
Although for the most part I enjoy the new CW Deluxes, there are certainly things I miss from the older figures like c clips for weapons/accessories (i.e. Jazz's speakers), light piped eyes, pinned wheels, wrist swivels, transparent windshields/cockpits etc.
This forum needs a "polite clap" smilie. So you know, picture that here. Also it is wonderful they've upped the wage of their factory workers.
The size/height of the average deluxe appears to have peaked during the A-E-C lines and Animated. Go back to Beast Wars and the creation of the formal 'Deluxe' size class, and those toys aren't (generally) taller than most available today. They were most likely more massive, as they were more 'spread out' with animal bits and kibble - not to mention only selling for a MSRP of approx. $10 - a little under twenty years ago.
I see how many people think the overall quality of the toys is decreasing. The toys these days are getting less plastic and less paint. However, I do not think the plastic quality is getting worse. The toys are just more hollow. These issues are probably going to get worse over time. Prices will continue to increase. In my opinion, the majority of the Combiner Wars line is awesome. (Devastator not so much). The other day I took my FOC Bruticus off the shelf just to play with. I wanted to see if I could fan-mode it into something that actually looks decent. I was curious if it was really that bad. And yeah, it's THAT bad. And despite all the remolding in the Combiner Wars line, I really think Hasbro/Takara are trying to make the best toys they can. (As far as the Generations line goes. I haven't bought any of the new RID toys). But yeah, all the Combiner Wars Deluxe and Voyagers I have played with look and feel pretty great. It's not perfect, but I think they are awesome toys. Maybe some day Transformers toys will devolve into hollow, unpainted 1 step changers. What's that? That already happened? Well, OK. Hopefully they can at least pump out good Generations toys until that goes terribly wrong/Kids stop playing with toys because they all have Ipads/The world runs out of oil and everything turns into Mad Max. Well I guess that's why we have 3rd party transforming toys.
1. "...didn't get the WFC because of low quality" Except that WFC Optimus is widely considered (correct me if I'm wrong) one of the best deluxes to date in terms of sculpt, engineering, and complexity for the price point and size class. 2. "Bumblebee is just a great figure" Except that the TFTM and ROTF Bumblebees had that problem of the grinding plastic on the automorph feature by the head, which was pretty terrible. 3. "DOTM figs had terrible articulation" Except that the DOTM dx Starscream you show has more or the less the greatest articulation of the entire line. Seriously, that dude's poseable as hell. 4. "Combiner Wars is better than AOE" Except in terms of articulation, details, paint apps, transformation complexity and differentiation (there is very little distinguishing the jets from one another - especially since they all have the same legs. UGH.) but the AOE figs don't combine, if that's what you mean. I think I'm just pissy because 1) school is starting in less than a week and I haven't even met my full-time para yet to discuss lesson plans and classroom management expectations, and 2) I'm going through all my figures to downsize and the ones I'm keeping are the ones you are complaining about, and the ones I'm getting rid of are your "good" examples. The more I play with these CW figs, the less I like them.
