I don't know if its covid-19 or what, but recently, I've noticed so many figures that are just impossible to get if you didn't preorder them. And even if you can get them later, they've been jacked up in price mere months after their original release.

Is anyone getting tired of this? I hate this mindset that you have to buy everything the company puts out immediately, or else its your fault when it's more expensive later. This isn't rare toys, this is retail shit that people jack up the price the instant they get the chance.

 

I started to get into the habit of putting safety preorders in on everything that I want before covid started so to me putting preorders in on stuff is just part of collecting. If I find it in a store, great I can cancel the preorder, if not I still have a backup.

 

I'm definitely tired of it.

 

Yes, I understand. I remember the days when if you missed Jazz in 1984, you had a shot at picking him up in 1986.

Stuff ships now in one wave (well, except Arcee and Wheeljack), and if you miss that window its off to after market prices.

I would also say things right now are hopefully bottoming out. Not only did the pandemic disrupt production and distribution, but according to Hasbro TF sales also increased by 40%. I think either one of those things happening on their own would create scarcity. Together and we get what we've gotten.

But I can't imagine Hasbro is completely innocent here. They understand the psychology of the collector (or they are totally incompetent) and FOMO is a sales driver. Thinking about getting Black Zarak? Don't think too long or... IT'S GONE! And after that happens once or twice, everything gets preordered "just in case."

 

It been that way for some time now... way before 2020.

 

I can't say it's ever felt this bad before this year and the previous. There was always a few rarities or problem childs, esp tail-enders, but it was never this...universal and constant.

Well said..pretty much exactly what I was trying to convey in the last part there.

 

I think this culture partially exists because a lot of new stuff tends to be really hard to find in stores (and online sometimes) once it sells out. For example, I've been looking for the Kingdom Huffer figure but haven't found it in stores yet. I'm not sure if I missed my chance on him in my area due to him being a cool remake of a G1 character that a lot of people want. While I never pre-order stuff I think it exists because people know it will be hard to find once it's gone and scalpers know they can charge a higher price because there will always be people that really want that thing.

 

I would not call it a a culture thing completely, it's a 50/50 thing.

50% is about those that must have the newest and latest thing and chase the dragon, and THAT is the culture thing. (and it has cause and effect on the other 50%)

The other 50% is flat out bad distribution and low production that makes it so that if you actually want a particular figure, you have to try and get it before it's simply gone. Scalpers and such are a part of it, but it's a question that if Hasbro produced enough to saturate the market with enough numbers, people would not be scared to miss something, would not have to "hunt" from store to store and hope to find it, they would be able to go at their pace and at the most, have to check another store or two if they missed it at their usual store.

Once upon a time, we also had more than just 2-3 stores to go to, here in Canada for example, you could find toys at close to a dozen retailers that would all stock their shelves quite full, from Zellers, Kmart, Towers, Consumer Distributing, Toy City, Sears, The Bay, Woolco, Woolworth and several more that have all disappeared and all that's left are Walmarts, Toys R Us, and EBgames as main retailers.

Now, even online is a race to get anything as many barely get any stock.

Add to this the fact that geek chic has been a HUGE thing... where a geek was considered an oddity, and collectors for toys were really few, which where most used figures used to be flea market/garage sale fodder that barely sold, now it's a rabid sport to get anything at a reduced price if it's not a (rarely seen nowadays) overproduced item.

So many figures that once would have been a "junker" bin item at a con, are now pulling in 3-4 times the original pricing.

Miss something when it comes out, then you get what some call the "late tax" as the market is driven by a unhealthy view on collecting.

But this basically is simply the reality of what collecting is now... I've seen people go crazy over things that completely boggles me, and anything, EVERYTHING is now "a collectable", and I've seen so many that wants to be a collector to define themselves over their "collection, instead of it being just because they really like something.

Companies like Hasbro have realized this and their goal is to maximize their profits, NOTHING else... so every "collectible" line or product that they can pull to make more money, they will.

And that's a big part of of what has created the "must buy NOW" thing.

And like others mentioned, even since Hasbro has figured it out, a LOT of figures have been made rare and if you have to go with the "see it, grab it" and you cannot expect it to be there/available for the next sale, and you will most certainly miss it. It's a complete gamble now.

 

Yep. I like to be able to plan out my purchases ahead of time, so having pre-orders drop at random and sell out within days on occasion is extremely frustrating. I pass on a lot of figures because of this system. If I don't want it right this instant, I guess I don't really want it at all...

 

that has been my motto for anything convention exclusives

 

Due to the global pandemic less product was produced (quarantines and illness) so yes people (scalpers) know this and buy up what they can... die hard collectors work harder to get every figure they need. For those who go out every day and refresh the sight page every hour for preorders... good for them. I get what I can when I can... it’s just a Toy I can live without it.

 

it’s not just that. People are home and bored. It’s why things like the sports card market came back in a big way last year. Collecting hobbies all had big boosts last year. So less supply and more demand. The scalpers may be figuring into it, but some exclusive sets on Amazon are still easily available like the Botropolis set. For non-exclusive sets, that’s not scalpers, that’s just increased demand.

 

I would like to add that I jumped back into collecting in January or February 2020. I had the opportunity to buy almost the entirety of Siege at or near cost (or often below) save Skywarp. Even Greenlight I believe I saw last January before her prices spiked. Now this was a popular toyline that did well enough to get stretched out to a fifth wave, but it was also before the pandemic really hit the West. I suspect the situation will not be so bad once we get through all of *this* and things go back to normal.

This isn't to say that you won't every have to preorder. I think the pattern is last wave figures (usually wave 4) become hard to get (heads up for Waspinator fans) and for exclusives of especially popular characters (ie Skywarp, Thundercracker, Ironhide, Prowl, Ratchet), but for wave 1 and 2 characters at the every least you can probably afford to take your time.

 

Amazon has huffer back for preorder. Fyi

There have definitely been changes whether it’s on the supply/demand side. Not too long ago I would wait for transformers to go on the inevitable sale and then pick them up. I got all the Titans until omega on heavy discount that way. I never had to preorder mainline stuff up until the war for cybertron line. Even the exclusives tended to go on sale.

 

I've had to break outta this habit recently. Unfortunately since Hasbro's distribution with a fair amount of figures has been atrocious lately and the annoying truth of scalpers(which I'm not gonna get into but if ya know, you know) lately I had been finding myself buying certain figures extremely fast. I came to the conclusion that I had to get some I don't give a fuck syndrome in my system because this crap was causing me anxiety. I'll still buy certain figures but I refuse to stress myself out over it anymore. As far as I'm concerned it's money lost on Hasbro.

 

Yes.

 

I used to totally get stressed about this. Lists and preorders would go up and I would race around (figuratively, online) trying to secure the preorders, balancing paying full up front with a mix of only deposits so I dont get overwhelmed either at preorder or release..... It got to the point where it just stopped being fun and started being a stress. Then I realised that a lot of it was me. Sure, if I missed that opportunity to grab that cool eighth version of Sideswipe I would be sad..... for about a day before the next thing caught my attention. And I would still live.

We get caught up in the hype and 'got to have it' but in the end missing a few toys isnt the worst thing in the world. Now I only preorder stuff that really matters to me, and none of that is Hasbro stuff (maybe an exception for Rodimus). If I see it on a shelf then I will get it, but if distribution is its usual terrible state then Hasbro just lost a sale. Their own fault. And that's the only way things will change.

 

I do hate that I can't wait for sales. Used to be, I'd hardly ever pay full retail for anything. Now, if it's something I really want, I have to preorder, I can't even count on ever seeing it in a store.

 

So tired

 

Yes and no. I understand the landscape of the last couple of years, especially these last 12 months, so I make it a point to preorder the things that interest me the most since I know it’s a gamble to wait. In-store hunting isn’t a thing for me anymore due to the uncertainty behind product availability, plus the fact that it can be a tremendous waste of time.

It’s also much easier for me to preorder early from a competent and reliable source than it is to deal with the ineptitude of Walmart, Target, and Amazon order fulfillment.

The only thing I dislike about early preordering is that the window is fairly short, so you don’t have much time to think it over to make an informed decision, but I feel that I still have some control over that. Therefore, it’s manageable inconvenience.