So FT is a business that manufactures hundreds/thousands of products for some years, Dalianjj does not seem like a stupid guy (and has always been extremely active in the forums, besides being a collector himself), and FT didn't know before the after market prices so when they magically noted it, they decided to raise their prices? Hum, ok then.

 

The lie is that the preorders sell out. Time to get to know a Chinese retailer where they print ft figures  

 

It's not a lie, you just don't understand how distributor and retailer allocations work.

 

Dunno if that was directed at me, but prior to the pandemic, most of the "In demand" figs were readily available aside from stomp.

 

Not at you specifically (which is the reason I did not quoted your comment), but more related to some comments that I've seen here that FT did not now the second market prices. They surely know those very well, and have always known that. You can't be a successful business if you don't know facts such as these.

 

Yeah the aftermarket prices went up more so during the pandemic. I saw this first hand as i had started my collection just before this. I saw lupus and dinos and dracula and several others, all reasonably priced thru sites like bbts even tfsource before bud ice. Theres a reason djj disappeared and I feel like it has alot to do with the fact that he come to the realization they were leaving money on the table and didnt want to face all this backlash from us keyboard heroes when they started jackin up prices. Not that its the only reason mind u

 

Do you note that the same outcome might be due to increased demand from new fans that happened after the beginning of the pandemic? More new people buying, more older products disappearing from stock. More new people buying, more quickly new products disappear on POs.

 

I do yes...the reason why I said not the only reason. I have the belief that djj and ft did their best to keep prices low as long as possible and the pandemic amplified the desire for their product and in turn the aftermarket price which forced their hand to raise their own prices. Alot of this is talking out my ass but they've only been consistently producing figures for what 7/8 year? To think they have their business model completely nailed down in this short a time is kinda naive. And obviously they weren't completely successful when they first started out if they had product out there shelf warming

 

Similar but, oh, so different. Key difference being the words her/his. Amazing and so wrong the difference one word can have.

Not to me SHE didn't!!

Oh, the memes and GIFs I wanted to accompany that prior post were so NSFW. Stopping at "Hmmmmm...." was almost painful. I'm actually disappointed in myself.

Back on topic, if Apache is scheduled to release next month, has anybody who ordered from Bombusbee been asked for payment yet?

 

Nah, no payment request yet. They usually don't ask for payment until they're in stock or at least very close to

 

Yeah, I agree that in the case of a business model, they might not have it "correct" in such a timeframe (although I do think that there will never be a "correct" business model with 3Ps for several reasons).

In the cat case of higher price, I still think there's a lot of reasons for price increase that are different from only they wanting to raise the price (although I do agree that part of the price raises is FT getting more money), because the data I see on pricing thru the years, together with current world affairs, makes this somewhat clear.

 

I think we r on the same page for the most part. Totally agree there are alot of reasons for what they are doin. My post was only focusing on the one 

 

Tesla went on preorder sometime today and it's already sold out at BBTS.

 

TFSource was the first to put up POs last Friday afternoon, followed by TCP Friday night. I think Toy Dojo and the rest put up theirs sometime Saturday/Sunday with BBTS bringing up the rear.

 

I want to believe that but the bugs, Tesla, Chomp, and even flippin' Rig of all figures are selling out instantly. For some strange reason, Spindrift is collecting dust still in stock.

Before the price hike, I could actually see a figure in stock for a few days after I already secured my own. I have no chance on anything new from FT right now and it's maddening.

At BBTS, I would get an email announcing a new figure on pre-order. I don't get those anymore because they sell out faster than they can send an email.

Honestly, I don't know what to do except just sit here and hope for a second, third, or however many batches later when I can finally get them.

 

Yea, that's partially why I've been loyal to BBTS. Before now, they were the last ones to get the new figures, but they would be after the initial run at most other places and I could just waltz in and get a figure easy-peasy.

For now, I guess I'm an ex-fanstoys collector.

 

maybe I'm more obsessive than most but i see the bugs pop up with some frequency when i visit sites. the rest you listed are arent out, my point was once they are out there will likely be some what more readily available even though preorders were sold out. For example right now, Terry's has 4 sets of the bugs available.

 

Why did they abandon their Facebook page? Wouldn't it be easier to communicate with their target market with direct communication? Xtb is always touching base with the followers.

 

Rig was still up on TFS-Express China yesterday.

 

Yeah, the first two bugs, Cyclonus, Smokey and Seaspray all seem to be easy enough to get now that they're out. I haven't paid attention to some of the most recent reissues, but the only release I remember being hard to find at a decent price when it came out was Astrotrain.