Interesting. They probably got tired of angry emails from customers about price hikes. And lends creedence to NA being pressured by American retailers to force a Chinese price hike.

 

Will the real slim shady please stand up !!!

Just hoping he fails in preventing us to acquire a NA EX Jetfire, and that one day, Show Z and Bombusbee can collectively put a stop to his reach and influence on pricing.

 

Everytime this possibility comes up I'm curious how much leverage American retailers have. If Newage refused to cooperate what's the worst that could happen? American retailers stop stocking Newage products? Okay, how many fans of Newage products would actually be so opposed to buying overseas (at a cheaper price no less) that they would choose to not buy at all?

May I ask who the "he" is you're referring to?

 

A lot of people on this board see TFSource as the Kaiser Soze of TF pricing, pulling all the strings without much proof.

And many western-centric folk are blissfully unaware of international options. I started collecting again 5 years ago, went into 3P around the start of COVID and discovered ShowZ early 2021 so my main sources of TFs prior were Target, ToysRUS, BBTS, TFSource.
Compound that with many reviewers having US store sponsors to promote - they'll sometimes bemoan prices with no mention of other options. And many buyers want the security of a something on their shore that can be easily tracked to their door within a few days and are willing to pay the $10-30 convenience fee. I'm not saying US sellers are entirely at fault, but with TFs being primarily an East Asian and Western Europe/North American franchise, the US sellers probably do have some sway, especially when their sales take a hit from a $75 upcharge.

 

Just bought this from show z. With the coupon and about $8.50~ in points, it was right around $85 shipped. Wasn't thrilled with the EX so I figured I'd grab this before more price shenanigans

 

At least there’s some sort of compromise here with the coupons. It would be incredibly shitty if US retailers forced a blanket price increase for everyone across the board, especially a $30 price increase. As if inflation weren’t bad enough.

 

Besides Brawn/OB, cosmos, Megatron and the Insecticons, I have all Magic Square so I'm actually glad this guy doesn't come painted as he'll fit in better amongst them. With my first NA figure purchase in a while, all the price shenanigans are a bit off putting from more NA purchases.

Also looks the height seems more geared towards an MS collection to further stick it to Magic Square's upcoming release. overall a win for me.

 

I think that's a bit of a stretch. Like it or loathe it, he's the size he is because of the Sunbow scale chart, which NA adheres to pretty faithfully (for better or worse depending on your perspective!).

 

Yeah, that sudden price hike is bananas. It's fascinating to see which companies are cheaper via overseas stores and which aren't. MMC and DNA Design, for example, seem to be a tad cheaper domestically. But yeah, I was all set to wait until all the decos are revealed before pulling the trigger on this toon one. Little spooked now. I'd hate to have to pay more for less.

 

I see it as more off putting from supporting US retailers who are trying to squeeze collectors from saving money by buying overseas. Eff that shit.

 

i don't get why the US retailers should have any influence over the Asian retailers given they service not only the US but regions outside of the US.   i could care less if the US retailers stopped carrying NA since i'm not in the US. but even if I did, the jacked up prices were crazy before, and seems to be even more insane now. are the US retailers really moving that much inventory that NA has to impose fixed pricing?

 

don't believe that bs. there is no U.S. pricing cabal at work. because if there was they would be working to get the figs cheaper than what they are now. across the board they are having to pay about 20% more for the bots because of shipping and all that fun shit.

which in turn means they have to eat all that because the prices are already too high to pass it on.

if there was a way for them to be more competitive and profitable with the east they would gladly make that move. but as it sits now they are just riding the on the bus and not driving it.

 

NA does seem to follow the sunbow chart from what I have seen in reviewer vids. To me, the seekers and especially the carbots are too small even for NA's own scale. I like the Sunbow chart generally but I think some need a height boost. It just looks better in my opinion.

The taller characters like optimus, megatron are a littler shorter and I'm guessing in the case of cyclonus and inferno the same height as the MS counterpart. So, aside from optimus and megatron who I wish were taller (but can still blend in I suppose) like MS I think the other taller bots blend in pretty well.

 

I don’t know what to believe, but why would these China shops go to the effort to show the price as $30 higher on the listing then offer a coupon on the listing page for $30 off? They’re putting on a show for someone, only thing (that I know of) that makes sense is they were asked by NA to show a higher price to because domestic retailers were complaining and wanted to appear more competitive when their listing for Jetfire shows double the price.

Anyways, the whole pricing situation de-escalated because China shops are still able to offer $30 coupons to take the price back down, even if they have to put on a show so that a casual person might miss the deal.

 

I love the size like I said. maybe it's a stretch, but I wrote that in reference to A) Multiple NA collectors commenting on here that it feels to big and B) a pic someone posted where Davids head didn't reach the cockpit (sunbow he does). He clocks in under the hipskirt and lines up almost even with jetfires hand. And that's being generous as he's in front in the pic so appears bigger). so basically he's a whole head+ short. That and another pic I couldn't find where NA mirage and prowl were up to JFs knees like minibots on the scale chart. @Bubble Machine
@Phase Sixer yeah I hear ya, but the request of that price hike comes from somewhere. And the US stores for sure aren't asking the China shops. Like @TIKnTIN said why would they have influence that NA has to impose a price hike?

 

The reason there's speculation about it happening with Newage is because it's been confirmed to happen with XTB and fanstoys. The Chinese stores have straight up told us that it's TFSource's fault. True, they haven't said that about Jetfire and this is only a single datapoint so it's not enough to draw a conclusion but it certainly fits the pattern we've seen with other companies' products.

Personally, I don't think the US stores have any business selling these figures. It's one thing to sell MP figures for 15-20% markup but with legends they have to mark it up so high that they just plain can't compete, so they just shouldn't bother.

 

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Yeah, and in the end NA didn’t impose a price hike, just the show of one (the $30 coupons bring it back down) to make someone happy.

 

thats a 1/72 kit so pretty close to what size the $260ish god of flame is gonna clock in at because its also 1/72. lol. ugh to be a g1 toy jetfire fan is one kind of self torture. lol

 

Yeah, I remember when Baba had to jack up the price on XTB Gravestone after announcing it at a reasonable price. It’s been confirmed by a couple Chinese retailers on past incidents.