My fellow Belgian collectors, are you also sick and tired of the insane prices for Transformers here in Belgium? I have concluded that it would almost be cheaper now to just import a big bunch of figures once a month than to buy one figure every week in a Belgian store. Why are the prices so high? In France, a deluxe only costs 14,50 euros here in Belgium, i've seen stores going as high as 22 euros, though most stay at 20 euros, but that's still a lot compared to what they cost in France. And why do we only get a small part of every line? I have still not seen any wave 2 figures of DOTM in Belgian stores despite the movie being out for two months now. I say we revolt against these high prices and lousy availability and stop buying Transformers in Belgian stores. There are lots of (cheaper) alternatives, like buying online. Archonia for example has good service AND they're having a sale on Transformers at the moment. Or if you live close to the French border, you could always go buy them in France, which would be even cheaper then shopping at Archonia or most other online stores. So please, fellow collectors, help get the prices down and the availability up instead of the other way around as is happening now.
You seem to have same problem as Serbian collectors. We haven't recieved any of DOTM toys!! We also get every second or third wave, sometimes we do not got whole line or only Legends. But we have Deluxes for 18 Euros. I know exacly how you feel.
Lucky Belgians, with their fancy cheap Transformers... Consider this: a €19,95 SCOUT CLASS Hubcap, very recently seen in a Bijenkorf store in the Netherlands (guess what... I didn't buy it). For you guys in the USA: that's currently around $28,90!!! : What's there to revolt against? It's pretty hard to actually STOP buying anything if it wasn't available in the first place. We got no new toys after wave 1 of DotM here either, of course. Not that the stores in the Netherlands would ever even get RtS, Generations, or Human Alliance toys.
@Yigal: I am buying from an online store, but I just want to be able to walk into a store and be able to buy a new transformer without having to pay as much as a two month subscription on WoW or something. @Alldarker: at least he was released there. you know what we got from HFTD? bumblebee, ironhide, jetblade, sea attack ravage and rescue ratchet. And isn't it so that Bijenkorf is rather expensive to begin with? I remember buying an Energon Leader Optimus Prime there several years ago for 70 euros (most expensive Transformer I ever bought, I even only payed 50 euros for my Unicron). @typev3: yeah, lucky for me I'm a sports fan. (that was sarcasm btw) @everyone: I know I come across as grumpy and mean, but it's just that Belgian stores are killing the Transformers sales here. I know why we didn't get a wave 2 of DOTM, because wave 1 didn't sell well enough, but what do you expect at 20-22 euros for a deluxe and 36 euros for a voyager? Back when I was a kid, Transformers were cheap enough that parents would buy one for their kids, just because they behaved well. But with the prices now, that would be a very expensive "just because" gift. Yet in America the prices have hardly gone up in recent years. And I'm not saying I want Transformers at the price Americans get them, I understand that with import taxes and all that shit they should be a little bit more expensive, but this is just rediculous. In France they can sell them for 14,50, so why wouldn't they be able to do the same here? Because all they think about in Belgium is money. example: In a French store in 2011 they find a whole box of ROTF deluxe toys in their warehouse, they sell them at 6 euros a piece. In a Belgium store in 2011 they find a whole box of ROTF deluxe toys in their warehouse, they sell them at 20 euros a piece. (And I'm not exaggerating, this really happened)
I know Belgian isn't that large. Why not make a trip to France or Netherlands once a month to buy figures there?
Well, I AM lucky enough to live near the French border, but the nearest stores in France where they sell Transformers are really rather hit or miss. Last time I went to those stores I found only 1 figure I didn't have yet (and worst part was, I couldn't buy it because I had my sister's kids with me). I try to go to those stores once a month, hell, most of my current collection is either from France or bought online. But I just think it's unfair that Belgian prices seem to be rising while the French prices are actually dropping.
My dear fellow Belgian, This problem is not really new, it has been so ever since Beast machines of which the deluce toys were initially also sold at -+ 20€, but quickly dropped to teh more acceptable 15€. Yes we are ripped off in our tiny country for just about everything except the price of beer. We collectors are not a problem for hasbro as we are 5% of the sales. I have been importing TF's ever sincs Beast machines to deal with our rediculous prices, with the occasional lazyness of getting one here in the store when they are on discount. As you maybe noticed the movie 3 toys are not really selling well here except the caracters the fans want (leader sentinal prime, starscream, megatron and leader ironhide). I do hope hasbro's policy changes because as of september TF prime will air in Belgium and normaly that means we should get Prime toys aswell, but hopefully not at the cuurent prices. But if the movie toys don't move i can't realy see much of TF prime getting into the stores. Anyway much more interested in Gundam these days as most TF's form movie 3 are weak designwise and qualitywise
Hasbro UK said they'd have them in March, i'd be surprised if Belgium is any different? And your last comment is a matter of opinion, not fact.
TRU left belgium 15 years ago. we ahve a number of small local chain stores are somewhat larger dutch chainstores here
@BW_megatron: the problem with importing is that i only just recently dropped out of college and have yet to find a job. And I have yet to see a Leader Ironhide in real life even. I've only seen leader Bumblebee and leader Sentinel in my area (and those stores in France). @Miscreant: I'd be surprised if we get any at all, because at the current prices they won't sell at all. @Tusko: you laugh, but Belgium is among the countries with the highest amount of taxes in the world. I once researched what you have to do when you want to import a car ... you have to pay freaking taxes on the taxes if you import a car in Belgium. @seali_me: Like BW_megatron said, TRU left long ago, we have like two chains of toystores left (one of which sells transformers at a price of 22 euros for a deluxe) and stuff like Target and Wal-mart we don't have around here (though there is a store that's slightly similar to wal-mart and target (from what i've heard about those chains) in France that sometimes has exclusives from one of those two chains (don't know which one of the two though))
I can understand your situation, i've been in the same untill i found a decent job a few years ago. As for Leader Ironhide, i bought him in Brussels 2 weeks ago for 58€, but they only had 2, probably long sold now. Taxes are more or less the same in all western Europe, that's not going to make a real difference to explain the price difference bewteen say Belgium and France or Belgium and Germany.
I swear, once I get a visa card so I can easily import stuff i'm going on a search for a classics/henkei rodimus and a fansproject protector set and a ROTF Bruticus and the fansproject causality upgrade figures and a classics/henkei Starscream
Hm, not to further complain about prices, but I've always wondered... just why are TFs so much more expensive outside the US? Is the price protected in the US? Is it taxes? It can't be shipping because they ship in huge quantities, so that shouldn't double the price... When I was younger I just thought local stores were ripping everyone off, but it can't be that.. constant through the world. So, anyone knows why? I'm between US protected price and Taxes, but fixing price doesn't look like something the US economy would do (what with the whole market freedom and stuff)
The fact that US volume retailers refuse to pay any more for toys when the dollar is soft and labour and raw materials are going up seems like more than a coincidence.
I've been told that the American retailers refuse to pay more than a certain price for stuff, so that's why the American prices are so low. My guess would be that either Hasbro wins back the money it loses from American sales by selling higher to the rest of the world, though I have no doubt taxes have to do with some of it too
I'd guess it is volume sold. The amount of TFs sold in the US is insanly higher then in European countiries that it can be sold for so cheap.
