This is from the Ohio Sightings thread... I hope this is just this store and not an actual increase in price...

Ohio Transformers Sightings

(In case you don't want to click... It's Origins Bumblebee for $28.50 with a shelf tag to prove it.)

If this is becoming the norm, ouch. I think a lot of us will call it quits.

As for the store, in question, it doesn't state where the Discord user is, but I know southern California stores tend to skew higher due to the cost of living in the area and is therefore always more expensive than other regions of the country. If another region's Target is starting to match Cali pricing, that sucks. If it's going to be the actual new price, across the board, that BLOWS.

 

That price was from a Target in the Bronx. I'm also in that same Discord.

 

Cali, New York... To be expected. Thanks for the clarification. Ouch, I'm sorry for anyone who has to buy stuff there. Geez...

 

Kinda sucks, it'd be interesting to talk about what these price increases mean after the holidays or if/when freight costs could go down but economics discussions are frustrating because most people just consider it magic funny money

 

It is magic funny money. The Federal Reserve printed 4 trillion US Dollars last year, and on top of that they have been printing at least 200 Billion dollars a month buying all sorts of junk. Some of that money found their way to the economy. More money for the same amount of goods will always result in inflation.

Buy now when you can. Once the US Dollars goes toast, bacon is 50 bucks a slice. Transformers? ROFL. No one will have money to buy them.

 

This is certainly an inevitability given the current state of the world, but I am wondering where Hasbro will find equilibrium. They surely have all sorts of professionals running the numbers to determine how much of a price increase is sustainable, but what is that number? I'll enjoy the Generations line in the coming years, I am sure, but I can't fathom spending too much on exclusives or one-off characters anymore.

 

People will still buy transformers, coffee used to be 5 cents a very long time ago and now on average is $2-3 and people haven't been out priced. Earlier this year hasbro mentioned tf sales are up 40% so the extra 3 dollars on deluxes hasn't seem to hurt them and I'd be shocked if the current increases were any different. It's totally possible sometime in the future that hasbro begins out pricing it's consumer base at large but that isn't anytime soon, there are totally people rn who can't justify current prices for what you get but they are not repsesentive of the current consumer base

 

"coffee used to be 5 cents a very long time ago and now on average is $2-3". Up till 1993, there's no such thing as student debt. Like seriously. Look it up. Things have changed. Everyone's now up to their eyeball in debt. Past recessions have shown that discretionary spending is the first to go when the purse strings get tight. I am not saying my scenario will happen tomorrow (obviously not), or even next year, but it will happen one day, and it will be catastrophic.

 

From a practical standpoint, I think we're close to the point where each of the current size classes is going to end up bumped to the next one. Every Deluxe is going to be Hot Rod style for $30, every Voyager is going to be $50, and the Leaders are going to be $80. Anything Siege Jetfire or bigger will be $120 or more. We've been seeing each pricepoint have its figures shrink over the last few years and the "engineering / parts count" argument is just going to get more and more 'weight' going forward.

I honestly do not think this is sustainable for me, and am not sure how sustainable it is for most fans. The WFC and SS lines are older collector oriented anyway, the kinds who watch livestream reveals and video reviews. Since they/we are the ones in charge of their disposable income, I wonder how they'll respond.

 

Some more Hasbro reports, but not much specifically about Transformers:

https://investor.hasbro.com/static-files/72a465a7-18dc-4b56-bfb0-703ad8eb0d40

Hasbro (HAS) Q2 2021 Earnings Call Transcript | The Motley Fool

 

Glad to see the line is selling well. Beast Wars fans showing their hunger for content. Hope this means they'll throw us bones a little more often even after the line is over.

 

This is the kind of stuff that makes Hot Wheels (still priced at $1 USD in Walmarts) interesting. Allegedly, the main Hot Wheels stuff can't have their price raised because sales plummet past a certain point, but the cost to make a single diecast car hasn't been cheapened, so they'll cost cut as much as possible.

Random observation but I find Transformers collectors more accepting of higher prices, not sure how that translates to the general parent-buying-things-for-kids.

 

sure, and again I'm not arguing over individuals struggles to buy things they like such as transformers. My point in bringing up coffee was that 5 cents today doesn't mean what it mean years and years ago so you can't just appeal to the idea of things like bacon being $50 years and years from now and assume it would be like spending $50 today

 

I buy Masterpiece for myself and the other stuff for my kid. I have to remember his are going to get transformed a lot and not handled gently at all, so most of his are deluxe and voyager. I am hesitant to go beyond about $50 for a bunch of plastic I know is going to get beat to hell.

 

I must not be part of this Everyone who is up to their eyeballs in debt. I worked through the pandemic as an essential worker - paid off all my debt & am banking other people's debt, also called us dollars, with many of my friends. It was rough, but we did it. While I do not collect most modern releases, those vintage G1's outside the US do run me a Unicron every time. They will not ever go away - they will just change collector marketplaces.

 

Well I am not in debt too, but it does not matter. By everyone I obviously meant most regular people and in fact a lot of corporations too. There will always be rich people with no debt in any era. According to official data, private debt to GDP is now 235.50% (the highest ever), so I think yeah, it's fair to say that this country is mired in debt. And that percentage excludes Government debt. Once a lot of these corporations go under, a lot of people will lose their jobs and debt will only go up.

 

Welcome to capitalism, where shareholders are paramount and infinite growth - despite being impossible - is a fundamental requirement. Don't like it? You've bought into the wrong society structure, my friends.

My god you're so right.

/exits thread

 

considering most economical decisions made by rich people result/ARE actively resulting in death, poverty and the annihilation of the planet, i'd wager the people who consider it magic funny money are the ones stuffing their pockets and usally not the people who just want cool toys or to feed their children.

"

 

It's not complicated.

 

It's not just Hasbro, Mattel announced that they will have price increases leading up to the holidays as well.