I always read and hear a lot of folks complaining about how things are way too expensive or way overpriced, then they bring up rent, car payments, mortgage payments etc. to try to emphasis getting their point across. Is 1 Masterpiece figure reeeally going to prevent you from paying all your essential bills? is buying a 20.00 Deluxe going to cause you to starve or not pay for gas? It's funny how as children we damand so many things not caring about cost. Then all the sudden when we become adults we complain about the prices, the quality, the imperfections etc.

If this Hobby is so expensive, don't they think it would be a good idea to find a much more cheaper and more cost effective Hobby?

I myself am out of work and scrape by, and can still find ways of paying for this Hobby and enjoy it for what it is. I also still manage to pay all the important bills and put food on the table and clothes on my back. Sure I don't have car payments but that's my choice because I take public transportation.  

People make it sound as if it's costing thousands just to buy 1 toy. (sure if your a super high-end collector)

The point people gotta understand is that if you plan ahead, budget, and buy in moderation, you can afford the big purchases and still pay all your bills just fine. So why panic so much or short change yourself while at the same time risking your enjoyment to own what you love  

Enjoy the hobby and have your fun. is paying 100+ for a figure really that terrible? It's an expensive Hobby we knew it getting into it. But i still say it costs more to Smoke or being an alcoholic.

Just some thoughts I had. What are you thoughts and opinions on this subject, fellow board members?

 

For the sake of context, remember the sort of venom and uproar that happened the last time it was announced prices were going up by roughly a dollar. Objective costs are irrelevant in the face of "they're not giving me the toys that I want at the price that I want to pay".

 

I know it's just strange is all. I mean why complain about pricing when you know your going to buy the toys anyway.  

It just seems like folks love to find things to complain about all the time. I'm seeing it a whole lot now all over the net, not just on fansites like this but literally all over the place.

The way I figure it is if you can't do anything about it, is it really worth complaining about. The pricing is truly beyond our control. and it's never gonna change. The cost of things will just continue to rise. prices as of late are totally evidence of that. Prices have gone up about 56% just about, right? and we still buy up all we can to enjoy or hobby. all the while grumbling about it. But ehy grumble? does it help the prices go down? do the folks who are in charge of pricing care? It almost seems like wasted energy or effort if you ask me.  

I know I can't change anything so I choose "Radical Acceptance".  

 

Toys are expensive. Way more expensive than they really have any right to be.

That said, for toys, Transformers (at least domestic, retail TFs) are a freaking STEAL. Granted, a few years back it was even more ridiculously absurd when Deluxes were regularly $10, and Voyagers $20, but Deluxes are pretty much the biggest bang for your buck that you can get in the toy aisle. You get a decently sized figure (bigger than most, say, $10 figures), with LOADS of articulation (any given modern Deluxe, even bad ones, has about as much articulation as any other toy in the toy aisle), unique tooling and engineering, two modes, and for the most part nowadays, swappable accessories.

Yes, the fandom whines when prices go up at all, but the thing is that it's really more of a sign of how ridiculously underpriced the figures were. When I see an awful Jakks, Mattel, or Playmates figure on the shelves with worse articulation, reused tooling, and (this is objective) worse designs... I'm still pretty pleased with the hobby. We're just a bit spoiled.

 

I don't have a problem with the prices, it's the amount of releases I can't keep up with. Ten $20 TF's end up being $200 already and that is getting to be a pretty big chunk of disposable income per month.

Otherwise Macross Valks are in the $200-$300 range so I can't complain about TF's.

 

People like to complain, simple as that. I personally don't because it doesn't do any good and doesn't make me feel any better. As Soundwinder said, toys are expensive. Anything plastic is rediculously expensive for that matter. That's just the way it is. I also agree with him that, even at $15 for a deluxe, we are getting a lot more bang for the buck than Star Wars figure collector's get. Those things are small, less detailed, and obviously nowhere close in articulation. Wal-Marts $2.50 price increase on deluxes hurt, but bottom line for me is it is an expensive hobby (especially for those MP and 3rd party collectors) but Transformers are much more interesting than any other action figures you find on the pegs.

 

3rd party and g1 being the bulk of my purchases seems to get rather expensive, but retail tfs? 4 to 6 $20-$35 figures every four months is nothing

 

I totally agree that the stuff was underpriced.

I mean your essentially sometimes getting 2-3 and sometimes even 4 toys in 1.

So, is it any wonder the prices are what they are?

I don't really mind them too much. But I do love to try to figure out why the prices are what they are.  

Totally Agree.  

 

Well I think the complaint comes from Deluxes going to $18 (Target) and the figures becoming hollow and smaller.

In terms of expensive, no, not really.

Like Brr-icy said, my G1 collecting and my 3rd Party collecting is a lot more expensive then anything Hasbro does.

I will say that the prices to import Prime figures from Japan kills me though. I mean paying $80 for Breakdown, $60 for Unicron, $40 for Jet Vehicon and $40 for Smokescreen is the total cost of my whole Prime collection which is 16 figures. So that is annoying.

 

Just a quick example of what i bought in the last month(including 3rd party)

Mp prime 100 bucks
rage of herc 50 bucks
alternity dai atlas 50 bucks
fe arcee 15 bucks
3 gdo scouts 30 bucks
Voyager dreadwing 20 bucks

Thats almost 300 bucks of crap. Dam. I guess if you just stick with hasbros deluxe size figures its not too bad. But it can become one expensive hobby really fast. And all this on top of mortgage, car notes, pge, water etc etc. Plus the other 5 hobbies i have. So yea, i can see where the ppl who complain about price hikes are coming from. Not to mention next year we are getting taxed even more from federal. And sales tax are climbing higher also.

 

Transformers gives you a pretty decent robot for the buck IMHO. Think it's relatively cheaper than some of the other robot/hero franchises. The cost of Takara MP's...are doable. Cut down on the morning coffee at Starbucks for a few weeks. Sell off those tickets to the Sunday game, and stay home. You can get yourself a MP Soundwave for sure.

Instead, some of the chogokin and Hot Toys pricing makes me want to scream.

Doing that now in the city-HUGE difference on bills. No car cuts serious costs!

 

I have to disagree with this line though.

For instance, I have been budgeting of late, and failing each month, but not by a lot.

The problem is, especially when collecting G1 is that there is a great deal, so you have to pull the trigger right then and there. If you wait, that's gone.

What that does is throw off your budget. With the way we see figures at retail, you know that if you see GDO Hotspot at retail, you better get him, so you do.

Then you have 3rd Party items that you better get em now if they are released, or you know it will be gone as well.

So while, ideally it would be nice to plan, in actuality this is not the case. I was perfectly prepared for this month until I got a great deal on G1 Scorponok and then had TRU Optimus go from last month into this months release, then I GDOs at retail as well. Then add in Assaulter and I was done.

 

Funny that the OP mentions smoking. I quit smoking a little over a year ago and got back into toy collecting in part to help me cope with the withdrawal, it gave me a good distraction. Turns out tho, this hobby is definitely more expensive than smoking  

I estimate my total cost of cigarettes per year to have been between $1400-1700. I've definitely spent more than that on toys in the last year, probably close to double that.

That said, this is a much healthier habit, and unlike cigarettes, I can reclaim some of that money if I ever need to by selling. I always tell my fiancé when she gives me a look because I brought a new shiny toy home that better a new toy than another paid of cigarettes!

 

You must not be in NYC. The last time I saw prices in NY they were $12 a pack! That would mean you only smoked 100 packs a year. Shit, I use to smoke 2 packs a day. At that cost, that would have been $25 a day x 365. Glad I quit back in 2002.

 

If it were that easy to part company, then it must not have been an important hobby and should never have gotten into it to begin with.

 

this is the main issue with having to budget, especially with g1, some deals save you hundreds of dollars if you get them right away. then add things like assaulter to the mix that wasn't supposed to be out for over two more weeks, drop this week, it will easily throw your budget off.

 

Didja do anything irresponsible like buying something when unemployed?
Or benifit by taking public transportation that was payed buy those still employed?

Truth right there.
That is the nature of collecting. If you see something, better nab it right there and then because you might not see it again.

And you can't count on it showing up online either- or else I'd quit going to TRU every Thursday and simply order GDO wheelie online and freaking more yet because of shipping.

The thing that pisses me off about these discussions is that you are required to feel good about paying more... and that they can't seem to get it through their skulls that sometimes a price of something becomes MORE than what it is worth to you.

And you are apparently supposed to like it and ask for more.

I for one refuse to like it because I'm some mechanical Hasbro worshiper; and loath each and every person who seems to feel like a superior person and holds it over you because they choose to pay more for less.

I just buy fewer things and experience the disappointment of not getting that extra figure that I used to get. And if someone takes exception to my disappointment, then they can kiss my...

 

Time to educate the uneducated.

1. I pay ALL my bills. Therefor I am Responsible and don't live irresponsibly through my funds like you seem to think.

2. nobody pays for me to do anything.

people that are employed pay social security taxes for their own futures for when they retire so they themselves can get assistance from SSI. so don't gimmie that crap about you or anybody else paying for me. or anybody else in my situation.

"I" pay for me. And it is also "I" that buys my Bus passes every month.

So when I am done doing the responsible adult thing like paying MY bills I can buy the occasional TF.

Hobbies are healthy to have to keep one happy and sane in a world full of Bullshit.

The only time Hobbies become irresponsible, is when said hobbies prevent you from paying your bills and living a healthy, happy and productive life. (which mine doesn't)

 

Yup, not in NYC. In Cali. Packs were about $5 and I smoke 1 pack a day on average.

 

I've said this before, or something to the same effect- It's about weighing out what's more important to you. One trip to a fast food place essentially costs me Deluxe. There's no question that you take care of the essentials first, but there are always things we spend our money regularly that we don't actually need.