I had something of an argument with a fellow member in another thread yesterday regarding whether third party companies are making a lot of money these days or not. I recall reading an interview with a member of Fansproject claiming that he and everyone else in the company had dayjobs and did FP on their spare time, hence the long development time for some of their projects. He also said that basically everything they make from a project goes into development costs for the next one.

Now I´m not sure how old this interview is, but given the current proliferation of 3P companies one might suspect that there is some profit to be made after all, but honestly, I have no idea! What do you think? And what do you base your assumptions on? You might even have some hard facts? Regardless, shoot!

 

I remember that interview. It was some time ago, shortly after the release of Dia Commander.

I guess the key question is WHICH 3rd party company? I'm sure some aren't doing as well as others. But, given the sheer amount of them, someone somewhere has to be making money.

 

No hard facts but the explosion in start-ups in the last two years tends to indicate that it isn't all about the art, there's got to be some good returns on offer for those companies getting it right.

Arafat and Dalianjj selling out complete runs of their respective products recently would be able to say for sure whether it was all worthwhile financially or not.

 

I think that the designers/engineers don't make a whole lot... but the owners are a different story.

 

No.

 

I piked option 2.

The sheer amount seems to indicate someone's making money. If nobody was they'd stop. As nice as making toys must be, at some point reality sets in and you have bills to pay; Fansprojects (for instance) wouldn't be around if they weren't financially successful. Maybe not on a Hasbro level, but on a decent level they have to be.

But the smaller ones can't be doing THAT well. Impossible Toys has a very public shutdown. The guys who made the coronation set for Classics Starscream also haven't seen anything else. Hadrobots also seems to release very, vey slowly which seems to me as if it wasn't worthwhile in focusing on making more releases.

 

Take this as you will, but I can confirm about a 100% mark up on all 3P stuff when they sell it to retailers. If it cost $50 to make, they sell it to retailers for $100 and the retailers add their mark up of course.

So if the item is successful, yes they make serious money selling about 5000 units.

 

like every company in china. although it seems there are not as many deisngers as one would think so perhaps it does command a premium...so much so that these guys sometimes are just freelance? gotta say, don't know, but also got to say the potential for good money fo ra select few on top of the big name 3P is high.

 

What's this honestly gonna achieve? I'm glad 3p companies make money. I'm glad Hastak makes money. I don't expect them to do it for free. I want them to make money. That money lets them make more product.

If you don't think they should make the returns they do make, don't buy it. It ain't gasoline. It ain't water. It ain't food. It's all disposable income. Do I think FT could make mp toys for $140? Yup. Are they? Nope. Will I pay $180 for the rest of the iron dibots? Yup. Are they worth it to me? Yup.

Reminds me of monster cables you buy for av equipment. I worked for a store that sold the stuff. We had won a contest that got us monster cables at factory cost... Roughly 90% off. I got 5000 worth of cables, power centers, etc for $50...

Go out and buy klipsch, Bose, Boston, denon, etc audio equipment? It's all insane markup... I bought Martin Logan towers for $100... Store charged $2000 for the pair... Vendor rep said even at those prices, ML made a few bucks...

 

Considering the smaller runs and the very gray nature of most 3P offerings, I'd say that despite the proliferation of start up 3P operations the profit margins aren't nearly up to the level of, say, HasTak. Still, there must be some money to be made, otherwise it wouldn't be worth the time and effort.

I look at these figures as collector's items and, as such, they're luxury items and, as the saying goes, you have to pay to play. I'd rather that we reward companies like FansProject and FansToys with our money and support so they can continue making kickass transforming robits than us be cheapskates about it and have them go under because of it.

We just have to be selective in who we support not only for budgetary concerns, but display space limitations too. Can't afford it all (nor would I want to buy it all even if I was a millionaire). Of course, we have the odd conspiracy theorist who thinks all 3Ps are scam artists out to rip us off so we should boycott this company or that company for whatever reason (real or imagined), but it's up to each individual to make that choice. We're all (supposedly) adults here.

 

I don´t think anyone in this thread stated that 3P companies should not make money, but maybe there has been sentiments like that elsewhere? As for me, I´m just genuinely interested in whether it is a lucrative business or not. I guess it has implications for how I view the products. If I think they are made simply out of love for the franchise I sympathize more with them. On the other hand, HasTak makes serious money and they obviously have tons of love for the(ir) franchise. But it also has implications for how large the industry can become and what direction it may take in the future...

 

Yep, what he said

 

This so very much. And really that much markup isn't even high. Car parts and mechanics make a killing on markup.

 

Dude, that's more like...99% off...!!!

Anyhow, yeah, of course the 3Ps are making money. The days of people making small runs of custom designed stuff out of genuine goodwill and pure passion are long gone. I'm not saying the 3Ps don't deserve that money, given the quality of the figures, and the voids in my collection that they fill. Frankly, I'm actually more worried about them not making enough to continue on, with the sudden surge of 3P companies in the past year and all. However, I'm pretty much at the upper limit of what I can afford, and if projects like Quantron continue to rise in price, I'd be left with no choice but to pass on them.

 

I they didn't make money, they wouldn't do it.

 

^ Yup, agreed. 3Ps aren't charities, after all, even if they are diehard fans of the TF franchise themselves.

 

Yes. They make good money. Considering most of the third party products I buy are great products, they deserve to make money.

 

They've made a fuck ton off me anyway......

 

Wow, the options on this poll are leading so I didn't vote. I suspect in general they are routinely in the black but not by drastic amounts. Obviously this will vary with company but I really don't see this as a huge conspiracy like others are want to do.

 

Suggesting that 3P companies are making quite a profit isn't exactly a conspiracy theory, and we're not suggesting they're ripping us off.