Comments about things being off topic. Tangents aren’t necessarily off topic, and because they’re organic, I like to see where they go, but they usually don’ last once someone interjects about it being “off topic”
I used to care more when I liked and sold Takara MPs. Now that I don't do either, I hope the rampant KOs put the line under.
So many different Bumblebees in so many different lines, it’s frickin’ ridiculous. And I like Bumblebee as a character, but I’m starting to be disgusted by the fact that we’re getting all these different versions of Bee except for the ones so many of us want. Give me a Cybertronian saucer or Volkswagen Beetle in a mainline (screw Masterpiece or 3rd Party) and keep all the Camaros, Jeeps, Cyberverse Sporty Coupes, etc. And then move onto oversaturation of a different character. Yellow fever needs to die!
It feels like if you don't get a figure within th first week of pre order or general sale going up, you have to pay at least 50% markup or more. And they sell out really quick these days. It kills the enthusiasm of collecting.
It feels like if you don't get a figure within the first week of release or sightings going up, you have to sell at least 50% discount or more. And they stop selling really quickly these days. It kills the enthusiasm of collecting.
Got a beef with Hastak. Megatron getting the short end of stick in recent mainlines. First the Siege with the non locking head, loose ankles, forearms you can see right through and droopy straight up stance. Now Studio Series 2007 version which uses a lot of the voyager ROTF and they put most of the jet parts on the legs so they look ridiculous. Was hoping to put it next to MPM 8, which is great by the way, but damn they took the lazy route with it. Come on Hastak! I'll buy all your Megatrons if you put some effort into them!
Ahh, so what you’re saying is you want the KO companies to put their materials through a more rigorous refining process, thereby enabling them to produce products that don’t just occasionally surpass the originals, but to better them in perpetuity... Interesting perspective.
Collecting in the UK sucks. Store purchasing sees F. Planet getting non-import stock way before anyone else at laughable prices, and then there's the absolute randomness of how Smyths get and handle stock. Unless you're dedicated to daily website refreshing it's a dumpster fire. The amount of figures I've paid over the odds for just to know I wouldn't have to spend weeks wasting time... 'Sign up for email alerts!', and watch as we send it to you hours after the stock has sold out. Prices mysteriously go up when new stock does arrive and so on. Hasbro actually sorting out their supply lines like they've promised would negate so much crap for everyone involved.
I find that KOs actually PROVE that the whole price increase over "plastic is more expensive/molds are expensive" is absolutely crap. If KOs, or even dollar stores are able to sell very comparable items at easily 1/2 the price (and even less), there's a lot of BS in the claims of why the prices are getting higher so fast and by so much. Heck, you can buy a huge plastic bins or other large items made of similar plastic for a few dollar (a fraction of a single TFs), yet contains 20-40 times the amount of plastic. Of course there's many factors in play, but it's really not in balance to what these toys should truly be sold off... the only time that pricing is acceptable is during sales of over 25% or liquidation of 40% or more. If Hasbro and any company would provide better prices and availability for a LOT of their items, I'd understand that KOs shouldn't exist, but when Hasbro and such produce a ver low number of a figure, does not distribute it so that everyone that wants ones can find it or afford it, then KOs are the only alternative. Personally, I've bought a few, not because they were KO, but that I refused to pay 3-4 (or even more) times the original price from a scalper on eBay because I never saw it in stores, missed it because there wasn't enough to stay in stores long enough to get it, or that the price was just ridiculous at the time, and got worse on the resale market. I've been burned a few times with really crappy figures by Hasbro, that while I still want the figure, I do find that I overpaid and it's cheaper than it should be. So, until Hasbro stops gouging their fans and customers, produce enough figures, I will see KOs as a necessary "evil". Completely agree, I'm simply amazed at how nasty some members are over this... these are toys, and if you like something that they don't, they are "victims" and stomp their feed in a very childish way, overtaking threads that actually are about what they "hate".. why are they even bother going in there? They don't add anything and do the "derail the thread" thing and just makes me leave the thread. I just tried to get a couple to get their stick out in a recent thread but dear God, they just can't get pass it.
Maybe if people didn't have the I'll wait for the KO attitude, Hastak could sell more there by producing more units for better availability. As it stands, they are competing with thieves cutting into their sales. Hastak does all the leg work designing and working out production for these thieves to steal. Obviously they are going to be cheaper.
It seems like it's got worse the last year or two, ever since this new hasbro uk distribution thing came into play. And i don't think it's going to change for the better at all.
When you consider that KOs have only been as available as they are now for only so many years, they didn't undercut Hasbro instantly whatsoever the market grew bit by bit. I've very rarely seen people mention that they will wait for the KO, unless, it's a figure that it insanely overpriced, and I do NOT blame them... sorry but chunks of plastics, no matter the development and all that, should not end up in the multi hundreds of dollar. Once a mold is done, they could easily mass produce them in large numbers as half the price and still make a crapload of money. If anything, the KOs should push them so be smarter and reduce the prices and increase availability to cause the need for KOs to drop until it's non profitable. But you need to take in that the quality of the KOs are now as good, some possibly even better, even with improvements over the originals, Hasbro should be taking notes... heck, the fact that we need 3rd parties add-ons to complete figures due to the gaps, lack of weapons, accessories, it speaks a lot to improvements that Hasbro needs to smarten up about these things. Hasbro might have done the "leg work", but when the KOs has an improved design, has added accessories/weapons, is the same or better plastic quality, you can't blame some people to do this "waiting" for the KOs, so at some point the line of calling them "thieves" gets very blurry, especially when you have a person (as per my previous reply) that cannot even get a "authentic" one because Hasbro isn't making enough of them, or making them affordable.
It's said in nearly every official release thread, particularly for MP's and movie figures. Heck, many times the KO's are made available while the figures they're ripping off are still available at retail.
This is going to be a very down year for Transformer purchases. I bought the entirety of the Prime Wars trilogy, including all of the Titans. It isn't because I don't have the money, but that I am tired of the price increases and seeing absolute crap like the Cyberverse selling for more than a quality figure did just a few years ago. I've been buying figures on clearance because that is what I think they are worth. I don't really feel like giving a retailer $12 profit on a $20 item. That is absolutely excessive and unfair to the factory that made less than $1. I don't really care about Hasbro's profit because they have increased their margins while giving us less. I'll never buy on Amazon because they destroy businesses. It has become practically impossible to make a profit selling on Amazon, but you are pretty much forced to if you want to move units. Amazon knowingly warehouses and ships counterfeit product, yet claims it is the responsibility of the vendor to prove authenticity. Yeah, the company selling counterfeit product is going to say that they are breaking the law. 3rd party and KO providers are operating in a far more open and free market than what we get from Hasbro and mass market retail. A KO company still has to pay someone to copy a figure and open new molds. For some things, I'm sure CAD files are leaked from factories making authentic toys. Who can really blame them though. When Amazon says they are only paying $16 for something they sell for $40 and the IP holder like Hasbro says they want to buy it for $6. Somehow the factory has to figure out how to make the thing and still make a profit.That is really how it goes. What you paid $40 for has a real manufacturing cost around $4.25. There is also blended margins where a company will offer huge profit per unit on a few items so the retailer will take a bit less on others. When you see 50% off, you might be thinking you are getting a fantastic deal, but the retailer is still making 10-20%. 20% is really all that they should be making. Historic retail profit margins until the late 1990s were 30-35%, not the more common 55-65% now. This gives KO companies a lot of advantages since they are selling direct from the factory or an intermediary that is only making a few dollars. KO companies can actually manufacture to much higher standards and still sell for half the US retail for an item. Wei Jiang products are much better than Hasbro for a lot less. You also have quality KOs of Masterpiece, some better than official products, selling for half. THF Dynastron is arguably better than MP-36 which retails for $250. It didn't cost more to manufacture MP-36. So you are really just paying for nothing, just air. The next price hike Hasbro pushes through will end official purchases for me. I'll pay for what I think something is worth, plus reasonable profit. I won't pay $25-30 for something that was made for $3 just so some corporate directors can grant themselves millions in stock options.
And I did say "unless, it's a figure that it insanely overpriced" and the very high priced items are such as masterpieces. Considering these high prices items will equals either that the fan cannot afford it and will never get it, or they get the KO that's half or less of the price and at least have the non-official version to enjoy. So, Hasbro doesn't lose anything, the fan wouldn't be able to buy it regardless. At least the KO makes it possible for the fan to have a replication... and odds are, some of the fans that do end up being able to get the real version, will eventually get it unless it's no longer available, or again, the scalpers price is too high. So again, if Hasbro wants the KOs market to stop, it's easy... produce more and make them cheaper for everyone to be able to afford them.
My Siege Impactors right leg is misassembled, meaning his foot is always protruding outwards. That grey bit in his leg isn’t pushed down all the way, and keeps popping up when Force is applied. I tried hammering the pin down, but it did nothing. Anyone know how to fix this?
