Yeah I was shocked Ebay started charging me tax. 8.875%. Oh well. Same with BBTS. It is a deciding factor for me when choosing stores. Chosen Prime luckily hasn't joined the tax train yet.

 

I'd pay not to get die-cast.

Still makes me laugh how people think cheap slag metal pointlessly shoved into a figure somehow makes it premium.

 

It just sucks bcuz this forces an insane rule change to my shopping process, where Altimites was gonna be like $180 and feeling reasonable, that extra $20 in tax makes me second guess things. That Diaclone Garauda looks pretty good as a transforming Robeast for SoC Voltron, I'm tempted but is it worth $425?

 

Cancelled VV. 1 available

Armored Fleet Dairugger XV Soul of Chogokin GX-88 Dairugger XV

 

So went a little splurging. Bought a complete Voltron I with neutered antennas and no sword like Dairugger. Motors don't work though. Wish there were some bootlegs like Lionbot or something for parts.

 

I made the Dairugger page my bookmark for every time I visit BBTS waiting for one to show up available. Behold this morning when I clicked on it and found one preorder available.

 

That is an excellent splurge.  

 

Am I crazy to think that VV is going to be more expensive on the after market more than the lions? Could we see close to $2500 for him on amazon and ebay?

 

Hard to say at this point. I don’t think he will ever reach the popularity of LV...character-wise anyway...and the SOC figure is still an unknown quantity as far as the quality and function go. All that being said, if the figure turns out to be “perfect”, I could see aftermarket prices hitting close to $1k after he becomes more scarce. We shall see...

 

I put two on preorder in case one of them flakes out...still pondering keeping both...

 

I figured I might keep one as a backup if one has an issue or doesn’t show up at all...worst case I would have to settle for selling the extra at cost...unless they are a QC or design shitshow...in which case I could be screwed...

 

Sometimes it's not always the popular stuff that has value. Not as many as the lions being made is one thing.

 

That could be the case as well! It won’t be long now before we get to find out.

 

Welp I jumped on Lionbot that will cover my OG Voltron, I'll grab the Altimites later this month when the seller comes back off vacation, still mad about tax but it is what it is. That leaves me with just Madtoys Stealth Voltron which I'm keeping my eyes on

 

So you think companies like Bandai and FT use cheap slag metal in their figures?

 

Uh huh. Diecast is "slag", just as toy-grade plastic is grocery bags. Both statements are equally false.

Hey, if you can pay $300 for a figure and don't mind if it barely weighs anything in your hand, more power to you. But don't act like it's some con that only you are smart enough to see through. If diecast was just a gimmick for justifying an inflated price tag, it would be used in every toy. You wouldn't be able to escape it.

 

First things first. Metal itself doesn't cost that much more to produce in the factory than most plastics.

I think the first reason for lack of metal in figures is because of how much it weighs. The greater the weight, the more it costs to ship across seas, even in a shipping container. All plastic lightens that load considerably. When you purchase figures at retail, you're not only covering the cost of production and retail mark-up for profit - you're covering the cost of having it just be there available to you in the first place.

The second reason is that the molds wear down more quickly, IIRC from another discussion with someone familiar with the process here on the boards. That means it costs a little more to use as the mold will need replacing sooner than otherwise. This is okay for Soul of Chogokin figures because they produce them at a lower quantity than toys you find on pegs at Walmart. But that's also why you won't see those peg toys using metal very often, either.

The third reason is safety. Can't have little Timmy bludgeoning little Sally with his 12" 5 lbs. Voltron.

We had a lot of metal toys in the 80's because 1. there was an oil crisis earlier that caused plastic prices to rise and 2. Boomers owned tin or metal toys and remembered how durable those were when they were kids - so that must mean these toys are equally durable.

In the end, it's really just preference. I don't think Split Lip has experienced figures where the metal was well placed and enhanced the product, as SoC figures often do. If one's main experience is Titanium figures or the "just okay" Playmates Metal Lions from a few years ago, then yes - randomly placed metal in a toy is usually detrimental instead of enhancing.

For me, there's just something tactile to picking up a metal-enhanced toy and feeling the weight and cool touch of the metal. It feels more like the machine it's trying to represent as opposed to just a doll.

 

The fact that die-cast toy metal is the lowest-quality, most cheaply-produced metal has been well-known for literally decades. It's literally low-grade zinc and aluminum usually reclaimed from casting other things.

Except die-cast is often more damaging to toys than it is useful. It puts unnecessary weight and strain on plastic components and is prone to paint chipping, and it's still more expensive than plastic, it's just not any "better" when you think about it.

"Weight" means nothing in terms of quality, otherwise a toy filled with sand is a high-end collectible.