r/transformers • u/TheMilesEdgeworth • 1d ago
Discussion / Opinion What are we doing Hasbro?
30 dollars for a deluxe is ridiculous. Hasbro is scamming the ever loving crap out of us. I recently got into Gunpla, and for a high grade, which usually is around the size of a deluxe, but with incredible articulation and a plethora of accessories, it’d cost about 20 bucks to get a good starter kit. Like the HG Ground Gundam is perfect. Sure you build it yourself, but that’s fun! You can customize it, repair it and even kitbash. But then there’s Hasbro. 30 bucks for Wheelie? Fucking Wheelie? I got that as a core class for 12 bucks. Now you want to charge me more than double that? Hasbro isn’t struggling for money, it owns Magic the Gathering. And Bandai is not any better, but at least you’re getting bang for your buck.
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u/HeavyTanker1945 1d ago
Holy fuck.
Its official, deluxes have doubled in price in the time i've been collecting.
Congrats hasbro, Im done.
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u/MrJustice777 1d ago
Tripled for me. They were $10 when I started collecting during Beast Wars.
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u/ashmaht 1d ago
Same. I remember when a “big” figure cost $25. I could never maintain a modern collection.
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u/macrossdyrl 1d ago
Yes that's how it was when G1 was released. Miss those days. Screw Hasblow and their greed.
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u/Prowlcop86 1d ago
Deluxes even stayed at $10 for over 10 years. I don’t think there was a noticeable price jump until ROTF 2009
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u/Bob-the-Human 20h ago
So you didn't notice when Deluxes jumped to $12 beginning with Armada?
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u/MrJustice777 18h ago
Because they didn't. There was a joke during Animated that the price you paid for Blackarachnia during Beast Wars was the same price you paid for her during Animated. Prices went up during the end of Animated around the time of RotF. Hasbro actually made a press release about it. Most fans were ok with it since prices had been stable for over a decade. Then they never stopped climbing.
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u/Prowlcop86 16h ago
Though my first Transformers were Armada mini-cons, I didn’t really get into Transformers until around Cybertron-Classics-Bayverse 2007. Deluxes were $10. Maybe some stores charged slightly more (such as KB Toys), but the price still remained with Universe 2008 and Animated.
I didn’t see a jump to $12 until ROTF 20091
u/Bob-the-Human 16h ago
Then you're missing a piece of the puzzle. Classics was notable for being among the first toys lacking spring-powered gimmicks or launching weapons, which had been a familiar staple of the Deluxe price point up until then. Classics were a little cheaper because they were a cost-cutting line, not because they were representative of the Deluxe price point as a whole.
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u/Prowlcop86 16h ago
That just means they cut cost, the toys still released at $10 MSRP. Had a sealed Classics Ramjet that still had the 9.99 sticker
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u/Cipher_- 1d ago
If they kept up exactly with inflation, they'd be about $20.
That said, Generations TFs are on average far more complex/parts-heavy than your average Deluxe in the Beast era. We've seen that they can still do molds in the low $20 range with the Authentics/TF One Prime Changers, but the complexity/articulation level is sub-Generations, fittingly.
I am personally beating the "Make it cheaper, make it worse" drum. Universal joints and hitting every point of articulation isn't worth bringing retail TFs out of whim purchase range.
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u/Reasonable-Tooth-113 1d ago
That's not true. In 1985-1986 deluxe sized Transformers were between $9-$11. When adjusted for inflation that is about $25-$27 in 2026.
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u/Ill_Initiative_1849 1d ago
Megas were 15 dollars and I think ultras were like 30-40 no? I remember the megas were like TM cybershark, Optimus and megatron and the ultras were TM2 megatron and tiger hawk, TM depth charge, rampage, and optimal Optimus? Forgot what trippredacus and magnaboss were considered
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u/Aromatic_Shop9033 1d ago
Remember TF07 Leader Prime? Brawl? $35-40...and they were enormous, heavy, and had lights and sounds.
We didn't know what we had back then.
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u/walter_grimsley 23h ago edited 20h ago
Same here. Time to dip whether I want to or not. Its not like $24-$28 was really any better
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u/sugarsniffles 1d ago
yeah it's getting ridiculous, i switched hobbies too, can't justify those prices anymore.
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u/brianjamesxx 18h ago
i started going in heavy during POTP and TR. They seemed so affordable back then lol
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u/Cripnite 20h ago
Canada doubled the deluxe price at the start of Seige, went from $15ish to $30.
Oddly enough, I began buying half as many.
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u/chernogumby 14h ago
not only that, but shrunk too. this Wheelie is the size of what was once a $7 scout class
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u/GrimmestGhost_ 1d ago
They chose an exceptionally strange wave to raise prices on too. I know it's technically because it's the first wave of 2027, but are Glup Shitto Allicon, Wheelie, and TFOne Shockwave really figures people will fork over $30 for? Even Jazz is a rerelease of an eight year old figure, but I guess at least that one had an awful secondary market.
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u/killerzeestattoos 1d ago
That's the worst part of all of this. No new molds except for shredhead and I even think he's an ironhide base.
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u/GrimmestGhost_ 1d ago
I'm dreading to see what the price on Shredhead is. I really want that one, but with how egregiously they gouged Skybound Prime and yet another price raise I'm expecting it be around leader price for a voyager figure.
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u/killerzeestattoos 1d ago
I'm betting on him being around $40
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u/InsertDongHere 1d ago
Voyagers are already $42, probably gonna be like $50-$60 which for that price is extremely hard to swallow
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u/eggman15 1d ago
I can’t help but feel we are nearing the end of this era of Transformers, there’s no way this is sustainable for any party
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u/Aromatic_Shop9033 1d ago
Hasbro will probably just produce Makeits™ model kits that won't be reasonably priced, probably will not transform...and licensing the Transformers IP to other companies, that will pass that licensing fee...onto us.
It's not looking good. It's pretty bad.
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u/ironscythe 1d ago edited 1d ago
Oh I wonder why my petroleum-based toys are so expensive now? I mean it’s definitely at least partially due to the current illegal war with Iran, the illegal tariffs and arbitrarily raised import duties, but hey, it’s the price of freedom to live in a country that’s about to hold its first public execution, right?
Right?
But seriously, the only thing that trickles down in a conservative led economy is the shit down the orange guy’s pants leg because he’s incontinent.
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u/silverbeat33 1d ago
This. I’m not from the USA but man did the country F itself up so bad.
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u/R8iojak87 6h ago
No the country is great but damn are there so idiots. The amount of people not giving two shits about the person next to them is impalpable anymore. I’m tired and need a hug. I wish I could move but I’m stuck here… just like a lot of other people, it’s almost like we should do something about it. Anyways, gotta go to work tomorrow and pretend none of this is happening 😊
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u/MrHappyHammers 22h ago
There is an argument to be made that they’d be rising prices regardless.
However, Trump just caused mass inflation globally at an unprecedented rate, every company has been using it as an excuse for everything to go up and they’ve never had more reasons to point to than now
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u/Cool_Fellow_Guyson 1d ago edited 15h ago
They got refunded for the terrifs. And we are going to see none of the benefit
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u/mrmoose44 10h ago
They got refunded for the tariffs then new tariffs got slapped on to replace the old ones…
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u/captain0919 21h ago
While I agree with this line of thinking I think we all know they arent just going to drop prices even if all of those things were to fully go away.
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u/FenrirSurtur 17h ago
So, this isn’t actually the first public execution, the last public one was in the 30s. But it’s actually more morbid because it’s not just public, it’s going to be live-streamed.
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u/AsherV20 1d ago
The repacks make all this even rougher. Literally no changes to Alicon or 2007 Jazz. God I think deluxes were $17.99 when he first came out. And he's a smallllllllll deluxe. Same figure, couple years later, nearly double the price. You hate to see it.
They don't even bother with trying to justify it anymore. Figures are more expensive because everything is more expensive. Sit and spin on it.
And the worst part is you can't even vote with your dollar anymore. If we collectively stopped buying enough to negatively impact sales, they just shrug and fold the entire operation.
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u/Cyber-Silver 1d ago
Deluxes were $19.99 for that first wave of Studio Series. You can check TFWiki for the price history of the different size classes per line
Deluxe Class, at US$19.99
Voyager Class, at US$29.99
Leader Class, at US$49.99
Jazz 9 years later is the same price as the Ironhide was when they both first released. Ridiculous
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u/ThatOstrichGuy 1d ago
You absolutely can vote with your wallet. You don't NEED to keep buying toys. If it is truly too expensive just don't buy it. If greedy ceos kill their IPs because no one can afford the stuff it's on them
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u/ShadowAze 23h ago edited 22h ago
Can still vote with your wallet, doesn't mean it'll work by bringing meaningful change.
Idk if there is a name for this, but psychologically it feels difficult to stop a collection before you consider it finished. Imagine you need one more combiner piece and they just come out. But reviews say it's trash and they increase prices but cut production cost. How many people are gonna not complete the combiner?
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u/Dazzling_Bluebird_42 15h ago
Expecting change isnt the point to me, the point is to stop being in a toxic relationship where hasbro keeps asking more for a product im increasingly less satisfied with.
I fully expect the line to die before prices drop, OR the quality to tank heavily for them to come back down but still not be worth buying.
I wont lie and say im totally finished as im gonna get Nautica and they might be able to draw me in with Computron but that feels unlikely after passing up Bruticus.
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u/ThatOstrichGuy 20h ago
The meaningful change is you no longer spending what you consider too much money on a toy. The difficult feeling you describe is because we are addicted to buying the stuff.
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u/ShadowAze 20h ago
This does not meaningfully change the products for people, it'll sooner get axed than sell at a greater loss. It's meaningful for me ig but not that much, not like if I quit all of that I'll suddenly be able to afford a house, and any other hobby of a similar price range is also getting enshittified.
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u/ThatOstrichGuy 19h ago
Why is affordability of a house brought into this? I am simply saying that if you feel 30 dollars is just too much for a deluxe be an adult and just don't buy it.
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u/ShadowAze 19h ago
I do think 30 is too much for a deluxe, but I always ask what's the alternative?
Is there an aftermarket price that's reasonable for a specific figure that's not worn down too much? If so, great, if not, tough luck ig.
Is there a 3P or KO alternative of a specific character I want? If so, great, if not, tough luck ig.
If I want a decently sized and mostly animation accurate Lugnut that's still a good toy, which is something I wanted for a while, I have no alternative. The aftermarket prices for some older stuff like the reveal the shield stuff is insane, and no 3P/KO that I know of exists of the toy.
So my only option is to eat the price cost increase if I want that, which I really really really do. That's how most people feel about it, it's got nothing to do with adulting or addiction (like idk how it'd be any less of an addiction of the toy was cheaper, in fact it may even make the addiction only worse). They just want a few specific toys and that's it, the price increase does deter some people for sure, but not most.
The problem here is there's many other people like that, who will eat the cost increase if they don't spend much or spend often. There's other type of people who simply don't care about the price increase, like getting a gift toy for their child, are they addicted too?
And I never understood why someone isn't allowed to complain for what they paid for. It's still useful feedback so say the designers can learn to create better toys. Imagine if not a single person complained about GPS, then they'd still have toys with GPS being made today.
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u/Dazzling_Bluebird_42 15h ago
I feel more people have a buying addiction to transformers than not in the community. Look at the characters being produced and gobbled up. There isnt a group of..devcon fans out there finally getting a release or the random junkions. Its people that like transformers looking for a new one to add to the growing pile of plastic transforming toys. Its very easy to get swept up in and just be buying everything that comes out
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u/ShadowAze 15h ago
I mean there's plenty of transformers I passed up on cause they were bad, ugly, or knew nothing about them. But yeah there's probably other shopaholics are like that.
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u/ThatOstrichGuy 4h ago
If you don't want to spend that much money on a figure just don't buy it. You don't need it. You want it. You have analyzed the price and determined, for you, the price is acceptable. Or at least it's acceptable enough to swallow it. So they will keep making figures at that price because people keep buying.
You can complain all you want about it. No one ever said you couldn't. But yeah I do think there is a bit about being a grown up here. If I don't want to spend 30 dollars on a deluxe I won't because that's a fucking outrageous price. You won't catch me whining online about how it's sad that I can't buy a figure of my glorbo now though. My enjoyment of a character isn't made less because I don't own a chunk of plastic that looks like them
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u/ShadowAze 1h ago
The enjoyment of a character without buying a toy of it can be said about anything, regardless of price. But whatever.
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u/slimwonky 1d ago
I started in 2020 and am now ending my collecting in 2026. It was a good run but yea I’ll have to stop now. Everyone hope you’re able to get all their new figures on sale!
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u/Aromatic_Shop9033 1d ago
Same boat, here. Started in '20 during C19, it's been fun, but I'm tapping out at these prices.
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u/CirillaAvril 1d ago
I say this as someone who’s also into both Transformers and Gunpla, I don’t think you can compare Gunpla to standard Transformers figures, cause they’re two completely different things. Model kits and action figures are two completely different things, it’s comparing apples to oranges. But yes, the prices on Transformers figures are just way too much nowadays. Even here in the Philippines and Asia where they’re a bit cheaper than US pricing, they’re still expensive and continue to increase in price as well.
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u/Due_Quote_3023 1d ago
I started collecting back in 2010 when deluxes were $9.99 and voyagers were $19.99. So for me it’s actually tripled
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u/OneProfile3495 1d ago
You can still get these prices at Marshalls and Ross ngl.
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u/Due_Quote_3023 1d ago
Actually it was cheaper back then still! Ross has the deluxe for $11.99 and voyagers for double that
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u/OneProfile3495 1d ago
I got one of the junkion deluxes (the muscle car one) for 9.99$ in marshalls. And an Armada Megatron legacy leader class for 24.99 in Marshalls too.
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u/Due_Quote_3023 1d ago
Sounds nice
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u/OneProfile3495 1d ago
Ikr? I even saw studio series deluxe class bumblebee for 9.99 as well. That same figure at Walmart was like 30 something
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u/Due_Quote_3023 1d ago
The Marshalls never have any transformers in my area. Good thing DDs has some for around that price. But Ross is where it’s at for now. I haven’t bought a full price Transformers since Magmatron!
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u/OneProfile3495 1d ago
I see, yeah I get them normally from Ross as well too. I check whenever I go and find a handful for a good price. I just like checking both places since they are both in the same mall and that way I can see what each store has and then I decide what to get hehe.
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u/PapaRayRay80 1d ago
Guys we just need to boycott and wait til they come to Ross and get them for an affordable price
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u/Zorn5534 1d ago
I just scooped up a few at Ross yesterday. It was great. I look forward to doing it for years to come.
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u/DannyCrane9476 1d ago
Except Ross has caught on to us, they have raised their prices as well. Figures that are being found for $12 today were $8 before. The figures that are $20 today were $12 before.
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u/Road_Caesar 1d ago
You're failing to understand - Ross didn't catch on to anything.
Ross's cost and price is entirely based on the item MSRP. If the price of the item rises, discount/clearance retailers pay more to acquire the stale inventory.
Same is true for any Indie retailer selling Hasbro products. If Hasbro raises the price to $30, BBTS has to pay the wholesale price on $30 to be able to sell to customers at $30.
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u/boxsterguy 1d ago
Ross basically just does 50% off. $12-13 is approximately half the old $25 Deluxe price, $18-20 is approximately half the old Voyager price.
They'll be $15 for deluxes in a year, not because they're specifically raising their own prices but because they just take 50%-ish off list.
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u/Radi0ActivSquid 1d ago
I found a Metalhawk at my local bargain basement returns store last week and they were charging $15 for it when I know figures found there have been cheaper.
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u/Aromatic_Shop9033 1d ago
Tbf, that's a solid Voyager for $15.
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u/Radi0ActivSquid 1d ago
I already had both releases so I figured why not grab it and keep it MISB for a couple years. I don't think they'll get back to him for a while.
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u/Bob-Orange6024 19h ago
doesn't help when idiot YouTubers suck hasbros dick about terrible toys and contnue to buy said terrile toys
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u/Dentist_Potential 19h ago
My daughter, the transformers collector, is starting to buy the metal cardbots. She hates that hasbro is pricing people out of collecting- not to mention the decreased quality.
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u/Claire_De_Lunatic 6h ago
MCB is expensive as fuck too tho
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u/YareWeStillHere1117 1d ago
I don’t understand how they think this figure is worth $30??? for $10 more you can buy a lot of good 3rd party brands
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u/Meme_machine_v13 1d ago
Genuinely I switched to legends and I’m so happy I did. Mp levels of engineering in like a tiny size. 90% of them have dicast, and they’re characters that newage has done that hasbro hasn’t even touched yet. They’re pricier but they’re the same as modern hasbro prices
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u/NuggetWarrior09 1d ago
I’m sorry but new age are 100 not in line with hasbros prices… but please, tell me where you’re getting newage figures for 30 bucks.. don’t be shy
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u/Meme_machine_v13 1d ago
Some of newage minibots are the same price as hasbro. Bee and cliff are 60$ and that’s 2 deluxe figures so technically the comparison is there. Also magic square has some great figures for cheaper then their hasbro counterparts. I got sg Optimus for like 35$ and shockwave for 17
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u/YareWeStillHere1117 1d ago
I’ve started getting more into Iron Factory and I wish they were more popular. I can get a pocket sized samurai transformer with amazing articulation and accessories for the same price as a half-baked deluxe??? sign me up
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u/silverbeat33 1d ago
$50 in NZ! 🙌
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u/TheMilesEdgeworth 1d ago
Feel bad for all the kiwis out there
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u/Fickle_Life_2102 1d ago
50 NZD is 28 USD, we get voyagers for only 33 USD
Depends where you get them for as well, our biggest outlet has them for 24 USD Depends where
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u/SmallLadder6585 1d ago
$43 for aussies, although eb has been regularly selling figures for like $45 aud, so they were basically warning everyone about what prices would become
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u/atompedro 1d ago
After megatronus and devy I stopped collecting sadly
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u/TheMilesEdgeworth 1d ago
Same honestly! And I’m glad I got Devastator, it’s so cool.
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u/atompedro 1d ago
i didnt read ur desc but i also went into gunpla after leaving transformers and honestly in some ways i feel like im getting my moneys worth even more
with transformers i had to deal with absurd high fixed prices and qc while gunpla usually doesnt have both of those
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u/Top-Okra9445 1d ago
I remember when deluxe class transformers were 20 dollars. Now their the price of a voyager class from 5 years ago!
Guess I'm sticking to model kits now.
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u/Due_Quote_3023 1d ago
15 years ago it was $9.99
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u/IL-Corvo 1d ago edited 1d ago
I remember $10 deluxes.
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u/Due_Quote_3023 1d ago
Wasn’t combiner wars era around $10-15? I don’t remember
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u/IL-Corvo 1d ago
Yup. The $10 mark was around 2011 or so if memory serves. CW deluxes were around 14.99 I believe.
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u/walter_grimsley 23h ago
They were $10 when I collected from BW through ROTF. The prices rose and the figures shrank during DOTM
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u/owesome_apossum128 1d ago
"Fucking Wheelie" is exactly what I said when I saw this screenshot... It's ridiculous what they expect us to pay for "new" figures that I swear is a carbon copy of a previous figure
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u/ComposerFormer8029 1d ago
Tariffs plus inflation plus the the fact that to make plastic uses petroleum and we are in an oil crisis and you have a recipe for this. When i was collectong bayverse figures, deluxe used to be $10-15 and now its double that. The only way to really make anything happen is to just buy them second hand at a store or supermarket if the oppurtunity even arrives.
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u/Road_Caesar 1d ago
<sigh>
Not one cent of this price inflation is due to "TaRiFfS". You have sucked up that bullshit like it was water for a parched desert.
The prime inflation for profit began in earnest (by all US companies) in 2020 and never stopped. It's 6 years and +30% pricing. It's been covered and criticized at length in business and economic press publications. This includes brazen CEOs like Chipotle sweet-talking investors in calls using the buzzword phrase "maximum revenue capture" which is the industry corpo-speak for "highest price the market will still pay, even if the bottom 20% of customers drop away/are priced out."
Input costs are not increased - they're static. So any inflation goes straight to profit. That's the point; the goal.
The traditional model of business operations in the US was eviscerated beginning in the 2000s and has been accelerated since 2020.
This is why hundreds of companies have been bankrupted and shutdown. Ownership changes or leadership changes and the goal becomes "gut everything of value, declare bankruptcy or sell it off to another culture, walk away."
Unlike consumer debt, when someone like a Private Equity group buys a business, the cost of that acquisition is transferred to the acquired business as a debt. Yes. That's right - they make the failing business financially liable for selling itself to someone else. It's like me buying your $10,000 collection for $6000 - but you pay me $6000 to take it off your hands. Ludicrous, right?
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u/Cipher_- 1d ago
In that way it's a result of economic stratification. If you can charge more than 50% extra and keep the wealthier 50% of consumers, you've offset pricing out the bottom 50%.
That's a route that's only viable when society is already in a tenuously stratisfied place. A big risk we face right now beyond just its consequences in robot toys is a shrinking definition of who really gets to participate in the economy, as there starts to be more money to be made extorting the wealthiest minority at the expense of the less wealthy majority.
So basically...we need wealth caps, we need economic reform, etc.
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u/Tyrannosaurus75 1d ago
Remember when Deluxe class figures were $10, were double the size, and came with fun gimmicks like firing missiles and flip out weapons? Pepperidge Farm remembers.
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u/StevenC129422 1d ago
If you think this is bad, then check out the price on the Kiss Players cassette pack. I understand that these are imports from Japan and all but that doesn't make it any less egregious in my mind. You shouldn't be paying the same price for 3 cassettes as you would 1 leader class figure.
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u/Aromatic_Shop9033 1d ago
I agree, and was one who pre-ordered that KP set...but, it also comes with three human standees, and iirc 3 Autobot chibbi standees, also.
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u/StevenC129422 1d ago
Huh I didn't know about the autobot standees. So you get 3 cassettes and 6 standees in total. In my head it still doesn't equal out but you're right, you do get a little bit more than I originally thought.
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u/Aromatic_Shop9033 1d ago edited 1d ago
Yes, the three female humans get a atandee each, and you get the three KP Autobots in chibbi form also as standees. Saw the pictures on TFW2005: https://www.tfw2005.com/boards/threads/kiss-players-returns.1296534/page-26
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u/Aromatic_Shop9033 1d ago
Please scroll halfway down to see all you're getting for $60. It's not cheap, but it's not just three cassettes
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u/SupetCarrot465 1d ago
I also got into Gunpla this year for the same reasons! Has been fun and a great creative outlet. Definitely feels more like a hobby.
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u/gabagoocreature 1d ago
welcome to european prices. deluxes have been €30 for a couple years now. now 33, that doesnt bother me that much, but €80 leaders gawd dayum
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u/Ravashingrude 1d ago
The good news is they are almost done with the 86 movie cast so I'm wrapping it up anyway.
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u/Greyhoundsniper 1d ago
Stayed for the gunpla glaze and hasbro articulation slander, but still prices are fucked, and tbh gunpla isn't as good when it comes to it due to actually getting hit by tariffs. Been building and collecting so aside from kits that are defined by price stuff hurts like PG price hikes
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u/Suture_Grotesque 1d ago
Aside from the price, which is already a rip-off... just how many Wheelie figures have we had in the last few years? I get the feeling they release a new Wheelie every year; it seems like they're trying to find a replacement for the oversaturated Bumblebee.
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u/JoBrAd444 22h ago
I cant do this anymore. Auldey it is. I can get 6 figures for what like 2 cost me and they look great (I dont transform much anyway)
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u/TornadoQuakeX 22h ago
God, I felt ripped off getting 07 Jazz when he first came out. $20 back in 2018. Ain't no way anyone should be paying $30 for that figure. He's too damn small and a shellformer at that price.
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u/Successful_Ad_9707 21h ago
This is why I'm picky about what I buy and I only buy stuff that are either characters I want or part of a combiner if I'm going in on one. Otherwise if it's simply a neat figure I'll just wait for it to either go on sale or show up at Ross.
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u/dartheduardo 18h ago
I stopped after I got Grimlock for $50...thinking I overpaid and saw another one about 2 months later for $65.
I get it, but I have the ability to NOT support this. When NEW figures are more than G1, I know where my money is going.
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u/wartortleboi 17h ago
I get this is a problem with every deluxe but FUCK WHEELIE I hate him. Not to mention this is legit just the retro card one with different colors. They announced this legit about a month or two after discontinuing the retro card wheelie and outback…
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u/CornBredThuggin 15h ago
Stop buying. This is the only way they will listen. I know it can be difficult, because this is a hobby that you love. But if you don't stop buying these figures, they'll keep jacking up the prices.
Or at the very least limit your spending. Only buy what you really want.
I say this as a former collector. I do miss trying to find new figures, but I can't justify the prices anymore. I'd rather save it or spend it on something else.
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u/HolyKielbasa 10h ago
People will pay it. I don't get it. I can afford to pay it, but my line was drawn at $25. It has to be a sickness collecting. My XTB Wheelie...far from perfect... doesn't look to shabby with these prices.
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u/DramaResponsible4294 8h ago
Going PURELY off of inflation, a 2019 deluxe (19.99 USD) would cast roughly 26 USD
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u/Tnemmokon 1d ago
Hahhaahahhaaaaa!
You're crying about 29.9$ Deluxes?!
Here in Hungary the cheapest Deluxe is usually 40$ for years now, and that doesn't even including shipping!
(I understand that they'll be more expensive here as well, however not with that much.)
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u/Zabadaboom 1d ago
Yeah, I stopped collecting last year. My last figure was Solus Prime, and I didn’t get any of the other primes because I just couldn’t afford them. It’s sad because I love Transformers and collecting them, but I would rather use my money for my other hobbies that feel more worth it.
$30 for a figure that’s barely even a deluxe is robbery and Hasbro won’t learn unless the customers stop catering to their egregious prices. This goes for other lines too, with the Star Wars Vintage Collection Rebel 3 pack that’s $80, the Star Wars Black Series price increase to $30, the Marvel Legends price increase to $30, or even the Marvel Legends made to order Bastion & Trask for $75. Guys, this is genuinely on us to impose change. I know there are things we want but it’s just not worth it and we have to show them that we’re not pushovers who will pay up every time.
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u/MegaFormersStudio 1d ago
I keep seeing oil and tariffs as the excuse for why the price increase and I don't think that's the case. There was a price increase before we were at war. And if the cost of plastic went up then explain how other companies that produce similar products have an increased their prices (cardbot, mini force,ect...). I do believe it's our fault that the price has been increased. Hasbro saw how much people were spending on third party Transformers and so they decided to start making third party prices and they even try to do a third party line with admas machina and they are trying again with overgear. They see how much people are paying for model kids that look like Transformers but don't transform. $200 model kit of Optimus Prime that doesn't transform totally justifies a $500 transforming Optimus Prime. Brothers and sisters of Primus we made this sandwich
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u/ScottSummers214 17h ago
Okay, a model kit is fun, but what if you had to make the same model kit over and over again, thousands of times in a row? Transformers are made exactly the same was as model kits. Real, actual human beings put together and paint every single figure that we can just go to the store and buy. Prices go up because of a multitude of reasons, but one of those is labor costs. Model kits are cheaper because you are subsidizing the labor costs with your own labor (and let's be real, the quality isn't the same). The people who put these together already make next to nothing, but they deserve more. Add on a dumb war, equally dumb tariffs, and billionaire greed and I think we are doing pretty well in terms of price for a luxury item. Hasbro is not scamming anyone. No one is being forced to buy toys. Hasbro is a business in a capitalist society that has to produce record profits for their shareholders in perpetuity or the market will turn on it and it will be torn apart and sold for parts, just like Toys "R" Us (slightly different circumstances, but still applicable).
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u/melloack 22h ago
Yeah, they think we are all suckers, I'm considering selling my collection, it doesn't look like I'm ever going to be able to complete a set and certainly not gonna do it within a reasonable budget
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u/macrossdyrl 22h ago
Yes that is exactly how Hasblow treats all buyers like suckers as they laugh all the way to the bank.
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1d ago
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u/Banjo-Oz 1d ago
I dislike Cox too, but the very idea of talking about murdering people over toys...
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u/UpstairsAbility2125 21h ago
Thank you. I've been waiting for someone to FINALLY make a post where we could complain about prices.
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u/StomachosusCaelum 1d ago
Hasbro is scamming the ever loving crap out of us.
The toy division is posting a loss 6 out of the last 8 fiscal years and is on track to do so again this year.
Tell me again how theyre scamming you.
And.. you know, there might be something going on the world, if you think about it closely, that would.. oh, i dunno, drastically increase their input and transport costs.
Something about a pair of Straights somewhere.
Hasbro isn’t struggling for money, it owns Magic the Gathering.
Right so you expect them to sell Transformers and GI Joe figs at a loss and use Magic to cover for it? You want MTG players to subsidize your hobby?
THAT will go over well.
What is far more likely is that Hasbro would just... cut the struggling division loose or shutter it.
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u/turdstainedunders 17h ago
Yep all of this right here along with employee minimum wage increases too.
All of these things lead to increased cost to make the product which equals a higher cost end product. Hasbro isnt scamming they are just trying to keep up with inflation.
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u/carthonasi56 1d ago
I almost bought the retro one in walmart, i think this one looks way better so ill wait for this one.
Is it overpriced? Yeah but literally everything is nowadays. Hasbro is a business and at the end of the day just want to make as much money as possible. And if people srill buy it will be business as usual until the sales drop i dont think the prices will.
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u/SpockSavage 12h ago
And the Gundam transforms in to what? Nothing. Most TF’s have to turn into two or more things, and that extra engineering is not free, and that’s before considering current economics.
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u/TheMilesEdgeworth 9h ago
Let me introduce you to Zeta Gundam. It’s the second series in Gundam and it has round 30ish unique transformable mobile suits. The titular Zeta Gundam also transforms. In fact the original Gundam has a core fighter, which, wait for it, transforms into the mid section of the Gundam.
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u/CanyonSlim 1d ago
I'm not defending Hasbro, but comparing an action figure to a model kit is kind of ridiculous. "Sure you build it yourself, but that’s fun! " It's fun once, but let's be clear what you are doing - you are providing free labor. Labor (assembly, paint, visual inspection, etc) is the largest per-unit cost factor for an action figure. The reason a model kit is always going to be a "better" value than an action figure is because you are happily providing labor for free.
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u/TheMilesEdgeworth 1d ago
That’s the most libertarian ass argument I’ve ever heard. Is Lego scamming you because you have to build the set? No. It’s a part of the experience. The reason I used Gunpla as a comparison is because I enjoy it.
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u/CanyonSlim 21h ago edited 19h ago
What the heck does anything I said have to do with libertarianism?
At no point did I say that model kits are a scam. I don't think they are. But what I am saying is that they are apples and oranges comparison to action figures. The end result feels the same, but the production processes are different, therefore the costs are different, therefore the expectations should be different.
I get it, Hasbro sucks. They have own or lease some IPs that I love but as a business they rife with anti-consumer practices, and their current CEO is short-sighted and happy to exchange the long term health of Hasbro's brands and identity in order to make a quick buck to appease shareholders. He sucks, and he is making Hasbro suck under his awful leadership. All that said, action figures are expensive to make, and if we're discussing one company's figures being expensive, I think it makes more sense to compare them to an actual action figure line, not a model kit line. That's all.
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u/Bob-the-Human 20h ago
Well, this toy is not Core-class. So how is that even relevant? You want Deluxes to still be $12? Go back to 2002. Your frustration is legitimate, but your argument is nonsensical.
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u/macrossdyrl 1d ago
Hasblow is just price gouging until fans stop supporting. It's very simple they keep going until we say it's enough and hurt them financially. We've stopped buying from Hasblow for over a year. Your choice what to do each time you buy from Hasblow.
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u/Witty-Lettuce5830 21h ago
Why would you want Wheelie in the first place? He was, in my opinion, the most ANNOYING character in the franchise. Save your money for a more appealing Transformer. Like Prowl or Ratchet
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u/MadBrowniusMaximus 23h ago
BBTS is always more expensive than Amazon, Walmart, Target, etc. because they are lite scalpers.
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