You're a bastard Bill, plain and simple.

But I like your dignitary drawing.   He looks like he's egomaniacal as well.  It's pretty cool.

I'm hoping for another rendition of Bossk some time.  Can't get enough Trandoshans.

On the issue of cost...  I think it's a pretty safe bet that, in general, a mostly solid colored figure who is cast in his primary color costs less...  Paint aps are generally a lesser cost though in the grand scheme too...  Depends on the # of colors, the complexity, etc...

Like, for instances, there's camo paintjobs on some figures I buy...  Some are complex, others aren't so much, but the complex ones probably cost more.  Decals are another thing to think of too, like for instance the emblems on an X-Wing pilot's helmet which aren't necessarilly a paint application so much as a decal that's set into the figure.

I think paint's pretty negligible as far as it being an individual cost goes though.  Production overall is a lot of little costs though, which are what add up...  With a few big ones.  The big ones usually stay fixed though, and wind up being littler costs when spread over a whole products run.  

Like, for the 1:18 military line(s) I collect, they have a real fine balance as far as what planes to make.  They have to figure how many units will SURELY sell and things...  There's a huge debate raging right now because they're dumping the Jap. Zero, which fans want but the company says all the new toolings would be tough to justify what they feel what be limited sales...  Especially because they rely heavily on repainting the vehicles, which works AOK most of the time, but with the Zero it wouldn't since there really weren't a ton of paint variations of it.  It kinda came one color and that was that.

Anyway, that's that...  I'd say Stormies are pretty simple paintjobs (little detail work on those helmets though), but in the end paint aps aren't the costliest production factor in and of themselves anyway.  

And on the red battledroid issue...

I dunno.  I thought EU was claiming they had a few different sort of generic colors for sort of generic placement of them.  Green for one terrain, tan for another, red for another...  I'm not sure about that of course, I just recall seeing those 3 colors in one of those Holo-Net News reports in Insider once.

I know in the production scenes of Battledroids in AOTC, you can see them being sprayed with something that's covering them...  What it is, I dunno.  They do match the coloring of geonosis though so it seems like it could easily be some vague attempt at making them tougher to spot.

That's been my thought on the paintjobs, but I don't know that anything has taken any great length to give it an official LFL explanation either...  Anyone?

The Pens finished near dead last in playoff teams too, and won the cup.  I know in 92 anyway they were the worst team going into the playoffs and won it again quite handily that year (8 game sweep of the last two series with the Bru-ha-has and Hawks).

In 92 I remember the big post-cup scandal was the Hawks coach lamenting Lemieux's stick length being too long, blah blah... 

The 91 series with Minnesota was great because it went 7 games, lots of scoring...  I have a real nice painting of the Game 7 gamewinning goal that I still love.

The only plus to this year's season was that I got a Lemieux Jersey (modern home jersey) for super clearance cheap.  Penney's stocked hockey jerseys, and I really don't know why they did (or didn't wait to put the order in one more month anyway) because the lockout was inevitable to most people...

I really wanted that jersey though, and now I'm happy to have one.   No place to wear it really since no games, but I'm happy to have it.

I agree that there's some good points coming out from Brent and Jeff, but I disagree on a few things somewhat...

And I don't think anyone's saying they DON'T sympathize with the plight of foreign collectors either.  If I could make sure everyone got figures for as cheap as possible, I would love to see it happen really...  I don't begrudge anyone, but GNT's argument has no solid basis in anything.

He basically is saying "We pay more, so you should be happy".  So yeah I agree you (meaning anyone outside the U.S.) has as much right to complain about pricing...  GNT is basically saying ONLY the people outside the U.S. can complain about it...  That we "have it good", when in reality we're buying what ammounts to a domestic product for the U.S., even if it's physically created in contracted factories over seas.

That said, I agree that I am not HAPPY to see anyone pay a ton for figures...  I don't like seeing it at local Toy Shows, on Ebay, overseas or whatever...  And it's everyone's right to say "this sucks", because it does.

As far as the US dollar fluctuations though, that's more a long-term economic effect...  No company is going to change price on the short-term based on that factor unless the U.S. dollar's value was truly expected to be at a new "permanent" low...  It's not though, so Hasbro's not going to change their pricing based on what's being considered wild dollar value fluctuations in the past year+.

Let's say the U.S. dollar made a huge gain just this month or next...  For whatever freaky reason.  Does that mean everyone should pay $30 per basic figure outside the U.S. then all of a sudden?  It's part of pricing and everything, but it really isn't going to affect an action figure's price in any way other than long-term, and if the value change took a more permanent plateau...  Which is unlikely.

I don't think anyone's disagreeing with your points, either entirely or mostly Brent, because I'm not I know...  And I don't believe in a "tough ****" attitude to anyone outside the U.S. either...  I wish nothing but good will to anyone outside the U.S. trying to get figures or whatever, and get them for cheapy cheap too.

The thing is though, these ARE import products to countries other than the U.S., and as long as the economic structure of the world stays (pretty much) as it currently is, which is how it has been for quite some time, then U.S. product exported to other countries will cost high prices in other nations, just as product from other nations exported here will cost more.  Global economics aren't near taking over enough to where things are more balanced globally.

To say that the U.S. collectors need to stop whining because someone buying what DOES ammount to import product in another country has to pay more, simply isn't logical on any level.  U.S. car buyers don't complain when they see sticker shock on a BMW.  Kubrick fans can't gripe too much about prices on them...  It's just expected.

I'd classify the Raw Materials similar to the FER as well...  Something that doesn't get highlighted as a sharp spike in price increases for product like we are seeing with Star Wars figures right now...

To me, it's more to the idea of Hasbro and EE (and whoever else you want to include) making that extra $ while they can.

The question then with the Clones is, will they sell as many units, and will the sales at the increased price match what was possibly made with MORE sales at a cheaper price?  That's not an easy question to answer...  not to mention any possible adverse effect this could have on turning consumers off to the brand, on killing possible future ideas, etc.

I have my set purchased too...  But I have my SET.  Not my sets.  So had these been $5 to $10 cheaper, then what kind of profits would we have been seeing?  

There's not much easy answer to this either because it's an exclusive, and there you throw yet another wrench into the whole concept...  And EE's also touting the famed, "Limited Edition" too with this...

By no means was anything meant to be offensive to collectors outside the U.S., and I tried being careful of that with my post because I know the topic is sensitive...  But everyone has a right to gripe about pricing, they just have to know why the pricing is what it is before they make their opinion known...

GNT didn't do his homework, and that I think we can all agree on.  And in the end, U.S. guys have as much right to cry foul on this as Canuckleheads and those over the pond(s) as well.  

And if anyone's happy to pay that, well then they're wealthier than I, or just easier going maybe.  

At this stage...

I don't know if I want more if they cost this much.  Seriously.

They do them for $20-$25 a set (not a penny more), then perhaps...  I'm even all for them only being done after the figure for within them is done and put out in the basic line ona  single card...

SA (insert army builder name here) figure goes to basic line, then gets mass release in a 4-pack for $25 or less...  That'd be kick ass, but with this precedent being set forth by Entertainment Earth and Hasbro, then I'm skeptical if it's such a good idea anymore.

Something, possibly even THE thing, I've always wanted was pretty much destroyed compeltely by severe price gouging.  To say I'm disappointed this day in collecting is a major understatement. 

Like putting cheese on the trap...

The other night FSP was airing old Stanley Cup games...  I loved watching those.  Finals with Minne in '91.  Great games.  They aired the last one on the night before NYE when I went out...  That was a wonderous game.