Price of toys to increase 10% in 2008?

[Jeff]

My pal Mike pointed something out to me today... apparently industry experts are expecting the price of toys to increase about 10% after Christmas (since most stores have their Holiday Orders set already).

The higher oils prices affect so many things - cost of raw materials (plastic), cost of shipping (raw materials and finished goods) plus added costs for the new set of safety testing (at both manufacturer and retailer levels) after all the recent lead-based scares.  It all leads to the presumed price increases...

So, will we see $7.75 for Star Wars figures in 2008?   Will high prices ultimately be what kills the line? 

[Jayson]

Yikes! I wonder what Targets that charge $7.64 now for figures will mark them? $8.49?

Nearly $10 bucks for a figure could kill the line. If not, I see them doing away with Legends all together and possibly limiting the number of figures in the basic line.

[I Am Sith]

From my own perspective, I think that would significantly reduce what I'm able to purchase moving forward.  I mean would a 10% increase also affect what HasbroToyShop and StarWarsShop are charging for their exclusives?  I would have to think yes so that will mean exclusives planned for next year could reach $20 per if they increase their prices 10% or more.

[Brian]

Yeah, yikes indeed.  Nearly $8 a figure would be a scary thought.  Sure, we saw those prices in TPM days (or at least we did around here), but we've seen it come down since then.  I've often wondered what pricing would make a lot of us drop "out of the game" so to speak.  Its hard to say.  So many of us (myself included) have paid $15-$25 for exclusive figures over the past couple years, so who knows how high would be too high.

I think jedijaybird's thoughts on doing away with Legends, and limiting the basic figure releases would be the start of how things would go.  I definitely don't want the higher prices, but I could live with fewer releases, that's for sure.  If everything did go up that much (or higher), I would have to reconsider what I could afford to collect.  Its sometimes hard enough now just keeping up with the basic line (figures, comic packs, vehicles, etc.), so I wouldn't want to think about it at the higher pricepoint.

[Nathan]

Ouch.

Well, I'm already a non-completist, so it would only affect me to the extent that I'd be even more picky about what I buy. Though I could see this being a good incentive for Hasbro to trim some of the extraneous crap, tangential series, repacks, etc. from the line and concentrating on fewer higher-quality figures.

Random thought: would it also cause them to make fewer "copies" (units?) of each figure ... thus affecting collectibility and driving up secondary prices down the line?

[Brian]

Though I could see this being a good incentive for Hasbro to trim some of the extraneous crap, tangential series, repacks, etc. from the line and concentrating on fewer higher-quality figures.

Although every line seems to have its fanbase, this is something I wouldn't mind seeing as well.  We know Hasbro can put out some really nice figures, so just focus on making the entire line that way (this year really hasn't been too bad in that regard), and put out less figures throughout the year overall if the pricepoint goes up.  If they want to do repacks without having a "Legends" line, just use the best of the best - VOTC Han, EB/VOTC Chewie, VTSC Luke X-Wing, etc. and they wouldn't have to worry about sculpting "new" versions of those character versions.  Then the focus could be on new figures/characters, or resculpts of other POTF2 figures (and the main characters that haven't been done yet).

Trim off the excess stuff, lessen the releases all around, and focus in on quality product if they have to charge those higher prices.  Looking at the "other" lines, I would guess something like Galactic Heroes probably has the largest following overall (speaking of Hasbro lines), and has to be a pretty good profit maker for them as well since so much can be re-used and they are fairly simple.  It will be interesting to see how this plays out next year, and if we do see this increase.

[Jesse James]

Ultimately it will impact my purchases as well and I doubt I do nearly the level of army building I do now if that's the kind of increases we see.

However, everything I've read about it implied that the 10% increase isn't across the board on toys either...  Toys that already meet higher quality standards usually already cost a prettier dime, or so goes my understanding of things.  They're saying things like Hot Wheels almost definitely will go up because the industry standards of those lines are lower.  Knock-off toys are almost destined to go up (Corps, PTE, etc.), Barbie's as well which the oil prices have never impacted as far as prices go.  Barbie's been fairly steadily priced for years.

Of course it's slightly early to panic on a SW increase in price regardless...  I'm not concerned...  yet.  However, $8-ish SW figures would severely cut into what I spend.  As it is, $7 has cut into what I spend on SW toys...  It's beyond anything even comparable in the same scale (and in some cases, larger scales), and while figure quality's been pretty great in general, Hasbro's also seen to it that repackaged/rehashed figures are a clear-cut way they can make up production/development costs within the line for new product. 

It's definitely news to watch though.  Little disconcerting, but such is the "nothing's safe for our kids" kind of world we're in I guess.  What happened to Bag 'O Glass?

[Jayson]

It's definitely news to watch though.  Little disconcerting, but such is the "nothing's safe for our kids" kind of world we're in I guess.  What happened to Bag 'O Glass?

Or "Johnny Space Commander Mask" or "Johnny Human Touch"

[Jeff]

"Johnny Human Touch"

I had a friend whose uncle gave him the "Johnny Human Touch" for Christmas one year...  he was never quite the same after that. 

[efranks]

Price wise, the current $7 price was almost a deal breaker for me.  If it hadn't been for the coins and the fact that the TAC line has been so well done I'd probably be buying less than I did last year.  If they jump another $1 per figure I will be down to strictly new characters and, depending on who those characters are, maybe not even all of them.

I understand the need for safety in everything, not just toys, but if a company like Hasbro has been able to self regulate I think it sucks that they'd get penalized along with the other companies.

I do love this quote though: 

For her twin sons' birthday next month, McMorow will be avoiding traditional toys and looking at playswings or a sand box. "Nothing they can chew on or swallow," she said.

Like a kid has never eaten sand or bit off a chunk of his pressure treated swingset...

   E...

[Sprry75]

This issue should be raised in one of the Hasbro Q&As.

[Darth Slothus]

lotsa paranoia here

the price is going up 10%?

Hmm, then how are getting figs are going so high again...?

[Hemish]

Being closer to China you'd think we'd get em cheaper.
We pay here at present between $15-17 aus for a basic figure, so $12-13.5US per fig.
If they go up more here I really dont think it would make much difference

[Sprry75]

Hmm, then how are getting figs are going so high again...?

 

[iFett]

This issue should be raised in one of the Hasbro Q&As.

Agreed

Hmm, then how are getting figs are going so high again...?

I don't understand this post for some reason.  Jon?