Author Topic: Clone Wars AT-TE  (Read 107307 times)

Offline Darth_Anton

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Re: AT-TE to be released next fall in 2008!
« Reply #90 on: December 18, 2007, 09:34 AM »
Hasbro will re-release this thing 10 times in the next 15 years.  If they don't make all their money back right now, they will when they paint it up with Tiger Stripes, or desert dust effect, or EU Snow Effects...


Precisely.

But we also have to consider that these thing are fairly cheep to make in the first place. Lets imagine that it costs Hasbro $100K to generate the master mold for this thing (which is generous.) Over 50K units, that's a $2 cost per unit and manufacturing and shipping incredibly cheep as well. If it costs Hasbro more than $20 per unit to get this thing from idea to the shelves, I'd be surprised. Probably only costs them $10.
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Offline JediJman

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Re: AT-TE to be released next fall in 2008!
« Reply #91 on: December 18, 2007, 10:23 AM »
I think costs are pretty speculative unless you work in that business or have some inside information.  While actual production may only be 1/5th the retail cost, we have no idea what fixed costs went into development or package design or new machinery to manufacture this item.  You can't always just make a new mold - sometimes a new tool or part is needed to make certain pieces.  And you'd be surprised what print development costs - I know that most mmagazine ads cost between $50 and $100k just for creative development.  And will this set include pack-in figures?  If so, there's an additional cost as well.  I do think its safe to say that at $100, they're getting at least a 50% margin on this item.
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Offline CHEWIE

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Re: AT-TE to be released next fall in 2008!
« Reply #92 on: December 18, 2007, 10:51 AM »
I'm thinking that it will be packed in with between 2-4 figures.  Maybe two drivers, and two grunts.  I wouldn't be surprised if they are just repacks of existing clones, but the drivers could have this helmet retooled to be one piece and a non-removable helmet onto the SA clone body -


Offline jedi_master_sal

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Re: AT-TE to be released next fall in 2008!
« Reply #93 on: December 18, 2007, 10:56 AM »
I think costs are pretty speculative unless you work in that business or have some inside information.  While actual production may only be 1/5th the retail cost, we have no idea what fixed costs went into development or package design or new machinery to manufacture this item.  You can't always just make a new mold - sometimes a new tool or part is needed to make certain pieces.  And you'd be surprised what print development costs - I know that most mmagazine ads cost between $50 and $100k just for creative development.  And will this set include pack-in figures?  If so, there's an additional cost as well.  I do think its safe to say that at $100, they're getting at least a 50% margin on this item.

Wow where are you getting those figures for costs of ads??? I work in the printing industry and haven't seen inflated numbers like that. heck, sign me up to work at that place, I'd make a fortune...


Seriously though, besides making the tooling for this, there is the actual manufacturing of the product, parts/supplies, labor (albeit cheap at the expense of the Chinese-and don't shoot the messenger here), printing, shipping, customs, distribution to retail warehouses, etc.

That being said, I can see it being something where they are making half again as much profit as it cost to make. But I can't base that on anything concrete, it's just a guess.
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Offline JediJman

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Re: AT-TE to be released next fall in 2008!
« Reply #94 on: December 18, 2007, 12:18 PM »
Wow where are you getting those figures for costs of ads??? I work in the printing industry and haven't seen inflated numbers like that. heck, sign me up to work at that place, I'd make a fortune...

I work in the manufacturing industry and that is the typical agency cost for print plan development and production.  I've often thought that I could photograph food on a plate or a happy couple smiling for far less, but there's obviously more to the process than that. 
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Offline jedi_master_sal

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Re: AT-TE to be released next fall in 2008!
« Reply #95 on: December 18, 2007, 05:56 PM »
Wow where are you getting those figures for costs of ads??? I work in the printing industry and haven't seen inflated numbers like that. heck, sign me up to work at that place, I'd make a fortune...

I work in the manufacturing industry and that is the typical agency cost for print plan development and production.  I've often thought that I could photograph food on a plate or a happy couple smiling for far less, but there's obviously more to the process than that. 

Man, I gotta tell you someone is forking someone over here. Unless its one of the industry's top photogs or ad people, there's no way ads are costing this much to produce.

Granted if for a national mag maybe the cost is due to distribution, but $50K?
 
I see ads all the time for local rags and people are lucky if they a few thousand for them. Unless it's part of a print campaign of successive ads, there isn't a chance of a one-shot garnering that much cash.

Heh, like I said, sign me up, I'll be happy to take much more of someone else's money for the same work I do now.

On a topic related note:
http://www.hasbro.com/starwars/default.cfm?page=news&newsID=EA11ECA7-D56F-E112-41042A9CD713E663

So, Hasbro wants to piss in our Wheaties.

I bet someone at the big H HQ is fuming and rethinking the whole Q&A thing now.

Heck, serves them right. They had the chance to be straight forward and up front. Instead they want to continue to play these games. It's fine by me, so long as we still get this toy.
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Offline CHEWIE

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Re: Clone Wars AT-TE
« Reply #96 on: December 18, 2007, 06:01 PM »
Yeah, I'm not too thrilled with their little news bit.

If this sells for $100.00, I wonder what retailers are paying?  $60 - $70?  From my retail experience, most stores want at least a 30% profit margin on an item to make it worthwhile - especially on larger items that eat up more shelf space and don't sell as fast as lower ticket items.


Offline Darth_Anton

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Re: AT-TE to be released next fall in 2008!
« Reply #97 on: December 19, 2007, 09:59 AM »
I think costs are pretty speculative unless you work in that business or have some inside information.  While actual production may only be 1/5th the retail cost, we have no idea what fixed costs went into development or package design or new machinery to manufacture this item.  You can't always just make a new mold - sometimes a new tool or part is needed to make certain pieces.  And you'd be surprised what print development costs - I know that most mmagazine ads cost between $50 and $100k just for creative development.  And will this set include pack-in figures?  If so, there's an additional cost as well.  I do think its safe to say that at $100, they're getting at least a 50% margin on this item.

I forgot to mention that I used to coordinate over seas production and worked in advertising before that. My production estimate costs are generous and the only way print ads can cost upwards of $100K to produce is if a celebrity is pictured in the ad. As stated above, Hasbro's cost is buying add space which is general overhead.

Pack-in figures do ad to the cost, but realistically, if it's not a new sculpt, we're talking pennies or even fractions of a penny. The SL Legends line is pure un-adulterated gravy to Hasbro. I would guess, based on my experience, that it costs them less than 50 cents per figure to get them to the shelves. The price they charge retailers is their profit mark up.

There is one X-factor however, that's the licensing cost they tack onto the production cost of each figure when it should be categorized as overhead.
« Last Edit: December 19, 2007, 10:25 AM by Darth_Anton »
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Offline CHEWIE

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Re: AT-TE to be released next fall in 2008!
« Reply #98 on: December 19, 2007, 06:04 PM »
Maybe now Hasbro can answer the question.

Here, I'll answer it for them:

No comment at this time.  Check back at Toy Fair.

You're probably right.

I'm sure some sort of figures will be packed in; I'm curious if it will be EP2 or EP3 style helmets.

...also I seem to remember there being one of these used by the Empire in some comic that I saw while killing time at the mall... where the Imperials were under attack by a tribe of Amanin species.  All I really remember was seeing some Stormies being attacked -



...but I'm pretty sure they had an AT-TE?  Or maybe a Juggernaut... anyways, they had some large prequel vehicle... the era between ROTS and ANH is the timeline I'm most interested in right now, so getting a vehicle like the AT-TE that could bridge the gap some more is one of the reasons I really want this vehicle to be made.

Offline JediJman

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Re: Clone Wars AT-TE
« Reply #99 on: December 19, 2007, 10:26 PM »
Yeah, I'm not too thrilled with their little news bit.

If this sells for $100.00, I wonder what retailers are paying?  $60 - $70?  From my retail experience, most stores want at least a 30% profit margin on an item to make it worthwhile - especially on larger items that eat up more shelf space and don't sell as fast as lower ticket items.



I think 30-40% is typical for groceries, but things like toys and electronics are a much higher mark up.  I have less experience with toys, but the figures I have seen put them at a bare minimum 50% profit margin, which would mean that Target is paying no more than $50 for a $100 item.  I remember someone with inside info posting that the Order $66 packs cost Target something like $2.25 each and they were selling for $9.99.  Even at their lowest clearance price ($2.54 I think?) Target ended up making a few pennies on them. 
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Offline Jesse James

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Re: Clone Wars AT-TE
« Reply #100 on: December 19, 2007, 11:25 PM »
Toy mark-ups are like all retailing mark-ups in that they vary greatly.  There's no set % range really for toys...  Just like there's no set range for blue jeans.  Levi Jeans at JC Penney are a much MUCH higher margin than Arizona Jeans sold at the same store.  Arizona are a tighter margin, but generally a much lower price, despite being similar in quality to one another...  This is simply people paying more for name.  The same applies even moreso then for a bigger name, say Tommy Hilfiger or Calvin Klein perhaps. 

When I worked for Service Merchandise back many moons ago, I got a good look at the mark-ups from a managerial perspective on the SW brand, and they were fairly significant at that time, and that was with a bit of a higher licensing fee at the time since it pre-dated the license renegotiation after Episode 1's release and ultimate retail failure.  That's not to say though that they were the norm for toys... 

A good gauge to go by often, is the semi-routine discounts you'll see applied to a toy or brand of toys...  For instance, TRU sells SW figures with "BOGO" sales every whipstitch.  They're still profiting by selling one and giving one away.  20%, 25% off, are fairly common discounts at various stores that are applied because they don't really dent the profit too much compared to the volume the store thinks they can move with that "sale".  They're not losing anything really (at least in their eyes), and it hopefully increases the sales for something so they can get new products in and on the shelves. 

Like I said though, the range for toys is like all other retailing, in that a SW figure's profit margin compared to a Lego set is pretty dramatically different.  Just look how often Legos go on sale even, and how deeply discounted they go sometimes before even being labeled "clearance".  Lego, I'd bet, has a very hefty mark-up to it.

I always found this stuff interesting when I worked retail because it was eye-opening to what you pay compared to what a store makes...  Any time I go into Wal-Mart and think of the HUGE number of figures they sold in a week or whatever, and I can't help but think of how much that must've generated...  It's sort of mind-boggling in some ways!
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Offline CHEWIE

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Re: Clone Wars AT-TE
« Reply #101 on: December 21, 2007, 12:18 AM »
My retail experience came from 3 years of management at Walgreens... their profit was lower than I expected on the non-drug items. 

Of course that makes sense though, as their buying power is geared more towards vitamins, aspirin, etc.  Most name brand items their profit was 30% or so - but generics with the Walgreens label the profit was always over 50%... I remember at the time the Star Wars figures at Walgreens were $7.99 - and the COST was $5.84 per figure - so Walgreens actually paid more for their Star Wars figures than what Wal-Mart was selling them.

Also, gallons of milk had a profit margin of less than 5%.  So did bacon... I just remember those two in particular because at one store I was running the damn cooler/freezer orders all the time.

Offline ruiner

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Re: Clone Wars AT-TE
« Reply #102 on: December 21, 2007, 01:50 PM »
that the Order $66 packs cost Target something like $2.25 each and they were selling for $9.99. 

Take that with a grain of salt.

Offline Nicklab

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Re: Clone Wars AT-TE
« Reply #103 on: December 21, 2007, 06:07 PM »
Back to talking about the toy...

I'm personally hoping for one, maybe two pack-in figures.  I'd be happy with the Evolutions Phase I Clone Trooper, one being the pilot version and the other being the standard, white armored grunt Clone for the dorsal cannon position.

As for the interior?  I'd like to see a couple of gunner stations on the inside, for the point defense turrets.  And then some kind of troop seating, with some kind of deployment hatch(es).  I think those features would really give this some play value.
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Offline MetalJedi

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Re: Clone Wars AT-TE
« Reply #104 on: December 31, 2007, 06:29 PM »
RS is now reporting that this should be around the $150 area.
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