Author Topic: EE Clone Trooper 4-Packs  (Read 164065 times)

Offline JesseVader08

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Re: Clone Trooper 4 Packs!
« Reply #60 on: January 4, 2005, 11:54 PM »
When Ebay starts setting the standard by which the actual INDUSTRY determines price (and by which consumers accept said prices), then I think we're all in some deep **** folks.

Too true.  I guess when Hasbro knows how bad we want these sets, they can set the price at virtually anything they want. 

I guess I'm simply another sucker that buys into this:
nice product + slick packaging = another sale. 

I simply love displaying stuff like this, and know that I SHOULDN'T pay as much as I'll have to to get them, but sometimes the heart wins over the brain.  Ah, collecting... ::)   :)

Offline jokabofe

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Re: Clone Trooper 4 Packs!
« Reply #61 on: January 5, 2005, 12:16 AM »
When Ebay starts setting the standard by which the actual INDUSTRY determines price (and by which consumers accept said prices), then I think we're all in some deep **** folks.

Better start digging then, Jesse. I hate to break it to you, but most of the price guides use Ebay as a pretty standard scale. Wizard magazine even has a section that shows what certain things sold for recently on Ebay. Granted, I'm speaking of comic books when I saw Wizard magazine, but you get my point. Some of the other toy magazines and price guides also use Ebay as a guide for pricing. Just look at Lee's Toy Review (at least I think that's what it's called, it's been a while since I actually picked up an issue). Again, they have an entire section that shows what's hot and what's not based on - you guessed it, tracking "online sales". Now, they say "online sales" but we all know what they really mean - Ebay. I guess they just can't use the name without giving some kind of kickback to them. Or something.

Offline CorranHorn

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Re: Clone Trooper 4 Packs!
« Reply #62 on: January 5, 2005, 12:49 AM »
When Ebay starts setting the standard by which the actual INDUSTRY determines price (and by which consumers accept said prices), then I think we're all in some deep **** folks.

Better start digging then, Jesse. I hate to break it to you, but most of the price guides use Ebay as a pretty standard scale. Wizard magazine even has a section that shows what certain things sold for recently on Ebay. Granted, I'm speaking of comic books when I saw Wizard magazine, but you get my point. Some of the other toy magazines and price guides also use Ebay as a guide for pricing. Just look at Lee's Toy Review (at least I think that's what it's called, it's been a while since I actually picked up an issue). Again, they have an entire section that shows what's hot and what's not based on - you guessed it, tracking "online sales". Now, they say "online sales" but we all know what they really mean - Ebay. I guess they just can't use the name without giving some kind of kickback to them. Or something.

ebay isn't a bad guide for determining the current value of items in the secondary market as it is a good gauge of what people are willing to pay for those items. but it should never be used as a gauge to determine the price of item on the primary market such as this Clonetrooper set. but as i stated in my previous post, there are just too many ill-informed people out there.
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Offline jokabofe

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Re: Clone Trooper 4 Packs!
« Reply #63 on: January 5, 2005, 01:00 AM »
Ahhh, I see now what Jesse was saying. Sorry - I misread his post  :-[

Offline Angry Ewok

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Re: Clone Trooper 4 Packs!
« Reply #64 on: January 5, 2005, 02:13 AM »
Too expensive for this student/starving artist. I was definately interested, but I'm definately not independantly rich. No buy.

$20 would be fair.

Offline Jesse James

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Re: Clone Trooper 4 Packs!
« Reply #65 on: January 5, 2005, 04:14 AM »
And the nuggets of wisdom at Scum continue into the new day...  Who wants to guess which Einstein whipped this remark out?

Quote
Considering (like what steve said above) we pay US$13 per basic figure the price of these aren't that bad, I honestly think some people are just spoiled rotten "the Clone wars version was $5.99 so these figures should be that price as well" - times change and what a perfect way for them to earn more money. Yeah it does suck but if you (and I'm not aiming this at anybody) do have a problem with the price then just flat out refuse to buy them - simple as that.

Now, I'm not about to take a dump on foreign collectors because the fact of the matter is they are entitled to their opinions...  And the "Steve" mentioned in the above quote is Stylie Steve from Scum, and he's a good guy and not really complaining about anything other than saying he's content with the price, etc.

But, to those who ARE complaining that U.S. customers need to "stop whining" simply because in their native lands they spend more $ on toys than we do, I have a little word of advice...

**** costs more in your country because it's not considered a domestic product, and as such there's prices paid to import it. 

Yes, Hasbro's an American company, and yes, as an American company they can make their product available to their consumers cheaper. 

The simple fact is, we're talking about international economic boundariers and structures.  Something I'm going to wager the maroon who made the above comment knows little to nothing about, so he really ought to think before he opens his sucker and inserts his size 3 foot.

On a more simple note, you can use the comparison of cars and their costs as imports and exports.

Imports in the U.S. can cost an arm and a leg, depending on the quality of the car.  The same is said for U.S. imports however, when sold overseas.  U.S. pick-ups go for premiums overseas, as do good U.S. cars (My car actually has a large collecting club for it in Europe I guess...  I sure would've never known that, and apparantly the U.S. engine with Turbo is the more popular model...  Go figure).

While one's definition of "value" is subjective, that's a fundamental rule of economics, it's a shame to see so many of the European, Australian, etc., collectors out there so easily willing to lash out when not actually understanding that things cost more in their country for a reason.

U.S. collector's are griping legitimately...  This isn't our "standard".  Of course one could always just say "Well imagine you had to pay $23 USD for figures instead of $13 ya numbnuts!", but I doubt that point would drive home to them either.

And it's not even "them".  It's mostly this one maroon, but there's others.

Again, should Steve read this I hope he sees the point and isn't offended...  And this is by no means the majority of foreign collectors, but it is a handful who EVERY time a U.S. price is disputed by a U.S. consumer that they have to pipe in with comments filled with ignorance.

Hey, have any of you figured out just who would have said something that stupid yet?

Begins with a G, ends with a T, and his quote is one of only countless remarks of utter stupidity.  I shouldn't be as surprised as I am, but he never ceases to amaze, this kid out there.
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Offline Ben

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Re: Clone Trooper 4 Packs!
« Reply #66 on: January 5, 2005, 04:24 AM »
Oh, GNT. No surprise.

The guy can be a ******* dumbass.
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Offline Jesse James

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Re: Clone Trooper 4 Packs!
« Reply #67 on: January 5, 2005, 04:28 AM »
Can?

Oh he defines it...  Wrote the book on what not to say, and how to still spew it forth like so much verbal diahrea. :)
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Offline Jedirhino

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Re: Clone Trooper 4 Packs!
« Reply #68 on: January 5, 2005, 06:25 AM »
These are awesome...too bad they are in an online market and not in stores... :-\

Offline Jim

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Re: Clone Trooper 4 Packs!
« Reply #69 on: January 5, 2005, 07:39 AM »
If anyone wants to go in on these let me know.  Would like to split it 3 ways.  PM me.

Offline Scott

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Re: Clone Trooper 4 Packs!
« Reply #70 on: January 5, 2005, 09:07 AM »
Greggg pulled that one out a couple of times...its HIS choice as a foreign collector to buy American based collectibles.  Should I be petitioning Medicom to sell me Kubricks in America at the same price they pay in Asia?

Dude is a Class A Moron and the verbal diarrea he spews continually drives home this point

Offline DSJ™

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Re: Clone Trooper 4 Packs!
« Reply #71 on: January 5, 2005, 09:29 AM »
If you Canuckleheads (and anyone else outside the U.S.) wants to get together and order these by the case, I'm sure I could pitch in and re-route them to a few people. Might not save much in the long run, but who knows. And I don't charge anything for re-routing pacakges, right Dale  ;)

All I ask is reimbursement for the shipping costs. But I don't want to be involved with collecting money for the products themselves - you guys are on your own with that.

PM me if interested. And I'm sure a few other JD'ers out there would be willing to help out as well, if there are that many people who want to do this.

Yep, Dave's been a great help re-routing pacakges packages my way. Maybe Jesse can get a couple of the Snowtrooper guys on this, as for me, I'm still not getting these. 

Offline Morgbug

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Re: Clone Trooper 4 Packs!
« Reply #72 on: January 5, 2005, 10:09 AM »
Not that I'm in any way defending GNT, but I'm not in complete agreement with you guys on the "American" based product schtick.  I'm not sure I'm looking for sympathy, understanding or what, but it's not 100% simple, straight forward economics. 

Look at it this way: you guys generally paid out $5 US per figure.  For the longest time, that was a basic price, plus or minus a few pennies.  Fair enough, US based product. 

Now, not so long ago the Canadian dollar sucked **** relative to the US dollar.  Two years ago I went away on vacation and the Canadian dollar was $0.61 USD.  Our star wars figures cost $8.92 at Walmart at the time.  This year I went away on vacation and teh Canadian dollar was $0.85 USD - a rather whopping change.  Our star wars figures cost $8.92 at Walmart. 

My point?
Quote
**** costs more in your country because it's not considered a domestic product, and as such there's prices paid to import it. 
Agreed, as a basic concept.  The problem is our dollar changed by $0.24 USD and the net price stayed the same.  Why?  Well frankly because it's not a direct linear relationship in the first place and it's coupled with either one or both of Hasbro and Walmart gouging the **** out of us. 

I think foreign collectors have every right to bitch about prices just as much as US consumers do. 

What the price is for these sets is what the market will currently bear.  Clearly EE and Hasbro have a better image of their market than we'd like to give them credit for.  How many of us are already in on these figures at this site alone?  How many of us ate up the OTC ****?  How many of us dropped $10 US on VOTC, including rather substantial pieces of crap like 3PO, R2, etc?  We can whine and bitch all we want, but most of us pony up the cash within minutes of seeing something like this.  EE and Hasbro exist to make profits, not satisfy customers.  Doing the latter is often a really intelligent way of ensuring the former, but hell, do you blame them. 

As an entirely separate possibility in spite of the molds already being there and the packaging being inexpensive to manufacture, the US dollar has fallen precipitously in the last 12 months.  Blame Bush, blame a recession, blame Iraq (which is the same as blaming Bush, I think) or whatever you like, but the American economy is not currently the juggernaut it was two years ago.  Hasbro is an American company but where are the toys manufactured - sure as hell isn't Rhode Island.  So you've got a depressed US dollar and product being shipped from overseas.  Manufacturing costs are likely higher, as are shipping costs.  Need oil to get the boats/planes/trucks to move the product.  The product we so love is made of plastic - where does plastic come from (hint-oil)?  Maybe, just maybe, that in spite of the other factors, these things are costing more to make than just two years ago. 

None of this is to say I disagree with the basic complaint, these things are overpriced as they stand.  I'd much rather pay $20 for a four pack (though I don't think that's fair given it's not a white mailer box) but think with the fancier packaging $25 is not unreasonable.  That would make them $6.25 a piece.  Strangely, that's exactly the same price that Dave is getting and Jim/Jeff/Me are getting by ordering a big case.  Oddly, it's actually a hair cheaper than the new figures out at stores at $6.99.  Hmm. :-*
« Last Edit: January 5, 2005, 10:10 AM by Morgbug »
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Offline Jeff

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Re: Clone Trooper 4 Packs!
« Reply #73 on: January 5, 2005, 10:11 AM »
I agree, $35 plus shipping is too much for this set individually.

However, since Jim, Brent, and I are splitting a case, we are each getting a set of four 4-packs for $112, that's only $28 for each 4-pack or $7 per figure shipped.

Maybe that's $8 more than if I was able to find 4 CW Clones back in 2003, but I guess I understand because:

1 - it's a year later
2 - At least 3 of the 4 sets have "new"/different figures thanks to the colors and battle damage
3 - it's an EE exclusive

In fact, I'd wager that the $35 price is almost ALL Entertainment Earth's doing, NOT Hasbro's.  EE is the same company after all that "let" us buy the Holiday Jawas for $17.99 even though the 2003 Holiday set was $12.99 at Wal-Mart.  Were Jawas more complex than R2/3PO?  No.  EE knew we (the complete-ists) would pay whatever the price they set to get it.

If this set were at Target/TRU/Wal-Mart, I can easily see it falling into the $20-25 price range for 4 ultra-articulated Clones.  The fact of the matter is though that this set is not at Target, it's at EE and they can charge whatever the heck they want (like it or not).

It sounds like this set was proposed by EE and created for EE.  It is an exclusive that EE requested.  I don't think it would have been done if EE had not specifically gone to Hasbro and asked for this type of Army builder set.

EE knows what they've got.  They are run by SW Collectors who keep a close eye on the communities, they are most definately aware of the demand for these.  It's a 4-pack of highly articulated army builders with new decos on 3 of 4 sets.  They know that the completists will buy at least 1 of each for the packaging, the army-builders will want in on them, the loose completeists will end up bying a set or two to get the colored troops, etc.

As such, it's no surprise that EE has set the prices on these the way they did.  They know what they've got here and they know (thanks to vOTC) that collectors will pay a higher price if the product is good enough.  They know that while there may be vocal outcry on fansites, they'll still sell out most likely.  

Is it Hasbro's fault?  I don't think they care what EE does once they ship the product to EE.  After it's gone, I don't think Hasbro really cares much.  I also don't think Hasbro would ever say anythig to EE about the pricing.   :-\

So, do I think the pricing sucks on these?  Yes.  Is it Hasbro's fault?  Probably not, probably EE's fault.  Am I going to end up buying them?  I already put in my order.   :-[

I am not trying to excuse the price away, but simply stating my opinion.  I think it's another Sandcrawler-esque example of "be careful what you ask for, you just might get it".  

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Offline Jesse James

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Re: Clone Trooper 4 Packs!
« Reply #74 on: January 5, 2005, 10:19 AM »
Quote
Should I be petitioning Medicom to sell me Kubricks in America at the same price they pay in Asia?

A totally better analogy there that if I'd pulled my head outta my rump I would've remembered that one.  Perfect really Scott.

Kubricks aren't a U.S. product...  There's a ton of Transformer stuff that isn't U.S.  either I guess, and transformer fans are SOL if they want it for prices offered in Asia.

I'm not saying that I like that foreign fans can't get figures for $5 a piece, not by any means...  It'd be nice really if we all got domestic prices on everything.

So far my two favorite logics are:

"Well I live overseas and we pay $13 for basic figures so this is a steal and you need to quit whining about it"

&

"Well the CW version sells on Ebay for $20 so at $10+ you should be happy because that's a good value"

Neither opinion with any logic or solid thought behind it.   ::)
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