JediDefender.com Forums
Collectibles => The Vintage Collection => Topic started by: Jeff on March 26, 2025, 02:10 PM
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Not a positive to see EE bump TVC up to $19 each for today's pre-orders and slap an extra 10% tax onto the Landspeeder ($67) compared to Pulse ($60). Not sure if that is tariff related or not...
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I was thinking that the $19 was almost certainly tariff related. Hasbro Pulse has the benefit of them cutting out the middle man, so I think they can eat the tariffs for the time being. I think Hasbro recognizes that raising prices could create a really negative perception issue about the company really fast. The short-term loss of the tariffs VS the long term prospects for the company have to be weighed carefully.
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Everybody get the email from BBTS about tariffs driving price increases for your favorite toys? They're going to add a specific line item for tariff fees that they say will add 15-40% in the price of toys.
Jeff and I were ranting a bit about it in the Sarlacc pit as it involves the whims of our dear leader Trump.
Sarlacc Pit (https://www.jedidefender.com/yabbse/index.php?topic=24422.930)
We can discuss in either or both places, but looks like this is going to be a real thing for the collecting community going forward.
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I don't have anything ordered with them so I haven't, but it's no surprise at all. It's only a matter of time before those deluxe prices apply to basic figures with Hasbro too. 104% tarrifs can't be absorbed.
Good on BBTS for putting it as a line item so everyone knows who's to blame. Politics as aside as I can, none of this is necessary and none of these companies or stores are going to want to take the blame for it when they start getting calls from angry customers.
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I don't have access to the Sarlacc Pit, so I apologize if this shouldn't be posted here.
My question is, I had heard that Hasbro moved production into Vietnam and India. Theoretically, if tariffs are 'paused' would that mean Hasbro can avoid this 100%+ trade war, or was the Vietnam/India news more PR than actual production?
This week has been an emotional and financial rollercoaster.
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I don't have access to the Sarlacc Pit, so I apologize if this shouldn't be posted here.
My question is, I had heard that Hasbro moved production into Vietnam and India. Theoretically, if tariffs are 'paused' would that mean Hasbro can avoid this 100%+ trade war, or was the Vietnam/India news more PR than actual production?
This week has been an emotional and financial rollercoaster.
You can apply for access to the Sarlacc Pit if you want to. The default is no access, but just ask if you want access. Its usually not too messy in there.
A couple of challenges with ever shifting tariffs and Hasbro:
- Hasbro overall has 40% of production still in China. Its hard to tell how much of Star Wars is there vs. Nerf and other things.
- Tariffs are charged on the import date, so today there may be 100% tariffs, and next week it might be 20%, and then later in the year it could be something different. Retailers, consumers, etc. can't easily plan around this ever shifting unknown.
- Running a business with such massive unknowns is really, really hard, and a lot of consumers won't understand what is going on. They'll think, "I preordered this for $18. Why am I being charged $27? I'm getting screwed by Hasbro/BBTS, etc." I think you may also see price guarantees like Amazon's go away, or they'll add line item "tariff passthrough charges" like BBTS.
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My question is, I had heard that Hasbro moved production into Vietnam and India.
Hasbro has diversified some SW stuff into Vietnam. Mainly the much simpler stuff.
I think it was around 2015/2016 that I first noticed the occasional "made in Vietnam" on packages - Stuff like the Rogue One 2-packs.
(https://rebelscum.com/Hasbro-Star-Wars/Bistan-Shoretrooper-Captain-C0928-B7073-Rogue-One/Bistan-Shoretrooper-Captain-C0928-B7073-Rogue-One-024.jpg)
I think right now, most of the TVC Stuff is still made in China because the level of quality/parts/paint requires more experienced factories while most (if not all) of the Epic Hero 4" scale stuff is made in Vietnam, like Boba Fett here -
(https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/816TBVWlmkL._AC_SL1500_.jpg)
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I did a quick check of a couple dozen TVC and Disney Droid Factory figures I had laying around from the past couple of years and I couldn't find anything that wasn't "made in China".
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In general, TVC and TBS are made in China, while Retro and Epic are made in Vietnam. iirc.
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(https://i.imgur.com/cT8BQJg.gif)
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That prompted me to take a look at some of the other lines and sure enough, some of the Solo movie products were also made in Vietnam.
While the 'Solo' Millennium Falcon and basic figures were made in China, the Enfys Speeder, Han's Landspeeder, AT-DT, Tie Fighter and their accompanying figures were all Vietnam. The 2-packs seem to be Vietnam as well, except the C3P0/R2 pack.
Those sculpts and paint applications weren't bad at all, just the articulation was lacking. They remind me of some of the POTJ figures from 2001. Especially that Enfys Nest figure.
With that being the case, I wonder where the Cantina is being produced and distributed from.
Maybe TVC can be shifted over if this mess doesn't resolve quickly. If that's the case, however, we will probably have a lot more to worry about than TVC.
Thank you Jeff, Dave, and Muftak for the info!
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Dear Valued EE Customers,
I want to update you on the current environment (specifically related to new tariff policy) and the impact it is having on our business and our pricing.
Since February, the Entertainment Earth team has been working as hard as possible with our vendor partners and internally to absorb as much cost impact as possible. Unfortunately, we cannot absorb all of the cost increases/tariffs, particularly on products coming from China. Additionally, the current situation is preventing many retailers (ourselves included) from importing product from China which will impact timing of product receipt.
A few things to know:
You will be receiving information in the coming days on price increases and/or delays based on cost increases from vendors and/or tariffs.
To protect you and your purchases, you will be able to adjust your orders without penalty, as we understand the new costs may impact your ability/desire for these products.
If the environment changes and we have the opportunity to reduce prices, we have every intention to do so based on positive changes in the cost structure of toys. Our goal is to support you in building and growing your collections.
Entertainment Earth was built by fans with the singular purpose of bringing pop culture joy to all of you. As fans and collectors ourselves, it truly pains us both personally and professionally not to be able to deliver amazing collector products from so many terrific partners at prices that meet your (and our) expectations.
Please know that we continue to advocate for improved pricing from all possible partners, that we continue to “tighten our belt” as much as possible to serve you, and that if we see positive changes that can lower price, we will pass them on.
Thank you deeply for your continued support and partnership. As always, please feel free to reach out to our team with any questions.
Best regards,
Billy Lagor, CEO Entertainment Earth, and the EE Team
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Ugh, I have two different things on PO with them right now, I better find other options I guess. :(
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It’s going to be the same story everywhere before too long. Every importer is facing the same challenge.
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I spun all the tariff talk from a couple different threads into one - not surprised to see EE follow the same path as BBTS. Pretty sure others (are there really any others these days?) will follow suit as well. Amazon and Pulse can probably hold out longer given their sizes.
Let's hope it all gets resolved to some level of satisfaction before it starts to really cause issues (thinking about how tariff charges may impact my ability to get that HasLab Cantina this Fall).
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Logically I am having trouble grasping why EE and BBTS are going to ve charging variable tariff fees on top of their prices. Unless they are directly importing toys from Chinese toy companies, don't they buy straight from US companies that have already imported the toys? (I understand the toy company has to pay the tariff, but on previously ordered product like current EE preorders, isn't there a price agreement already in place?)
Granted that going forward base prices for MSRP ought to jump significantly to cover the toy company's new tariff expense, but how does this become a conversation between EE and me, as opposed to between Hasbro and EE?
Can anyone dumb this down enough for me to make sense of it?
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Ultimately it doesn't matter who is the importer of record and who pays the tariff. If Hasbro is the importer of record and paying the tariff, Hasbro could very easily just pass that on to BBTS and EE because they don't have enough a contract that protects them against price changes. If EE and BBTS are the importer of record then they're paying the tariffs directly. Either way they're paying the higher costs and passing them along to their customers (us).
Amazon may have specific language in their contract with Hasbro that doesn't allow for this, or they've chosen to eat the tariffs for now and not pass it on to customers because they value their "price guarantee" long term more than short term profitability. I would assume Target and Wal-Mart probably also have strong buying power with Hasbro that might protect them more than a small company like EE and BBTS.
Either way, somebody has to pay the tariff and decide if they want to pass it on down the line to the customer. It can even become more exacerbated if everyone is trying to maintain a margin %. If people are trying to achieve 30% margins along the way (factory to Hasbro, Hasbro to retailer, retailer to customer) and there is a 10% tariff paid at the beginning, that will result in a larger than 10% price increase as retailers seek to maintain their 30% margins. In my business we call this margin stacking, and it usually results in substantial lost business.
EE and BBTS are probably also working with other distributors for some of their lines (although maybe not Hasbro). Think Japanese anime or some other types of lines where the manufacturer may not sell direct to US companies and work with another layer of distributors. That could add another layer of margin stacking.
Tariffs are generally a terrible idea unless they're protecting a strategic capability - e.g. microchips, steel/aluminum, etc. The US and Europe haven't made plastic toys in our lifetime and never will.
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Yeah, the price increases ripple through the whole process. EE or BBTS buy from Hasbro and Hasbro isn’t going to absorb all of this, so they pass it on to whoever buys it from them whether that’s us directly or other stores.
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I spun all the tariff talk from a couple different threads into one - not surprised to see EE follow the same path as BBTS. Pretty sure others (are there really any others these days?) will follow suit as well. Amazon and Pulse can probably hold out longer given their sizes.
Let's hope it all gets resolved to some level of satisfaction before it starts to really cause issues (thinking about how tariff charges may impact my ability to get that HasLab Cantina this Fall).
Oof, I hadn’t even thought about the Cantina. 145% tariffs on that are going to cause a real nightmare.
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Oof, I hadn’t even thought about the Cantina. 145% tariffs on that are going to cause a real nightmare.
Hasbro has a real dilemma there. Do they...
- Eat the tariff cost out of their profit on the set as a show of goodwill to the customers who supported it?
- Ask the HasLab buyers for more money on top of the $350-500 you already spent to get your Cantina?
- Offer refunds to anyone who wants to cancel and then put those cancelled HasLab Cantina sets on Pulse for $500 basic/$750 deluxe?
Again, really hoping all this nonsense is cleared up before then...
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Okay. I appreciate replies. I still don't know if I get it. Here's the scenario that runs through my mind...
Hasbro debuts a $17 TVC action figure today for delivery in the summer. EE puts it up for presale, and presells out. The figure arrives in July now with a 150% tariff added on, so it becomes a $42 purchase. (I know in reality it is a tariff on the wholesale price and not MSRP, but go with me for simplicity's sake.) EE allows me to cancel that preorder, and in fact all preorder customers cancel due to the incredible price jump. Does EE get stuck with all that inventory at that cost? Can they cancel and stick Hasbro with the costs and inventory? Can Hasbro refuse the tariff and choose not to unload the ship?
Is all of this unprecedented and just unknown at this point?
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Again, really hoping all this nonsense is cleared up before then...
Same. I have little faith that it will be though, but I'd be happy to be wrong.
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Okay. I appreciate replies. I still don't know if I get it. Here's the scenario that runs through my mind...
Hasbro debuts a $17 TVC action figure today for delivery in the summer. EE puts it up for presale, and presells out. The figure arrives in July now with a 150% tariff added on, so it becomes a $42 purchase. (I know in reality it is a tariff on the wholesale price and not MSRP, but go with me for simplicity's sake.) EE allows me to cancel that preorder, and in fact all preorder customers cancel due to the incredible price jump. Does EE get stuck with all that inventory at that cost? Can they cancel and stick Hasbro with the costs and inventory? Can Hasbro refuse the tariff and choose not to unload the ship?
Is all of this unprecedented and just unknown at this point?
Yes, yes, and yes.
There are customers choosing to abandon their items at the dock (in China or on the West Coast) because the provided a down payment (lets say 50%) and then have to pay the final amount upon shipment. The tariffs are so high and the costs now make their items unsellable so they are just walking away. The manufacturer (in China) is screwed because they have lost half of their revenue but fully invested to make something that is now unsellable. The buyer is screwed because they lost their down payment and now have nothing to sell. And the end customer is screwed because now they can't buy the widget that they want/need.
I'm working with a few customers in China that are asking us to hold inventory indefinitely in the US until the tariffs are resolved/lowered. They've paid us the agreed upon price, but we're just sitting on it. I wouldn't be surprised if Hasbro might try something like that with the Cantina where they ask the factory (or local subsidiary) to hold the finished product for some period of time in hopes that tariffs decline.
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Thanks Dave for your first-person information. That is a really scary situation. I realize that I am looking at it from the nebulous position of a toy collector, but expanding it out to ALL the industries that are going to feel it and are currently forced to reac to it is making my mind go numb. But at least I can stop asking questions that way.
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It’s going to be the same story everywhere before too long. Every importer is facing the same challenge.
Yeah, I guess I was thinking more of the Amazon preorder price guarantee. I’d like lock my preorders in so at least they don’t get even more expensive in a few weeks/months.
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Amazing preorders will be interesting to watch… like you said they offer a guarantee but I have a hard time believing there won’t be a limit for them on what they’re willing to absorb if the prices really do jump 100-plus percent.
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Amazing preorders will be interesting to watch… like you said they offer a guarantee but I have a hard time believing there won’t be a limit for them on what they’re willing to absorb if the prices really do jump 100-plus percent.
Certain types of goods and companies have been getting tariff exemptions, I wouldn't be surprised to see some of those just so happen to fall Amazon's way... but who really knows, this could all change again tomorrow.
Who knows where we are headed... I am definitely expecting my collecting habits to change significantly over the next four or so years. Depending on the final price increases, I'll likely cut back on army building and stop buying extras.
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I also received the Tariff Email from EE. I have two pre-orders with them, the re-release of Darth Nihilus in TBS which is a $2 increase and the TVC Luke's X-wing which is a $7 increase. While I'm not thrilled about the price increases, they could be a lot worse.
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Of my Snowtrooper preorders with EE, three have shipped. The remaining have jumped a whole
dollar to $17.99 each.
So, not a prohibitive jump up to this point.
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I wonder what that says about the actual wholesale cost of a TVC figure...
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I got a notification that one of my Marvel Legends preorders went up by $2, despite the fact that other retailers already have this figure in stock and are selling it at regular price. ::)
So nope, I don’t care if it’s for two dollars or two cents, I would feel like a sucker paying more for something when I don’t have to, so that one is getting canceled. None of my Amazon preorders have gone up yet.
I wonder how much business they will lose over this.
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It does seem there was a pre-tariff price hike of some sort. I really like BBTS and have used them several times this year to catch up on all the TVC I could, so I don't want to be disparaging.
However, a few weeks ago I ordered one of those Heavy Battle Droids from BF2 and it was $9.99. Now it's $11.99. I doubt they are paying an import fee now for a figure that has been on a clearance sale for weeks.
Noticed the same with the Peasant Disguise Anakin and their own BF2 Arc Trooper. Looks like a $2 increase across the board, clearance items included.
I will support the hobby as long as I can. Having recently gotten back in, I already had to mentally adjust from paying $7.99/figure to paying $16.99/figure.
What I don't want to happen is that BBTS, EE, and others like comic shops have to raise prices now while Amazon weathers the storm and siphons the customer base away.
I just lost my 2 closest Gamestops and only 1 Walmart by me regularly restocks TVC. Amazon can be great, but I don't want a future where they are the only reasonable option.
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I'm hoping they aren't going to charge a fee for stuff that's in Pile of Loot that came in before all this "fun" happened. That would be upsetting.
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It does seem there was a pre-tariff price hike of some sort. I really like BBTS and have used them several times this year to catch up on all the TVC I could, so I don't want to be disparaging.
However, a few weeks ago I ordered one of those Heavy Battle Droids from BF2 and it was $9.99. Now it's $11.99. I doubt they are paying an import fee now for a figure that has been on a clearance sale for weeks.
Noticed the same with the Peasant Disguise Anakin and their own BF2 Arc Trooper. Looks like a $2 increase across the board, clearance items included.
I will support the hobby as long as I can. Having recently gotten back in, I already had to mentally adjust from paying $7.99/figure to paying $16.99/figure.
What I don't want to happen is that BBTS, EE, and others like comic shops have to raise prices now while Amazon weathers the storm and siphons the customer base away.
I just lost my 2 closest Gamestops and only 1 Walmart by me regularly restocks TVC. Amazon can be great, but I don't want a future where they are the only reasonable option.
Yeah that sucks. :-(
It could be a situation where they raised the price of everything, even the stuff they had already imported and have in the warehouse, by a little bit to spread out the cost increase and avoid sharply raising prices on just the newly imported stuff, in hopes that the tariffs will go away before too long.
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It could be a situation where they raised the price of everything, even the stuff they had already imported and have in the warehouse, by a little bit to spread out the cost increase and avoid sharply raising prices on just the newly imported stuff, in hopes that the tariffs will go away before too long.
Yeah, tariffs technically only apply at the rate on the day you accept your items through customs, so anything that has been stocked for more than 90 days has not been hit with the new tariffs.
Although keeping track of different tariff rates on different days from different countries from different distributors is probably well beyond the capability of all but the most sophisticated of retailers. I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of retailers just generally raise prices when they don't have an easy way to break it down by product.
Its one thing to track toys that have a release date and you probably get one big shipment, but imagine the impact to your operations if you order something basic from different countries and have shipments always arriving. How and when to raise prices would be be a challenge.
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Companies might also raise prices on non-tariffed existing stock as a way to reduce the amount they have to raise prices on incoming stock. Like, they can opt to sort of spread the pain out a bit.
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Without making this political, the president seems to be giving in a bit for the moment. Yesterday he walked back comments about wanting to fire Jerome Powell, and said that some tariffs would remain in place on China but far less than we have now. He seems to be at least slightly aware that this isn’t causing anything but harm, including costing him political capital.
I’m not convinced he’ll feel that way in a week, but at least there seems to be a little bit of movement in the right direction.
Apparently a bunch of CEO’s went to Washington to warn that we were potentially just a few weeks away from empty shelves in the US. (https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-dramatically-changed-his-tune-after-ceos-delivered-a-terrifying-warning/)
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Without making this political, the president seems to be giving in a bit for the moment. Yesterday he walked back comments about wanting to fire Jerome Powell, and said that some tariffs would remain in place on China but far less than we have now. He seems to be at least slightly aware that this isn’t causing anything but harm, including costing him political capital.
I’m not convinced he’ll feel that way in a week, but at least there seems to be a little bit of movement in the right direction.
If you want to get political we've got the thread in the Sarlaac Pit.
Glad that Trump did tamp down the anti Jerome Powell stuff. I don't Trump can tie more than two dots together on how macro economics and his behavior and rants can upend the global markets. He needs some capable cabinet members than can talk him off the ledge and counsel him on these things. **** is a lot more complicated than he realizes and stability at the Federal Reserve, the bond market, etc. are critical to the entire global economic ecosystem.
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Oof. Slightly less than 8% average for my EE pre-orders, but considering the quantity, a solid dinner w/ drinks. Not hating on EE.
Hopefully with Trump's announcement that the tarrifs against China will be lower than previously announced, businesses will be able to walk back some of the proposed increases.
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Hopefully, but when was the last time anyone went back to charging less for something? 🤔
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Hopefully, but when was the last time anyone went back to charging less for something? 🤔
That is my worry too. I like the way that BBTS did things. They undid their price hikes (example: they had put the Landspeeder at $65 but recently revised it back down to $60) and then added a nebulous "excludes tariff surcharge" line. I'm hoping this means they will be able to hold the line on prices and then just drop the tariff surcharge when they can.
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Not Star Wars, but posting this for comparison on how some others are handling things. I got this one today from Super 7 - they are going the "tariff surcharge" route.
Dear Super7 Community,
We want to share an important update about how recent changes in global trade and import tariffs are affecting us.
Starting today, April 24th, an 8% surcharge will be added to all non-apparel items.
We didn’t come to this decision lightly. For as long as possible, we’ve worked to absorb these rising costs ourselves—without passing them along to you. Unfortunately, the scale of these increases has made it unsustainable for us to continue doing so entirely. Even with this surcharge, it still doesn’t cover the full impact we're facing.
We’re doing everything we can behind the scenes to minimize the effect on our community. If conditions change or a better solution becomes available, we’ll reevaluate this surcharge immediately.
Super7 has always been about more than just toys—it’s about the people who collect them. We’ll keep you updated every step of the way, and we sincerely appreciate your understanding and continued support during this time.
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Yeah, they applied it to everything including the oldest stuff they have in stock that has already been sitting here in the States for MONTHS and was not imported under any kind of tariff. That’s shady af.
They would likely claim that they were trying to spread out the impact by applying it across the board, but if that is true they should have done it to EVERYTHING, including apparel. Action figures seem to be bearing all of the burden alone.
I hope they lose a TON of business over this and are forced to reconsider the whole thing. I’m def not ordering anything from them directly anymore, I know that.
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I quit collecting Super 7 a few years back and sold all my ReAction figures. I loved that line at $10 and tolerated it at $15, but I was out at $18… now it’s even more than that. I just couldn’t justify it anymore.
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I have been picking up some of the S7 Sesame Street Reaction stuff, mostly in the $16-18 range on sale at Amazon. $21 each is just too much for 5POA stuff. I'll be quitting those unless I can still find deals on Amazon.
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Thought this was interesting (from Yakface Twitter (https://x.com/yak_face/status/1919083066561032258)).
Looks like Hasbro is prepping for some pre-order price hikes... if there is something you've been thinking about buying, maybe now is the time to pre-order (you can always cancel the pre-order later if you change your mind).
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GqHz4JWXUAAsD15.jpg)
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I was surprised we didn't see the price hikes today...
I think it's paywalled, but this article was outlining where we're headed with toys, 80% of which are made in China.
Retailers Fear Toy Shortages at Christmas as Tariffs Freeze Supply Chain
Toy makers and stores are freezing holiday orders, predicting shortages and higher prices. Some are consulting bankruptcy lawyers, fearing their firms won’t survive. (https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/29/business/trump-tariffs-christmas-china.html)
President Trump’s China tariffs are threatening Christmas.
Toy makers, children’s shops and specialty retailers are pausing orders for the winter holidays as the import taxes cascade through supply chains. Factories in China produce nearly 80 percent of all toys and 90 percent of Christmas goods sold in America.
The production of toys, Christmas trees and decorations is usually in full swing by now. It takes four to five months to manufacture, package and ship products to the United States.
Mr. Trump’s 145 percent tariffs have caused a drastic markup in costs for American companies. Most of the entrepreneurs that have shared their plans with The New York Times have not yet canceled their orders. They hope that the president will back away from the tariff brinkmanship.
But the alarm in the industry is palpable, with the companies predicting product shortages and higher prices. Some business owners, citing how crucial holiday sales are to their bottom lines, are consulting bankruptcy lawyers.
“We have a frozen supply chain that is putting Christmas at risk,” said Greg Ahearn, chief executive of the Toy Association, a U.S. industry group representing 850 toy manufacturers. “If we don’t start production soon, there’s a high probability of a toy shortage this holiday season.”
For America’s Christmas industry, Chinese manufacturing is unmatched in its production speed and capability. Toy makers overhaul large portions of their product lines every year to adapt to the changing preferences of children. From materials to machinery, China’s factories are one-stop shops for importers.
Kara Dyer, founder of Storytime Toys, a maker of children’s books with playset puzzles, usually places a big holiday order with her Chinese factory in the first two weeks of April to have enough inventory by mid-July. The Christmas holidays account for about two-thirds of her annual revenue.
Ms. Dyer placed a small order of $30,000 worth of products before the latest tariffs, never expecting they would surge to such high levels. That shipment is en route to the United States. When it arrives, she said, she expects to owe $45,000 in tariffs. The shipment will provide the company with enough inventory for a few months, and she said she would probably raise prices at least 20 percent to cover the tariff costs. But she is waiting to make a big holiday purchase.
“I’m going to hold out hope for another two weeks that the tariffs will be removed and I’ll be able to place the order,” she said. “But if not, I will have to put my business on pause. I will definitely not place an order if the tariffs are in effect. It wouldn’t make any sense.”
In a Toy Association survey of 410 toy manufacturers with annual sales of less than $100 million, more than 60 percent said they had canceled orders, and around 50 percent said they would go out of business within weeks or months if the tariffs remained.
At West Side Kids in New York City, the shop’s owner, Jennifer Bergman, 58, is concerned that she may not have any toys to sell at Christmas. And the toys she can get her hands on could cost twice what they did last year, which would crimp her sales during the most important time of the year.
Toy companies are already marking up prices 10 to 20 percent, said Ms. Bergman, whose mother opened the store 43 years ago. She said that she would try to buy as much as she could now, but that the shortages were already starting. She had placed a large order of scooters to arrive for the summer. But the importer rerouted the shipment to Canada because it did not want to pay the tariff. She was told that she would get only a portion of her order.
If the tariffs remain, Christmas will be like “something we’ve never experienced before,” Ms. Bergman said. People will be standing in line to buy things that cost twice or three times as much as before, she said. Her business was already under pressure from competition by Amazon, but she fears that the tariffs will deliver a final blow.
“I don’t think I will be in business for Christmas,” said Ms. Bergman, who added that she was consulting a bankruptcy lawyer.
Nick Mowbray and his brother, Mat, founded Zuru Group in China, making an assortment of plastic dart “blasters,” water balloon accessories and bubble guns that are sold at Walmart and Target. He said retailers were not placing holiday orders. Zuru has cut its marketing budget for the holiday season in half, to $60 million, because it expects to be selling fewer products.
Mr. Mowbray, a native of New Zealand, said everything was in “a holding pattern.” If the tariffs remain at 145 percent, he expects prices for consumers to increase around 50 to 100 percent.
“That will be unaffordable for a lot of families,” he said.
Mr. Trump has in recent days struck a conciliatory tone toward China and the tariffs, fueling some hope among business owners that he may exempt industries that do not pose a national security threat.
Mr. Ahearn from the Toy Association said he was in Washington last week to lobby for a 24-month reprieve, which could give companies time to find ways to make their products in the United States.
But even if Mr. Trump grants importers temporary relief, significant disruptions will occur as companies rush to fulfill orders. Shipping costs are expected to surge, similar to the frenzy during the Covid pandemic, when a shortage of shipping containers led in some cases to a tenfold increase in freight prices.
Christmas is the busiest time of year for Aldik Home, a home goods store in Los Angeles. It generates more than two-thirds of its annual sales in the final three months of the year, selling artificial Christmas trees, wreaths, ornaments, lights and other decorations.
Larry Gold, the store’s owner, said he had worked with a Chinese factory for many years to design Christmas trees. He places the order in January for shipment in June or July. This year, he planned to send seven 40-foot containers from China loaded with $600,000 worth of trees. The current tariff would require him to pay nearly $1 million at once.
“Right now, we’ve asked them to hold up and wait,” Mr. Gold, 72, said.
Last year, the store sold seven-and-a-half-foot trees for about $1,000. Mr. Gold said he would have no choice but to pass on the tariff cost to shoppers, which would put the price of that same tree at more than $2,000. He said that price would in effect “kill the product.”
“I can’t believe anybody in this country who is buying trees from China will pay the 145 percent duty, because they’ll never sell them,” Mr. Gold said.
At this rate, he said, he will not bring in the trees, and his store, which has been open for decades, will have nothing to sell during the most crucial period of the year. He said he would probably be forced to close, costing his 40 employees their jobs.
“There won’t be a Christmas industry here,” Mr. Gold said. “The product all comes from China.”
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Not TVC but posting this for comparison on how other companies are handling things -
Funko:
https://funko.com/funko-blog-home/committed-to-delivering-for-fans-even-in-a-changing-world.html
Details are light but just confirmation that price hikes are coming for Funko products. They aren't blaming just the tariffs, but a whole pile of things - probably so they can keep the price hikes in place even if the tariffs go away.
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That feels light on actual information. It just says… prices are going up but we’re going to give you better sculpts and prettier packaging?
Ok.
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Mattel announced that they were revising some forecasts, planning for price hikes, and planning to move some manufacturing out of China because of the tariffs. Then this happened...
Trump threatens toymaker Mattel with 100% tariffs (https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/trump-administration/live-blog/trump-administration-britain-tariffs-immigration-doge-live-updates-rcna204764/rcrd78862?canonicalCard=true)
Steve Kopack
After toymaker Mattel said it would move some production from China to India to dodge 145% tariffs on China, Trump said he could hit the company with 100% tariffs.
Referring to the planned move that Mattel CEO Ynon Kreiz announced, Trump said, "I've heard them say ... we're gonna try going somewhere else. That's OK. We'll put 100% tariff on his toys."
"And he won't sell toys in the United States, that's their biggest market," Trump added.
Shares of Mattel briefly took a sharp drop on Trump's comments, and the stock remains lower by around 2%.
(https://jedidefender.com/jsmentek/huh.gif)
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I've had more than Kenough of these tariffs.
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Me too, and the actual shortages and price shocks haven’t even hit yet. It’s likely to be very very bad.
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One mom & pop mini-chain near me is already trying to take advantage of the new climate. They jacked up their TVC basic figure prices to $21.99 - and this was on OLD stock, like the CW Barriss Offee, Vel Sartha, Greef Karga and others.
Meanwhile I'm plugging more gaps. SMH, this is not looking good.
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Why not cut out the middle man and just slap a tariff on the CEO? (I’m joking but also 100% sure that idea was spitballed) 🤦♂️
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I’d expected to wake up this morning to Pulse preorders being available again at new prices. Now I’m wondering if everyone is in a wait and see mode since the US and China are both saying they made some progress over the weekend at resolving at least some of this…
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The news this morning is that talks between the U.S. and China in Switzerland have the two countries agreeing to temporarily slash tariffs. The U.S. tariff on goods from China will be cut to 30% from 145%. The Secretary of the Treasury said in an interview this morning that he expects there to be a longer term agreement negotiated in the next few weeks.
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The tricky thing is that these are "temporary". It takes a month+ to ship (pack, load, cross the Pacific, unload) something from China and clear customs in the US. If there isn't clarity on how long the 30% tariff is in place it'll still be tough for companies to pull the trigger on importing things.
I know bigger companies like Hasbro *might* have import/export holding companies in China where items could technically clear customs before they ship, but I have no idea if Hasbro does this or if their stuff clears customs at the final destination.
Let's hope Hasbro has a bunch of stuff they can clear quickly and keep prices reasonable.
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I wonder what happened to moving-manufacturing-back-to-the-US... but this is for the best if it keeps things stable. People can incentivize US manufacturing with more carrots and fewer sticks.
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I wonder what happened to moving-manufacturing-back-to-the-US... but this is for the best if it keeps things stable. People can incentivize US manufacturing with more carrots and fewer sticks.
Have plastic toys ever been made in the US, even in the "golden age of US manufacturing"??? My 1978 Star Wars figures say Hong Kong on them...
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The current tariff rollback is for 90 days. The treasury secretary said that a more permanent agreement was currently being negotiated between the U.S. and the Chinese.
As for Hasbro or Kenner manufacturing in the U.S.? There's a pretty well known photo of some lady assembling a Millennium Falcon back in the Kenner days, and it looks like it's a domestic factory. But the commentary that I've seen linked to that photo also indicate that a lot of the parts were made in Hong Kong, with final assembly here in the U.S. I can imagine the reason was it was less expensive to ship the parts from HK, rather than do final assembly and packaging there. The final product would probably occupy far more space in shipping containers compared to the parts.
(https://i.redd.it/8e208zxd8hu41.jpg)
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The current tariff rollback is for 90 days. The treasury secretary said that a more permanent agreement was currently being negotiated between the U.S. and the Chinese.
So tired of these temporary fixes... 75 Day reprieves from the TikTok ban... 90 more days to fix Chinese Tarriffs... 30 day ceasefires... 60 or 90 day government funding extensions so we can barely avert a shutdown four times a year...
I wish things could occasionally just get fixed.
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On a related note, I finally quit smoking (after 15 years) by going to vaping last year. Then in January, CA banned the sale of the refillable nicotine I was using. The brands I bought most were made in Irvine, CA and Beavercreek, OH. Reluctantly made the switch to these single-use disposable contraptions, all of which are made in China.
Yesterday, I spoke to a shop owner who's been in business for over 10 years and found out his distributors had their shipments from China cancelled. Don't know what he's going to do or how long he'll be able to stay open. It's not like he's got oodles of product stocked up. It's like fate saying "we would prefer you just start smoking again" :(
With today's news, maybe some things go back to a more normal situation. I hope so, at least. It's less about 'two dolls instead of thirty' to me and more about 'regular people own shops selling dolls...please dont make them close and put on a walmart vest'.
Also, Hasbro Pulse still shows 'temporarily unavailable' on all the newer products. I'm bracing for price increases regardless of whatever band-aid deal is made.
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Yesterday, I spoke to a shop owner who's been in business for over 10 years and found out his distributors had their shipments from China cancelled. Don't know what he's going to do or how long he'll be able to stay open. It's not like he's got oodles of product stocked up. It's like fate saying "we would prefer you just start smoking again" :(
Cigarettes are made in America. You can help the great American cigarette factory worker by buying American. Trump would thank you for switching. :P
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"Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in"
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Pulse is back and running as usual… no price changes that I see. I suppose the 90 day extension has made changes unnecessary for now.
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Damn, I was really hoping that the Cantina Adventure Set and the Stormtrooper set would have been opened for additional preorders as well, but no such luck.
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I'm seeing a price-bump from $16.99 to $22.99 on Amazon for Shin, Mando Super Commando, and the 501st Trooper from this latest wave. Looks like Asajj has also gone from $19.99 to $22.99.
With Cobb Vanth sitting as he did for $24.99, and IG-12 doing the same (locally at least) I cannot imagine this will be healthy for the line.
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Those amazon prices feel like trial balloons. A few of them are on figures that are already out, a few are on future preorders…
When they see that other retailers haven’t raised prices yet I suspect they’ll adjust back down to normal.
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Those amazon prices feel like trial balloons.
Yeah, hard to tell what they are doing - Amazon seems to be a mixed bag with some still at $16.99, some at $22.99, and some "temporarily unavailable".
I guess it could just be normal algorithm based weirdness too based on sales/pre-order patterns?
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Well, I’m glad I preordered all the TVC stuff I wanted at the regular price now. I wonder if all this bs will make them less likely to put older stuff on sale now too. ???
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Just got an email from EE stating that they've reduced my two items on pre-order back to their original price.
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Very impressed they actually followed through on that. Would have been easy for them to keep those higher prices...
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I haven’t gotten an email yet and I have at least one Marvel Legends figure on PO with them along with that SW ROTJ Retro pack. Is it just SW stuff they are adjusting so far?
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Email said “select Hasbro items”, so maybe not Marvel at the moment?