Tracking toy tariffs

Sure hope China blinks first and removes their retaliatory tariffs. Sounds like Trump won’t even come to the negotiating table if they don’t. 100%+ tariffs aren’t good for anyone. If those stick for more than just a few days that could quite easily kill the toy industry as we know it, let alone countless other industries. I keep hoping this is all some grand ploy to get most tariffs removed worldwide and the intent was not to enforce these more than just a few days as a negotiating tactic. I just hope repealing any tariffs happen as fast as they were implemented. And hopefully before companies start raising prices but never bring them back down.
 
Been keeping an eye on things myself. It's funny- I knew what tariffs were before, but I never paid them any mind. Now I'm watching with bated breath at every little turn and trying to see how it effects me. I'm trying hard to find the silver linings to things, but man, it's getting tougher and tougher. I haven't yet given it thought as to what the "breaking point" for me is. Sometimes now, if something is priced even a dollar or two more, I won't get it, but for other things, price never seems to be an issue. I guess it would be a case-by-case thing. Would I pay $50 for a basic Marvel Legends? Probably not. Right now, my splurge toys seem to be NECA figures, and even those I sometimes have a hard time justifying at $35-40.

On one hand, it would inadvertently get me to be a lot more careful with my spending, which could only be a good thing. But on the other hand, I'd really be missing out on a lot of things that bring me great joy. You never really stop to think how something like a little plastic plaything can bring you so much joy until it's at risk of being taken away. It feels silly that I'd even stress about having to choose between, you know, food and shelter or toys- it's such a first-world problem to have, and only highlights how lucky I am, but still. I suppose two things can be true at once.

I know McFarlane already announced some price hikes, and I appreciate that they're trying to keep it limited to certain lines/items. I'd love it if other companies were able to do the same, but I doubt it. I'm sure McFarlane being (more or less) its own entity helps them- obviously I'm sure there's a fair amount of outsourcing they do, but he's mentioned many times before that the reason he can do certain things or keep prices a certain way is because he doesn't have to answer to whatever parent company, etc. Obviously that's not the case with other companies. I'm hoping for the best, but preparing for the worst.

Me caring about tariffs- who'da thunk it?!
 
There is a tiny handful of Legends I would give $50 for, basically team completers like Rachel Summers, Feral, etc. But I'd never start a new team and I'd even be out on teams where we are half complete or less (like Serpent Society).
 
As a schooled economist, tariffs have always been sort of a bane of the free market. I can't read what's coming out of the current administration without wanting to rip my hair out. It's all nonsense, there's no science behind the numbers they're putting out, and there's really no clear end game in sight.

Apologies for not reading through all 15 pages, but the silver lining to keep in mind is that tariffs are applied to the price the product is assessed at the border so a 50% tariff hike doesn't necessarily mean a 50% price hike, but there's no way to spin it as good for the consumer. I'm guessing we're going to see companies delay products in a hope that this blows over, but they obviously can only do that for so long. As always, Hasbro will be the one to watch not just because they're a market leader, but because they just tend to offer up the most product the most often. Maybe they bite the bullet on the next batch of preorders, but they won't hold out too long. And, of course, everyone is waiting to see if Nintendo makes any adjustments to their just announced Switch 2 prices. People already seemed outraged at the announced price of $450-500, imagine $600?
 
Misfit said:
As a schooled economist, tariffs have always been sort of a bane of the free market. I can't read what's coming out of the current administration without wanting to rip my hair out. It's all nonsense, there's no science behind the numbers they're putting out, and there's really no clear end game in sight.

Apologies for not reading through all 15 pages, but the silver lining to keep in mind is that tariffs are applied to the price the product is assessed at the border so a 50% tariff hike doesn't necessarily mean a 50% price hike, but there's no way to spin it as good for the consumer. I'm guessing we're going to see companies delay products in a hope that this blows over, but they obviously can only do that for so long. As always, Hasbro will be the one to watch not just because they're a market leader, but because they just tend to offer up the most product the most often. Maybe they bite the bullet on the next batch of preorders, but they won't hold out too long. And, of course, everyone is waiting to see if Nintendo makes any adjustments to their just announced Switch 2 prices. People already seemed outraged at the announced price of $450-500, imagine $600?
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I wonder if Hasbro might just delay the upcoming preorders (Classified on the 15th)? I mean I think they have moved Joe to Vietnam now, but it is still at 46% there and who knows what could happen this week, or next.

My bigger worry is the upcoming Haslabs that are due to ship this year. I only have Omega Prime, Rattler and Ecto-1. The Ecto-1 probably won't ship until next year, and maybe even the Rattler. If so those could hopefully ship well after the tariff battle is over. Omega Prime is the one I am a bit worried about. It should be shipping in the next couple months and if the tariffs are still in effect will Hasbro take the hit on a $300 item? I know it is already paid for, but I'm in Canada and I worry that getting it shipped up here might hit me with an extra charge on delivery. The reason I worry is that people who have been returning from cross border shopping (back to Canada from the US) have been getting hit with a 25% extra duty. I would hate to have to pay another $100+Cdn just to get Omega Prime.
 
I have to be careful about how I phrase this so my assigned government agent doesn't get mad, but this White House is speedrunning getting kicked out of power. If the Republican Party wasn't a death cult, it would've happened by now.
canprime said:
Yeah, and that is why the modern day markets are kind of a joke. If something so small can swing all markets like that ($4 Trillion in a couple hours) then how can any of us be secure. Don't get me wrong, I'm in the market because it is still one of the best returns over the decades, but I made the mistake of watching my portfolio for a bit this morning and it was not fun. Gotta go back to only checking on it once a month.

Also I still think someone/someones are fudging Tesla because with all that has gone on with both Elon, and the company itself, there is no way the stock price should still be hovering around where it is currently.

Anyway time to get off my conspiracy horse for now.
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joshsquash729 said:
On one hand, it would inadvertently get me to be a lot more careful with my spending, which could only be a good thing. But on the other hand, I'd really be missing out on a lot of things that bring me great joy. You never really stop to think how something like a little plastic plaything can bring you so much joy until it's at risk of being taken away. It feels silly that I'd even stress about having to choose between, you know, food and shelter or toys- it's such a first-world problem to have, and only highlights how lucky I am, but still. I suppose two things can be true at once.
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The thing I want to reiterate is that this is all self-inflicted. Yes, it is a luxury that we are able to buy toys and enjoy them. However, up until five months ago, we lived in the richest country in the history of civilization.

For no reason at all, the lunatics in charge decided austerity and physically taxing factory jobs were preferable to comfort and cushy computer jobs.

Having less reliance on material things is good, but it shouldn't be beaten into you by an incompetent White House.
 
canprime said:
I wonder if Hasbro might just delay the upcoming preorders (Classified on the 15th)? I mean I think they have moved Joe to Vietnam now, but it is still at 46% there and who knows what could happen this week, or next.

My bigger worry is the upcoming Haslabs that are due to ship this year. I only have Omega Prime, Rattler and Ecto-1. The Ecto-1 probably won't ship until next year, and maybe even the Rattler. If so those could hopefully ship well after the tariff battle is over. Omega Prime is the one I am a bit worried about. It should be shipping in the next couple months and if the tariffs are still in effect will Hasbro take the hit on a $300 item? I know it is already paid for, but I'm in Canada and I worry that getting it shipped up here might hit me with an extra charge on delivery. The reason I worry is that people who have been returning from cross border shopping (back to Canada from the US) have been getting hit with a 25% extra duty. I would hate to have to pay another $100+Cdn just to get Omega Prime.
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Luckily Omega Prime has been in US ports for about two weeks now
 
canprime said:
I wonder if Hasbro might just delay the upcoming preorders (Classified on the 15th)? I mean I think they have moved Joe to Vietnam now, but it is still at 46% there and who knows what could happen this week, or next.

My bigger worry is the upcoming Haslabs that are due to ship this year. I only have Omega Prime, Rattler and Ecto-1. The Ecto-1 probably won't ship until next year, and maybe even the Rattler. If so those could hopefully ship well after the tariff battle is over. Omega Prime is the one I am a bit worried about. It should be shipping in the next couple months and if the tariffs are still in effect will Hasbro take the hit on a $300 item? I know it is already paid for, but I'm in Canada and I worry that getting it shipped up here might hit me with an extra charge on delivery. The reason I worry is that people who have been returning from cross border shopping (back to Canada from the US) have been getting hit with a 25% extra duty. I would hate to have to pay another $100+Cdn just to get Omega Prime.
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If the tariffs stay in place at the announced levels, could they even take the hit if they wanted to? I have the same question about the Haslab-lite Sentinel and Dragon Man. I obviously don't know what Hasbro's margins are on any of these things, but a 25-50% surcharge getting added almost certainly wipes it out and puts them into the negative on every unit sold.
 
thewyldman said:
Luckily Omega Prime has been in US ports for about two weeks now
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Well at least that knocks down one hit for me, but I guess the next question is do any of the Haslabs come directly into Canadian ports, or do they get shipped from the US?

EDIT: I took a quick look at some easily accessible Haslab boxes and the Skystriker came from within Canada, but the HISS came from Chino, California.

Ugh, I am so hoping something changes first before a possible extra charge on delivery.
 
In the past, Lutnick has pointed to iPhones as a product he would specifically like to see manufactured in the U.S.

"We all hold our iPhones, which we love. Why do they have to be made in Taiwan and China?” Lutnick told CNBC last week. “Why can't those be made with robotics in America? And you know what Donald Trump has said? They're going to be made in America."

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mrboshek said:
Why can't those be made with robotics in America?
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Because AI and robotics are on the verge of replacing humans, but we're not there yet and won't be for 10 to 20 years. Pretending we're already in the age of the Jetsons isn't helpful; it's an excuse to hide what Trump is really trying to do. We'll be there soon enough--maybe even during my lifetime which I never dreamed was possible--but there's still a ways to go.
 
Buttmunch said:
Sure hope China blinks first and removes their retaliatory tariffs.
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I can't imagine any scenario where Xi would ever do that. He's not on the short list of all-time historical villains like Mao was, but he's still a dictator who has repeatedly shown that he will not back down to anyone who is directly confronting him. He's got almost nothing to lose by escalating a trade war as far as Trump wants to take it since he's got the absolute hold on the media Trump wishes he had, and America has a TON more to lose than China does. Xi is far more willing and easily able to make his people suffer than any American president can match.

Trump is probably bluffing. It's certainly possible he's also so senile and isolated now that he has some delusion he can beat China, but there is no possible scenario where this country could ever win in a trade war with them without inflicting far more damage on ourselves than we have the ability to inflict on them.
 
EnigmaticClarity said:
Any idea how the Trade Commission determines the value of items, or what they might value a $25 MSRP action figure at? I'm guessing something like $10.
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Historically, it's largely been at the discretion of the importer. It's been a long time since I was writing papers on the subject, but 25 years ago an NFL jersey would come into the US with Nike/Reebok/whomever assessing a value sometimes less than 10 dollars for an item that retailed for over $100. That's because they only apply material cost to the item, not licensing, and the actual fabric and the cost of sweatshop labor is laughably small in comparison. I have no idea what the average figure coming into port is priced at today. Plastic is still pretty cheap when compared with other materials, but action figures are not known for high profit margins either once all factors are considered so the wiggle room for added costs in the form of tariffs could be pretty small. I've seen a few small businesses lay out their costs in response to these tariffs to illustrate how bad things are going to be for them, I'd be interested in seeing some of these smaller toy companies do the same for a clearer picture. Obviously, we already know the Longbox Heroes were killed by them and most would look at those figures and assume the cost is pretty low, but there still wasn't any way for them to make the math work at their current price.

If these hikes hold I do wonder if pre-order prices are just going to have to be blown up. I had been waffling on the Ramen Toys MUSK diorama, then these tariffs were announced and I put in a preorder at BBTS before the price could be changed. I'm assuming they're going to hope and pray things change before items like that, the Hasbro Sentinel, the Mythic Legions Dragon, and others start coming due. I won't be surprised at all though if these companies are forced to not honor these prices. It's obviously a huge problem for these crowdfund models where payment has already been made. I can't imagine how Four Horsemen could absorb these hits for that dragon. They're in a really tough spot because it's done, they took your money, and now they need to spend it on production. I definitely would expect delays on a lot of these products as they try to wait things out in the short term, but eventually the machine needs to get turned back on for these operations to stay afloat. Small increases happen all the time due to currency rates, the cost of shipping, etc and companies absorb them and adjust for it with their next batch of product. How do you adjust on a six-hundred dollar dragon getting its expected tariffs more than doubled? It's a mess.
 
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