X-Men '97

NORM said:
They're already going to see sales drop. That has to be happening right now. Plenty of people here have reconsidered preorders with these $5-$8-$10 price jumps. When no one buys them, they will reconsider pricing if the economic situation allows for it, or they'll fade away themselves. This ain't sustainable.
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Agreed. Yeah, if prices continue to jump due to Trump taxes and demand stays exactly the same then sure - there's no reason to bring them down again, even once the taxes go away. More likely they're already seeing a hit to total sales, and things are almost certain to get worse as prices continue to rise across the board and more people tighten their belts. I am a case study of exactly one, but I'm on track to spend about half on collecting in 2025 as I did in 2024 - about $3,000 across various lines. I think/hope we're a long way off from this, but it's not hard to imagine a scenario where the general cost of living crunch along with the continued tax hikes push the price beyond what people are willing to pay and the line itself is threatened.
 
I've noticed some of the $28 figures dropping to $25 on Amazon here and there. Not sure if it's the algorithm price matching something or these are the ones that aren't getting a lot of preorders. One was the mini comic Silver Surfer, which I would assume would have plenty of folks trying to get given the recent film and his previous exclusivity.
 
I know it’s only a few dollars, but there is a psychological component to 30 figures and 60 dollar two-packs. For whatever reason, a 26 dollar figure is more likely (for me) to get an impulse buy, but 30? Eh, probably not. In year’s past I would have caved on the Cap/Venom set and probably Juggernaut, but now I’m discount or bust and I’m okay with it.
 
Misfit said:
I know it’s only a few dollars, but there is a psychological component to 30 figures and 60 dollar two-packs. For whatever reason, a 26 dollar figure is more likely (for me) to get an impulse buy, but 30? Eh, probably not. In year’s past I would have caved on the Cap/Venom set and probably Juggernaut, but now I’m discount or bust and I’m okay with it.
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I've always felt that too, for whatever reason. It's probably that same part of my brain that acts all stressed and dramatic when I spend, say, $50 on food or clothes, but has no issue spending $50 on new figures. Just yesterday, in fact, I passed on a figure I really wanted that I could've gotten then and there because it was marked up $5. I think I still have that poor person mindset of $5 being a lot of money; I remember a lot of times growing up when, after everything was said and done with bills for the month, my mom would often only have $5 or $10 in the bank. I know I still cheap out on things when it comes to that- not all the time, but often; who knows when I'm gonna need that $5 down the road. Which is ironic, because sometimes 2 packs actually end up saving you a bit more- they're sometimes like $5 or so cheaper than if you bought 2 figures individually, but I've often passed because it means spending more money here and now, even though I end up spending more money in the long run by buying 2 figures separately. Collector Math is a hell of a thing.
 
Trunks3540 said:
You think after people are willing to pay the $30 Hasbro is just gonna go "ok well, prices can go down again."? They're gonna keep the prices the same and then just pocket the excess that was for tariffs at the beginning.

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We did go through this with Covid economy. I don't know why people don't get it again.
 
altcunningham said:
We did go through this with Covid economy. I don't know why people don't get it again.
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The main difference here is that covid was an unexpected, uncontrollable shock to the entire world's economy that no one could predict or control. It had real inflationary impacts that took years to get in line. This time, the price jumps are being driven entirely by a set of policy choices by a single country imposing a tax on their own populace to increase the price of goods. That can still have long-term effects if it dismantles supply chains, etc, but it's not nearly as complicated and out of control as covid.

I always come back to: companies already charge as much as they think they can get away with - they don't need cover or excuses to raise prices on us, especially for licensed collector items with little direct competitors. And, if you don't believe that's true and they do need that excuse, that means they'll also be reactive when cover is taken away - i.e., if the tariffs are ruled illegal and removed (however likely that is) they should react by rolling back the hikes. None of this is certain and obviously all speculation/wishful thinking, but that's one way to think about it.
 
Got shipping on Cyclops/Jean & Storm/Wolverine. Hasbro seems to think just adding a few dollars here and there wont make anyone balk. To be honest if these weren't X-Men looks I was wanting I'd have let them keep em for the inflated prices they're asking now versus when I preordered. I'm spending more of the McFarlane roundup with the knowledge that once Mattel takes over I'm likely done with DC. Marvel Legends and the occassional "cool looking" G.I. Joe will probably remain a thing but I'm not going all out for much longer as there aren't too many more I need. So far we're 0 for 3 on the Maximum line as far as my spending goes.
 
hmmberto said:
The main difference here is that covid was an unexpected, uncontrollable shock to the entire world's economy that no one could predict or control.
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But they never walked the Covid increases on anything back either once it settled. In any industry?

It's Capitalism. They're gonna bleed it as deep as they can.
 
People were already saying ML would be like $30 or so by end of next to year, before all this tariff shit. This just moved up the timetable. I hope people are right about it not being permanent, but I doubt it. Hasbro will see that all powerful dollar and just, not change it. I'm sure if they lose sales they might, but it would have to be significant. And then they'll just go back up in a couple months time anyway. They may just start lowering production numbers instead. And then we'll have a whole bunch of hard to find figures everyone wants and will have to pay more on the secondary market for. So we're still paying more anyway. They already seemed to have done that on the comicon exclusives. And BaF saves being relegated to special outlets/fan channel. Look at the next XMen figures. Mini comic, no BaF, less stuff, more money. They cut out 2 of Rachel's hands even, which would've been pennies to add. Not to mention them laying a bunch of people off and then calling it a successful quarter or whatever the fuck they did not too long ago. I have 0 faith any corpo would lower prices cause they wanna be easier on the little guy. I have 0 faith in corpos at all.

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While I am so done with "updates" for the most part, this Cyclops and Jean 2-pack is great to have. I hated the first Jean and never would have got her if not for the baf piece. This one looks amazing even if her legs are a bit muscular. Cyclops just looks amazing on the updated body with the incredible blast effect. Yeah, these upgrades are absolutely worth it.
 
Yeah, mine arrived today as well and those two are SO nice. I’m thrilled to be able to replace the original versions on my shelf.

Couple that with the Storm update (and useless Wolverine accessory that’ll get tossed in a storage bin she came with), and this was a good day for figures.
 
Thor-El said:
Yeah, mine arrived today as well and those two are SO nice. I’m thrilled to be able to replace the original versions on my shelf.

Couple that with the Storm update (and useless Wolverine accessory that’ll get tossed in a storage bin she came with), and this was a good day for figures.
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I’ll buy that Wolverine off you.
 
Whether or not prices go down if the tariffs suddenly go away is only answerable by Hasbro’s bottom line. If profits are up, the price stays, if things nosedive, then they might come down. Right now, I’m only assuming the companies that lay out their tariff fee when you order from them are likely to adjust down. The one’s just baking it into the price are more likely to hold firm unless they go away soon. Then it’s more about recency and consumer awareness, but if it goes on for another year or the entire duration of the administration then they’ll bet on people essentially forgetting about it and just adjusting to a new reality.
 
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