Tracking toy tariffs

Still waiting on an order from Cool Toys Club to arrive. Curious if I'll have any extra fees to pay. If not, then I may buy some more JoyToy while this 30% is still going on if places are willing to cover it to ship to the US.
 
Super 7 posted on Instagram about the recent layoffs due to the tariffs. And not to say anything about the issues with Super 7 to begin with,(of which there are many) but unfortunately the comments were somewhat flooded with the typical pro-tariff talking points about how they should stop relying on China and how we need a strong US . I wonder if the people who are commenting that will be feeling "strong" should the tariffs cause them to be the ones filing for unemployment. I have to say as a positive but unrelated note that this community tends to be fairly respectful of the awful impact this kind of stuff has on the actual employees.
While not a huge collector of super 7 I do own a fair few reaction figures and I would say that I certainly don't have the amount of ill-will that some people have towards them. But regardless of the issues with the company itself I don't like it when people celebrate when well-meaning employees lose their jobs. And it's an attitude I see far to often even just looking at the toy community at large
 
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I saw the post from Brian and it was fairly generic. I get the feeling the pressure was on to say something while not committing to anything. If anything it sounds like they'll be cutting way back on product for the foreseeable future.

I will say I was a bit surprised to see Brian claim that the company was in the best position ever before the tariffs. I don't know if that is just bluster, or a claim based on the cash infusion from investors. However it certainly didn't seem like the company was doing that well before the tariffs, but what do I know as an outside observer.
 
^^^ I've spoken to several people within the industry.

Would it shock you to know that they all felt like this was a line of horseshit from Brian? Sent as he currently enjoys himself at the Licensing Expo in Las Vegas. One, they said that the disruption was minimal, a week at most. And to claim that your business is being affected by these tariffs already to the point that you need to fire most of your creative team is laughable, at best.

And two, to claim that they had a record year seems like more bull, on top of more bull. He...just...lies.

The industry is small, the news travels fast. A lot of people just roll their eyes at him. But believe me when I say that people talk.

I can even tell you that Brian was talking to Dave Vonner today. For what, who knows? Business, friendly chit-chat? But it would be a bad look to drop people passionate about the brands you had to bring on a "big name" to your team.
 
Hilariously - I couldn't give a fuck less if Vonner is brought on to the Super7 team. I like Vonner as a guy, but as a big name toy designer, what has he done in the last decade? Not to say he's BAD or anything like that. Again, I like the guy. But I can't imagine where the idea would come from that he's generally going to put any company in a better spot than they were before hiring him. Certainly didn't help fucking Shartimus with his stupid fucking line of lame-ass ToyBiz-era-lookin' nonsense.

And yeah - Brian is full of shit. Big surprise. The guy lies every time he speaks and the only reason he doesn't get called out on it even more is because some people find him personable or charming and he says stupid shit like 'BONKERS!' a lot. Granted, it's not like buddy can come out and be like 'we're basically running ourselves out of business with greed and stupidity, so thank fuck the 1 week of tariffs gave us an excuse to lay off 70% of our staff.' Fucking asshole.
 
Schizm said:
Wait - Shartimus had an *actual* action figure line? Was it the shoulder figures?
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I don't know what that means.
And he sort've did. In that Sharty had an idea of figures he wanted to make and a prototype or two. He's failed to get enough interest on KS twice now, so I'm guessing (hoping) his shitty idea is good and dead now. Time will tell.
 
Damien said:
I don't know what that means.
And he sort've did. In that Sharty had an idea of figures he wanted to make and a prototype or two. He's failed to get enough interest on KS twice now, so I'm guessing (hoping) his shitty idea is good and dead now. Time will tell.
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I think he's referring to your (I think it was you on Fwoosh) other favorite toy guy (punching bag), Geoff Beckett & his "shoulder action figure" before the Stikfas ripoffs.
 
SalemCrow said:
I think he's referring to your (I think it was you on Fwoosh) other favorite toy guy (punching bag), Geoff Beckett & his "shoulder action figure" before the Stikfas ripoffs.
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I seriously don't remember this.
 
Damien said:
I don't know what that means.
And he sort've did. In that Sharty had an idea of figures he wanted to make and a prototype or two. He's failed to get enough interest on KS twice now, so I'm guessing (hoping) his shitty idea is good and dead now. Time will tell.
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Vala is coming out with Street Force this fall which will basically kill any hope street humans had of a third chance. A spite toyline is fun.
 
I saw the email/press release/whatever you want to call it from Brian and definitely rolled my eyes at the "better than ever" comment. I'm sure that tariff bill sucked on the most recent wave of turtles, but there are ways to pay it without gutting your company. If these are all layoffs with the intent to rehire then I'll come back and praise Super7 when that day comes, but it's hard to look at what that company has done over the past year and conclude it was doing exceptionally well. Or let's say they have received a huge boost from that 2k3 TMNT wave and the deluxe offerings at Target and whatever else they've done - does anyone think it's sustainable? I'd be surprised if Wave Two of 2k3 sold as well as the all turtle wave and it's probably diminishing returns from here on out with that one. Same for the deluxe Thundercats. I guess we'll see, but if Super7 is gone or a very different company strategically a year from now I sure as hell won't be surprised.
 
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