Tracking toy tariffs

[Justice]

So many of our nation’s problem trace from us not hanging 5 or 6 dozen Confederate leaders at the end of the Civil War instead of allowing them to become University Presidents, mayors and sheriffs. Occupation of the South should have been similar to the occupation of Japan in the 40s and 50s

As someone who has always lived in the South, never have truer words been spoken. An encouraging note, I live in an extremely rural area of the South and the number of Confederate flags I see on the regular has drastically dropped over the years. I know that is largely a symbolic thing and doesn't represent that the problems have gone away, but it's good to not have to see them regularly.

I have a good friend who I met through the figure collecting community and he lives in LA. We do a "country mouse/city mouse" thing and I go out there sometimes and he comes out here sometimes and even he was shocked that in all of our travels around my area he only saw one Confederate flag.

Point is you wouldn't see Germany allowing Nazi flags to fly now and I don't see this as any different. We did not do a good job with Reconstruction.

 

[PanchaMaestro]

The US loves to retroactively lose wars we’ve won. We immediately surrendered much of our gains from the Civil War. Modern republicans so fucking stupid they’ve figured out in The last few years to surrender most of our gains from the Civik War, WW2 and the Cold War in short order.

I’ve withheld the extent of my “leftism” over the years on Fwoosh bc I was always worried I’d agitate that one “Alpha Male” dude that was at war with the cardboard filler in the windowless packaging.

 

[canprime]

Hey all, glad to see another forum pop up with members from the other site (sorry don't know if it is a sore spot). My first post is a nice dive into the world of politics.

Anyway in regards to pricing I will say this, from a Canadian's perspective.

I think there won't be much of a change for you guys at $30 a figure. Why? Here in Canada we have been paying $35/$36 a figure (before tax). Which is about $27/$28US a figure. Now of course it isn't quite the same, but the reality is that figures at $35 (equivalent being key here because we all buy in our local currency) has not really hurt the hobby for Canadians.

Yes we it has shrunk the pool a bit, and more and more I, and others, have been more selective. However it hasn't cratered the hobby to any degree. I think you guys in the US will find it plays out the same, especially at only $30US a figure. More of you guys will probably just cut back further on purchases, but you won't disappear, nor will the big companies stop selling. Maybe there will be more product at Ross/Ollie's again?

Either way prices are going up, and as others have said, they won't be coming back down even if the tariffs are short lived.

I wonder how Hasbro feels after making an effort to get out of China, and now it doesn't really matter because the savings are being killed by the tariffs.

 

[Justice]

Hey all, glad to see another forum pop up with members from the other site (sorry don't know if it is a sore spot). My first post is a nice dive into the world of politics.

Anyway in regards to pricing I will say this, from a Canadian's perspective.

I think there won't be much of a change for you guys at $30 a figure. Why? Here in Canada we have been paying $35/$36 a figure (before tax). Which is about $27/$28US a figure. Now of course it isn't quite the same, but the reality is that figures at $35 (equivalent being key here because we all buy in our local currency) has not really hurt the hobby for Canadians.

Yes we it has shrunk the pool a bit, and more and more I, and others, have been more selective. However it hasn't cratered the hobby to any degree. I think you guys in the US will find it plays out the same, especially at only $30US a figure. More of you guys will probably just cut back further on purchases, but you won't disappear, nor will the big companies stop selling. Maybe there will be more product at Ross/Ollie's again?

Either way prices are going up, and as others have said, they won't be coming back down even if the tariffs are short lived.

I wonder how Hasbro feels after making an effort to get out of China, and now it doesn't really matter because the savings are being killed by the tariffs.

Woohoo! Glad our resident Haslab tracker has found us.

I would be happy to pay $30 for Legends (okay not happy but I would do it on a limited basis) but I think we are going to soar well past $30 if his current plan for 54% Chinese tariffs hits. And it could also escalate even more.

 

[canprime]

Woohoo! Glad our resident Haslab tracker has found us.

I would be happy to pay $30 for Legends (okay not happy but I would do it on a limited basis) but I think we are going to soar well past $30 if his current plan for 54% Chinese tariffs hits. And it could also escalate even more.

Saw your post over there about this new forum.

Yeah on the boards up here we are questioning where the line will be for Canadian collectors. If the US price goes up to $30 it will be at least $40Cdn for us. Right now the only place that charges above that is TRU Canada and they sit on product forever. However that may be due to the fact we can get stuff cheaper everywhere else. If everyone has to charge $40+ that could be a different story. Most of us agree though that if we close in on $50Cdn (before tax) for a 6" figure that will probably be the final nail in the coffin. Because why pay that much for a standard Hasbro figure when a couple dollars more will get you something higher quality.

 

[AgentHemlock]

NPR posted an article about the elimination of the de minimis tax loophole of import goods from China and Hong Kong. For those that aren't familiar, it's a loophole that allows sites like Temu or Aliexpress to send goods directly to a shopper, and if the item/s are under $800 they don't get taxed, and go through an expedited customs process. This would also cover buying figures on sites like Ebay or Mercari directly from a seller outside the US.

I've never purchased from Temu, but I've had several great transactions from Aliexpress. I'm currently waiting on shipping for a bunch of third party soft goods and accessories for Mezco figures, and also Mezco King Conan is on transit to me from Ali. I also have a third party DBZ Goku head preordered on Ali.

Incoming packages will have a tax of 30% of the declared value, but the plan is to up that to a $50 minimum. I've ordered things as cheap as $10-20 before, like cloaks for Mythic Legions figures, that I just simply wouldn't buy at $60-$70.

In the past, I've purchased several NECA figures at cost or cheaper than if I bought them stateside. Usually a year after release they come down by $10-$15. I will admit this is perhaps a grey area though, and I feel a couple different ways about this. It does seem dubious to allow so many packages into the US without proper clearance, and ultimately it does have an unfair advantage over domestic shops and producers. I have no personal gnosis on fentanyl smuggling through the loophole and how much hits the streets because of this. But like the article says, outside of my toy collecting, a lot of low income families use these sites to help stretch their few dollars. Cutting off all these sources of cheap goods without offering an increase in wages (why not raise the minimum wage and increase social safety nets and programs at the same time we enforce these tariffs? ) and a transitional stimulus program is sinister and further confirms that this is more than likely a move to convert the US to oligarchy.

Also, I read back over some of the past posts here (I just jointed this site today) and didn't see any mention of Curtis Yarvin, RAGE, Peter Thiel's desire for monarchy and the network state. If you have no clue what I'm talking about, Heather Cox Richardson has broken it down pretty well on her March 27th substack post.

Here's a youtube video that also breaks it down. I know, it's pretty tinfoil, but all of these guys have been quite clear about their ambitions and as far as I can tell, their dreams are coming into fruition. It's not that Donald Trump is playing 4D chess, it's that billionaires bought him out of jail and bankruptcy in exchange for his loyalty to their vision.

"The craziness going on around us in the first two months of the second Trump administration makes a lot more sense if you remember that the goal of those currently in power was never simply to change the policies or the personnel of the U.S. government. Their goal is to dismantle the central pillars of the United States of America—government, law, business, education, culture, and so on—because they believe the very shape of those institutions serves what they call “the Left.”

 

[thewyldman]

Eh, de minimis was really meant to be for gifts and small transactions, and was never designed with operations like Temu, Aliexpress, or Shein in mind. While I purchase plenty from Aliexpress (and will place an uexpeccted order in the next couple of days to finish some stuff out), de minimis with regards to China did need to end because of those retailers.

De minimis combined with the United Nation’s Universal Postal Union (https://www.cbc.ca/radio/costofliving/shipping-canada-china-1.6950967) has lead to those retailers being able to flood the market thanks to bypassing tariffs and artificially cheap shipping prices by taking advantage of laws and deals that were never meant for serious commerce.

 

[RunestoneCowboy]

Either way prices are going up, and as others have said, they won't be coming back down even if the tariffs are short lived.

That's my big fear. Prices shot up during Covid, but have barely dropped at all in the last four years.

My gut tells me this is just a disastrous opening salvo that Trump hopes will bring all our trading partners back to the negotiating table, much like when he ripped up NAFTA during his first administration, only to renegotiate terms that were pretty similar to the ones NAFTA had in the first place. However, once Trump wastes all this time and money renegotiating terms similar to what we already have with our trading partners, businesses will have learned that Americans are still willing to pay 30-40% more for their products and those businesses will not give up those inflated prices without a fight.

 

[Schizm]

I don’t think anything gets better until we rework our perceptions to start thinking of PEOPLE instead of individual PERSONS.

This is not a personal attack - but how does this statement work with the rage you so clearly expressed in the rest of your posts? I was going to say "don't surrender your humanity" in fighting others you deem to not have any - because we are all people. And the more you demonize them, the more you radicalize them - because humans ARE NOT demons. And treating them like demons and literally calling them demons is exactly what energized this cultural war that Trump harnessed and exploited.

I feel like I'm giving a bad superhero speech, but we are all humans and we will never succeed at moving forward if we don't embrace that. It's hard, some people are absolutely gross, but we're all going to have to get messy to survive. Those you are against, as have been mentioned, are basically brainwashed at this point - human beings who are not thinking clearly. Calling them demons only drives them further and deeper into the bad ideology - because no one wants to be called evil.

There IS evil in this world and we are dealing in that right now - I'm not denying that. And hey - I just learned a new word "omnicidal." Horrifying.

Frankly, I'm always going to be inclined to believe anyone selling this 'both sides' narrative, or saying they 'want to understand both perspectives' are either deeply stupid or sweeping for behaviours and actions that they simply won't admit that they agree with.

More of the same. The sweeping generalizations help this situation not at all except making you feel superior. It's the power over others convo writ small.

To toys: I've coped by going on a pre-order tear the last couple days trying to lock in at least current MSRP. Anyone think those pre-order prices will be honored? I'm thinking GameStop would definitely change prices, Amazon might honor them, but who knows with the rest.

 

[Ru1977]

But trying to hug it out with them does even less good, from what I can tell. Did anyone simply try having a word with Hitler before all that fighting? A lot of bloodshed could have been spared had we put more effort into hearing Eichmann's perspective.

 

[AceofKnaves]

Schizm: they aren’t demons, but they ARE a cult. Not the same thing. I don’t believe demons exist, at least not in the literal sense. DemonIZING is not the same as literally calling someone evil. Their IDEAS are certainly evil, their CULT is evil, but people are more complicated than black-and-white appraisals, deep down.
Also, I believe in dialectics, that two disparate and even contradictory things can be true at the same time.
Speaking only for myself, these two opposing things are true:
1. I want to save everyone, and I mean EVERYONE. If Trump himself wanted help getting out of the horrific box of evil he’s put himself in, my heart would want to help him get better. Now “get better” would involve all kinds of accountability and amends, obviously, but my heart wants to help. I do believe that most people have the potential to be helped and healed.
2. I know the culture war was NOT started by folks objecting to and demonizing bigotry and bigots: it was caused BY BIGOTRY, and by bigots. There is no “both sides” in the culture war; there are people just trying to live their lives, and then people who advocate for certain people to lose their rights or even their lives. And I also know that you CANNOT negotiate with fascists, even if you want to. There is no appeasement, only giving ground to them. You cannot and must not “compromise” on human rights and dignity. And yes to do so is evil. The cult is evil, the ideology is evil, and half-measures with evil just lead to evil gaining ground and then taking more.

I do not want it to be this way. I fought this thinking for years. But I *am* an accredited expert on human behavior and deviance therefrom. When I say that MAGA is disordered, and as an aggregate mass is omnicidaly dangerous, I mean that. I don’t want it. But it is. We can’t give ground. People are going to die.

 

[canprime]

Eh, de minimis was really meant to be for gifts and small transactions, and was never designed with operations like Temu, Aliexpress, or Shein in mind. While I purchase plenty from Aliexpress (and will place an uexpeccted order in the next couple of days to finish some stuff out), de minimis with regards to China did need to end because of those retailers.

De minimis combined with the United Nation’s Universal Postal Union (https://www.cbc.ca/radio/costofliving/shipping-canada-china-1.6950967) has lead to those retailers being able to flood the market thanks to bypassing tariffs and artificially cheap shipping prices by taking advantage of laws and deals that were never meant for serious commerce.

It also was a help for the etailers up here in Canada (Toy Snowman, DJC Collectibles, etc) because they could sell to US custom

Eh, de minimis was really meant to be for gifts and small transactions, and was never designed with operations like Temu, Aliexpress, or Shein in mind. While I purchase plenty from Aliexpress (and will place an uexpeccted order in the next couple of days to finish some stuff out), de minimis with regards to China did need to end because of those retailers.

De minimis combined with the United Nation’s Universal Postal Union (https://www.cbc.ca/radio/costofliving/shipping-canada-china-1.6950967) has lead to those retailers being able to flood the market thanks to bypassing tariffs and artificially cheap shipping prices by taking advantage of laws and deals that were never meant for serious commerce.

Doesn't China also still get preferential treatment as a "developing" nation in world finance? I think I read somewhere that they still operate under that designation and it gives them a huge advantage.

 

[thewyldman]

I believe ending de minimus only applies to China at the moment but I ought be mistaken

 

[Justice]

Stock market tomorrow is going to be something else.

 

[hmmberto]

I have a vague memory of something that I think happened during Trump 1, but I could be mistaken. I remember what was basically a temporary price hike on Marvel Legends - basically a new wave went up for preorder at a higher MSRP (maybe $22.99, up from $19.99?) - and then either the MSRP went down on that wave later on, or the next one was back to the lower price. I think the general consensus was that Hasbro upped the price in anticipation of the China tariffs Trump was talking about, but ended up bringing it back down when those didn't go through. This was before there was a tariff threat every other day and they were trying to be proactive instead of waiting to see what actually happened.

Obviously tariffs DID eventually go through, and between that and covid supply shocks the price went up several times. But am I misremembering the "temporary" tariff hike that Hasbro did and pulled back on?