Getting Priced out, how about you?

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I've definitely scaled down what I collect, but we are getting some things now that I've wanted for a long time like comic styled hot toys figures. I've got 5 figures on pre-order and see a few on the horizon that I'll pick up. But I can't imagine getting more than a handful of figures a year. Given that, I'm not compelled to quit altogether.
 
I'm getting to the point where I don't have much room left to keep buying multiple figures every month, so I'll have to start selling the ones that aren't as high a priority and that will help take the sting out of buying new ones.
 
I'm getting to the point where I don't have much room left to keep buying multiple figures every month, so I'll have to start selling the ones that aren't as high a priority and that will help take the sting out of buying new ones.
Or... marry a nice rich sugardaddy and use his mansion to store all your figures! No need to sell any off!! Not that I did that...
 
I've literally just been going through all of my still sealed figures and displaying them. I kind of forgot how many I actually had and the 3 DF120's I had delivered 3 years ago aren't even going to be enough space for them all 😅 I should probably take that as a sign and quit with the collecting. I only have a few on preorder right now, but still have my eye on several that I've wanted for years (T-1000, Walking Dead, Daenerys)

I find selling stuff off is a pain in the butt with scams and such. However, I might need to sell off some of my duplicate characters at some stage.

The price has been getting out of hand for the last couple of years. Most figures are around $450 in Australia these days. You can get discounts, but when I think back to them being under $300 before the discount, it really is becoming too expensive to collect these. You can get some figures on great discounts after time and I've waited to pick some up saving quite a bit of money.

I try not to preorder too much these days because the hype wears off and the interest wanes. I didn't end up picking up any of the Spiderman Far From Home figures and I was initially going to get all of those.

InArt's stuff is just getting beyond what I really want to pay for 1/6.
 
The time between PO and release gets too long and I lose interest.
Man, this is exactly the issue I struggle with. There have been times where, when I finally get the notification 1.5 years after preordering, I don't even want the thing anymore. Or finances have changed such that now I'm not prepared for an $800 charge to hit, etc. I really wish they'd tighten up the time btwn preorder and shipping.
 
I do see a lot of people moving to 1/12 or smaller.

For me that's a non started , as I STARTED with them, and move to 1/6.

Even with the vast increase in sculpt quality, they still feel and look like toys to my eye, where 1/6 and larger feel more collectable and premium.

I have actually had thoughts of moving in the statue world. But those boys are shelling out 2k minimum for those things. And value for cash is not that much higher ( and they break!) or are made of vinyl, which screams cheapness. My PCS AWIL is my grail and it was a limited ed, and was 450.

I also trade out old for newer pieces , but only really reached saturation point in save this year, (crazy but we are moving to a bigger house in a few years .....so who knows.

The overall problem remains of value ratio for the hobby.

They need some big innovations with same pricing to really bring me back. USB LED system and Peers is fine, but not enough.
 
I do see a lot of people moving to 1/12 or smaller.

It is the future!!!


You want the original 7 heroes from Star Wars on your shelf, but are you going to pay $600+ a pop when InArt does them in 1/6?

No. For the price of one InArt Star Wars 1/6th figure, you can have the complete set of 7 heroes in 1/12th in real clothing all on your desk to enjoy.



Completists drive the hobby... and everyone eventually becomes a completist, whether they like it or not.
 
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For me its not a question of being priced out, I'm in the fortunate position of having a lot of disposable income. Although I do feel the consumer is having their pants pulled down a bit here. Like others have said. When I first started collecting HT figures circa 2010 a HT figure was costing me about £130-£150. Now you are talking about double that. That is quite a mark up. I know its 15 years ago but still that is quite a rise.

Do I think the quality has increased, yes undoubtedly. Do I think its costing Hot Toys double to produce these figures? Absolutely not. If anything they are probably producing these figures at a lower cost then in 2010, if you take inflation out of the equation. Companies over time build an efficient, effective culture around costs, streamlining supply chains etc.

The cost of these figures will reach a tipping point where a lot of consumers are simply priced out but I think as steady stream of new customers will always fill the void. This is still a very niche sector and usually if something is niche then you will be paying through the nose for it.
 
I recall discussions about "when figures hit 150 dollars I'm out" and for a lot of those folk stating that sentiment that was the truth, they wound down and moved on. The community of collectors lost some great dudes while the new guys entering the hobby were the "buy as an investment" or "follow the fad" types who often didn't actually have any passion for the hobby and didn't really contribute any value beyond "here are pics if my new HT acquisition". Gone were the many threads on customising, repair, kitbashing and scratchbuilding, in came endless posts of the same exact figure posted dozens of times by multiple collectors with little true passion for the hobby.


It would help this hobby immeasurably, if we are talking the 1/6th aspect of it, if there was "entry level" product at brick and mortar locations widespread. That's how the hobby grew so fast in the old days, you would get adults seeing 1/6th on the shelves in a Target or TRU, and would explore online further and see the wealth of other options available. Entry level product at entry level pricing would increase the interest in the hobby. But that would typically also infer competition. It wasn't just GI Joe on the shelves back then, but also Ultimate Soldier and Soldiers Of The World too. Because of licensing and HT's relationship with SSC, there isn't much competition available for a lot of the subject matter that's coming out now.

There were both good and bad people in the hobby in the old days, it was just the raw numbers were higher, so the proportional rate of good people and talented people were able to trickle in more. But there were always jack offs in this hobby, even back then. And thieves. I don't think newer collectors are worse, I just think the rise of the hobby in the early 2000s lined up with the widespread use of the internet. More people were exploring the wonders of the web. Now, you get more people where being online is a majority, sometimes all ( that's kind of tragic) of their total socialization and social interactions. IMHO part of the problem is you are getting in a smaller proportion of people period, and you are getting a more current larger share who don't have much socialization outside of the internet.

When the hobby had more competition and more entry level product, it could open itself up to a wider range of people and perspective and talent. Now, it's filtered down a bit to those who can afford the current slate of 1/6th. This is why 1/12th is booming. It's got competition, it's got robust third party support, it's got brick and mortar access, it's got potential to grow it's fan base.

The last two considerations is that many "grails" were made in the 2008-2014 era. Lots of people got their grails, then punched out. Or refused to chase more grails at the spiking price points. Also if we talking this community, the "mass customizers" stole a lot of money here. They drove A LOT of people away. Back then, the influx of new people coming into the hobby could cover some of the participation losses, but not anymore. Right now every act of mass theft in this hobby , mostly coming from the "brands", is silently killing off participation in this forum. It's killing morale in the people who are left. Many will leave.

My take is the last strong gasp for this hobby will likely be within the 3D printing aspect of it. Make your stuff. Build your own projects. Construct your own army. There's still lots of opportunity there, if people seek it.

People can still have fun in this hobby. They just have to adjust. They have to accept the old days are not coming back. People in the hobby who are jack offs are looking to take advantage of the situation. Any situation. People in the hobby that nearly everyone is happy to be around are the type to take advantage of the opportunities as they present themselves.

If people love the toys enough, there's always a way. That's my take on it.
 
It is the future!!!


You want the original 7 heroes from Star Wars on your shelf, but are you going to pay $600+ a pop when InArt does them in 1/6?

No. For the price of one InArt Star Wars 1/6th figure, you can have the complete set of 7 heroes in 1/12th in real clothing all on your desk to enjoy.



Completists drive the hobby... and everyone eventually becomes a completist, whether they like it or not.
Definetly truth to this....

But define complete?

I only have Luke , Vader, the Emperor, 3po and R2.

Never felt the need for any others as I consider Leia , Han , and Chewie as a separate group.

Then all the rest .

I won't bother with any of those till we get a Bespin Han that's decent.

I find a lot of competitionist to be a bit odd perhaps OCD and needing help.

Buying 15 Iron Man , and every armor produced seems more like a bit of a OCD issue. Especially when you can't say no.
 
It would help this hobby immeasurably, if we are talking the 1/6th aspect of it, if there was "entry level" product at brick and mortar locations widespread. That's how the hobby grew so fast in the old days, you would get adults seeing 1/6th on the shelves in a Target or TRU, and would explore online further and see the wealth of other options available. Entry level product at entry level pricing would increase the interest in the hobby. But that would typically also infer competition. It wasn't just GI Joe on the shelves back then, but also Ultimate Soldier and Soldiers Of The World too. Because of licensing and HT's relationship with SSC, there isn't much competition available for a lot of the subject matter that's coming out now.

There were both good and bad people in the hobby in the old days, it was just the raw numbers were higher, so the proportional rate of good people and talented people were able to trickle in more. But there were always jack offs in this hobby, even back then. And thieves. I don't think newer collectors are worse, I just think the rise of the hobby in the early 2000s lined up with the widespread use of the internet. More people were exploring the wonders of the web. Now, you get more people where being online is a majority, sometimes all ( that's kind of tragic) of their total socialization and social interactions. IMHO part of the problem is you are getting in a smaller proportion of people period, and you are getting a more current larger share who don't have much socialization outside of the internet.

When the hobby had more competition and more entry level product, it could open itself up to a wider range of people and perspective and talent. Now, it's filtered down a bit to those who can afford the current slate of 1/6th. This is why 1/12th is booming. It's got competition, it's got robust third party support, it's got brick and mortar access, it's got potential to grow it's fan base.

The last two considerations is that many "grails" were made in the 2008-2014 era. Lots of people got their grails, then punched out. Or refused to chase more grails at the spiking price points. Also if we talking this community, the "mass customizers" stole a lot of money here. They drove A LOT of people away. Back then, the influx of new people coming into the hobby could cover some of the participation losses, but not anymore. Right now every act of mass theft in this hobby , mostly coming from the "brands", is silently killing off participation in this forum. It's killing morale in the people who are left. Many will leave.

My take is the last strong gasp for this hobby will likely be within the 3D printing aspect of it. Make your stuff. Build your own projects. Construct your own army. There's still lots of opportunity there, if people seek it.

People can still have fun in this hobby. They just have to adjust. They have to accept the old days are not coming back. People in the hobby who are jack offs are looking to take advantage of the situation. Any situation. People in the hobby that nearly everyone is happy to be around are the type to take advantage of the opportunities as they present themselves.

If people love the toys enough, there's always a way. That's my take on it.
Interesting take, I myself have started to look at 3d printing and a viable alternative , few more years to retirement , but it's one of the things I plan to do with my time.
 
I got 10 hot toys in this year, and 3 statues. I paid full price for 1 one of the hot toys and 1 of the statues. With all the daily deals from sideshow, nothing is worth full price anymore to me. If there isn't a deal with 25% or more off, I don't need it. There are exceptions, like if it's something I really want I'll preorder and pay full price, but most stuff isn't worth the asking price anymore.
 
Also wondering if the massive over production of SW and Marvel is having an effect on prices.

There is no way they got a ton of new collectors from those waves. Maybe a one off here ant there, but I doubt most people went all in on any of those lines.

Still gotta pay for those licenses.
 
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