1/6 Hot Toys - MMS347 - Deadpool (2016) - Deadpool Collectible Figure

[enzolt]

Might not have the extra mouth plates though ..I guess that's the risk

eBay or OSK.

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[BH8957]

I could see it being a smaller run size due to the uncertainty of how things will go. I've also noticed the small and steady increase in prices for these figures you guys are talking about, and while they've looked better and better, more and more realistic, there's times where we've also seen hardly any accessories at all IF any, but with a higher price tag. If you're charging $234 USD for Deadpool, I think even with the really cool and original feature of swapping eyes for multiple expressions, we should have gotten an unmasked head with a reasonably thick Hugh Jackman cutout that can be put on with small magnet(s), a radio with his name taped to it and, of course, the drawing. We get a pretty cool figure with great features, but even if they didn't do the extra head with or without the Hugh face picture, I would have placed bets on the radio and drawing being included!

Now we have Cap at $224 with usual hands, swap out faceplates, an unmasked head, broken Crossbones helmet, but no magnets in the shield. It can be argued that's the trade-off and I would be ok with that instance. But justify Black Panther's $219 price point for what you get...usual few sets of hands, that's it. No unmasked head, no real options at all especially compared to multiple other $219 figures. Ant-Man is $234 with a tiny Ant-Man, light up eyes, usual hands and unmasked head. Worth $234? No way, I'd say he's $224 max. Vision, $219, usual hands, bendy stand, Hammer. Dr. Strange at $234? Worth it. I can go on and on - Black Widow, Drax, Winter Soldier, Pepper Pots, Hawkeye - but my point is, there's zero consistency with their pricing and what we get and I think that's a more serious issue with HT, SS and this hobby and that's something we need to really see about trying to take HT and SS to task on.

Is there any way to open a dialogue about this? With a few here having contacts within, can't we get a Community Representative within HT to take our valid concerns to those who makes these decisions like, say, Beta Testers or players in MMORPGs/games do or something? I don't mind paying more if it's worth it. Iron Man figures have gone up and up and up and the sole reason is DIE CAST?! When a 1/4th scale Iron Man isn't priced much higher than a 6th scale Iron Man, there's a problem with pricing and value. I LOVE Iron Man long before he was the "it" boy for the MCU, much like Deadpool. So jacking prices on Iron Man and War Machine because they're basically the biggest in the Universe, that's not cool. Thanos' price isn't too far from your average stock Iron Man! If a stink is to be made about HT, it's gotta be on the pricing and perceived value because as it stands, it's like they're just basing prices on perceived popularity of the character, not what the figure and it's accessories are actually worth, you know?

J

 

[bransen2099]

There's a Deadpool PO at BBTS, hurry up and grab it someone


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[ali032373]

Still there...

 

[bransen2099]

Aaaaaaaaand it's gone


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[BrooklynWolf X]

I could see it being a smaller run size due to the uncertainty of how things will go. I've also noticed the small and steady increase in prices for these figures you guys are talking about, and while they've looked better and better, more and more realistic, there's times where we've also seen hardly any accessories at all IF any, but with a higher price tag. If you're charging $234 USD for Deadpool, I think even with the really cool and original feature of swapping eyes for multiple expressions, we should have gotten an unmasked head with a reasonably thick Hugh Jackman cutout that can be put on with small magnet(s), a radio with his name taped to it and, of course, the drawing. We get a pretty cool figure with great features, but even if they didn't do the extra head with or without the Hugh face picture, I would have placed bets on the radio and drawing being included!

Now we have Cap at $224 with usual hands, swap out faceplates, an unmasked head, broken Crossbones helmet, but no magnets in the shield. It can be argued that's the trade-off and I would be ok with that instance. But justify Black Panther's $219 price point for what you get...usual few sets of hands, that's it. No unmasked head, no real options at all especially compared to multiple other $219 figures. Ant-Man is $234 with a tiny Ant-Man, light up eyes, usual hands and unmasked head. Worth $234? No way, I'd say he's $224 max. Vision, $219, usual hands, bendy stand, Hammer. Dr. Strange at $234? Worth it. I can go on and on - Black Widow, Drax, Winter Soldier, Pepper Pots, Hawkeye - but my point is, there's zero consistency with their pricing and what we get and I think that's a more serious issue with HT, SS and this hobby and that's something we need to really see about trying to take HT and SS to task on.

Is there any way to open a dialogue about this? With a few here having contacts within, can't we get a Community Representative within HT to take our valid concerns to those who makes these decisions like, say, Beta Testers or players in MMORPGs/games do or something? I don't mind paying more if it's worth it. Iron Man figures have gone up and up and up and the sole reason is DIE CAST?! When a 1/4th scale Iron Man isn't priced much higher than a 6th scale Iron Man, there's a problem with pricing and value. I LOVE Iron Man long before he was the "it" boy for the MCU, much like Deadpool. So jacking prices on Iron Man and War Machine because they're basically the biggest in the Universe, that's not cool. Thanos' price isn't too far from your average stock Iron Man! If a stink is to be made about HT, it's gotta be on the pricing and perceived value because as it stands, it's like they're just basing prices on perceived popularity of the character, not what the figure and it's accessories are actually worth, you know?

J

I've always wanted to partake in a serious and thoughtful conversation about their prices. Im gonna copy and paste some of my thoughts from the transformers thread;

Spoiler

I see what you're getting at...however I don't entirely agree with it all. You're kind of suggesting the R&D, paint and engineering from one company (HT) supersedes the R&D, paint and engineering from the other (Toys alliance), therefore lightly suggesting their price point is justified. I personally don't think that's a fair way to compare. All the stuff that goes into producing a figure (not even just figures...just about anything) is very intricate, time consuming and involved. One doesn't hold more value over the other, and at the end a products price point is a construct created by a group of individuals that consists of heads of marketing and design, various supervisors and I'm sure the CEO is involved as well. They're the ones that determine how much a product is worth, and with a company such as HT, I'm pretty sure some schmuck in that meeting reminded everyone else "we're Hot Toys, lets charge it way over its actual value and people will buy it anyway because...we're hot toys".

If their OP figure were under the "Designer" label...MAYBE I can see them charging that much for him...but it wasn't (even that in itself is a bit much if you asked me) It was supposed to be the start of a new line and I truly believe they **** the bed when they slapped a $350 price tag on him. I mean, take yourself through that reveal moment...Hot toys and transformers! It's almost like peanut butter and chocolate! Omg I can't wait!! This thing should've flew off the shelves and been scalped to high hell 2 months after its initial release. But nope, it's shelf warming and I can guarantee the ones responsible for that decision is thinking "we may have gone too far".

MP10 is an item that has so many moving parts that have to shift, twist and turn to go from one shape into another. I don't care what anyone says...the design and R&D for THAT is WAY more complex than what MAS01 and TF01 had (not to diminish the effort both companies gave to their respective product...it's just transforming is on a whole different level IMO).

That thing initially cost around $250 if I remember correctly. People were moaning and groaning that for an OP release that's smaller, didn't have as much die cast and not as articulated as its predecessor was really expensive. I wholeheartedly agree! But then something happened this past year that made me question the original price tag and everything that led up to it. It was re-issued...and it went for $150. Did the initial batch cover all the costs and therefore they were able to bring down its price for the reissue? Or was it a move to encourage buyers to NOT buy the knock offs? I'm gonna go with the latter. Because of one other release that made me wonder what the hell we were all paying for...the oversized MPP10. I bought 2 of those when I was in China last year. I spent $45 USD for each. Now I know that thing was a knock off. the ones responsible didn't have to factor all that went into producing the original...but you have to realize how much more material and plastic the MPP10 featured. FOR $45 USD. So the speculation of rising costs for oil, plastic and other materials is pretty much null IMO. Oil rates have dropped over the past few years and has been the cheapest it's been over 6 years ago. And now Wei jiang is getting greedy. By the 3rd reissue of the MPP10, their prices skyrocketed. In a matter of months. Not years. From $45 to $120 (give or take)...what does that tell everyone? If something is getting mass produced, shouldn't that mean prices should be heading southward? Maybe things have changed since I took marketing class all those years ago?

Judging by your SN and your post, I'm assuming you freelance mod, paint and take commissions? (If I'm wrong please excuse me since I'm going off on assumption) So it seems to me you're coming from an artists/customizers perspective. Whatever you charge per commission, isn't that something you decide on? You gotta factor in the raw materials used, detailing, work load and time. But ultimately you decide on how much YOUR work is worth. For a mass produced item, a figure like TF01 should NOT be $350. IMO it's unreasonable.

Especially when you consider the accessories it came with. Some liked it, others hated it and felt it was extremely unnecessary and don't make ANY sense whatsoever in the grand scheme of things. I'M in that camp. To me it felt like the whole product came out of the psyche of a college student that graduated from one of HKs school of design, got conceited with his delusions of grandeur and thought adding Starscream parts to an Optimus prime figure was unique and would stand out. But to me, it screams of amateur design at best. There was no real thought behind it. It's just slapping on parts to pad out the overall package with no rhyme or reason. To me it's obvious the designer wasn't an 80s kid but of someone that grew up in the 2000's and his only exposure was Bays Optimus prime. A prime that took faces for his personal collection. Wow...so edgy. If I had a chance to sit down with the designer, I'd ask him one question..."where in the holy blue hell did classic prime massacre Starscream for his parts and wear them like some kind of trophy?!". If he wanted to design an edgy prime, stick with the movie version and stay the hell away from G1 prime. Needlessly adding nonsensical items and artificially increasing a products price is why I think MAS01 is undoubtedly the way more sensible purchase because it is the exact opposite of what HT did. It's huge, colorful, a clear G1 homage or inspired design, it features awesome articulation and is of great quality...all that for $180.

So all it boils down to is which one aesthetically pleases people. While TF01 is a nice take on the G1 look, just about everything else that came with it was a complete waste of plastic. If they had excluded them and through that brought the price tag down to what you suggested $250 or lower, I can guarantee that it would've been a great success.

I've probably gone off the deep end here haha. Also, if my post came off aggressive...remember it's not pointed towards you.

This is all my opinion fellas.

Just so you know...there's no one here that's "in contact" with them. Maybe a moderator or two are in the industry and can share some behind the scenes information, but no one is in direct contact with HT. just a FYI

Its hard to engage in a conversation about this mainly because collectors can never get together and agree on a single thing, therefore denying us a singular unified voice. From headsculpt likeness, accessories, unfinished lines or lack of effort with some...there's always a form of division. With pricing, as much as some feel things could be cheaper, there are those that think it's fine the way it is and are willing to pay whatever HT decides to charge us. It's a real head scratcher TBH. For every argument one can have with price, there's going be those that say "if you can't afford it, then don't buy it". I never understood the attitude behind that kind of response. Unless those people are millionaires, I can't imagine anyone being GLAD to fork up $250 for what is a really elaborate looking DOLL. While there is some truth to it; if you can't afford a $250 doll, then you really shouldn't buy it...but why does John or joe have to be priced out of it to begin with? I've already seen some usual collectors get priced out of the hobby. It's unfortunate. You want to expand your market, not shrink it with a $230 figure that comes with a set of hands. The barrier of entry is set so high you immediately shut the door on so many potential customers that are interested in the product, but upon learning of the price, they say "what?" and turn the other way.

What's just as frustrating is when "journalists" or fans have a Q&A with the CEO they don't ask the hard hitting questions. It's always the same "what license is next?" "What is your favorite?" Blah blah blah.

Costs of Acquiring the license issue should be covered in this:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=r8e0n0g_oPA

Jump to The 3:40 mark. Remember, the amount is in HKD. NOT USD.

ultimately, I'd like to see things either get a little cheaper or at the very least, offer more in a product to reflect what we are paying for.

 

[MCas]

I would also like to bring up one of the most outlandish price hikes by HT in recent history and that is the Suicide Squad Joker-Batman Imposter. They are charging $265.00 for the same BvS figure with a different paintjob and LESS accessories, and the charecter was not even in movie. This is a slap in the face to all HT collectors, and I am angered that anyone would enable this behavior by purchasing this figure.

 

[BrooklynWolf X]

I would also like to bring up one of the most outlandish price hikes by HT in recent history and that is the Suicide Squad Joker-Batman Imposter. They are charging $265.00 for the same BvS figure with a different paintjob and LESS accessories, and the charecter was not even in movie. This is a slap in the face to all HT collectors, and I am angered that anyone would enable this behavior by purchasing this figure.

I passed on the figure because he wasn't in the movie.



But to find out he costs how much?! Get the **** outta here! Outrageous is putting it mildly man haha. I don't know even know what to say about that, just...speechless. Good grief.

 

[Bardoon]

The lower production numbers is speculation that has gone around HT collectors for a while. It's not a fact, but just a heavy speculation due to several factors:

1. Hot Toys prices have gone UP, which can lead us to speculate that their production numbers have gone DOWN in order to compensate for the potential loss in revenue (Make more with less). This can potentially be explained away that Hot Toys production techniques and "figure quality" has also increased as well as potential licensing costs increasing...hence all the price bumps. However, commonly companies will increase prices to balance out their lower factory output.

2. Hot Toys figures have been warming shelves more than they have the past few years. In years past, Hot Toys figures were almost always guaranteed to make the 'Wait List' on Sideshow and then later on sell out. With the price increase, we've seen an influx of figures not selling out like we used to. With retailers seeing this with the price bump, they'll be more reluctant to order as much stock as before. Therefore, distributors like Sideshow are NOT getting the Hot Toys orders like they used from their own customers and third-party retailers like BBTS, Alterego comics, etc. because no one is ordering "as much" as before due to increased costs.

3. Hot Toys is making more than ever and can't devote their factories to longer production runs. This is once again another speculative issue, but knowing some general knowledge on how factories work...you essentially have to schedule the production of figures in timely fashions to ensure that figures make their next steps in the production process, targeted release dates, etc. For example, let's say Hot Toys has ONE big plastic molding machine, they can't devote that strictly to pumping out tens of thousands of Deadpools knowing they have a slate of figures to work on right behind him.

4. There is no "true" competition in the 1/6 scale, so Hot Toys can "do what they want". Hot Toys is the undisputed "king" of 1/6 scale, but they have no real competition right now because they've cornered the market on the uber-popular licenses (Marvel, DC, Star Wars, etc.). Companies like Enterbay, ThreeZero, Medicom, and even Sideshow etc. have "tried" but their licenses aren't strong/popular enough or their products are sub-par compared to Hot Toys. Therefore, since Hot Toys has no "real" competition. They can essentially set the price-point for their products without any fear of losing customer dollars to any competition. Why make a large production scale of a $200 figure that is less-popular than the $300 figure you know is going to sell-out? Why do you think Hot Toys did endless versions of TDK Batman and Joker? Or we're on the Iron Man armor band-wagon right now? They're popular sellers and make Hot Toys lots of money. So they'd rather focus production on the true money-makers than those that don't.

5. Hot Toys wants to give the impression of "limited supply" to encourage sales. This is common business practice, you're going to more likely buy that "super rare, ultra limited edition release" more so than the regular one, right? By demonstrating that their products have smaller runs, they are demonstrating a perceived "value" to ordering more of their product. But since they actually corner the market on 1/6 scale, they actually CAN keep their numbers low because they have no "true" competition. It's not like Sideshow's Deadpool is a "true" competitor to their Hot Toys' Deadpool.

Welcome any other thoughts...

 

[RiggsMcClane]

I'm thinking all this would garner more attention in a new thread.

Deadpool is not amused. lol

 

[Skillerwhale]

Inflation people. Do five seconds of research and look at inflation over the past decade -- it correlates pretty perfectly with the rise in Hot Toys price points.

 

[Vortex]

There's a Deadpool PO at BBTS, hurry up and grab it someone


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Still there...

Aaaaaaaaand it's gone


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[bransen2099]

You got it? Congrats


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[wolfcustom]

Post more pics of him please need something to pass the time till sideshow ships mine.
Also congrats on that bbts. That is the longest I've seen him stay imstock in months.

 

[Bardoon]

Inflation people. Do five seconds of research and look at inflation over the past decade -- it correlates pretty perfectly with the rise in Hot Toys price points.

That factors in too obviously. Good catch.

 

[Vortex]

You got it? Congrats


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Thanks!

Yeah, I had the page bookmarked and saw it right when i woke up this morning. I was half asleep and when i PO'd it, it asked for my CC info because i guess i haven't bought anything from there in awhile. Needless to say I freaked a little because the card was downstairs and i had dog matter in my eyes. I though for sure when I finally got all the info imputed it would be gone. It was a very stressful situation but it did wake me up for the day pretty fast.

Now watch them have plenty once it ships.

 

[enzolt]

Inflation people. Do five seconds of research and look at inflation over the past decade -- it correlates pretty perfectly with the rise in Hot Toys price points.

Ehh, too bad my salary hasn't caught up with that....let alone rents... SF Bay Area isn't cheap fellas, like Hot Toys.

 

[BrooklynWolf X]

Inflation people. Do five seconds of research and look at inflation over the past decade -- it correlates pretty perfectly with the rise in Hot Toys price points.

But inflation usually adds maybe 1-4 US dollars over the course of many years. A hot dog that cost $0.75 in the 80s would cost $1.75 today...thats over 30 years. We've seen gas prices reach its highest at $4 a gallon over 5 years ago only for it to go back down to over $2 a gallon. $20-30 for a standard HT figure within the past 5 years isn't inflation IMO. It's something else entirely. That kind of jump just doesn't correlate with everything else. If some want to say "well the jump in quality should justify the hike..."...ok, fair enough, but why does a black panther figure that should have been given the same TLC as Batman cost the same amount when one features more? Y'know what I mean? It isn't consistent.

 

[enzolt]

But inflation usually adds maybe 1-4 US dollars over the course of many years. A hot dog that cost $0.75 in the 80s would cost $1.75 today...thats over 30 years. We've seen gas prices reach its highest at $4 a gallon over 5 years ago only for it to go back down to over $2 a gallon. $20-30 for a standard HT figure within the past 5 years isn't inflation IMO. It's something else entirely. That kind of jump just doesn't correlate with everything else. If some want to say "well the jump in quality should justify the hike..."...ok, fair enough, but why does a black panther figure that should have been given the same TLC as Batman cost the same amount when one features more? Y'know what I mean? It isn't consistent.

Hot Toys is in Asia though. There might be some differences in economy, wages, etc.

 

[bransen2099]

Our economy effects the world tho. When the banks started failing in 2008, it hit the global market hard too


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