I'm new here, but I would like to add my 2 cents here if it helps.
I reside in an Asian country, and my first figure purchase of this scale and quality is Iron Man MK IV, followed by MK V; and I took a long break from figures collecting due to other priorities. Mainly because I was getting disillusioned with the pricing at that point in time due to importers bringing in figures instead of a distributor. I got back when I saw the pictures of DX 11 Joker and DX 12 Batman, and have never looked back since. In general, I collect figures of importance to me, be it my personal idols or movie heroes. Before that, I was into scale modelling and photography, with the intention of capturing completed figures in their painted, scaled glory.
One of the things most posters didn't talked about is the cost. Not the figures, but the business. Of course most toys/ scale modelling reuse molds, if possible to reduce potential upfront costs, new moldings, etc. In this case, it's usually the figures bodies, hands, legs, connectors etc. That's why sometimes you see uneven scaling of hands and legs. A mold is basically a cast iron in separated in male and female molds, which resin/ plastic is poured into for casting. Usually a master mold cost potentially 10 000 and upwards, and have a limit on its usage before the details start going, at which they have to replace it with another master mold. Of course, there are companies that don't do that, and that's when you start losing details. It's apparent on early days of Hasegawa, Fujimi and others, the later production loses details and merged details due to old molds.
That would explain why in general, Hot Toys have a limited production run, because running another Master Mold for another run is simply not worth the investment, after the initial waves of interests dies off; this is to keep the quality of the mold and of course the value of the figure intact. MAYBE in the early days they reused the mold till death, but this can only get you so far in terms of business sense when your competitors starts catching up and improving.
With the casting of the resins and plastics, you need the colours to bring the figures to life. Of course Hot Toys can go down this route, fix your own kit, just like Bandai, Tamiya, and various other plastics brands are doing, but it would reduce a lot more interests and investments. The skills needed to paint a figure, is down to the sculpter, who will be doing a initial run of headsculpts/ completed models for the factory workers to follow. These are called master kit, which is used as a reference point.
The factory workers would then take references from the master kit and do the rest of the painting, starting with the base colors, followed by layers and layers of skin toning, detailing, eyes, hairs, features (like Christian Bale's mole near the nose) before each undergoes a QC check and sealed up in paint sealant. These are extremely labour intensive work required to produce a life-like scale headsculpt. One thing to note is that these are "mass-produced' so quality MAY take a hit at times, which explains why the prototype seems so much better than the final product at times (Hot Toys Falcon comes to mind)
Let's pause here for a bit and rewind back.
To get to the final painting stage, the main sculptors (or A-Listers, if you prefer) would have to work on creating a sculpt/ figure first. These are referenced from materials provided by the studio, or even actors/actresses themselves. On top of paying the licenses and character's likeness usage. They probably went through a few versions before settling on one agreed by the studio/ actors/ actresses. These requires massive input in timing, coordination, and legal works. (Do you really think that Robert Downey Junior is going to sit in their studio all day waiting for them to perfect his likeness?) Thus the main sculptors have plenty of tasks on hand to get it right the first time or close to it to potentially reduce the amount of ding-dong.
And we come to the main sculptors issues, with all these responsibilities riding on them, they would of course try to get it right, or close to. Their reward is besides the passion and energy derived from completing their masterpiece, is also monetary. These are going to be appropriate to what they are doing. Hot Toys is going to do what they can to retain the talents, and invite new talents to their ensemble to further strengthen their position in this industry. Kinda like Apple vs the rest of the companies out there. I don't want to to assume, but they are probably paid big bucks to avoid being poached by other companies, bringing their specialized skills and trainings (yes, Hot Toys will still need to invest in training these people to further upgrade their skills) along to their rival companies. You need a strong foothold on your talents if you want to be the leader in the industry. Is it justified? Maybe not, but not so long ago we are having Ken-like figures that pass off as premium quality figures, or statues if you are looking for quality.
So, the main sculptors would take quite a chunk of the profits Hot Toys made, not because they deserved it (it's arguable, really) but we as consumers demand them to.
Back to the factory workers. These are not your A-listers, B-listers, but your everyday worker trying to provide a family (they are not really going to hire temporary workers for these kind of production, at least not until the end). Can you imagine sitting at your table doing repeated painting over and over again for 8 hours of your life everyday, smelling like paint and feeling like paint? Company like Hot Toys would pay attention to these group of workers, as they will be their main driving force for the eventual figures produced. If I, as the worker were to think that my career path are quite limited; I would think of leaving the company if the opportunity arises. This is ontop of the fact that most workers need some form of training even if they have a base in painting (heck, I can't hand paint decently a headsculpt yet despite spending almost 6 years on scale modelling hobby, though I'm mostly self-trained) and courses and upgrades classes to attend to continually upgrade their skills, and of course, career progression, hopefully moving towards the A-Listers if the talent is there. A company would be more willing to retain a skilled worker than re-training a new worker since its really a start from the bottom again.
Thus, the factory workers would again take a sizeable chunk of money, because of the need for continuous upgrading and retaining workers.
Then you have the materials, which is pretty much covered in a lot of other posts, but the costs do rises in the years, and a lot of costumes are intricate, which requires careful sourcing and proper templates to maximize the material usage. These are handled by a group of artisans who spend a lot of time on the drawing board making sure the templates are produced in the least amount of steps possible and still easy to be handled by the factory workers. An example, such as doing a pair pants isn't as easy, and I tried to get my mother (who used to be a seamtress) to adjust a pair of figure pants for me and she berated me for giving her such a insane task to fulfill. It's not about scaling down the item and using the same materials. To achieve the scaled look the thread count probably have to be increased to make it look "life-like" or weathered properly for it.
Finally, you have the packing, promotional materials and shipping logistics. Most these are probably outsourced, except for the packing since these still require a certain amount of QC before final packing for sale. All these requires another group of workers handling the calls, negotiations and also enquiry made by various distributors in the world. Doesn't seem a lot but they are probably the crucial factor in the whole chain since thats when the rest of the workforce gets paid once you get money rolling in.
You are free to think otherwise, but I'm just stating what I do see in scale modelling and I find that it applies largely the same to scaled figures industry. Most of us forget that not so long ago we accept barbie like details as the premium format and price in scale figures (initial Enterbay Bruce Lee, Hot Toys soldiers anyone?) It's not a simple click click, whiz bang and they get money rolling into their bank accounts.
Is the price reasonable? I hate to say it, but I would think yea, so long the quality of the figures keep improving and is there. Of course there are times Hot Toys does drop the balls once in a while (Winter Soldier Stealth Cap, MY GOD WHAT ARE THEY THINKING?) but in general the whole of the industry has moved forward because of us demands and their strive for perfection. Even Enterbay has start treating their figures production seriously. Smaller scale companies has also understand the need for better production value and we have seen an increase in quality in general across all ranges. (Storm Toys Mike Tyson, 3A Robocop) All these in the quest to be the next "BIG" company.
My only advice who are bemoaning the prices, don't place an order, no demands no pricing. It's really simple actually, distributors do tend to price their figures more expensive than Hot Toys since they need to make a profit as shipping logistics, license to sell is going to a huge factor for them. I'm not saying drop your support for your favorite company, but make a calculated decision before placing the order.
My only wish is that I can somehow live in Hong Kong and I can get some of the figures at a slightly better price than what I get here locally. But that is really wishful thinking. And it's late in the night over here, and I have a job tomorrow, and I'm not sure whether my points are coherent, I'm sorry if I can't get this any clearer.
TL : DR, Hot Toys priced this figures because they can, if you choose to ignore all the above stated points.
sleep
