Hot Toys MMS Iron Man Suit-Up Gantry with and w/o Mk IV

[Wake]

Thats fine that they want to be profitable. I understand its a business... But don't put "Limited Edition" or "Exclusive Collectibles" then years later reissue the so called "Limited Edition"...Whats the point of having a"Limited Edition" if its not. People pay top $$$ for Exclusive items. Whats the point of paying that kinda price if its NOT exclusive?

Thing is the word 'limited' doesnt mean anything. Neither does 'exclusive'. What's limited?! I mean does everyone on the planet get one? No. Thereby its limited. Same thing with exclusivity... hey, if you have one your in an exclusive group. It's not inclusive cuz NOT everyone has one. So those are buzz words the marketers use to get people like you to buy it. Be smart. Think rationally and apply reason otherwise you get taken for a fool. Buy things because you want them not because you are seduced into thinking they will be valuable later on. And the fct of the matter is... USUALLY hot toys does in fact retire items. They dont continue to meet demand. So in that respect calling these figures LIMITED and EXCLUSIVE are NOT A LIE. THey make a limited amount of something.... whether or not they choose to make a second run in the short term doesnt change that they will eventaully NOT make it.

 

[Wake]

Business rule 1 - make a profit
Business rule 2 - make a product people want
Business rule 3 - make your product fit the market
Business rule 4 - keep your target consumer base
Business rule 5 - don't flood the market

HT can do all of these if they want, at the moment, if they continue this trend of high prices and flooding the market they will acomplish only rule 2

Thing is the market is FAAAAR from flooded. Just go on EBAY and see what the Mark I fetches. Or OC BAtman. Or any of the predators. Why should flippers and resellers stand to make the most money for HT's work?
Any business analyst working for HT worth their own weight would point this out in a heartbeat.

THINK ABOUT IT!
If hot toys raises the prices by 20$ and makes 500 more figures who does it really hurt?! Only the reseller and flippers...because clearly if there are people will to pay %500 more for something than there are a lot more willing to part with an extra $50.

 

[Megacolor]

Thing is the word 'limited' doesnt mean anything. Neither does 'exclusive'. What's limited?! I mean does everyone on the planet get one? No. Thereby its limited. Same thing with exclusivity... hey, if you have one your in an exclusive group. It's not inclusive cuz NOT everyone has one. So those are buzz words the marketers use to get people like you to buy it. Be smart. Think rationally and apply reason otherwise you get taken for a fool. Buy things because you want them not because you are seduced into thinking they will be valuable later on.

limited and exclusive do mean something. But to HT it don't... I don't buy things because its valuable. I buy things because I enjoy having things that I like.

 

[Wake]

Limited and exclusive are RELATIVE terms with no real relevance in the case of a toy manufacturer's products.

And to the earlier poster who said I was moron for calling people stupid... SIGH.... Really?! If you can't point out the sucker at the table... YOU ARE THE SUCKER

 

[Grimlock]

Even if this lists for $299.99 as people are suggesting, I would be able to get it through my local dealer for probably around $240 or so. While it does seem a bit pricey for a diorama piece, I think I would get it. I am just hoping that there aren't revisions on the Mark IV that make me want that too. I'd prefer to skip that part of the deal.

 

[cr`]

This is probably a HT first that they are releasing an accessory essentially. And with it they are attaching a figure in case you missed out. It's a great business strategy and one that at least I feel HT hopes gives an opportunity for new collectors to pick up on something they might have missed out on. Those who have one already get the gantry alone...or simply pass.

not the first accessory. ht did batpod and tumbler before, both are more useful and essential in the bat films than this gantry that is in the im2 film for 5 seconds. it's a cool 5 seconds, yes, but not $300 cool imo.

$300 is good for 2 cool ht characters, and since to me character > accessory anytime, i'll save my money for the former. great for everyone who can spare the dough for the gantry though.

I think the frustration is mostly from collectors who already own the Mark IV (I myself picked up the VI) and I feel the pain as well. Had HT announced both the figure and this gantry setup simultaneously then it would've been fair to everyone. But let's not kid ourselves - in the end this is all about maximizing $$ and I wouldn't be surprised that more of such continues to take place.

it's not a new trend. ht's been doing this from the beginning. how many times robocop was made and remade? supes returns? how about joker - BR released so close after v1, then the dx not long after BR?

if i already bought the previous inferior versions, no doubt i'll be just as pissed off. people just have to be careful when it comes to ht. they're very sneaky and they dont care about a collector's collectibles value. i've been very careful to spot flawed but popular figs, and so far i've managed to skip joker v1, bat v1, jack sparrow v1, etc. only to be rewarded with the their dx versions. on the flipside, i've missed some cool figs also that i thought for sure was going to be re-released but didnt happen.

 

[Y4NK33 PL4N3T]

Even if this lists for $299.99 as people are suggesting, I would be able to get it through my local dealer for probably around $240 or so. While it does seem a bit pricey for a diorama piece, I think I would get it. I am just hoping that there aren't revisions on the Mark IV that make me want that too. I'd prefer to skip that part of the deal.

Agreed. I could use my Sideshow points to get this pretty cheap, but by the looks of thing Ill be using them on the joker PF instead

 

[Cap'n Cook]

Staggered by this release I must say.

 

[eighthsamurai]

Staggered by this release I must say.

in a good or bad way?

 

[Uncanny Web-Slinger]

Business rule 1 - make a profit
Business rule 2 - make a product people want
Business rule 3 - make your product fit the market
Business rule 4 - keep your target consumer base
Business rule 5 - don't flood the market

HT can do all of these if they want, at the moment, if they continue this trend of high prices and flooding the market they will acomplish only rule 2

Thing is the market is FAAAAR from flooded. Just go on EBAY and see what the Mark I fetches. Or OC BAtman. Or any of the predators. Why should flippers and resellers stand to make the most money for HT's work?
Any business analyst working for HT worth their own weight would point this out in a heartbeat.

THINK ABOUT IT!
If hot toys raises the prices by 20$ and makes 500 more figures who does it really hurt?! Only the reseller and flippers...because clearly if there are people will to pay %500 more for something than there are a lot more willing to part with an extra $50.

i wasn't talking about Ebay or flippers, i was talking about direct from Hot toys.

People assumed a price on Jake Sully and when it was up for order it was $100 not $20 more than people expected, the same thing is happening with this Gantry by iteslf, people assume a price based on previous collectibles and pricing structure by HT and when it goes up for order the price is much larger than what people were anticipating, couple this with the increase in products being released monthly and HT are gonna lose money in the long run buy pricing itself too high and alienating its customers.

in terms of eBay and flippers i hate them, I'm not fussed about this re-issue of the MK IV, i have the MK IV and this simply gives people an option to buy it at the value it was originally

If HT raises it's prices across the board then flippers and eBay sellers do the same, they will simply take this price as the products value and increase the rate at which they sell the item.

If HT is increasing it's prices to combat after-market sale, they are by far doing the wrong approach, You were right bout the quantities; they should make more of each product so everyone can get it, and this will drastically slow down the amount of new after-market ones available at a a later date.

Increasing prices for each product and increasing the amount of figures being released around the same time hurts it's consumer base more than after-market scalpers.

Customers will be forced into choosing which figure is worth there money more, rather than buy both at fairer prices on each, this will hurt HT in the long run and is the definition of flooding the market.


FLOODING THE MARKET:

"produce too much of something, so that people (the market) fail to buy or consume it quickly enough"

 

[Cap'n Cook]

in a good or bad way?

Can't make up my mind really.

I don't feel the need to own any IM figs of any kind so feel HT are going above and beyond in milking the licence.


Also can't believe they are issuing the Mk VI again.

Then again, it does look very well done as ever the case by HT.

 

[a-dev]

Wow this thing looks fantastic. If I were an IM obsessive this most certainly would be bought. Together with the likes of BISHART's eventual Monaco diorama, the Mech Test Tony Stark setup and of course all the other figures this line is being really well served.

 

[cr`]

THINK ABOUT IT!
If hot toys raises the prices by 20$ and makes 500 more figures who does it really hurt?! Only the reseller and flippers...because clearly if there are people will to pay %500 more for something than there are a lot more willing to part with an extra $50.

only resellers and flippers? how about the collectors who just spent the high sum for the fig in the secondary market, thinking it's the only way to ever get the fig? then BAM! a week later a rerelease of that fig!

that doesnt hurt?

or how about the collectors who pride themselves in seeing their collectibles rise in value? i know of at least two collectors in this forum who stopped collecting ht figs because they feel they're getting treated like chump by ht. these are not happy meal toys. these are expensive collectibleas, and when collectors buy these stuffs, they want to be assured that they're buying the best and only available version from ht - not the first or second draft of the fig, with the final draft coming soon in the near future.

people have the right to be pissed off with ht's habit. you just have to accept that. unless you work for ht, there's really no need to come to ht's defense and spin things for them.

limited and exclusive do mean something. But to HT it don't... I don't buy things because its valuable. I buy things because I enjoy having things that I like.

Limited and exclusive are RELATIVE terms with no real relevance in the case of a toy manufacturer's products.

ht knows EXACTLY what "limited" and "exlusive" means in collectible world. they just like to pretend that they dont. if you've been following ht for a while, you should know that. so pay no mind to those 2 words.

 

[Wake]

i wasn't talking about Ebay or flippers, i was talking about direct from Hot toys.

People assumed a price on Jake Sully and when it was up for order it was $100 not $20 more than people expected, the same thing is happening with this Gantry by iteslf, people assume a price based on previous collectibles and pricing structure by HT and when it goes up for order the price is much larger than what people were anticipating, couple this with the increase in products being released monthly and HT are gonna lose money in the long run buy pricing itself too high and alienating its customers.

in terms of eBay and flippers i hate them, I'm not fussed about this re-issue of the MK IV, i have the MK IV and this simply gives people an option to buy it at the value it was originally

If HT raises it's prices across the board then flippers and eBay sellers do the same, they will simply take this price as the products value and increase the rate at which they sell the item.
So if HT is increasing it's prices to combat after-market sale, they are by far doing the wrong approach, they should make more of each product so everyone can get it, and this will drastically slow down the amount of new after-market ones available at a a later date.

Increasing prices for each product and increasing the amount of figures being released around the same time hurts it's consumer base more than after-market scalpers.

Customers will be forced into choosing which figure is worth there money more, rather than buy both at fairer prices on each, this will hurt HT in the long run and is the definition of flooding the market.

FLOODING THE MARKET:
"produce too much of something, so that people (the market) fail to buy or consume it quickly enough"

There's so many counterpoints to your post that I don't have the energy to respond. I'm leaving it at that.

 

[Calcifer]

Given the price there asking they should throw in a smiling stark sculpt,a suit and a disassembled MIV sculpt along with this thing.

 

[Agentofchaos]

not the first accessory. ht did batpod and tumbler before, both are more useful and essential in the bat films than this gantry that is in the im2 film for 5 seconds. it's a cool 5 seconds, yes, but not $300 cool imo. .

Agreed. I should've been more careful with the word accessory. The tumbler and batpod to me were more on the vehicles. I'm not even sure what this is...its just an environment piece..

it's not a new trend. ht's been doing this from the beginning. how many times robocop was made and remade? supes returns? how about joker - BR released so close after v1, then the dx not long after BR?

if i already bought the previous inferior versions, no doubt i'll be just as pissed off. people just have to be careful when it comes to ht. they're very sneaky and they dont care about a collector's collectibles value. i've been very careful to spot flawed but popular figs, and so far i've managed to skip joker v1, bat v1, jack sparrow v1, etc. only to be rewarded with the their dx versions. on the flipside, i've missed some cool figs also that i thought for sure was going to be re-released but didnt happen.

True but those were at least improvements over previous iterations. This is simply taking an existing Mark IV with a neat display piece really. Anyway, I won't be buying. Like you said - $300 is two other figures that one could purchase. Funny, cuz i used the same logic to pass on the recently announced Jake Sully

 

[Y4NK33 PL4N3T]

Like you said - $300 is two other figures that one could purchase.

300 won't buy you 2 from the IM line

 

[Uncanny Web-Slinger]

I won't be buying. Like you said - $300 is two other figures that one could purchase. Funny, cuz i used the same logic to pass on the recently announced Jake Sully

Hey Agentofchaos, would you say that these increasing prices and the slew of figures available at the same time is Market Flooding?

Are you, as a fan and collector of Hot toys being driven away from collecting the amount you would've done before?

300 won't buy you 2 from the IM line

True. $420 for two is steep but better than $600+ for two of these Gantries or $630 for two Jake Sully's.


I Feel that Jake sully is a tad more than it should be, but i can understand the price based on the fact it's and 18" figure with a full painted body and so forth, definitely not a price for a 12" Figure

 

[Agentofchaos]

300 won't buy you 2 from the IM line

True! But I was thinking of other Marvel characters that have been on PO for about $152.99 like Thor and Captain America..

 

[cr`]

True but those were at least improvements over previous iterations. This is simply taking an existing Mark IV with a neat display piece really. Anyway, I won't be buying. Like you said - $300 is two other figures that one could purchase. Funny, cuz i used the same logic to pass on the recently announced Jake Sully

money is tight, so i have to use whatever justification i can find. you're right, the previous redo was an improvement, this time it's just milking the same exact thing. i dont know which is worse though.