How do you feel about Hot Toys doing second runs of Vader, Chewie, Han and Obi-Wan?

[VergenceITF]

Hi all,

Amerang the official Hot Toys trade channel for the United Kingdom shows Vader (as a reissue) and Ben, Chewie and Han available for order (to the trade) until 10th March, Sideshow supply Amerang so this IS legitimate.

My thoughts are, a reissue (no changes) at an inflated, increased retail, means when/if this 2nd run sells out we will then have a new price point for future releases.

While everyone cheers the demise of Ebay, is it a victory to now be ripped off by Hot Toys, Sideshow and greedy distributers?

 

[Zildjian]

Just 'chatted' with a SS rep, asking if they're getting, or have gotten word that they're getting these re-issued figs.
I told them that I was about to place a sizeable order with an international company and have been with SS for many years and would obviously like to
keep my dollar with them.
So far they haven't heard a thing from HT.
Guess they're not too concerned about losing orders to these international ones.

I had the some conversation and my rep told me that because they have "hundreds" of wait list reservations for the Star Wars figures they would not even announce a second run until they were sure they had secured enough to fill the wait lists.

 

[TonTon]

I'm inquiring about the discrepancy because even with the slight difference in Paypal's conversion rates, it doesn't add up to that much of a difference.

You realize these were priced on PC at a glitch and from SS these retailed for $700 plus shipping, right?

I would check whether the AUD totals match from what PC quoted you and what Paypal shows, as they use different exchange rates, and then the other difference seen on your credit card might be a foreign transaction fee.

 

[Chubs&Doggers]

It's a good thing because not only does it keep prices at retail... it's likely to flood the market a bit and even lower prices for secondary purchasers. Might be able to get a 2nd Chewie for even less than I paid for the first.

I agree that after market prices are crazy but so are retail prices. Let's get those down first.

 

[Zildjian]

Sooo, I just bit the bullet on a Popcultcha order of Han, Chewy and Obi Wan (since I missed out at SS).

The total came to $548.54 ($503.05 + $45.49 ECI shipping)
After ordering, my order form said I would be charged
$783.86 (AU), which still comes out to $583.08 in US current conversion rates.

My credit card has now been charged $602.36, which is $53.82 (US) or $72.35 (AU) more than my original total.

I'm inquiring about the discrepancy because even with the slight difference in Paypal's conversion rates, it doesn't add up to that much of a difference.

In ANY case, it's still a big savings over what these cost from SS ($133 cheaper overall for the 3 figures)

Can anyone tell me if I'm going to be hit with duties or customs on them?
If I end up paying a big chunk on this end, the savings would be pointless, esp. if I have an increased risk of a damaged item needing a return.
If SS ends up getting them in, the ease of domestic orders would win out (personally).

I had the SAME exact issue, and the website indicated I was supposed to be paying the pre-order price and not the full amount. I sent off an email asking what the deal was with the full amount being charged and why the price discrepancy.... we will see what they say.

 

[kreaturekomfort]

I had the SAME exact issue, and the website indicated I was supposed to be paying the pre-order price and not the full amount. I sent off an email asking what the deal was with the full amount being charged and why the price discrepancy.... we will see what they say.

Thank you!
Look, I realize that these prices are lower than expected (whether it's a glitch or not), but the price on the page with your shipping added and everything
shouldn't be changing as it moves from order to completed order, and then a third time after Paypal's conversion.

(btw, Paypal's current AU conversion is 1.30132 vs. the 1.343611 currently posted on the web)

 

[Bjjer]

Love to hate the scalpers but let's be real these are already priced a ridiculous prices. If it wasn't for the resale and Mark up on these "toys" I don't think anyone would buy them to begin with. 300 for darth Vader. Plastic and all. 300. If HT would open these up to anyone who wanted them at anytime.. they couldn't get 150 for this figure. Only reason I can justify paying these insane prices is that once they are sold out that's it. This is not an investment. These figures are not buying me a house down the line. This is a damn expensive hobby! It makes it easier to believe that if I ever get out I can get most my money back if not all of it. I only buy one figure.

People that passed originally then it's on them. I passed on obi wan and guess what now I get a 2nd chance. Total BS. I had my I chance. Now I've payed ebay prices for him. Am I just ranting cause I missed out in this resale. Maybe. But HT new along all they had to do is hit the reprint button. Same for people that are just getting into this hobby. They came to late to the party for this go around. When I joined this 1/6 club it was the same for me. Maybe HT should re-issue captain jack or 89 batman!

Scalers are what makes this hobby interesting. Hate them or not. We all check the ebay prices. I see it here all the time. Re-issues will kill this hobby.

Or maybe bring the prices down. No I doubt it.

I don't check ebay prices. I sold half of my collection last year and it was a challenge because HT is not retaining their value like in the past. Now I dont care if a fig is reissued, rereleased or what their current "value" is, I just buy what I want. I does make selling extremely challenging(I havent been able to sell my Stormtrooper Luke yet) which is why I am very selective f what I buy now beause resale profit isn't there anymore 99% of the time.

 

[BatBrain]

Love to hate the scalpers but let's be real these are already priced a ridiculous prices. If it wasn't for the resale and Mark up on these "toys" I don't think anyone would buy them to begin with. 300 for darth Vader. Plastic and all. 300. If HT would open these up to anyone who wanted them at anytime.. they couldn't get 150 for this figure. Only reason I can justify paying these insane prices is that once they are sold out that's it. This is not an investment. These figures are not buying me a house down the line. This is a damn expensive hobby! It makes it easier to believe that if I ever get out I can get most my money back if not all of it. I only buy one figure.

People that passed originally then it's on them. I passed on obi wan and guess what now I get a 2nd chance. Total BS. I had my I chance. Now I've payed ebay prices for him. Am I just ranting cause I missed out in this resale. Maybe. But HT new along all they had to do is hit the reprint button. Same for people that are just getting into this hobby. They came to late to the party for this go around. When I joined this 1/6 club it was the same for me. Maybe HT should re-issue captain jack or 89 batman!

Scalers are what makes this hobby interesting. Hate them or not. We all check the ebay prices. I see it here all the time. Re-issues will kill this hobby.

Or maybe bring the prices down. No I doubt it.

One of the biggest points here is that you had your chance and missed out on Obi-Wan. At least you admit that. I have been in the same boat with other lines and that's just the way it should be in this hobby. It's not like they announce these figures and they release the next day. They go up for PO and in some cases it's up to 18 months before they release! Hot Toys may make themselves a ton of cash with this second run but it could also really start to water this hobby down quite a bit. They already overproduce the hell out of Iron Man as is evidenced by the amount of shelf warming figures including exclusives that Sideshow has had in stock for months. If this is going to be how more and more lines get treated, Sideshow (and other retailers) will be dumping boatloads of figures into the bargain bin in the coming years.

 

[Chubs&Doggers]

I don't check ebay prices. I sold half of my collection last year and it was a challenge because HT is not retaining their value like in the past. Now I dont care if a fig is reissued, rereleased or what their current "value" is, I just buy what I want. I does make selling extremely challenging(I havent been able to sell my Stormtrooper Luke yet) which is why I am very selective f what I buy now beause resale profit isn't there anymore 99% of the time.

why can't u sell ur stormtrooper Luke? What are u looking to get for him? I'm not interested in buying pesonally (as I only buy "what I want" and passed on this version of luke) but I'm sure u could get back what u payed easily. I do care about reissues, rerelease and what their current "value" is simply because it's what justifies the price point for me to begin with. These figures look great on display. They look horrible when viewed through my bank account.

 

[Vortex]

The funny thing about people bitching about scalpers is..well, i hardly ever see them sell their figures for what it cost them to buy.

Which makes these people by definition on the board here of "scalping"..you guessed it


Scalpers


A true scalper is a person who buys up a large majority or all of the stock solely for the purpose of reselling at inflated prices on the secondary market.


Who is doing that?

 

[Chubs&Doggers]

One of the biggest points here is that you had your chance and missed out on Obi-Wan. At least you admit that. I have been in the same boat with other lines and that's just the way it should be in this hobby. It's not like they announce these figures and they release the next day. They go up for PO and in some cases it's up to 18 months before they release! Hot Toys may make themselves a ton of cash with this second run but it could also really start to water this hobby down quite a bit. They already overproduce the hell out of Iron Man as is evidenced by the amount of shelf warming figures including exclusives that Sideshow has had in stock for months. If this is going to be how more and more lines get treated, Sideshow (and other retailers) will be dumping boatloads of figures into the bargain bin in the coming years.

SW will definitely mirror the Iron Man line. It's to easy of a money maker for Disney not to. It's just the beginning of HT SW so everyone is scrambling to get every figure but in a few years time we will have multiples of these guys. Everyone wants Stormtrooper. Well look at the TFA we have about 10 different stormie packs available from that movie. 10! Wait till rogue one comes out next year as they are using the OT stormies. Imagine how many we will get from that film! So repackage or reissue or what ever. Chewies, stormies, vaders.. U name it they are all coming again and again and again. I will buy what I want.. Selectively (Let's hope).

 

[SilverStar17]

SW will definitely mirror the Iron Man line. It's to easy of a money maker for Disney not to. It's just the beginning of HT SW so everyone is scrambling to get every figure but in a few years time we will have multiples of these guys. Everyone wants Stormtrooper. Well look at the TFA we have about 10 different stormie packs available from that movie. 10! Wait till rogue one comes out next year as they are using the OT stormies. Imagine how many we will get from that film! So repackage or reissue or what ever. Chewies, stormies, vaders.. U name it they are all coming again and again and again. I will buy what I want.. Selectively (Let's hope).

Personally at the moment, I'm not sure how I feel about Rogue One and the whole idea of a spinoff Han Solo film from his earlier days that they're talking about. I'm certain that they will probably be good and major money makers (which is all they care about), but to me, there's something about it that sort of cheapens the rest of the saga as an aggregate whole. I personally kind of like how it just goes in chronological order which each film being called "Episode __". I like how there's a 20 year gap between Episode 3 and 5, to where you can kind of just fill in the gaps on your own through the expanded universe without having to be shown what happened. Same with the 30 year gap between Episode 6 and 7.

I know at one point they were even talking remaking the OT films. To me, SW is a film saga in which the films never need to be remade because the galaxy is so expansive; you can just literally keep going because each trilogy is supposed to take place at a certain time in the galaxy.

 

[Sidewinder]

Sooo, I just bit the bullet on a Popcultcha order of Han, Chewy and Obi Wan (since I missed out at SS).

The total came to $548.54 ($503.05 + $45.49 ECI shipping)
After ordering, my order form said I would be charged
$783.86 (AU), which still comes out to $583.08 in US current conversion rates.

My credit card has now been charged $602.36, which is $53.82 (US) or $72.35 (AU) more than my original total.

I'm inquiring about the discrepancy because even with the slight difference in Paypal's conversion rates, it doesn't add up to that much of a difference.

In ANY case, it's still a big savings over what these cost from SS ($133 cheaper overall for the 3 figures)

Can anyone tell me if I'm going to be hit with duties or customs on them?
If I end up paying a big chunk on this end, the savings would be pointless, esp. if I have an increased risk of a damaged item needing a return.
If SS ends up getting them in, the ease of domestic orders would win out (personally).

It is a US currency conversion glitch and you very well know that because as soon as you add an item to your cart it is dropping the price by a massive amount. You should not be getting these figures cheaper than they would be sold at SSC because Popcultcha have marked them up accordingly compared to the exchange rate.

Case in point I added Vader to my cart in US dollars and it was showing at US$314.90, then as soon as it lands in the cart, it drops almost $100 down to US$220. Clearly this is much more than the 9% tax that international customers do not pay.

So the website host has a glitch and Popcultcha shouldn't have to honour prices when things like this happen. It's not like when it was during the 20% off sale because that would have affected everyone. This is only affecting conversion rates, which is out of their control.

 

[Wor-Gar]

The funny thing about people bitching about scalpers is..well, i hardly ever see them sell their figures for what it cost them to buy.

Which makes these people by definition on the board here of "scalping"..you guessed it


Scalpers

Very true. Especially here.



I also love all the OCD math and crazy calculations by people to save $20... when they're spending hundreds... on a doll.

 

[Chubs&Doggers]

Personally at the moment, I'm not sure how I feel about Rogue One and the whole idea of a spinoff Han Solo film from his earlier days that they're talking about. I'm certain that they will probably be good and major money makers (which is all they care about), but to me, there's something about it that sort of cheapens the rest of the saga as an aggregate whole. I personally kind of like how it just goes in chronological order which each film being called "Episode __". I like how there's a 20 year gap between Episode 3 and 5, to where you can kind of just fill in the gaps on your own through the expanded universe without having to be shown what happened. Same with the 30 year gap between Episode 6 and 7.

I know at one point they were even talking remaking the OT films. To me, SW is a film saga in which the films never need to be remade because the galaxy is so expansive; you can just literally keep going because each trilogy is supposed to take place at a certain time in the galaxy.

Ya Disney is goin to do to SW what they did with MARVEL. Tones of movies and different story lines within this galaxy we've come to love. I've already accepted the fact that my childhood is goin to be whored out forever more. But if they can give us a WINTER SOLDER evey now and then I am very excited and onboard. Love that film.

Disney has done an outstanding job with Pixar, marvel and hopefully they continue this with LUCASFILM. Not every film will work but they seem to be approaching them the right way. Time will tell.

Seeing how a young HS comes to be is inevitable I guess. Just wait till we get the Luke Skywalker high school years.

 

[Chubs&Doggers]

It is a US currency conversion glitch and you very well know that because as soon as you add an item to your cart it is dropping the price by a massive amount. You should not be getting these figures cheaper than they would be sold at SSC because Popcultcha have marked them up accordingly compared to the exchange rate.

Case in point I added Vader to my cart in US dollars and it was showing at US$314.90, then as soon as it lands in the cart, it drops almost $100 down to US$220. Clearly this is much more than the 9% tax that international customers do not pay.

So the website host has a glitch and Popcultcha shouldn't have to honour prices when things like this happen. It's not like when it was during the 20% off sale because that would have affected everyone. This is only affecting conversion rates, which is out of their control.

Well they better fix it soon then or they will issuing refunds to a lot of people I imagine

 

[Vortex]

Even with the glitch the figures are a lot cheaper than eBay prices and they seem to have good word of mouth around here. Being from the US i'm
hesitant because what if SS gets more in, fulfills the wait lists, and then puts them back up. Also, i'm not even sure i need Han and Chewy seeing i didn't need them before when they were first available. I think the secondary prices are making me think i need them more than I really do and that isn't a reason to buy a figure... especially considering if they do release more the prices will come down anyway.

But yeah, if you really wanted a figure you missed by all means get it from Popcultcha because as of right now SS is up in the air.

 

[Wor-Gar]

I think the secondary prices are making me think i need them more than I really do ...

...

Those prices will mean nothing when HT re-releases these figures and floods the market. Hell, I'm planning on getting a 2nd Chewbacca for under $200 now and happy about it.

 

[kl241]

Very true. Especially here.



I also love all the OCD math and crazy calculations by people to save $20... when they're spending hundreds... on a doll.

Like my grandma used to say, "Every dollar you can save helps." And in this hobby, with prices for these figures at the $300 pricepoint, if I can save $20 here and there well... that's free shipping. It adds up. it really does. I have to cut every corner now just to get the few choice figures I want. Back when these things cost $60-$80 each it was no big loss if you missed a coupon code but now you have to resort to by hook or by crook just to stay in the game. And of course Hot Toys likes to ship everything at once so you have to make hard choices and cancel sometimes and by the time you have the money again it's sold out and selling for 3 times the price or more. These things aren't numbered so who cares about edition size? When we were kids, there was no such things as "limited editions" and "exclusives." Everybody could walk into a store at any given time and pretty much buy what they wanted. Now everything is controlled by greedy corporations and their marketing. Putting the fear of God into you that you have to buy it right away or you will miss your chance forever.

 

[Skibbles]

They have fixed the pricing glitch now, so if you didn't already order it looks like you missed your window.