Are Hot Toys/Sideshow prices getting too high

Seems like the days are gone when you could buy a Hot Toys figure for under $200. The new Suicide Squad figures are $250. So are HT/SS charging what they know they can get? And how can such increases in price be justified with the a decreasing inflation rate in the western world since the financial crisis, leading to a decrease in the price of goods.

It is truly insane.

Even more so are the ones justifying the "almost" $400 price tag on the newest "30% die-cast" IM release.

$400 ****ing dollars for a 1/6 doll. Utterly insane.

Yes. At the rate this is going, I'm going to be priced out of the hobby soon.

They definitely are!! Gonna price out a lot of collectors!

Seeing the price of the new BTTF2 figures... , I really wanted to get them both but at those prices, I'll just limit myself to the Doc figure, same with the Suicide Squad figures, great looking line-up but the prices are just plain ridiculous so maybe only two figures from that line! I'll be trying to beat the price down as much as I can by using reward points!

I love my Hot Toys and collecting hobby, but there is only so much money I'm prepared to spend on an individual figure. I'm dreading to see what the price of the Doctor Strange figure will be!

You forgot option five - 'You Must Be New Here'

franpincho said:

It is truly insane.

Even more so are the ones justifying the "almost" $400 price tag on the newest "30% die-cast" IM release.

$400 ****ing dollars for a 1/6 doll. Utterly insane.

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Wasn't the first 1/4 Iron Man $550 on release? I really don't see what 1/6 Iron Man figure #2,367 is bringing to the table for that price other than a moderately high accessory count.

I'm probably going to pick up the old Mk VI and War Machine Mk I (prefer the way they look to the new versions) to round out the collection, and after that switch over to Sentinel for my Iron Man needs.

franpincho said:

It is truly insane.

Even more so are the ones justifying the "almost" $400 price tag on the newest "30% die-cast" IM release.

$400 ****ing dollars for a 1/6 doll. Utterly insane.

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Not bad, half the price of Hulkbuster I do not worry about it to much if i think it's overpriced i just don't buy it. A few years ago people were paying hundreds just for one of those Kato joker suits. So if you have the money spend it on whatever you want. Not going to affect my life at all.

I have cut WAAAY back on buying these things but i still think it's better than spending it on Starbucks, Cigarettes or Alcohol (i do have friends who spend hundreds every month on each or all three of those)

Although I agree with your statement, but HT is HK based company, which is placed at eastern world, so I guess it got nothing to do with "decreasing inflation rate in the western world". I mean, in my country (eastern world too), US rate keeps up and up

and beside, it's business, and there's saying, "If we can sell high, why should we sell low?"

We have to keep in mind that prices are dictated by two companies. Hot Toys AND Sideshow. Its possible that Sideshow decides to take a higher profit margin on certain figures they know will sell out no matter what. Its not always Hot Toys causing us wallet pain.

EVILFACE said:

You forgot option five - 'You Must Be New Here'

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Yep!

I'm becoming real picky when it comes to buying figures. My loss but their loss too.

These guys are nothing but thieves, the 1/6 mafia...

hottoysfigs said:

We have to keep in mind that prices are dictated by two companies. Hot Toys AND Sideshow. Its possible that Sideshow decides to take a higher profit margin on certain figures they know will sell out no matter what. Its not always Hot Toys causing us wallet pain.

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They are still hugely overpriced. Because they know people buy regardless, not because of licensing or any of that BS.

Otherwise, NECA would charge $250-$300 for their 1/4 figures easily.

Takara would charge $300 for each MP Transformer.


HT knows its fanbase. $360 + for a 1/6 Dollie is just insane.

Meh compared to a similar hobby the action figure one has it relatively good, with price ranges for all pockets. Given that HT is widely considered the best in the market their price mark-ups aren't that bad all things considered. At least HT generally attempts to justify those prices with better articulation and engineering on the Iron Man suits, and reams of accessories with most of their other figures, not to mention the constant evolution of their painting techniques.

When compared to the difference in BJD pricings (a similarly extortionate hobby) between the cheaper and more expensive companies, and the industry-wide lack of accessories (or even say the finished product - you generally have to pay extra for things like having the figure arrive painted, and having seam-lines from the casting process removed), what you get included for HT pricings are downright cheap in comparison.

At least HT gives you a fully finished licensed product, complete with everything you need to display it for your cash. The equivalent company in BJD-land charges extra for everything. So if you want your figure to arrive looking like the one in the stock photos it's liable to come with an additional mark-up of at least $200.

I don't know. The prices should stay sub £200. We are creeping ever closer to the £300 mark. I gave up with Lego Star Wars and sold it all due to the prices just becoming crazy. I moved onto Hot Toys as the amount I was paying back then made sense for the product I would receive. £160 for colored bricks in the shape of a sand crawler or £180 for two film realistic Luke Skywalker figures and a prop seemed like better value. As great as the product is now, its becoming harder to justify at a price point of £250. My last figure purchased was Chewbacca back last year, a Solo Christmas present and that's been it. Maybe the issue is we don't feel like we are getting value for money anymore. Poor facial sculpts, lack of alternative/secondary head sculpts in the box, lack of props and accessories with a figure.

Yes, getting out of hand ...

I sort of sit on both sides of the fence on this one.
Prices became absurd a couple of years ago ....and they are off the reservation now ... its embarrassing and hard to justify being part of the hobby at these price points.

The flipside is that these much higher price points and much higher profit levels have allowed companies to push the envelope more and produce stuff that was unthinkable just a few years ago.
Does anyone remember around Iron Man 1 when Howard Chan was saying he'd love to make Iron Monger but its too big, too expensive to produce, price point would be too high and they couldn't sell enough?
While the quality of a basic 1/6 figure hasn't changed that much in the last 5+/- years (say DX Jack Sparrow) the rising higher price point has allowed a lot of smaller players to enter the market. They couldn't exist under cheaper prices.

I don't think the prices are high enough!

I can only afford 1 or 2 Hot Toys figures a year now. I used to get several. I can't say I'm priced out, but I'm almost there!

To put HT prices in perspective, new Medicom 1/6 figures with paltry head sculpts and zilch accessories now cost $300. Play Arts all-plastic figures that are highly interpretive than accurate now cost $150 to $200.