It's your first post and the first thing you do is criticize a beloved company, and it wasn't even a good complaint. What did you expect to happen?
Do your homework on the posts and subject. Nanjin has been on these forums for YEARS. He's one of us, he's a fan and a collector, who is now running his own 1/6 company. He's earned our respect. It isn't blind loyality, its trust and friendship. He is a "bro" and has proven that he does have our back when it comes to providing the best figures available. You are some random noob who thought it would be a great idea to take pot shots as his first post. You reap what you sow.
I’ve got fewer personal stakes here because at most I’d only probably buy one or two figures because Star Trek isn’t my focus. So I say this pretty objectively.
If you follow 1/6 figures and high end collectibles pretty closely, you have a general idea of the sort of price increases and shrinkflation that happens over time due to a variety of factors.
I think some people assume there’s good profit to be made on collectibles for manufacturers and retailers. But there isn’t. Licensing fees are expensive, production is pricey, manufacturing is rough, and the market is mercurial and unpredictable. It’s all pretty risky even if it doesn’t seem like it.
To be safe, EXO-6 could be charging a lot more for the figures that have been released so far and people would pay it because they’re solid figures and the only game in town for collectibles a lot of people have been waiting decades for.
I don’t know what some folks expect these to cost. I look at EXO-6’s prices and I’m astonished, especially with global conditions the way they are. Collectors have often paid more for less.
If you just take a rough estimate and break down the costs, I think they’re charging pretty close to the reasonable minimum required to keep the company going, cover all the fees, give people fair wages, and pay for all the manufacturing, materials, and production.
Nanjin is a fan, first and foremost. He has alluded to the fact that he’s not in it for profit nor does he view all of this as an investment to build a company that churns out money forever. He wants to make the figures that Trek collectors have always wanted and be done. I’m inclined to believe that and respect him for it.
