TFARCHIVE FORUMS

So takara has been re-issuing G1 toys for years. That's good. My question is: why is the price set that high?

For toys their size and complexity, why the heck are they so expensive? 3.000 yen for a figure that originaly retailed at 1.300 yen is too much.

Does anybody know the "Five Star Stories" series? No? Thought so. About a decade ago, kits of that series were released, each costing about 12.800 yen. A decade later, the very same company re-issued those kits in the exact same format [right down to the box] for 3.000-4.000 yen each. And they include die-cast parts as well.

The boxes are fairly larger than the ones for TF re-issues, seeing as they have to fit runners of parts in them.

Bandai re-issue their kits frequently with no apparent changes, for the same price.

I can understand mainlines such as Superlink and Galaxy Force depend on the cartoon for sales, and releasing toys without it would be unprofitable, but why the G1 re-issues?

Are fans screwed up by takara, paying almost twice the price when other companies offer their re-issues for three times less what they originaly went for? Discuss

Well, once I was young, and my parents bought me some Transformers. I played with them a lot, especially in the dirt. I have them no more.

Now, I am older, and I tend to take care of things much better, so when I heard about re-issues, I was so excited. I could get all of the figures I used to have as a child, and the ones that I never had, like Soundwave, who I have always wanted.

Maybe Takara figures that the sentimental value should be more, thus raising their prices. I know I am buying them because I used to love them as a child. Maybe they have that thinking to make them more expensive because they know that the child who once had them will want part of their childhood all over again.

I want to re-live my childhood a little, and I am happy the G1 re-issues are here no matter the price. I don't like Energon, Cybertron, or any other lines. I might get 1 or 2 figures for the other lines, but I have gotten all of the Book-Style Re-issues, and I got Predaking.

I will get every book-style that comes out no matter the price, and I will get all of the stand-alone re-issues that come out, I think Galvatron will be one of those, and I will be the first to get him. Not Star Convoy, just way too ugly, and blocky looking. Plus I never heard of him.

Just my thoughts.

It's because they know you'll pay. Aren't Takara pretty much permanently in financial trouble, therefore excusing them whenever they use recolours/**** packaging/insert random black chase figures whenyou only want the proper coloured versions and/or make utter crap?

The original releases were cheaper because they were mass produced.

It's one of the most basic laws of economics - the more you make of something, the cheaper it gets to produce it. You can bulk buy the materials, which makes them cheaper, you can freight them in bulk, et cetera, et cetera.

The reissues are aimed at the collectors market, not the primary child market that most toys are targetted at. Therefore they aren't produced in the same quantity (can you imagine an 8 year old choosing a reissue Perceptor over a 24" Spider-Man figure with 34652 different points of articulation? No, me neither).

Plus the deluxe packaging probably costs a bomb. If you think you can get a box like that (complete with all the paperwork) for the same price as the old "G1" packaging went for, then you're a naive fool.

And, of course, it's aimed at the collector's market, so they know there are people who'll pay for it. No toy company can survive on the collectors market alone (cf the problems Lego are having at the mo), but it's a nice supplement.

Takara produce toys to make money. Don't delude yourself that they're churning out reissues to get a nice warm glow by giving a few hundred twentysomethings a nostalgia fix. They need to make a profit. They need to cover their margins. And because of the limited runs needed (writing off unsold stock is depressing as hell) plus the complex packaging, the price is higher than it was for the same toy 20 years ago.

Simple as.