Transformers Venting thread!

[KELPIE]

It seems the "cost" doesn't just come from theft. It looks like they're changing it up for the other figures, because the Marvel and Star Wars fans just stopped buying. So they needed change what they were doing.

[Jaxius._]

Black Friday sales, great, might grab some bots i have been wanting, not only has my local JB suddenly gotten rid of all their transformers but the next nearest has minimal stock. All i wanted was legacy Shrapnel and Bombshell and they aren't even avaliable online at JB either.

I miss when Kmart and Target and the like stocked generations more regularly.

[DELTAprime]

I knew that the Legacy Armada figures didn't have Minicons (red Hotshot excepted). But I only just figured out about 30 minutes ago when I went to put OG Armada Minicons on the Legacy Armada figures that there's a distinct lack of Minicon ports also.

Not happy JaAm.

[Jaxius._]

A rant about prices but what’s new I suppose.

EB/Zing has always charged a little extra i can accept that. But how can Kmart sell SS86 brawn and SSROTB Wheeljack at $32 (a perfectly reasonable price and equal to what deluxes have costed for years) but JBHIFI who over the past year or so has essentially cornered the market on Transformers charge $40-$45 a deluxe, yes i know there are online stores like Gamesman but how can JB get away with charging so much, have you seen how much stock they have on the shelves i can still buy year 1 Legacy figures there 2 years later.

I just have a real issue with how our biggest physical stores have all but dropped stocking Transformers (hopefully kmart continues with SS at least) while JB puts their prices up to nearly what the next size class costs.

[Skyfire]

It is curious that the general retailers that used to stock Generations (Big W, Kmart, Target, Toymate, Toyworld and Myer) have no or little (recent) stock. That has perhaps allowed JB to raise their prices. I would love to know the thinking of the people who have been responsible for JB's foray into TFs (I remember their tentative start and have watched them become full blown). For a while, I thought Big W and Kmart practically abandoned Studio Series until SS86 Ironhide and now Scrapheap and Brawn turned up, missing whole waves. I keep waiting for Legacy United to appear online or in-store but maybe they never will or will start at wave 2 or something.

I've been price matching JB for a while, online and in-store, and have a 70-80% success ratio. Most times they don't care about "assortment" and the requirement of "an identical item" as long as the item is part of the toyline. When the general retailers drop their website listings (completely drop the line) is when I will feel the pinch more. Price matching is a bit of a chore though and I would much prefer the general retailers to get back in the game.

[JJJ]

Hasbro sets the recommended retail price. This is directly connected to the price at which they sell to retailers (see below for variation).

Kmart/Target/Big W can afford to bring in a smaller profit margin per unit by selling vastly more quantity than JB and EB, who, due to the much smaller turnover of stock, need a larger profit margin per unit.

In addition to this, Kmart et al may very well have an arrangement whereby they actually pay Hasbro less for stock than other places, precisely because they place such big orders. JB & EB will almost certainly not have that option.

Following on from that, Kmart et all may be in a position to strong-arm Hasbro on prices, just like Coles and Woolworths do to their suppliers, and Malwart does to everyone in the US. JB and EB would be laughed at if they tried this.

(there's also a diversion into transport that I won't bother with, but in the same way as above Kmart et all pay less for that than JB & EB too, and places like The Gamesmen pay even more again)

Yes, deluxes did cost around $30 for years. The key part there is that that price is years old (also, lower than RRP - the benefit of buying from a place the size of Kmart). When prices stay static for an extended period of time, they tend to change, when they change, quite dramatically.


I don't want to sound snotty or anything, but I keep seeing the same complaints here and elsewhere and this really is, to me, basic economics. People seem generally to understand that the above is why Coles and Woolworths sell for so much less (yes, even taking into account their huge price hikes and gouging) than other supermarket chains such as IGA and especially anyone not a chain, such as a local grocer or butcher or corner shop; so why is the pricing of Transformers seemingly seen differently somehow?

[DELTAprime]

Let's not forget that after the death of the previous Hasbro CEO, the current Hasbro CEO decided it would be a great idea to raise prices across the entire company's lineup. So the fact we are paying more isn't entirely on Woolworth's and Coles's heads in this case.

Also, Toymate, Toyworld, and Myer are small fry in the Aussie retail space. They will not be getting any deal from Hasbro on pricing.

As for JB HiFi's price matching policy, the CEO spoke about that and said essentially he would rather take some of you're money than get none of your money. It's an unfortunately uncommon business tactic.

[GoktimusPrime]

A rant about prices but what’s new I suppose.

<snip>

Remember that JB Hi Fi, EB Games and Zing all have price match policies. And I know that JB Hi Fi will also price match online prices; I've gotten them to price match Amazon Australia a couple of times. So yeah, if you can find the same item for a better price elsewhere, get them to price match.

[DELTAprime]

EB Games and Zing

Unless my local store is high on their own BS, which is totally possible, EB Games only price matches on games, not "loot".

[Skyfire]

Playing around with Legacy United Origin Wheeljack (the first Transformer on TV and the first transforming one, yay!) made me watch the very first episode again and it's always bugged me that when he and Bumblebee encounter the Decepticon welcoming committee, who are straight in front of them and fire shots into Wheeljack's windscreen, Bumblebee gets out and fires his pistol in the opposite direction. What?!?