Re: The Official Toys and Collectibles Thread
 

No doubt that if all of this ridiculousness continues, many businesses like this will shutter.

Re: The Official Toys and Collectibles Thread
 

The entire genre of toys/collectibles might be dead, because it's not like it's feasible to make most of this stuff in the US even if you could magically create factories overnight.

At least books/comics are exempt (for now)

Re: The Official Toys and Collectibles Thread
 

Joel at Big Bad Toy Store is THE BEST. He is a solid entrepreneur, dedicated champion of quality products for these properties, and 100% an absolute fan of the fans. He has made every order I've ever placed right and he cares. What he wrote reflects all of that and I truly, truly hope his message breaks through to people.

Re: The Official Toys and Collectibles Thread
 

Do yourself a favor and don't go to social media and look at the reactions. I mean that's generally good advice for any topic but especially for this. A bunch of "they're just scalping there's not going to be an impact" and "if he just raised prices without placing blame, I'd be fine but now I'm never buying from him again."

But I agree with you, he's always done right by me and while he hasn't always been the cheapest, there's nothing that says they have to be. However if they really do drop ship directly from foreign countries for stuff from hasbro and the like, they're going to be in a world of hurt even above and beyond the import scene.

Re: The Official Toys and Collectibles Thread
 

This is totally bewildering to me. So, people just want companies to raise prices exponentially but would rather not hear an explanation as to why when there is a known direct cause? What the fuck?

Re: The Official Toys and Collectibles Thread
 

I just hope most of those posts are bots. I responded to like a 6 day old post on Reddit and I kid you not the guy responded twice, instantly. I hope he at least gets paid for all the effort.

Re: The Official Toys and Collectibles Thread
 

Half of Reddit is bots using AI.

Re: The Official Toys and Collectibles Thread
 

I know some people in real life who, if you saw their posts on social media, you would swear they wear Russian misinformation bots.

Re: The Official Toys and Collectibles Thread
 

Better that than point out their Emperor has no clothes.

Re: The Official Toys and Collectibles Thread
 

Nice likeness

https://www.sideshow.com/cdn-cgi/ima...abfbf5b2d5.jpg

Daredevil Sixth Scale Figure by Hot Toys | Sideshow Collectibles

Re: The Official Toys and Collectibles Thread
 

I wonder if that price is after tariff adjustments that Sideshow said would be coming.

Re: The Official Toys and Collectibles Thread
 

I stand corrected. Here is the obviously superior likeness:

https://media.entertainmentearth.com...5622fb13lg.jpg

Re: The Official Toys and Collectibles Thread
 

I don't think that helmet is going to fit on his head.

Re: The Official Toys and Collectibles Thread
 

Not with that attitude.

Re: The Official Toys and Collectibles Thread
 

Transformers was my intro to comics as a kid, but I only ever read random issues here and there. Inspired by the Kickstarter I finally started reading them from the beginning. I just finished the issues where Optimus and Megatron die (for the first time).

Holy cow are these stories bonkers. For those who have never read them he's how they die:

Re: The Official Toys and Collectibles Thread
 

The comic is probably one reason I wasn't traumatized that much by the events of Transformers the Movie (1986). There were tons of deaths in the comics and it got really dark particularly when they went back to Cybertron.

Re: The Official Toys and Collectibles Thread
 

I've only made it to about issue #30 so far, so the stories are still mostly earthbound, but the thing about the deaths is that sometimes it's hard to tell if they're actually deaths or not.

Sometimes, especially early on, the art is so riddled with mistakes that it's hard to tell what characters are even supposed to be in any given scene. And sometimes the Transformers are all like "silly human, he's not dead, he can just be rebuilt", and other times there's nothing Ratchet can do. And yet they can somehow conjure up new characters seemingly out of thin air. But characters also disappear without warning. It's hard to tell if it's because they died or if it's just because they've been cycled out for new characters.

Re: The Official Toys and Collectibles Thread
 

Entertainment Earth is following their lead. They sent an e-mail last night informing me that a $300+ order I placed last May had been increased by $30. They also removed any mention of their famous "110% Low Price Guarantee" from the website and raised the price of an item I'd price matched on a different order just last week by $9. That was all too much, so I canceled everything.

EE is a large retailer and wholesale distributer, not some tiny mom-and-pop operation. I realize the tariffs are likely eliminating their profit margins currently, so by all means raise prices. However, I'm not down with a business retroactively charging more than I agreed to pay - especially when most of the products in the order have been in stock from other vendors since last fall. Never could understand why EE seemed to always be the last major online retailer to get certain inventory in (sometimes well over a year after the same product showed up at smaller shops, not to mention Target or Walmart).

It's tough times in the collectibles market and at least they were transparent about the situation, but the only reason I'd kept the May 2024 order active this long was because I'd used a coupon. Their decision to increase prices on unfulfilled orders placed before the tariffs completely negated any savings I thought were locked in. I'd intended to get out of the toy collecting hobby once the cost of certain lines crept past $40 a figure... that day just came a bit sooner than I'd anticipated (though prices were already creeping up in that ballpark last year).

https://media.tenor.com/UHW6PSDpYxcA...y-seinfeld.gif

Re: The Official Toys and Collectibles Thread
 

I mean if they don't have it in stock and it's still a preorder they didn't have much choice. It is interesting that they seemed to raise prices about the same percentage wise across the board because I would have thought some of the stuff from HK would've been way way more expensive, they must be evening it out or hoping that the tariffs change to something more reasonable.

Re: The Official Toys and Collectibles Thread
 

Yeah, tariffs aren't an added expense for the retailer - they are a sales tax. The price you are paying for the item remains the same, but you are now on the hook for the additional taxes levied by Mr. Trump. It's pretty much the same as if your state had raised their internet sales tax between the time you pre-ordered and the time the item arrived.

Re: The Official Toys and Collectibles Thread
 

BBTS handled this better: "We will also add a notice indicating that a tariff surcharge will be added at the time of the product’s arrival. We will inform you of the full amount before your payment method is charged. You will also be able to cancel your pre-order at that time if the surcharge amount is something you do not wish to pay."

That at least leaves the (however unlikely) possibility that the tariffs could come down or be removed before the item is added to your Pile of Loot - and if not, you can cancel without penalty. With Entertainment Earth, they just raised prices on unfulfilled orders and ship when available - with no means to cancel after the item arrives in stock. Despite their claim that "If the tariffs are changed, reduced, or removed, we’ll adjust pricing and update all affected products promptly.", you couldn't safely play the "wait and see" game with EE in the hopes the prices might revert back before your order ships. Their system isn't as customer friendly compared to BBTS in this situation.

Re: The Official Toys and Collectibles Thread
 

True, but I see pros and cons to both. At least this way you know (for now at least) what you'll be paying and you can make other plans if it's too high for you. With a lot of these things if you wait until they come in stock at BBTS you'll have no recourse getting it elsewhere since it'll be sold out. Also EE is a big distributor to other stores and I'm sure they had to set some prices in stone and not be on the hook for like thousands of items in a single order getting cancelled at the last minute.

Having said that, I did have something raise in price and then get shipped today so I didn't have much time to even think about it, but the only orders I made were with coupons (that are basically wiped out by this upcharge).

I'm actually kind of curious what Amazon will do with stuff from, say, a distributor like Bluefin that comes from Japan but is made in China. They obviously have variable pricing but they usually honor preorder prices unless they completely relist an item.

Re: The Official Toys and Collectibles Thread
 

Mondo weighs in on tariffs and how it affects purchases there:

Quote:

---

We’re reaching out with an important update about how ongoing international tariffs are impacting Mondo’s products moving forward.

---

I figure Sideshow will likely be sending something soon pretty similar.

Re: The Official Toys and Collectibles Thread
 

Sideshow already announced something, I think there's a tariff charge with every order now.

Cool of Mondo to just eat the tariffs for existing preorders though, depending on what happens that could be a ton of money.

Re: The Official Toys and Collectibles Thread
 

Love the various faces.

https://www.monstersinmotion.com/car...ge.550x550.jpg

Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark - Major Toht 1/12 Scale Deluxe Boxed Set Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark - Major Toht 1/12 Scale Deluxe Boxed Set [16IME01] - $111.99 : Monsters in Motion, Movie, TV Collectibles, Model Hobby Kits, Action Figures, Monsters in Motion