Parents Should Boycott The Toy Industry

[beaker]

I know some of you have defended the toy industry, but it's just gotten Onion.com level of ridiculous.
$10 for dinky star wars and spiderman toys? Have you guys seen the Dark Knight Rises Batman figures? They're using dollar store cheapo toxic garbage style figures and charging $12. In the last couple years figures have gotten incredibly shrimpy and small but the prices rise. Tiny little Adventure Time figures=$10. Little microscopic pvc sized toys, again $10-$12 now(tho strange, the huge 12 inch Thor is only $20)

In the late 90's thru mid 2000's, figures grew enormously in size(thanks in part to the Mcfarlane standard) yet remained under $10.

Is there really any defense for this? Oh how I yearn for the 90's Toy Biz Marvel Figures and style. And trust me, those style of 90's toy biz/kenner figures STILL last to this day, whereas most the figures now are already broken before you get em to the register. The toy industry is utterly freaking pathetic, least for the grade school thru college set(toys meant for very young kids in the 16 months to 6 years range still seem pretty good)

 

[Drtooth]

Parents not buying toys is kinda the problem. The Toy industry may be screwing around and hiking prices up (and it also has something to do with the retail industry in general). But like I said, it was an annoying cycling growth over the past several years. Everything keeps going up in price because oil gets higher, then when it gets lower, nothing happens, and then when it gets to the point where the oil is almost as high as it was when it was high, the prices go up again. Not to mention when no one's buying stuff because they raise prices, they raise prices to make up money they think they lost.

And they all wind up on deep discount clearance, it counts as a loss, and they raise prices again.

But the thing is everything is going up because it can. I see no difference between the toy industry and every other industry out there.

 

[beaker]

Not buying toys doesn't explain why the material, size, and overall quality for toys and figures has gone way down the toilet...to pretty much a dollar store/immigrant bootleg store sort of quality. I mean have you SEEN the Dark Knight Rises toys?

 

[D'Snowth]

Not buying toys doesn't explain why the material, size, and overall quality for toys and figures has gone way down the toilet...to pretty much a dollar store/immigrant bootleg store sort of quality. I mean have you SEEN the Dark Knight Rises toys?

If they can manufacture it at a much cheaper price, then that's what they're going to do. There's a slogan for that kind of business: "Quality-schmality! Buy it, clown!"

 

[Drtooth]

Not buying toys doesn't explain why the material, size, and overall quality for toys and figures has gone way down the toilet...to pretty much a dollar store/immigrant bootleg store sort of quality. I mean have you SEEN the Dark Knight Rises toys?

Mattel still kinda sucks. They may have that high quality collectors DC line, but everything they do still kinda sucks. Hasbro's crap may be overpriced, but it's not even half as bad as Mattel. Still, I don't see why G.I. Joe sized figures go for so much. They get cleared out most of the time. It's time to bite the bullet and lower prices. Y'think I'm happy the classic Thundercats figures were upwards of 20 bucks?

Still, it's all about the oil. Plastic is made from oil, they have to ship these things from overseas, they have to ship them to stores. And quite honestly, the retailers are much more to blame than you think. Why do you think the focus has shifted for the longest time to movie based toys? That's what retailers want to sell. Transformers Animated and Transformers Prime's toylines got screwed because Wal*Mart and the rest wanted Bayformers movie tie ins. AS much as I have problems with TRU, at least they've let up and sell toy lines based on cartoon shows. Jazzwares has Classic Nickelodeon and Hanna Barbera lines now. That's something unheard of since the action figure collapse, toys based on long since canceled shows... some that aren't even on the air anymore.

Things are getting better... you just have to look outside the main company mindset. I am LOVING Jakks Pacific's S.L.U.G. Zombies line. I've been waiting for a spiritual successor to M.U.S.C.L.E.S. and Monster in my Pocket. And it's even got a bit of a celebrity parody/Garbage Pail kids vibe to it. I got a package with obvious Mr. T. and Crocodile Dundee expies in them. And as expensive as Jazzwares's lines for AT, RS, and HB are, they're actually cheaper and more worth the price than any of the main companies.

 

[beaker]

Only toys I buy now and then are vinyl exclusives and oddball stuff I find at conventions or online. Again, there's no way anyone can justify why teeny tiny little 1.5" pvc figures go for $9.99 at TRU. What's funny is Target sells the same figures for a few dollars cheaper. But overall the quality of toys is just ridiculously bad. There's no denying it.
Avatar was one of the first figures to be dinky flimsy and small yet be $10-$12. And every single one ended up at dollar stores a year later.


I mean Dr Tooth, c'mon...

That's dollar store toxic cheapo core. Total crap.

 

[Sgt Floyd]

Why not hunt around for Neca figures? They are a good size and most of them are between 10-25 dollars

 

[CensoredAlso]

The toy industry should be boycotted for its association with China alone, lol.

 

[D'Snowth]

The toy industry should be boycotted for its association with China alone, lol.

But heralde... EVERYTHING is made in China... by that logic, we would have to boycott the WORLD!

 

[CensoredAlso]

But heralde... EVERYTHING is made in China... by that logic, we would have to boycott the WORLD!

Or at least Wal-Mart.