Art of the Shelf: Price Point
So on the podcast and with The Out of the Box blogs I've made it know that I am a very eclectic collector with my collection ranging from shonen anime to superheroes to tokusatsu monsters and robots. Now one of my favorite franchise is Voltron, it's in space, has giant robots, and a bit of mysticism what's not to love. Well with me being a collector you'd think Voltron would be heavy in my collection you'd be wrong. You see for me Voltron Toys range from really rare to very expensive and lately with the surge in release of Voltron figures you would think there be something out there for everyone. You kinda are right in thinking that but none of it is affordable. In this Blog I will use the Voltron toys to show how I evaluate a price point on collector figures and compare to other lines with less expensive collector lines.
Voltron 30th Anniversary Collector's Set released last year for the big 30 birthday. This set however is nothing new it been released twice before as the 20th and 25th anniversary sets. This figure is nice updated version of the old 80s Voltron set. It made the robot more moveable and screen accurate. However this version of the figure right now can be purchased for $220. Now that's steep especially when both the 20th and 25th sold for roughly $150 new. Now unlike those this figure this set comes with a stand, lion weapons, a replica key, and light up eyes on the robot head. This additions sadly to not value up to an additional 100 dollars. Even with the diecast parts the price for this one is just to high. If you'd like a full review on this figure check out CollectionDX's review here.
Voltron 30th Anniversary Super Poseable SD Voltron is another figure for the 30th birthday line. This adorable super deformed action figure stand at roughly 3 inches tall is made from diecast parts and super poseable. On top of all that it includes 2 additional faces and blazing sword accessories. Now you look at this guy and you're like "aw how cute" until you find out that he retails for $80. Yeah this little figure in all its charm is also on the steep side given it's size. Now most collectible figures at this size range from 10 to 15 however none of those are die cast or have a light up feature. Those two facts included $80 is still a high price I could understand 35 but this is not the case.
Voltron 30th Anniversary Jumbo Lion Voltron is one that just baffles me. The huge 24 inch Vinyl figure retails for roughly $235. This price well confuses me as I know for a fact Vinyl is well a cheap plastic so it's not material cost causing me to spit take at the price. The figure itself is unlike jumbos of the past as it has working wheels on the feet and the lion heads on the arms launch. I remember these types of toys when I was a kid the where cheap alternatives to say a more expensive version of the character in hopes that size would out way function. Now supposedly there is an audience for this size of vinyl figure in the tokusatsu monsters and giant robo fandom where this is a fair price. I guess I just don't fall into that group
The Altimite DX Transforming Voltron is the figure that inspired me to write this blog and sent me on a rant on the Toyark Forums. This figure is another SD Voltron toy however unlike the one above this one is fully transformable meaning not only a cute Voltron but cute little lions as well. It all comes with sword and shield as well as tiny little pilots and stands at about 7 inches. Now everything I've read on this particular set say it made completely of plastic no diecast parts at all. With all that information one would think that on this one is about $80. WRONG! No this set in all it's cuteness is $125 and that broke me.
Now I love Voltron both lion and vehicle and with the announcement of Ultimate Voltron EX Set (below) I got excited. Now with the prices above I fear a $250 price point.
Now from everything I've read this will not have any diecast parts and has not been priced yet and I am worried. Let me look at two similar toy lines Bandai's Power Rangers Legacy and Hasbro's Transformers Generations and compare them to the Voltron toys. Power Rangers Legacy is a adult collector line that uses die cast parts to make a higher quality figure like the Voltron anniversary set the only major difference is the poseability of the Voltron line. The Legacy sets average at about $80 with the exception of Titanus who was well more than he should of been. Now Transformers has in the last few year began releasing large collectible figures with there new Titan class. The New Devastator figure which is a large combiner that about the same size as the EX set and is about $140. Now some people may say that steep too but it is made up of 6 voyager class figures that are often sold at 25 each so that price is fair. Not only is that price fair but it has more functions than the voltron figure would. This has led me to believe that WEP the owners of Voltron are charging ridiculous rates for the licence to Voltron. Which sadly makes sense as the franchise is back on life support.
To sum this up for me a price has to make sense with both materials and function of the figures and these prices do not make sense to me and have caused me to pass on many a Voltron figure with one exception.
Voltron 30th Anniversary Collector's Set released last year for the big 30 birthday. This set however is nothing new it been released twice before as the 20th and 25th anniversary sets. This figure is nice updated version of the old 80s Voltron set. It made the robot more moveable and screen accurate. However this version of the figure right now can be purchased for $220. Now that's steep especially when both the 20th and 25th sold for roughly $150 new. Now unlike those this figure this set comes with a stand, lion weapons, a replica key, and light up eyes on the robot head. This additions sadly to not value up to an additional 100 dollars. Even with the diecast parts the price for this one is just to high. If you'd like a full review on this figure check out CollectionDX's review here.
Voltron 30th Anniversary Super Poseable SD Voltron is another figure for the 30th birthday line. This adorable super deformed action figure stand at roughly 3 inches tall is made from diecast parts and super poseable. On top of all that it includes 2 additional faces and blazing sword accessories. Now you look at this guy and you're like "aw how cute" until you find out that he retails for $80. Yeah this little figure in all its charm is also on the steep side given it's size. Now most collectible figures at this size range from 10 to 15 however none of those are die cast or have a light up feature. Those two facts included $80 is still a high price I could understand 35 but this is not the case.
Voltron 30th Anniversary Jumbo Lion Voltron is one that just baffles me. The huge 24 inch Vinyl figure retails for roughly $235. This price well confuses me as I know for a fact Vinyl is well a cheap plastic so it's not material cost causing me to spit take at the price. The figure itself is unlike jumbos of the past as it has working wheels on the feet and the lion heads on the arms launch. I remember these types of toys when I was a kid the where cheap alternatives to say a more expensive version of the character in hopes that size would out way function. Now supposedly there is an audience for this size of vinyl figure in the tokusatsu monsters and giant robo fandom where this is a fair price. I guess I just don't fall into that group
Now I love Voltron both lion and vehicle and with the announcement of Ultimate Voltron EX Set (below) I got excited. Now with the prices above I fear a $250 price point.
Now from everything I've read this will not have any diecast parts and has not been priced yet and I am worried. Let me look at two similar toy lines Bandai's Power Rangers Legacy and Hasbro's Transformers Generations and compare them to the Voltron toys. Power Rangers Legacy is a adult collector line that uses die cast parts to make a higher quality figure like the Voltron anniversary set the only major difference is the poseability of the Voltron line. The Legacy sets average at about $80 with the exception of Titanus who was well more than he should of been. Now Transformers has in the last few year began releasing large collectible figures with there new Titan class. The New Devastator figure which is a large combiner that about the same size as the EX set and is about $140. Now some people may say that steep too but it is made up of 6 voyager class figures that are often sold at 25 each so that price is fair. Not only is that price fair but it has more functions than the voltron figure would. This has led me to believe that WEP the owners of Voltron are charging ridiculous rates for the licence to Voltron. Which sadly makes sense as the franchise is back on life support.
To sum this up for me a price has to make sense with both materials and function of the figures and these prices do not make sense to me and have caused me to pass on many a Voltron figure with one exception.
Comments
Post a Comment