Get A Grip (1 Viewer)

[Toy Soldier Brigade]

It would be a cold day in hell, when I would allow a factory that I am paying to produce my product dictate terms to me. China or anywhere else. Maybe moving operations to another factory and or country would change their mind as to who is working for who.

 

[kilted vampire]

In regards to FL they are not even in the same ball park. Different marketing strategy entirely. Different product. Small piece of pie. They started out being expensive. So if you could afford them then, has the price increases for them changed anything more or less?

 

[HAWKEYE]

there are two possible reasons for the constant increase in price. Either the labor costs are going up or kc just wants to make more money. Maybe it's both? I am under the understanding that it's the labor costs that are affecting figure costs. But i must also raise the question as to why aren't other manufacturers charging the same high prices? They will not survive long if they are losing money. So maybe the answer is greed? And i suppose that everyone is happy with the constant price increases? If things keep going the way they are, eventually all of us will be out of the hobby. Everyone has a limit.

get a grip you are pretty close.
I have been reading these threads on pricing for a while and have not said much on the topic. I have been a kc collector since 1995 and have seen alot. My take is that andy has seen what the secondary market brings and decided to capture more of those profits upfront. I do not blame him for it. Most would do it. But i have one major concern with all of this. I know everybody says buy what you can afford and what you like, but after awhile you have a small fortune invested in these beautiful toys. The great thing a bout kc is that you always knew you could get your money back or even make a good return on them when you sold them. But now i believe we have reached a tipping point. I love the product, but why should i buy figures that cost me $42 when i know i could never recover that money down the line if i chose to sell . I think there are many a collector thinking the same way as i am. My fear is that i and many others will cut back on their buying and on a macro level i could see the shrinking of the hobby but worse yet a loss of enthusiasm and momentem that could do long lasting harm to the hobby. I want a vibrant hobby and i know costs have gone up but we need balance. Maybe there are cycles we can't avoid but i would like to see all sides win. I am probably living in a dream world wishing for that. I do know one thing. Kc needs to balance their profit schedule with keeping the enthusiasm and momentem going in this hobby, which right now is a tall order. Good luck

 

[Mike97]

get a grip you are pretty close.
I have been reading these threads on pricing for a while and have not said much on the topic. I have been a kc collector since 1995 and have seen alot. My take is that andy has seen what the secondary market brings and decided to capture more of those profits upfront. I do not blame him for it. Most would do it. But i have one major concern with all of this. I know everybody says buy what you can afford and what you like, but after awhile you have a small fortune invested in these beautiful toys. The great thing a bout kc is that you always knew you could get your money back or even make a good return on them when you sold them. But now i believe we have reached a tipping point. I love the product, but why should i buy figures that cost me $42 when i know i could never recover that money down the line if i chose to sell . I think there are many a collector thinking the same way as i am. My fear is that i and many others will cut back on their buying and on a macro level i could see the shrinking of the hobby but worse yet a loss of enthusiasm and momentem that could do long lasting harm to the hobby. I want a vibrant hobby and i know costs have gone up but we need balance. Maybe there are cycles we can't avoid but i would like to see all sides win. I am probably living in a dream world wishing for that. I do know one thing. Kc needs to balance their profit schedule with keeping the enthusiasm and momentem going in this hobby, which right now is a tall order. Good luck

GREAT post-nothing else to add.
mike