K&c Increases Prices : I need Another Job! (2 Viewers)

[damian]

I saw a t shirt once which said Rob Mugabe on the front
On the back it said Before he Robs you
Regards
Damian

 

[steveo]

It comes as a bit of a system shock when prices do go up,I`m slightly confused,i thought the reason most toy companies moved their manufacturing base to China/Far east was the low cost/raw materials/ready available skilled workforce/lower wages than the west,therefore keeping prices low?(i might have a simplistic view on the above?)It makes you wonder if firms will consider moving again to maintain their profits or due the Mattel recall,India,or Africa comes to mind both with vast untapped workforces and rescoures.The reason why i mention India is every time somebody goes on holiday(vacation) i cheekily ask them to try and bring me some soldiers back,from wherever they have been,well one of my lads has a farm in India ,and it couldn't find any at all,but some of the Hindu castings he has shown me,rival any toy soldier i have seen,just a thought

 

[nmrocks]

And let’s not leave out the fact that they have a very popular product and are a "for profit" business that is trying to maximize revenue streams. KC would probably never be silly enough to say that publicly but that is just smart business. Econ 101 folks....you want prices to drop....stop buying...inventory will sit on shelves...dealers will gripe and complain....prices would drop...but lets be honest...is $29 a figure going to prevent you from buying the figures you want? I doubt it.

You've got that right, the fact that it's "for profit" actually keeps the prices down.
If this was a gov't operation they'd be $100 per fig, poor quality and unavailable
Ray

 

[Rutledge]

You've got that right, the fact that it's "for profit" actually keeps the prices down.
If this was a gov't operation they'd be $100 per fig, poor quality and unavailable

Hear-Hear. Hooray for capitalism! Hooray for profits! Hooray for entrepreneurs (like K&C)! And yes, even hooray for the competition! That keeps everybody honest.

 

[Miniature guy]

Well you know the price increase could be for any number of resins. Thanks to Wilson helping creating the FED. Reserve in 1913 and Nixon taking America of the gold and silver stander the U.S. dollar has been dropping in value ever since. So prices go up because we loose our spending power. But then prices across the board will go up. Or it could be material prices could be going up in cost. But being an industrial designer I know that’s not completely true because metal alloys are becoming cheaper to make. It might be because business is bad and that might explain why Arnhem is sold on an individual figure basis. So instead of making all these figure sets that might not sell, you produce the whole run at low numbers and only reorder what’s selling. Also up the price on everything in order to keep the same profit margins. It might be because the K&C figure is of better quality than any other figure out there. But they are figures so how do you judge their performance over other figures. Well they are all made out of the same materials and most are painted the same way. So value has to be measured in an emotional value then because these are pieces of art. And as we all know the value of art is in the eye of he beholder and can not be measured. Just look at the silly discussion I had with John. It went around and around and leads to nothing. So lastly maybe it’s because Andy is an evil corporate monster who wants to own the world. But we could only know that if we could get a peak at his books. Honestly we still live in a free market world, (well for the most part) and through the theory of the invisible hand equilibrium will be reached between K&C and us. Either folks will be fine with handing over more money or Andy will have to lower prices in order to stay in business. I can only speak for myself and I am not going to stop buying K&C. But those extra five dollars will add up very fast. So I am only going to buy those things I really want or what will fill in the gaps on lines I already have. No mater what the price is, it will not stop me from smiling every time I look at my collection.

 

[Canadian Samurai]

As we all (countries) throw a lot of our manafacturing into China the demand on the raw materials increase.
Greed has nothing to do with it, However it may look that way.

Well actually greed is directly responsible for the recent price increases of most consumer goods. Greedy consumers demand low prices so greedy capitalists outsource manufacturing to China, which a) has driven up the demand for Chinese labour, which causes wage costs over there to rise, b) has increased the US trade deficit with China, thereby lowering the value and purchasing power of the US dollar and c) has accelerated the depletion of the planet's scarce and irreplaceable natural resources. So yes, greed is entirely to blame for rising costs of production. Not necessarily greed on K&C's part, but the greed perpetuated by our whole economic system. For the last ten years we've had a bonanza of cheap consumer goods and cheap credit and now that the party's over someone has to start paying the repair bill.

 

[wellington]

I'm wondering since these figures were painted in CHINA........Is there LEAD in the paints and will there be a recall since my son has some???????




As for K&C, they rule in my book and thats why 95% of my collection is still K&C.


I'll tell you what is a bigger problem then cost...its room...I have run out of it and now am seriously think on whether to buy anymore??


WELLINGTON

 

[jazzeum]

I'm wondering since these figures were painted in CHINA........Is there LEAD in the paints and will there be a recall since my son has some???????

WELLINGTON

All of the major manufacturers have come on and said there is no lead in the paints they use.

 

[jrsteel]

Old Tanker!!!

Lets look at the quality!of the others!

Tony

Tony, yes lets look at the quality of the others. Have you seen the new stuff coming out from Britains? Great quality and variety. To say it isn't is not being objective.

 

[Old Tanker 7.5]

I still say Collectors Showcase is a close second to K&C especially with the new vehicles: WOW! The new price hikes well they might make those Showcase foot figures a bit more appealing, if they don't raise prices too, I just think 29.00 a pop for K&C is a bit much now.Britians: Im not impressed.

 

[Warbuff26]

The new price hikes well they might make those Showcase foot figures a bit more appealing.

You mean the mutant zombie army on steroids? Sorry that may be a bit harsh...but talk about unimpressed! They need to sculpt better facial features and expressions and tone down the muscle bulk. I know they are German ubermen but jeeze!

 

[Old Tanker 7.5]

No, I refer to the nicely crafted Collectors Showcase Arnhem series, saw those at OTSN, very very nice my friend: actually Tobruk looks fantastic too. The first release was pretty bad,you are referring to those, if not maybe you should look a bit closer at Arnhem they are so so nice.

Cheers!

 

[jazzeum]

You mean the mutant zombie army on steroids? Sorry that may be a bit harsh...but talk about unimpressed! They need to sculpt better facial features and expressions and tone down the muscle bulk. I know they are German ubermen but jeeze!

I think these are the guys consumed by the Ark of the Covenant in Indiana Jones.

 

[Old Tanker 7.5]

He he so true the first release was so bad, green faces and sucked in and all. No Im talking about Brian's new stuff:Arnhem they were soo nice at OTSN, hope they ship that way.

cheers Brad!

 

[johngambale]

Pricing is going up and the Size of the Toys are geting Smaller? What's going on K & C?

 

[CannonFodder1971]

Maybe we should ask Robert Mugabe to impose price controls on K and C to prevent all this capitalistic profiteering off us simple proletarian collectors.
Regards
Damian

Ha ha, is Andy the Last King of Scotland?

Seriously though the Chinese have been doing somersaults to prevent their economy overheating, but they are the raw material equivalent of a gigantic vacuum cleaner at present, sucking in huge quantites and in effect setting the price in the global market for many inputs, and short of seizing raw materials I just can't see any way their authorities can keep growth from lurching along near 10% per annum. The US trade deficit is massive and although the Chinese notionally shadow a basket of currencies in reality they track the dollar. And they're choking on dollars: they can't rebalance their dollar-denominated reserves generated by the enormous surpluses without upsetting the whole currency applecart. It's pretty old news now to see that they've a Trillion dollar surplus:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6106280.stm

But inevitably inflation will take its toll from within the overheating Chinese economy and things will reach an equilibrium again as their more expensive exports make other destinations competitive again. Unfortunately where in the past many overseas investors would have seen huge opportunities in buying cheap US assets on the back of a weak dollar, now they're thinking twice as the internal woes of the housing market are felt throughout the economy. This leads to a vicious cycle of sorts, as no-one wants to invest in what could be a depreciating asset if the currency slide continues whilst on the other hand a country such as the US running a semi-permanent trade deficit needs overseas investors to pump money in to keep the merry-go-round working. It could be a serious problem for the next 3-5 years.

I think it's been surprising how much pain many Chinese-based companies have taken on their margins in order to keep the increases down but that inevitably there'll be price increases. Don't forget that in real terms K&C prices have been falling relative to inflation over the past 10 years. An occasional upward revision has become inevitable. (Having said that I'd also imagine that a premium product such as K&C would probably have a pretty good margin too, so I'd be concerned if the price increases were to continue apace).

 

[VIRIATO]

I can't explain the policy but if you look at D Day, World War I and FoB, the single figures are priced at $25 so the prices have held on those figures. Can't explain why the MG ones are $29, inflation I assume.

I can explain why, they're clearly better that's why

 

[VIRIATO]

You mean the mutant zombie army on steroids? Sorry that may be a bit harsh...but talk about unimpressed! They need to sculpt better facial features and expressions and tone down the muscle bulk. I know they are German ubermen but jeeze!

Great point!!! That made me laugh at the end of a harsh day, bless you

 

[VIRIATO]

I think these are the guys consumed by the Ark of the Covenant in Indiana Jones.

More laughs, thanks Brad

 

[Pierre]

...Britians: Im not impressed.

Hi OT-

Take a look at their WWI figures and wait for the upcoming Zulu range in matt finnish (the masters are impressive).

Also, ONWTC WWI figures. Great.

Pierre.