Pricing, where's your limit?? (1 Viewer)

I changed direction in collecting when prices for a foot fig went to $40. There are many great figs on the market for under $35. Same with vehicles, I buy the occassional WWII piece, but under $200. Chris
 
Jack said:
Johnny

It was Sammy's question, not mine but an interesting perspective!

Jack
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Sorry Sammy - and Jack - I didn't look back to the start of the thread.

I also know you are discussing the prices of painted figures - and we are in a K&C thread - but my point remains the same.

The painting is the bit that hikes up the price - and my point is that there is another way to enjoy the hobby without breaking the bank. You may never be as good as some of the professional and highly skilled painters employed by the big companies - but it can be just as enjoyable - and I would argue MORE enjoyable - to try an alternative way of enjoying Toy Soldiers - by (partly) creating them yourself from bare metal castings - and a tin or two of paint - and save a bucketload of money along the way.

Regards to all - johnnybach
 
sammy719 said:
Hi all,

I must say first this is NOT a anti K&C thread, just thoughts in general about k&C pricing at the moment, and I do totally understand the reasons for price increases from raw material, Chinas working folk wanting a bigger pay check etc...but is there a dollar amount that you step away from collecting?? cut back? buy just soldiers, buy just vehicles?? I pick up a few Civil War sets for my son from K&C but just one here and there, so it's not to bad on the pockets, anyway just curious to know how others are dealing with pricing at the moment?...Sammy
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I reached my limit a couple of years ago and haven't purchased anything from a K&C dealer for at least two years.
As I have said before on this forum I really do like K&C soldiers but I just can't justify paying these prices.
I do however buy K&C from the secondary market. I use eBay a lot and have purchased some absolute bargains over the years. You just need the willpower to stick in there and wait for the item to come up at the right price. One of my all time favourite K&C pieces was the British Coldstream Guards "saving the boy" set NA 191. But I wouldn't pay the list price for it and waited years for it to come on eBay at a reasonable price. I recently bought it for £23.00 below the list price in brand new boxed condition.
I do buy William Britains, John Jenkins and Tom Gunn direct from dealers because their pricing is at a level I feel comfortable with. But I still look for bargains even with these manufacturers and pick and choose what I can afford. If these manufacturers increase their prices much more I will stop buying directly from them as well.
Having read most of the responses to this post it seems to me K&C and other manufacturers are losing out on quite a few customers due to their price structure. Also some of their remaining customers would obviously like to buy more product but are restrained by the prices.
If toy soldier manufacturers are concerned about losing customers, and they should be, perhaps K&C and other manufacturers should be looking harder for cheaper alternatives to the Chinese manufacturers. The company I work for invested heavily in Chinese suppliers only to find prices rising every year. They are now looking towards Indian, Malaysia and Korea for their products.
Perhaps toy soldier manufacturers should try to do the same.
The Chinese market is like any other market place. Once they see their business disappearing to other countries they will adjust their prices accordingly.
 
One point to throw into the discussion here. When I first discovered King&Country back in 2002 these very first figures were a WS25 Tiger ,the early tank crew set with the fuel drum, and some early 1999 LAH standing drummers and buglers that My dad had bought. The mold of the WS25 Tiger was crude compared to todays offerings as the figures had less detail and a more toy look to them. Todays current offerings to me have improved greatly since then.
True prices have gone up since 1999, but the detail and realism, quality all have gone up since then Too ! Just my wee pitence worth :wink2:
 
The simple fact for me is that 2/3 years ago I would get 36 K&C foot figures for every £1000 spent. 2/3 years on I get 27. When I begin to receive 20-22 foot figures for my £1000 then it's time to look elsewhere or spend it on something else.
 
This could equally be thrown into several manufacturers threads so, perhaps we could have one of these threads in the FL and Figarti thread it would indeed be very interesting the different responses of what others limits are from these manufacturers. CS are the only firm who have been quite immune to the higher prices. Probably should have been a general toy soldier discussion post
Mitch
 
The one effect the price increases have had that I truly notice is that the 3 and 4 K&C figure sets are a thing of the past. I used to love getting a set of soldiers that all went together and told a small 'story' all on their own.
 
Hi,

When one loves, one does not compute... but :

In France, I pay 38 € (USD: 51, £ 32,60) for a privat and 71 € for a cavalryman (USD : 95,52, £ : 61). The customs taxes seem to be 4,7% and the VAT : 19,6%.

What are the taxes in the States(customs duty and VAT) or in England (VAT)?

Faithfully
Valmy
 
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Mitch said:
This could equally be thrown into several manufacturers threads so, perhaps we could have one of these threads in the FL and Figarti thread it would indeed be very interesting the different responses of what others limits are from these manufacturers. CS are the only firm who have been quite immune to the higher prices. Probably should have been a general toy soldier discussion post
Mitch
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Agree 100% mate and don't know why all these threads are not in general toy soldier forum
 
sammy719 said:
By all means please (mods) move the thread to general discussion...Sammy
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Honestly I think the only thing holding K&C prices where they are is the fact that CS and WBritain’s are still producing at a substantially lower price point. But, as K&C continues to gain strength in the market I find it very difficult to believe that prices will not continue to increase.

Andy has numerous competitive advantages over some of the other producers in the industry, so why would it come as any surprise that he enjoys a sustainable higher price point. Frankly his business model (perhaps not every individual product) is superior. He deserves to be at the top of the industry because he worked hard and was smart enough to get there.

I think this explains the reason why this thread was placed under the K&C section. K&C sets the standard for the entire industry. One might go so far as to say that K&C is the only real business on the production side of this market.

If the competition continues to weaken, due in large part to the floundering world wide economy, I can see K&C prices creeping closer and closer to First Legion’s.
 
Another small point is If manufacturers have kept the same % in terms of mark up [dealers also ] the reality is they
dont have to sell as many $200 plus tanks etc [as opposed to the good old days of under $100 vehicles]
to keep on making the same profits. So some being driven out of the hobby may not have dented there profits
too much if at all .
I dont really have a price limit as such if I feel its worth it and I wouldnt rather use the dosh on something else
I would buy it .
 
Mitch said:
This could equally be thrown into several manufacturers threads so, perhaps we could have one of these threads in the FL and Figarti thread it would indeed be very interesting the different responses of what others limits are from these manufacturers. CS are the only firm who have been quite immune to the higher prices. Probably should have been a general toy soldier discussion post
Mitch
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I agree Mitch should have been a GD thread. Britains have also done a good job at keeping down the prices. I started back in the hobby 5years ago and a Zulu figures was $24.00 and now sells for $30. That is only an increase of $1.50 per figure per year. Not bad IMO.
 
well said

i agree fully with everything said previously.
i have not set any limit. i do know only what i paid previously.
for a 54mm foot soldier, i paid between 15$ and 220$ (each)
for a 54mm mounted figure, i paid between 50$ and 1200$ (each)
these days, i only buy less than 10 figures a month with a roughly fix budget per month.
figures are like women... then don't look the same and they don't cost the same.

cheers
Alex



Lo_1863 said:
I second everything you just said. :)
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Nowadays, all prices are " inflated"( just salaries are not!)....What is the right price for a hotel room , for a jacket or a plane ticket? Hard to say....What is important to me is not my price limit , but what is the "reasonable price" for an item considering costs, benefits for the manufactuer and so on. The question in today s capitalistic economy is that the price is based on what people are "ready to pay", even if this amount is an exorbitant price for the item value....And toysoldiers are IMO overpriced for their value, one brand more, one brand less, but definetely overpriced.One evidence is that ex. the toysoldiers incrising price is much higher than the rate of inflation.
 
I'm one who has went to smaller figures.$2-3 for figure,$20 for excellent paint job.I know Brad said this is about painted figures but the price of them is the reason I went this route.I do make exceptions as I have a few 54mm kits painted up and these on the average cost more than a ready painted figure but these are few and far between now.
Mark
 
Poppo said:
Nowadays, all prices are " inflated"( just salaries are not!)....What is the right price for a hotel room , for a jacket or a plane ticket? Hard to say....What is important to me is not my price limit , but what is the "reasonable price" for an item considering costs, benefits for the manufactuer and so on. The question in today s capitalistic economy is that the price is based on what people are "ready to pay", even if this amount is an exorbitant price for the item value....And toysoldiers are IMO overpriced for their value, one brand more, one brand less, but definetely overpriced.One evidence is that ex. the toysoldiers incrising price is much higher than the rate of inflation.
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What I’d like to see is FL quality painting (or close) on metal figures (I understand that this would be accompanied by an increase in price). Then I’d like to see the same manufacturer make hand-painted plastics that are maybe of lesser quality, but are compatible with the nicer metal range. This would enable us to fill out our ranks with less expensive figures.

One of the most maddening things about the current product lines is that nobody’s ranges are completely compatible and there are no real inexpensive alternatives for filling out the “rear” ranks of our dioramas and display set-ups.

If an “artist” (i.e. Russian master painter) has to touch the figure in order to make it look nice for the front ranks of my scenes, then I understand the high price. But, if “non-artists” (i.e. random Chinese people) are doing the entire paint job then IMO it should go on a plastic figure. Or if it is on a metal figure it should be priced accordingly.

Some of the Russian studios offer varying qualities of painting and then price them according to the quality. I see no reason why some of the major producers couldn't offer a similar concept.
 
My first K & C and indeed first metals, were 5 Crusaders/Saracens when that line first came out. The Australian dollar was more 'normal' then, so they cost about $45 each. But the total cost of building the range at that rate was too much and I stopped with the metals. The rise of out dollar though changed everthing and I've picked up over 150 metal figures since, some for as low as $22 AUD. Even with exchange rates being similar the price has crept up to $43 for standard infantry and $110 ish for cavalry. This is getting to a concerning point. I don't have the budget for many figs beyond this point. I have interests in the Jenkins and CS ranges and it's likely the bulk of my spending will be on those in the future - especially if our dollar drops significantly!
 
I am not buying a lot of matte-painted figures anymore... I am mainly filling out the remainder of my current/future collection with glossies from various manufacturers which still seem be reasonably priced at approximately or even under $20/foot figure, $45/mounted figure. They look great in a curio cabinet and there are a lot of selections by era, style and manufacturer!
 
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