Although this forum is primarily populated by those who collect individually sculpted figures in 60mm "action" poses with matte finishes, there is another, albeit, smaller group of collectors who buy more traditional 54mm, glossy figures. There is no question that while King & Country, Figarti, Collector's Showcase, First Legion, etc., have been producing toy soldiers and AFVs that have reached an unimaged level of quality and creativity, their prices have continued to increase to the point where price elasticity of demand is becoming a problem for some collectors.
I belong to the forum's sub-set of collectors who, although I have some of the afore mentioned 60mm figures in my collection, mainly collect traditional toy soldiers; to be completely honest, I can probably be more accurately described as an accumulator rather than a collector. And as such, I could never afford to accumulate the number of 60mm matte figures that I can with 54mm glossies given the wide disparity in prices between those two types.
My inability to find Hiriart toy soldiers from Uruguay out here in California, led me, out of frustration, to start importing them for me and my friend, Bob Walker. This has now ballooned to the point where I am not only selling Hiriart at the West Coaster, but also buying them for more than two dozen other collectors. Which brings me to this point about price increases in our hobby: The weak U.S. dollar vis-a-vis the EURO and British Pound has impacted even the tradition toy soldier manufacturers. Hiriart has increased their prices to me four times, in four years, which means that I am now paying 36 per cent more than I was in 2007. Since this is NOT a business for me, I have only increased my prices by 13 percent. I am selling Hiriart figures at what works out to be $13.89 each or $125 for a set of nine figures, but if this was a business, I would have to charge $150 per set to maintain my original sales margins based on the 2007 price of $110 per set.
I fear for our hobby on several levels. First of all, we are becoming fewer in absolute numbers as older collectors pass on or stop collecting. The number of new collectors entering the hobby is not keeping up with that inevitable attrition. Secondly, as the quality and creativity of product offerings continue to go up so do the prices on a per figure or AFV basis. Even those who would like to buy more can't afford to because of the higher prices. This in turn means that manufacturers must charge more to maintain their top line gross sales levels and profit margins. This creates a vicious circle which I really don't see a solution to.
