I've been setting up my G1 toys on Detolf shelves finally, but due to the narrow size of each shelf, I can only fit about one year's worth of product on an individual cabinet. (I want to buy some add-on shelves, because there really is a lot of air space—especialy in the early years, when the toys were small, it's like four inches of robot toys and then like a twelve-inch gap directly above them. But, that's not what I'm here to talk about today.)

In looking at the toy line as a cohesive year-by-year product line, for perhaps the first time, I'm struck by how Hasbro made an effort to break things down by a wide range of price points. I'm specifically interested in what the lowest price point for each year was, and what the big-ticket item was for each given year (if any).

The first year was arguably just serendipity, and how the cards just happened to fall. If all that Takara was developing was Diaclone Car Robo toys, then that's all we would have gotten as Transformers. But, by mixing things up and throwing Microman toys into the mix, we had an opening price point in the Mini Autobots (roughly $3.00 in 1984 dollars) as well as more advanced toys for intermediate consumers (there was a bit of a learning curve that first year, when nobody had any experience maipulating these crazy robot puzzle toys). Optimus Prime and Megatron were by far the most expensive toys ($20.00, which had the buying power of about $60 USD today).

Mini Autobots: $2.99
Autobot Cars: $9.99
Decepticon Planes: $12.99
Soundwave: $14.99
Mini-Cassettes: $5.99

Compare this to GoBots (who beat Transformers to the punch at retail), in which basically the entire toy range was opening price point ($3.00 or so), with the exception of the Super GoBots (closer to $10.00) of which there were far fewer toys. GoBots was more accessible and more affordable for kids to collect, but Transformers had the bigger media push and were considered "cooler" toys.

So by 1985, the standard price points had been firmly established, with plenty more toys that fit neatly into the Mini Autobots assortment, the Autobot Cars, the Decepticon Planes, and so forth. As Transformers as a brand had been a proven success and not just a flash in the pan, an even larger product was offered in the form of Omega Supreme (about $40), as it was clear by this point the market would support an addition.

Dinobots: $12.99
Jumpstarters: $5.99
Constructicons: $5.99
Perceptor: $13.99
Blaster: $17.99
Jetfire: $29.99

By the time The Transformers: the Movie rolled around, most of the new characters could get stuffed into existing product price points. The scale of toys had jumped significantly, with the new Autobot Cars not quite twice as tall as older releases like Mirage or Hound. Hasbro clearly wanted to keep the Mini Autobots assortment alive, retooling the older Microman product to refresh it and continue selling it going forward. 1986 also saw the release of not just one, but two big-ticket items, Metroplex and Trypticon. The Scramble City play pattern strongly encouraged collectibility.

Ultra Magnus: $24.99
Sky Lynx: $39.99
Metroplex: $32.99
Predacons/Gnaw: $14.99
Combiner Team Leaders: $12.99
Combiner Mini-Vehicles: $4.99
Battlechargers: $4.99

1987 saw the most expensive Transformers toy of the entire USA range (Fortress Maximus) as well as a dissolution of the long-standing Mini Autobots price point, replaced with the Throttlebots. Headmasters and Targetmasters dominated shelves. This was also the first year with no die-cast parts or rubber tires comprising the toys' construction, as those aspects were being phased out in mid-production in 1986. This was also the end of the television media push for the brand, which would suffer without consistent exposure.

Throttlebots: $3.99
Duocons: $6.99
Monsterbots: $14.99
Headmasters: $14.99
Targetmasters: $14.99
Scorponok: $39.99
Fortress Maximus: $79.99

1988 was the first year the toy line was significantly reduced rather than continuing to grow. The only big ticket item was Powermaster Optimus Prime.. Headmasters and Targetmasters were reduced in size and complexity. Sparkabots and Firecons were the opening price point items for the year.

Sparkabots/Firecons: $3.99
Triggerbots/Triggercons: $4.99
Double Targetmasters: $6.99
Pretenders: $8.99
Doubledealer: $16.99
Powermaster Optimus Prime: $24.99

In 1989, Micromasters dominated the brand, and Powermaster Optimus Prime was the only 1988 product carried forward to this year. The brand was in trouble and this was reflected both in the quality of the toys and the lack of high price points.

Micromaster Patrol: $4.99
Pretender Monsters: $5.99
Small Pretenders: $6.99
Mega Pretenders: $14.99
Ultra Pretenders: $19.99
Countdown: $29.99

The intersting thing about 1990 is that the sales model had shifted to almost all opening price point toys. The bulk of what was available was Action Masters single-pack figures (eighteen of them in all, versus six Throttlebots), the Transformers equivalent of a G.I. Joe action figure.

Action Masters Figures: $3.99
Micromaster Combiners: $7.99
Action Master Vehicles (Small): $9.99
Action Masters Vehicles (Large): $14.99
Action Master Optimus Prime: $24.99

It's interesting to think that their sales model shifted with the beginning of Beast Wars, with a more rigid approach towards price points. Even today, every toy falls rather neatly into a specific existing price point, rather than the way toys during G1 seemed to sell for many different prices, depending largely on their relative size and complexity. One supposes that's more the result of borrowing existing Japanese toys for the American market, rather than creating new toys with the specific intent to meet certain price points, which is of course what they do today.

Zob (such delicious G1 pricing... my kingdom for a time machine)

On Sunday, August 14, 2022 at 12:09:01 PM UTC-5, Zobovor wrote:
> I've been setting up my G1 toys on Detolf shelves finally, but due to the narrow size of each shelf, I can only fit about one year's worth of product on an individual cabinet. (I want to buy some add-on shelves, because there really is a lot of air space—especialy in the early years, when the toys were small, it's like four inches of robot toys and then like a twelve-inch gap directly above them. But, that's not what I'm here to talk about today.)
>
> In looking at the toy line as a cohesive year-by-year product line, for perhaps the first time, I'm struck by how Hasbro made an effort to break things down by a wide range of price points. I'm specifically interested in what the lowest price point for each year was, and what the big-ticket item was for each given year (if any).
>
> The first year was arguably just serendipity, and how the cards just happened to fall. If all that Takara was developing was Diaclone Car Robo toys, then that's all we would have gotten as Transformers. But, by mixing things up and throwing Microman toys into the mix, we had an opening price point in the Mini Autobots (roughly $3.00 in 1984 dollars) as well as more advanced toys for intermediate consumers (there was a bit of a learning curve that first year, when nobody had any experience maipulating these crazy robot puzzle toys). Optimus Prime and Megatron were by far the most expensive toys ($20.00, which had the buying power of about $60 USD today).
>
> Mini Autobots: $2.99
> Autobot Cars: $9.99
> Decepticon Planes: $12.99
> Soundwave: $14.99
> Mini-Cassettes: $5.99
>
> Compare this to GoBots (who beat Transformers to the punch at retail), in which basically the entire toy range was opening price point ($3.00 or so), with the exception of the Super GoBots (closer to $10.00) of which there were far fewer toys. GoBots was more accessible and more affordable for kids to collect, but Transformers had the bigger media push and were considered "cooler" toys.
>
> So by 1985, the standard price points had been firmly established, with plenty more toys that fit neatly into the Mini Autobots assortment, the Autobot Cars, the Decepticon Planes, and so forth. As Transformers as a brand had been a proven success and not just a flash in the pan, an even larger product was offered in the form of Omega Supreme (about $40), as it was clear by this point the market would support an addition.
>
> Dinobots: $12.99
> Jumpstarters: $5.99
> Constructicons: $5.99
> Perceptor: $13.99
> Blaster: $17.99
> Jetfire: $29.99
>
> By the time The Transformers: the Movie rolled around, most of the new characters could get stuffed into existing product price points. The scale of toys had jumped significantly, with the new Autobot Cars not quite twice as tall as older releases like Mirage or Hound. Hasbro clearly wanted to keep the Mini Autobots assortment alive, retooling the older Microman product to refresh it and continue selling it going forward. 1986 also saw the release of not just one, but two big-ticket items, Metroplex and Trypticon. The Scramble City play pattern strongly encouraged collectibility.
>
> Ultra Magnus: $24.99
> Sky Lynx: $39.99
> Metroplex: $32.99
> Predacons/Gnaw: $14.99
> Combiner Team Leaders: $12.99
> Combiner Mini-Vehicles: $4.99
> Battlechargers: $4.99
>
> 1987 saw the most expensive Transformers toy of the entire USA range (Fortress Maximus) as well as a dissolution of the long-standing Mini Autobots price point, replaced with the Throttlebots. Headmasters and Targetmasters dominated shelves. This was also the first year with no die-cast parts or rubber tires comprising the toys' construction, as those aspects were being phased out in mid-production in 1986. This was also the end of the television media push for the brand, which would suffer without consistent exposure..
>
> Throttlebots: $3.99
> Duocons: $6.99
> Monsterbots: $14.99
> Headmasters: $14.99
> Targetmasters: $14.99
> Scorponok: $39.99
> Fortress Maximus: $79.99
>
> 1988 was the first year the toy line was significantly reduced rather than continuing to grow. The only big ticket item was Powermaster Optimus Prime. Headmasters and Targetmasters were reduced in size and complexity. Sparkabots and Firecons were the opening price point items for the year.
>
> Sparkabots/Firecons: $3.99
> Triggerbots/Triggercons: $4.99
> Double Targetmasters: $6.99
> Pretenders: $8.99
> Doubledealer: $16.99
> Powermaster Optimus Prime: $24.99
>
> In 1989, Micromasters dominated the brand, and Powermaster Optimus Prime was the only 1988 product carried forward to this year. The brand was in trouble and this was reflected both in the quality of the toys and the lack of high price points.
>
> Micromaster Patrol: $4.99
> Pretender Monsters: $5.99
> Small Pretenders: $6.99
> Mega Pretenders: $14.99
> Ultra Pretenders: $19.99
> Countdown: $29.99
>
> The intersting thing about 1990 is that the sales model had shifted to almost all opening price point toys. The bulk of what was available was Action Masters single-pack figures (eighteen of them in all, versus six Throttlebots), the Transformers equivalent of a G.I. Joe action figure.
>
> Action Masters Figures: $3.99
> Micromaster Combiners: $7.99
> Action Master Vehicles (Small): $9.99
> Action Masters Vehicles (Large): $14.99
> Action Master Optimus Prime: $24.99
>
> It's interesting to think that their sales model shifted with the beginning of Beast Wars, with a more rigid approach towards price points. Even today, every toy falls rather neatly into a specific existing price point, rather than the way toys during G1 seemed to sell for many different prices, depending largely on their relative size and complexity. One supposes that's more the result of borrowing existing Japanese toys for the American market, rather than creating new toys with the specific intent to meet certain price points, which is of course what they do today.
>
>
> Zob (such delicious G1 pricing... my kingdom for a time machine)

I read this thread (which is great BTW) a couple times and something bothered me. I think one item that your list doesn't really take into account was the wild price swings across various retailers in the mid to late 80s. For example, KB toys always had much higher prices than say Target (except famously the KB clearance machine wars toys). I also remember Circus World prices being higher than target or Toys R Us, but slightly less than KB. They were the cheaper KB, but still expensive enough to maintain a mall presence. I grew up in Houston, and in the Houston Galleria there was a toy store called "The Toy Maker". They sold the toys that were more for rich kids at the time, Playmobil, learning toys, etc. They also had a decent transformers section. I remember this store got the BEST and rarest transformers. Late release 1984 Autobot cars (as in a rare sideswipe after the world was well into the grapple era), Whirl/Roadbuster, etc. The only problem was they were usually 40% more, I am talking EXPENSIVE! The other thing to remember about the early days of transformers was that literally EVERYONE was selling transformers. (My original boxed Optimus Prime has a MERVYNS price tag on it) Pricing was all over the place. Today, all of those premium toy stores have gone the way of the dodo bird, including Toys R Us, KB, Circus World and even (especially) the Toy Maker. Competition is extreme, to the point that most everyone's prices are roughly equivalent. Even the resellers (BBTS, etc) are often within a dollar or two of Amazon.

I'd like to close with a few "solid" memories related to pricing from 35 years ago that no one will be able to disprove, regardless of purported "evidence" or "science":
- Fortress Maximus was $99.99 at Toys R Us
- Trypticon was $69.99 at Target, but I was lucky enough to find one around xmas time on clearance for $32.99 - exactly
- The 1987 Headmasters were some of the most expensive Transformers. I remember first seeing them at Kay-Bee and thinking my life was over. I remember them being north of $30 a pop
- Sky Lynx and Metroplex were the exact same price - I remember laboring over this decision as both were in stock and cost the exact same. I chose Metroplex. I ended up Getting Sky Lynx as one of my pre-Ebay att auctions many years later
- Doubledealer cost way more than $16.99
- The price of transformers today is TOO DAMN HIGH!

-Banzaitron (feels good to be back on the ATT Wagon)

On Monday, August 22, 2022 at 10:23:43 PM UTC-4, banzait...@gmail.com wrote:
> On Sunday, August 14, 2022 at 12:09:01 PM UTC-5, Zobovor wrote:
> > I've been setting up my G1 toys on Detolf shelves finally, but due to the narrow size of each shelf, I can only fit about one year's worth of product on an individual cabinet. (I want to buy some add-on shelves, because there really is a lot of air space—especialy in the early years, when the toys were small, it's like four inches of robot toys and then like a twelve-inch gap directly above them. But, that's not what I'm here to talk about today.)
> >
> > In looking at the toy line as a cohesive year-by-year product line, for perhaps the first time, I'm struck by how Hasbro made an effort to break things down by a wide range of price points. I'm specifically interested in what the lowest price point for each year was, and what the big-ticket item was for each given year (if any).
> >
> > The first year was arguably just serendipity, and how the cards just happened to fall. If all that Takara was developing was Diaclone Car Robo toys, then that's all we would have gotten as Transformers. But, by mixing things up and throwing Microman toys into the mix, we had an opening price point in the Mini Autobots (roughly $3.00 in 1984 dollars) as well as more advanced toys for intermediate consumers (there was a bit of a learning curve that first year, when nobody had any experience maipulating these crazy robot puzzle toys). Optimus Prime and Megatron were by far the most expensive toys ($20.00, which had the buying power of about $60 USD today).
> >
> > Mini Autobots: $2.99
> > Autobot Cars: $9.99
> > Decepticon Planes: $12.99
> > Soundwave: $14.99
> > Mini-Cassettes: $5.99
> >
> > Compare this to GoBots (who beat Transformers to the punch at retail), in which basically the entire toy range was opening price point ($3.00 or so), with the exception of the Super GoBots (closer to $10.00) of which there were far fewer toys. GoBots was more accessible and more affordable for kids to collect, but Transformers had the bigger media push and were considered "cooler" toys.
> >
> > So by 1985, the standard price points had been firmly established, with plenty more toys that fit neatly into the Mini Autobots assortment, the Autobot Cars, the Decepticon Planes, and so forth. As Transformers as a brand had been a proven success and not just a flash in the pan, an even larger product was offered in the form of Omega Supreme (about $40), as it was clear by this point the market would support an addition.
> >
> > Dinobots: $12.99
> > Jumpstarters: $5.99
> > Constructicons: $5.99
> > Perceptor: $13.99
> > Blaster: $17.99
> > Jetfire: $29.99
> >
> > By the time The Transformers: the Movie rolled around, most of the new characters could get stuffed into existing product price points. The scale of toys had jumped significantly, with the new Autobot Cars not quite twice as tall as older releases like Mirage or Hound. Hasbro clearly wanted to keep the Mini Autobots assortment alive, retooling the older Microman product to refresh it and continue selling it going forward. 1986 also saw the release of not just one, but two big-ticket items, Metroplex and Trypticon. The Scramble City play pattern strongly encouraged collectibility.
> >
> > Ultra Magnus: $24.99
> > Sky Lynx: $39.99
> > Metroplex: $32.99
> > Predacons/Gnaw: $14.99
> > Combiner Team Leaders: $12.99
> > Combiner Mini-Vehicles: $4.99
> > Battlechargers: $4.99
> >
> > 1987 saw the most expensive Transformers toy of the entire USA range (Fortress Maximus) as well as a dissolution of the long-standing Mini Autobots price point, replaced with the Throttlebots. Headmasters and Targetmasters dominated shelves. This was also the first year with no die-cast parts or rubber tires comprising the toys' construction, as those aspects were being phased out in mid-production in 1986. This was also the end of the television media push for the brand, which would suffer without consistent exposure.
> >
> > Throttlebots: $3.99
> > Duocons: $6.99
> > Monsterbots: $14.99
> > Headmasters: $14.99
> > Targetmasters: $14.99
> > Scorponok: $39.99
> > Fortress Maximus: $79.99
> >
> > 1988 was the first year the toy line was significantly reduced rather than continuing to grow. The only big ticket item was Powermaster Optimus Prime. Headmasters and Targetmasters were reduced in size and complexity. Sparkabots and Firecons were the opening price point items for the year.
> >
> > Sparkabots/Firecons: $3.99
> > Triggerbots/Triggercons: $4.99
> > Double Targetmasters: $6.99
> > Pretenders: $8.99
> > Doubledealer: $16.99
> > Powermaster Optimus Prime: $24.99
> >
> > In 1989, Micromasters dominated the brand, and Powermaster Optimus Prime was the only 1988 product carried forward to this year. The brand was in trouble and this was reflected both in the quality of the toys and the lack of high price points.
> >
> > Micromaster Patrol: $4.99
> > Pretender Monsters: $5.99
> > Small Pretenders: $6.99
> > Mega Pretenders: $14.99
> > Ultra Pretenders: $19.99
> > Countdown: $29.99
> >
> > The intersting thing about 1990 is that the sales model had shifted to almost all opening price point toys. The bulk of what was available was Action Masters single-pack figures (eighteen of them in all, versus six Throttlebots), the Transformers equivalent of a G.I. Joe action figure.
> >
> > Action Masters Figures: $3.99
> > Micromaster Combiners: $7.99
> > Action Master Vehicles (Small): $9.99
> > Action Masters Vehicles (Large): $14.99
> > Action Master Optimus Prime: $24.99
> >
> > It's interesting to think that their sales model shifted with the beginning of Beast Wars, with a more rigid approach towards price points. Even today, every toy falls rather neatly into a specific existing price point, rather than the way toys during G1 seemed to sell for many different prices, depending largely on their relative size and complexity. One supposes that's more the result of borrowing existing Japanese toys for the American market, rather than creating new toys with the specific intent to meet certain price points, which is of course what they do today.
> >
> >
> > Zob (such delicious G1 pricing... my kingdom for a time machine)
> I read this thread (which is great BTW) a couple times and something bothered me. I think one item that your list doesn't really take into account was the wild price swings across various retailers in the mid to late 80s. For example, KB toys always had much higher prices than say Target (except famously the KB clearance machine wars toys). I also remember Circus World prices being higher than target or Toys R Us, but slightly less than KB. They were the cheaper KB, but still expensive enough to maintain a mall presence. I grew up in Houston, and in the Houston Galleria there was a toy store called "The Toy Maker". They sold the toys that were more for rich kids at the time, Playmobil, learning toys, etc. They also had a decent transformers section. I remember this store got the BEST and rarest transformers. Late release 1984 Autobot cars (as in a rare sideswipe after the world was well into the grapple era), Whirl/Roadbuster, etc. The only problem was they were usually 40% more, I am talking EXPENSIVE! The other thing to remember about the early days of transformers was that literally EVERYONE was selling transformers. (My original boxed Optimus Prime has a MERVYNS price tag on it) Pricing was all over the place. Today, all of those premium toy stores have gone the way of the dodo bird, including Toys R Us, KB, Circus World and even (especially) the Toy Maker. Competition is extreme, to the point that most everyone's prices are roughly equivalent. Even the resellers (BBTS, etc) are often within a dollar or two of Amazon.
>
> I'd like to close with a few "solid" memories related to pricing from 35 years ago that no one will be able to disprove, regardless of purported "evidence" or "science":
> - Fortress Maximus was $99.99 at Toys R Us
> - Trypticon was $69.99 at Target, but I was lucky enough to find one around xmas time on clearance for $32.99 - exactly
> - The 1987 Headmasters were some of the most expensive Transformers. I remember first seeing them at Kay-Bee and thinking my life was over. I remember them being north of $30 a pop
> - Sky Lynx and Metroplex were the exact same price - I remember laboring over this decision as both were in stock and cost the exact same. I chose Metroplex. I ended up Getting Sky Lynx as one of my pre-Ebay att auctions many years later
> - Doubledealer cost way more than $16.99
> - The price of transformers today is TOO DAMN HIGH!
>
> -Banzaitron (feels good to be back on the ATT Wagon)

I've been looking through the Soundwave's Oblivion site (
https://www.soundwavesoblivion.com/Generation1.html) to determine original MSRPs for G1/G2 (I find that Dave Van Domelen's site is good for all prices BW onward), and it makes me realize that inflation is a heck of a thing.

On Monday, August 22, 2022 at 8:23:43 PM UTC-6, banzait...@gmail.com wrote:

> I read this thread (which is great BTW) a couple times and something bothered me. I think one item that your list doesn't really take into account was the wild price swings across various retailers in the mid to late 80s.

I should have probably added something about that as a caveat, yes. As you say, pricing diverged radically between different retailers. (I remember quite clearly that I got Bonecrusher for $3, Mixmaster for $6, and Scavenger for $9, all at different stores.) But, every toy price point had an MSRP, which retailers would sometimes ignore. Some of them would significantly overcharge, especially in the early days when Transformers was perceived as the hot new toy, and sometimes a poor-selling assortment would be put on clearance to make room for newer, more exciting product.

But, I've done extensive research. Every time I've ever seen a photo of G1 packaging with a price tag (usually eBay auctions), I save it to my computer. I've collated the data. After a while, you start to see trends. Toys "R" Us usually represented the closest thing to MSRP, with Target and Walmart usually in the same ball park. I mean, if Toys "R" Us charged $6.97 for a toy and Target charged $6.99 and Walmart charged $6.74, you can bet the true MSRP was right around $6.99.

So, I won't claim that any of my research is definitive, but it's fairly well-informed. I used to have a few G1 price points memorized, but they clash with my findings. I always allow hard data to trump fuzzy childhood recollection, but sometimes it's really hard to let of all those things that I "know" to be true!

Zob (didn't grow up with a Walmart or Target anywhere near me... we had Toys "R" Us and KB Toys and the occasional overpriced Toy Traffic, and that was pretty much it)

> For example, it states that G1 Optimus was $23.99 in 1984. According to https://www.usinflationcalculator.com/, that would be the equivalent of $68.41 today in 2022!

Waaay back in 2011 (5/24/2011 to be exact), I posted on what I called ARTI (Annual Rate of Transformer Inflation), and algorithm to calculate it. Back in 2011, ARTI was around 1.6%. You can find the post, and an HP-10B to calculate it yourself! Interestingly, I used G1 Optimus Prime as my basis as well, except mine has a sticker (from Mervyns) for $29.99.

-Banzaitron

On Wednesday, August 24, 2022 at 9:31:48 PM UTC-4, banzait...@gmail.com wrote:
> > For example, it states that G1 Optimus was $23.99 in 1984. According to https://www.usinflationcalculator.com/, that would be the equivalent of $68.41 today in 2022!
> Waaay back in 2011 (5/24/2011 to be exact), I posted on what I called ARTI (Annual Rate of Transformer Inflation), and algorithm to calculate it. Back in 2011, ARTI was around 1.6%. You can find the post, and an HP-10B to calculate it yourself! Interestingly, I used G1 Optimus Prime as my basis as well, except mine has a sticker (from Mervyns) for $29.99.
>
> -Banzaitron

Banzaitron, I dug up the posts (linked below). Great analyses, and a fantastic discussion around them. You were robbed of the Nobel. ("Those creeps. I oughta sue!" - Brainstorm)

The last time I seriously collected TFs was during Season 1 of Beast Wars, after which I maintained my interest in the brand and the fiction, but completely lost interest in the toys until the pandemic. So my perceptions are inevitably colored by what I think a Transformer "should" be worth, that is to say, Deluxes at $10, Megas at $15, and Leaders at $20. While I intellectually understand inflation, labor, materials, legal, shareholder value, etc, emotionally I find it difficult to comprehend that retail toys for children can cost so much. A limited run, third party, Fans Hobby Machine Wars Prime for over $200? Bring it on, along with his mold brothers Thunderclash and Powermaster Prime! But an $80 Rodimus with a trailer than can't even close, or a $30 Sentinel Prime without his massive double swords and shield? The value for money equation starts to make a little less sense.

I suppose the question is, do we feel like we're getting our money's worth, overpaying, or getting a good deal? On the whole, I feel like the toys we've been given are still worth the price of entry. Moving forward, especially in light of the latest price increases? We shall see, Galvatron, we shall see.

The historical discussions:

1) Annual Rate of Transformers Inflation - Past 26 Years (2011) https://groups.google.com/u/3/g/alt.toys.transformers/c/T3lUyJkDCtE/m/fa3aEIxlQnoJ

2) Has the Value vs. Quality Ratio of Transformers Toys Gone Up or Down? (from 2015) https://groups.google.com/u/3/g/alt.toys.transformers/c/jyZm32UvL-4/m/p0ItLr7UXTcJ

On Sunday, August 14, 2022 at 1:09:01 PM UTC-4, Zobovor wrote:
Optimus Prime and Megatron were by far the most expensive toys ($20.00, which had the buying power of about $60 USD today).
>

This REALLY

On Sunday, August 14, 2022 at 1:09:01 PM UTC-4, Zobovor wrote:
Optimus Prime and Megatron were by far the most expensive toys ($20.00, which had the buying power of about $60 USD today).

This REALLY hits me in the gut. Even though I understand inflation and everything going on in the world, Transformers prices for me will always be stuck in the Beast Wars time frame with the $5, $10, $15, and $20 dollar price points. It wasn't too bad when Deluxes went up to $11.99 or so, but it got really hard for me to accept the $16.99 with Combiner Wars - and what is a Deluxe today? Has it hit $30 yet?

I found a damaged box Seige Shockwave for $45 a few years ago and had to return it because I just couldn't justify paying that much for so little - and thinking how quickly all those parts might be lost. I've always had this notion that G1 toys when I was a kid was much cheaper. It might be because when I started to pick up "older" Transformers that I missed as a kid in about 1994 or so, I remember paying literal dollars for C10 figures. $3 for a mint Huffer, $8 for a mint Ramjet. But seeing that the original Megatron put my parents out the equivalent of $60 - either the economy was better back then or I was definitely spoiled.

BJN

On Thursday, February 16, 2023 at 9:15:13 AM UTC-7, Brian Nelson wrote:

> This REALLY hits me in the gut. Even though I understand inflation and everything going on in the world, Transformers prices for me will always be stuck in the Beast Wars time frame with the $5, $10, $15, and $20 dollar price points. It wasn't too bad when Deluxes went up to $11.99 or so, but it got really hard for me to accept the $16.99 with Combiner Wars - and what is a Deluxe today? Has it hit $30 yet?

It depends on what you classify as a Deluxe, honestly. I mean, the Studio Series versions of Hot Rod and Ironhide are certainly Deluxe-SIZED, but they're being sold as Voyagers due to complexity and parts count.
> I remember paying literal dollars for C10 figures. $3 for a mint Huffer, $8 for a mint Ramjet.

Yeah, those were the days, weren't they? In the 1990's I got myself loose, complete copies of Hound, Skywarp, Thundercracker, and Thrust for five bucks a pop. There was that brief, narrow window where G1 toys were falling out of favor and being discarded. Makes you wonder how many of them just plain got thrown away!

Zob (maybe my kids will have an estate sale and get rid of my stuff in 40 years or so, but I hope they're smart and try to get some decent money for it all)

On Sunday, February 19, 2023 at 7:10:50 PM UTC-5, Zobovor wrote:
> On Thursday, February 16, 2023 at 9:15:13 AM UTC-7, Brian Nelson wrote:
>
> > This REALLY hits me in the gut. Even though I understand inflation and everything going on in the world, Transformers prices for me will always be stuck in the Beast Wars time frame with the $5, $10, $15, and $20 dollar price points. It wasn't too bad when Deluxes went up to $11.99 or so, but it got really hard for me to accept the $16.99 with Combiner Wars - and what is a Deluxe today? Has it hit $30 yet?
> It depends on what you classify as a Deluxe, honestly. I mean, the Studio Series versions of Hot Rod and Ironhide are certainly Deluxe-SIZED, but they're being sold as Voyagers due to complexity and parts count.

This thread is actually starting to make me feel better about all the price increases.

G1 Hot Rod retailed for $11.99 in 1986, which is the equivalent of $32.73 today, close to Voyager pricing ($33.99).

Nostalgia aside, there's no question in my mind that Voyager-class SS86 Hot Rod is far superior to G1 Hot Rod at the same price in terms of screen accuracy, transformation, and poseability.

In the end, maybe these price increases are appropriate for the targeted fanbase. Most of us have more spending money than we did in our youth, and care more about things like screen accuracy and poseability as opposed to playability and durability. We're less likely to be bashing our toys about or reenacting adventures (although power to those who do), and more likely to be putting them on a shelf.

In a way, Hasbro's given us what we need at each stage of our lives. Maybe in a few more decades, we'll get a lifesize Paradron Medic to spoonfeed us while we're drooling in our retirement homes.

[And lifesize versions of Kup, Perceptor, Ultra Magnus, Springer, Arcee, and Hot Rod when it's time to take us home. No Daniel, please].

On Sunday, February 19, 2023 at 4:10:50 PM UTC-8, Zobovor wrote:
> On Thursday, February 16, 2023 at 9:15:13 AM UTC-7, Brian Nelson wrote:
>
> > This REALLY hits me in the gut. Even though I understand inflation and everything going on in the world, Transformers prices for me will always be stuck in the Beast Wars time frame with the $5, $10, $15, and $20 dollar price points. It wasn't too bad when Deluxes went up to $11.99 or so, but it got really hard for me to accept the $16.99 with Combiner Wars - and what is a Deluxe today? Has it hit $30 yet?
> It depends on what you classify as a Deluxe, honestly. I mean, the Studio Series versions of Hot Rod and Ironhide are certainly Deluxe-SIZED, but they're being sold as Voyagers due to complexity and parts count.
> > I remember paying literal dollars for C10 figures. $3 for a mint Huffer, $8 for a mint Ramjet.
> Yeah, those were the days, weren't they? In the 1990's I got myself loose, complete copies of Hound, Skywarp, Thundercracker, and Thrust for five bucks a pop. There was that brief, narrow window where G1 toys were falling out of favor and being discarded. Makes you wonder how many of them just plain got thrown away!
>
>
> Zob (maybe my kids will have an estate sale and get rid of my stuff in 40 years or so, but I hope they're smart and try to get some decent money for it all)

This was totally true in my experience, too. Even growing up in Canada, I feel like the trends around when G1 was big, and when it represented a passing trend, as the original fans moved onto university or other 'adult' pursuits. There were absolutely entire collections, left behind at home when someone had moved out and moved on, that were being sold off by aging parents at garage sales and flea markets. This was happening in the years both leading up to G2, as well as concurrent to it: in my experience, G1 wasn't on people's minds again, really, until the advent of BW.

My favourite memories: picking up a loose, no accessories G1 gun Megatron for $10 at a flea market in Vancouver (and this was considered very expensive), finding tons of G1 Scramble City limb figures for $1-2, and Constructicons for $1 or so, each, over the years. Of course, accessories were rare, and conditions could vary, but it was definitely a trend for a long time.

JB