WHY I DON'T CHAT PRICING
Thomas Gray first wrote, "ignorance is bliss." Of course, that was a couple centuries before the internet. Though it was also around 1,000 years after coffee was discovered. Lucky guy.
These days, as with pretty much all human history, many have opinions on things they're woefully ignorant of. The internet amplifies said ignorance. And in toy collecting, pricing seems to be the battleground of the ignoramus.
But unless we're in the toy game, what do we actually know about pricing?
We can look up the price to manufacture plastics, paints, and tooling. We can look up wages of factory workers in China and Vietnam. But we can't look up overhead for various companies (for instance, Hasbro likely has a LOT more employees than NECA), we can't look up what profit margins each company expects or the licensing percentages licensors charge. We can't look up minimum order quantities (MOQs). And we can't look up all the various vendors companies use to see if they're getting raw deals.
So I don't talk about it. I don't have all the facts. I'm ignorant.
That doesn't mean I'm ambivalent, however. The way yours truly thinks about pricing's simple: it's all about comparisons. If Company A's figure's better than Company B's comparably-priced figure, I clearly get more for my money with the former.
And that's it. That's all there is to it.
Yours truly really is a simple, highly-caffeinated, kinda man.
PICTURE-PERFECT PREORDERS
BLANKA!!!
Okay, Sagat's cool, too. But BLANKA!!! I've been waiting for that guy since Jada's Ultra Street Fighter 2 line started. Can't wait to shoot him.
Of course, the other stuff's photogenic, as well. BUT BLANKA!!! Yeah. Need.
Be ready to talk about these on Monday's livestream at 7:00 PM EST.
NOTE: Entertainment Earth, eBay, and HobbyLink Japan links are affiliate links, which means I get a cut of the sale at no extra cost to you
THIS WEEK'S PATREON FREEBIES!
Another set of Patreon freebies went out this week! But first, this month's Patreon photo contest theme is...
All the contest details can be found here! And anyone in the Grande tier ($5.00) or higher may participate.
Plus, the winner receives a big dude in the GI Joe mythos: GI Joe Classified Leatherneck!
This week's wallpapers include an apocalyptic robot city background, as well as some jungle ruins! Transformers and GI Joe were in mind for those, but someone suggested Indiana Jones for the jungle ruins and...well...duh. That's PERFECT!
As for the effects, I thought fire and smoke together made quite a bit of sense, and yours truly had yet to prompt anything like kicked-up dirt.
Of course, last week's Photoshop and hi-res image files also went up.
Anyway, if ya dig any of 'em, go get 'em!
THIS WEEK'S VIDEOS
Monday's Photogenic Figures livestream brought me quite the education on Rom the Spaceknight, as my "bad nerd" status was on full display. Plus, Storm Arena's Ken went up for preorder, and Mezco teased a Shredder AND a Hulk! And man, that Hulk better be good.
Thursday's livestream was, in theory, about FOMO (fear of missing out). But we all know how the livestreams go. We ended up talking about all kinds of things. Also on Thursday, Kairus1 (follow on Instagram and YouTube) joined me as co-host. The man does some phenomenal 3D work, and is currently working on a Sentinel head so be sure to check him out!
Click the replays to check 'em out, and remember to join us on the Toypixx livestreams every Monday and Thursday at 7:00 PM EST.
AND WITH THAT...
Keeping this part short because, by the time you're reading this, I'll be getting the office ready for moving in all the Toypixx things! And I have help, so I'd better not keep 'em waiting.
Especially since I'm the one picking up the coffee.
Have fun, and happy snapping!