This sucks. I assume BBTS is one of the biggest independent toy retailers out there. Imagine how devastating this will be for the smaller mom and pop shops.
It's not for me to tell you how and where to spend your money, but if you're still buying through the price increases, please consider ordering through independents. Don't cancel your order just cause Wal-Mart gets it first. Hopefully this is all over soon!
Y’all tired of all this winning yet?
I thought that was a well written email from BBTS about the impact and I think their decision to highlight the tariff as a separate charge makes perfect sense given how in flux it seems to be.
I don't think it can be stated enough that in practice, the US Government has effectively placed at least a $10 tax on every action figure made in China that will be paid for by US citizens.
I don't think BBTS could've been any more transparent than they were in that email. A lot of small businesses are in a similar boat. I am hoping this tariff nonsense ends as it seems that it is not affecting anyone positively. Just more unnecessary chaos.
You think Ollie's and Ross have had lots of figures up until now? Just wait until Christmas this year and next. They'll be flooded with figures that didn't sell because the tariffs priced a lot of collectors out of the hobby.
I'll be interested to see what happens. Will retailers reduce prices first and try to sell at cost or even below cost before off-loading stock to discount retailers like Ollies? The big chains won't bother probably - but I figure everybody else probably will.
Thankfully I don't have too much outstanding on BBTS preorders. I'm reigning in my preorder spending until I can know exactly what I'll be paying, rather than being hit with some unforeseen additional costs over and over as preorders roll in. I'll probably sit out preorders that I don't know for certain I want and have to have. In stock mostly or pick-it-up-later for the time being.
These tariffs just made me even more of a cherry picker than I already was. Plus there’s no way I can support kickstarters anymore.
I’m not surprised- this was something the current administration talked about a lot, and the idea of “getting even” with China when it comes to trade practices has been floating around smooth brain C-suite types for years. I would caution anyone who is optimistic because of the pause- dont be. Even if the tariffs for many countries get revised, China’s will likely remain. I would expect long-term damage to the collectibles market as a result, even for the companies that already moved their factories to Vietnam.
Yeah... I currently have 70 items pre-ordered at BBTS. And while I intend to keep alot of those orders - at least until they arrive and BBTS lets me know what the actual post tariff price on the date of receipt is - I am culling a number of things out.
One of the things that's getting the axe that makes me a bit sad is the Brutal Realm kickstarter stuff. I really wanted to support it and pre-ordered most of it, though I'm glad I didn't pre-pay I guess because changes like this could mean those figures don't actually happen at all. But even if they do happen I don't think I can support the whole line at the tariff inflated prices. I might grab one or two pieces from the line instead of all of it.
Sad state of affairs. That said... Maximum Hulk went up for sale on Amazon today and I was surprised it was only $60. Look at Hasbro, getting me to predict the worst so that I'm almost relieved a figure is only $60. Still given the price for Maximum Spider-Man I did expect this to be more. I really like the clap effect and the Keown head and I'm super tempted to order it. Of course I dread if I do and then get hit with a $30 tariff increase from Amazon when it comes in stock.
After all of this crap, I can actually see Hasbro droping some lines (if not most) and focusing on video games. If tariffs remain, I don't think anyone will buy ≈40$ standard ML\SW figures. I don't even know how this will affect Haslabs, Dragon Mans, etc. ALL big toy companies REALLY need to talk to someone and fast. Can you imagine paying 600-700$ for a regular Hot Toy? I don't. If you really think you can build factories in the US (take YEARS) or find some cheap "slave" labor - good luck.
China didn't even take Taiwan, but still got hit by tariffs lmao. At this point I am not surprised at anything. Fucking Hitler can somehow return in a robot body.
I'm sure the administration is working on it. Straight White Male Genetic Superiority will save us all, or so I hear.
I pre-order the maximum Hulk today.
Wow. I just realized the last Hulk I bought was the Series 1 Hulk over 20 years ago. Went ahead and preordered the Maximum. I do feel like he's not maximized enough, though. Forgive me for being out of the loop but has Hasbro defined what Maximum means criteria-wise?
