I don't think that's true though, not in this case. This is definitely more of a niche item even among the slam dunk that is the Turtles line. It's not greed, it's probably being cautious because not everyone would be wanting a giant ass Turtle Lair. Space has got to be an isssue for so many collectors now.
One aspect regarding the building diorama vs the living room is the building has had two versions whereas the living room lair likely only has one release/version.
Three. Movie TMNT, regular release, toon TMNT. It's gotten that retail support that's helped keep the price manageable.
I don't think that's true though, not in this case. This is definitely more of a niche item even among the slam dunk that is the Turtles line. It's not greed, it's probably being cautious because not everyone would be wanting a giant ass Turtle Lair. Space has got to be an isssue for so many collectors now.
I don't really think it's that niche. It's basically one of two 'playset' type items that are almost guaranteed to appeal to the people collecting this line. So the only thing that could make it NOT a slam dunk is if you price it ridiculously. Which they absolutely did. But on its own, the idea of having a sewer lair is definitely, in my opinion at least, a slam dunk. That's an easy sell to people that are buying tertiary characters that appeared in one episode of a cartoon. It's also been highly requested for a while now from both NECA and Super7.
And I'm not sure how much of an issue space -really- is either. Not to say it's 100% never an issue. But it seems like even though we collectors always complain about space, what we really mean is 'money.' I say that because there always seem to be 'space' for reasonably priced items. People found the space for a Turtle Van (or two), for a Batmobile (for some collectors multiple Batmobiles). People found the space for the Sentinel, and Galactus, and the Razorcrest, and the HISS Tank, and the Dragonfly, and Jabba's Sail Barge, and Castle Grayskull. Origins collectors have found the space for two playsets and a half dozen or more 5"-scaled vehicles. Collectors found the space, in some cases, for multiple street dioramas.
Seems like if you make a product people really want at a price that seems at least remotely reasonable or justifiable, then collectors will -find- the space. Barring something truly enormous (I can totally see some collectors legitimately not having the space for Classics Snake Mountain or the ThunderCats Lair).
But I don't even know how relevant any of that is because I think 'caution' is a bad way to excuse a high price. Super7 is 'cautious' with their lines; they cancel figures that don't get enough pre-orders. That's caution. NECA, if they wanted to be cautious, could just have a MOQ from customers they need to meet to make the set. This is not even uncommon with large collector items. Or even some small collector items. And it's not like NECA is offering to lower the price if they get more orders than expected.
Again, I'm still not telling anyone not to buy it. You just won't convince me that price is necessary or reasonable for what is being offered. It's easily 100 dollars too high, and that's crazy.
I think you make some good points KnightDamien.
The one thing I would say in defence of NECA is that normally when it comes to their figures, they are very reasonably priced for the quality, so it seems odd that they have suddenly changed strategy and tried to gouge people.
Another poster made a good point that this is not being released at retail, so it's not fully comparable with the street scene dioramas. That being said, I don't think the Cartoon street scene was released at retail, although by that point the Cartoon street scene was just a variant re-issue of the original street scene so the costs to create would be much lower since it uses a lot of the original's molds.
The street scenes are also only really two layers high when it comes to plastic as the top tier has a cheaper cardboard back to it, so the overall amount of plastic with the street scenes works out to only be a bit more than the living room when all is said and done taking into account the living room's higher accessories count and wall pipes etc.
The other problem is that the living room diorama looks a lot smaller than it really is, after all ''it's just one room man''. When seen in person this thing is fairly large and you can fit a lot of figures and accessories inside at once. Once people get it in hand, the size will surprise a few I think.
Also, when looking at this living room when compared to the recently offered portal, it probably is in line with that, price-wise, and a lot of people lapped that up. The living room works out about 7 times more expensive than the portal, and value-wise that doesn't seem too bad.
It may be that NECA did underestimate demand a bit though, and that led to them pricing this living room diorama at a slightly higher price than absolutely necessary. Maybe $250 was what it should have been pitched at, but anything less than $200 was always completely unreasonable and all these comments about it just being a ''shoe box'' are really disingenuous in my opinion.
Also, when looking at this living room when compared to the recently offered portal, it probably is in line with that, price-wise, and a lot of people lapped that up. The living room works out about 7 times more expensive than the portal, and value-wise that doesn't seem too bad.
This was never for me so I don't have a horse in the race but for what it's worth, I'm not sure I've seen a single person say they are pleased with their purchase of the portal. Every time I see it brought up it's someone kicking themself for paying $60 for a hunk of plastic. Just saying.
I don't see space as an issue with this particular item. If you're in on the Toon line, you've already carved out a large swath of your space to display it. This is something that really doesn't add to that since most will be moving their figures inside it. It's a space consolidator, if anything. NECA has definitely shown a willingness to up-charge the toon line over the past year and I see this as no different. It's their golden goose, and they need to get all they can out of it.
I don't see space as an issue with this particular item. If you're in on the Toon line, you've already carved out a large swath of your space to display it. This is something that really doesn't add to that since most will be moving their figures inside it. It's a space consolidator, if anything. NECA has definitely shown a willingness to up-charge the toon line over the past year and I see this as no different. It's their golden goose, and they need to get all they can out of it.
They reduced the Bugman and Electrozapper two pack from the $59.99 prices for other two packs seen earlier in the year, to $54.99.
They did however charge $54.99 for Napoleon Colossus which I think seems a bit hefty for a single figure that has less articulation than Rex-1 that was itself $49.99 earlier in the year.
So in terms of figure prices, I think they have been a mixed bag with those, so nothing conclusive one way or the other in my opinion.
Also, when looking at this living room when compared to the recently offered portal, it probably is in line with that, price-wise, and a lot of people lapped that up. The living room works out about 7 times more expensive than the portal, and value-wise that doesn't seem too bad.This was never for me so I don't have a horse in the race but for what it's worth, I'm not sure I've seen a single person say they are pleased with their purchase of the portal. Every time I see it brought up it's someone kicking themself for paying $60 for a hunk of plastic. Just saying.
There wasn't an uproar at the time when people were ordering it though, only once they received it. Perhaps people can stomach similar percentage mark-ups on smaller things that don't hit the wallet as much in an absolute sense.
I think I've cracked the code of the sewer lair guys:
Floor: $20
Back wall: $30
Left wall: $18
Right wall: $18
Street topper: $25
Small pipe: $7
Big pipe A: $23
Big pipe B: $20
Big pipe C: $18
Pink couch: $15
Blue armchair: $10
Turtle rug: $5
Side table A: $8
Side table B: $7
Coffee table: $10
Floor lamp: $6
Table lamp: $6
Doodah poster: $5
Wall scroll: $4
Wall mirror: $4
Exit sign: $3
Stop sign: $3
One way sign: $3
Turtle piggy bank: $1.50
Grand Total: $269.50
Add on 10% mark-up: $296.45
Round-up to final selling price: $299.99
That doesn't seem so bad now, you really do get a lot of things here!
This isn't "the lair," guys. This is "the living room." They've already said they'd planned to do more than one room.
There is literally nothing about these walls & pipes that can't be reused the same way the street dio was.
I mean, sort of. It's not really the same situation as the street diorama since that is sold through your typical major online retailers. Plus it has tons of future re-use and repaint potential. The Sewer Lair setup is really good for the 3 "rooms" and then that's it for that run of however get made.
Created this account just to ask this: you talkin' to me? 😆
If so, I was having some issues with creating a new account. I kept getting re-directed to the create account page after using 'Freditor' as my username. Tried different browsers but nothing would work so I eventually gave up. Just tried it without the capital letter and boom... it worked.
So glad to see that the Belgians have overcome adversity and oppression TWICE in a century. Your collection seems like the quintessential "Turtle Guy" curated collection, and it would be a travesty not to have you back on here.
Dr. Evil hasn't informed my opinions of the Flemish, clearly.
After three attempts finally got an account up and running! Glad to be back, albeit with a new name, since I blew my old one on my first attempt that provoked a sign up email with no sign up link.
Anywho, glad to be back in toy town. Ultimate Turtles look like a lot of fun, and a nice way to rerelease the four boys, though I wish they found a way to include the original heads in there as well. I hope these are kept in circulation for a long time.
The Sewer Dio, which was highly anticipated for me, is a pass based on price, for all the reasons you guys have already debated. Just doesn't feel like a good purchase when compared to other recent $300 purchases that hit my account this past month or so. I am, however, excited to try to build mine next year. Will post a picture if it comes out OK.
Still love your setup, Fred. For some reason that layout amps up the nostalgia, maybe it's the excitement of flipping the figure over in store to see all the new figures lined up. Back when I had to see a figure in store to know it existed!
NECA recently updated the FAQ for the living room on their website to confirm the street topper is included and that it’s made of foam board. They also list a Turtle Bank among the accessories included which someone said is a new acknowledgment, but I don’t know if that’s true or not. If you were worried your $300 sewer room wasn’t coming with the little turtle on the table, well now you can rest easy.
"The Street Topper is made of high-density foam board and has artwork printed on the top. As you can see from this photograph, it can hold a fully loaded Street Scene Diorama."
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