Store Reports / Latest Finds

[Reverend Strone]

$60??? That's insanity. At ComicCon these bore US$18 RRP labels. Someone is gouging us Kiwis something fierce.

[thehiflyer]

Just had a heads up from 'thehiflyer' that the new Vintage TaunTaun and Landspeeder hit the shelves today at Farmers St Lukes for $60 each. Also the new FX sabers but no price on those when he was there.

Thanks for posting that Bazza, they had at least 4 of each of the Tauntauns & Speeders and the packaging looked great! The Ultimate FX Saber looked good too, kind of an entry level MR style sabre. I couldnt see the price at the time because it was stacked under all of the Tauntauns and Speeders

Good hunting!

[Buzz Bumble]

Someone is gouging us Kiwis something fierce.

That is definitely NOT new, and not unique to Hasbro either.

[Reverend Strone]

I can accept some margin being added to the NZ prices by importers considering we're a smaller market and isolated by ocean, but 3 x the US retail price? That's just exploitative. Sorry NZ retailers, unless these get heavily discounted in a sale, I'll be buying them from overseas. Even with international shipping it'll be cheaper. It really concerns me that this brand is being priced out of the local toy market. $60 for a Tauntaun is nuts. When you line in up with a comparable toy in another brand it more closely alligns to something in the $25 to $30 range.

[Buzz Bumble]

It was the same with the Beanz - the Star Wars ones were a little more expensive than the normal ones. For "branded" products, part of the problem could well be LucasFilm, Marvel, Nickelodeon, whoever charging too much for the rights / licensing ... but intelligence would suggest you spread that cost over all the similar products (i.e. all Beanz cost Xc more, rather than just Star Wars Beanz costing $Y more).

It could be worthwhile for those still collecting these items to form a "club" and see if you can get special pricing direct from Hasbro NZ (although I doubt you'll save much) or an overseas distributor / retailer. The problem, as always, is Hasbro ridiculous case-packing system, but some webstores run a "One of Everything Club" where they will send you one of each product as it's released, which would save time trying to hunt down figures.

[Reverend Strone]

Yeah, the assortments really nix those kind of ideas, plus, if you're more of a selective collector, one of every figure clubs don't work either. Oh well. Fortunately for us all there's the internet. It's not like we don't have choices.

[Andiamo]

Saw Tauntauns, Landspeeders and Y- Wings today. The boxes look awesome! Instant flashbacks to childhood favourite toys. Comined it'd cost $160 !!!! Want want want but would need a serious sale before I crumble.
Ebay has these at buy now $59.99. They say scarcity rules but now these are in shops market forces might drive the prices down like the Jabba set?

[acerimmerrocks]

Cool that they are showing up and at decent numbers to wait for a 20% or a 25% off sale.
Saw the new clone wars wave at my warehouse but not the vintage one will wait and see how it goes before I get others to chase it up for me.

[Reverend Strone]

$60??? That's insanity. At ComicCon these bore US$18 RRP labels. Someone is gouging us Kiwis something fierce.

I should amend this. While US$18 was the RRP, now that these are hitting stores in America as well the street pricing seems to be US$25, so I guess the NZ price is only double, not triple, the US retail. It's still a lot, but not quite so bad, and if you can get 'em on sale for 25% off, then it brings it closer to what it would cost to buy these overseas, paying tax and shipping them here. I'm slightly less grumpy than I was about these.

[MattG]

...I'm slightly less grumpy than I was about these.