LWATC More "Bang" for your "Buck" with Knock Off's

NOTE: Thank you Raging Nerdgasm for allowing me to use some of your pictures.

Recently my husband and I went to Toy R Us and we found our selves like usual wandering up and down the aisles of the store searching for new arrivals.  Some of the product were great but others simply blew our minds away of how bad they were and how much they thought they could get for it. Like so many, I personally believe that many companies are really pushing the limits of their fans by placing outrageous prices on these figures hoping their fans will literally buy anything that is put in front of them. For many, the illusion is starting to fade quickly with the sticker shock you get when you go and pick up that one item you love so much and simply walk away empty handed.  Collectors are kind of use to crazy pricing for a good item but for a parent that just wants a toy for their kids this really starting to put a bad dent in their pocket books even if  they can afford it.  Think about it, if the family has one boy and one girl, they are looking at dropping around $20 for a Monster High Doll and  $15 for a wrestling figure, plus tax you are looking around $40 for two pieces of plastic.  Not sure about you but with cost of living being so high that seem like a lot.

What I find amusing is that the lower quality of toys are mainly found in the boys toys but not as much in the girls toys.  Yes there are knock offs brands for girls but even those don’t look as bad as some of the main brands for boys. Next time you go the toy store roam around in all the isles and you will see what I mean.  If you have feedback on this subject I would love to hear it. But moving on...

Comic Book Toys
Examples of a bad over saturated toy lines are Marvel and DC toy lines. Yes, we get it Disney and Time

Warner…  you are trying to make your money back on your big purchase but before you start making Avengers or Batman toilet paper you might want to really start investing some time into quality control.  Some of the toys look really bad like they would be part of a kids meal toy, they have poor sculpts , are made of cheaper plastic or they are poorly painted and it gives it the look of a bootleg figure that would be sold in a shady shop somewhere.  Yet some of the figures have a whopping price of $8 -$15 a pop.  For a collector, there’s really no value for them with these newer figures. I have literally seen my husband doing a toy review and in the middle of the review the figure breaks or is broken right out the package.  For parents this is just insane pricing.

Nostalgia Toys
Example of horrible sticker shock would be the New TMNT Classic Figures.  For whatever reason the toy company has a big set of brass balls in thinking that fans will pay as much for a new version reproduction as they would for a vintage one off from Ebay.  This reaction is not only shared by my husband and myself but also by many collectors that wanted to purchase the figures but simply stated that the price is way too steep for what they are getting.  Most people in their right mind would not pay $60-$100 for four action figures that are just cool but not high quality.  I have literally seen my husband and other collectors walk up the shelf where the repos are, have a big smile on their face for a moment, see the price, put it down and walk away.  That is sad.  It seem that most companies are simply not doing price point testing to see what people are comfortable paying for an item.  They are just slapping a high price and hope that enough people will bite.  To me this seems like poor business practices in the long run but hey that what comes with at "Collectible" market.


Just plain over done

Yes that is me and yes that is my husbands Burger King Roof Top Display promo from the Star Wars movie.

A toy like that has really lost it charm and is trying to make it back is the Star Wars line.  I mean good lord how many Darth Vaders do you need.  Unless you are collecting the vintage Star Wars figures, there’s really no value on most of the new stuff. Trust me if you are a flea market hunter like my husband and I you constantly see boxes full of episode 1, 2 , and 3 figures sold for $2 a pop still in the package. They are simply making too many of them and they don’t hold their value very well.

Now recently the company finally decided to go with what is known as the “Black Line”. They finally listened the fans and created a fully articulated 6 inch star wars figures.  They come in a sleek black case that reminds you of gourmet coffee or fancy perfume bottle, but at whopping price of $20 -$30 each depending where you are buying it from. So far we have only seen 3 figures in the set and they really don’t look that bad, however if my husband really wanted these figures he has to drop $60 -$90 for the set.  Just way too much.  Even he stated that he is way happier with his vintage set than dropping that kind of money for 3 new figures.  Heck for a little more money  he can finally get that star wars jackface he wants to complete his vintage collection or the 2 foot Metroplex that just come out.  NOW a Big COOL TOY!!!!



Knock Off’s
Since the price of toys have gone  up you would think that the quality of knock offs would go down. Wrong!!! What we are seeing is that you get more bang for your buck with knock offs that you do with the brand stuff.  Example GI Joes vs CORPS figures.  And average 3 ¼ inch GI Joe figure will cost you about $8-$10 each.  For the price of one GI Joe you can get two CORPS three packs with accessory like a motorcycle, a hand glider, etc.  I’m not sure about you but if I’m buying a toy for a kid trust me when I tell you the kid rather have 6 figures and 2 big accessories versus one measly GI Joe. The funny part is that when you look at the CORPS figures and compare it to the GI Joe’s figures you will notice that sometimes is literally almost the same mold but they change the colors on it and some of the head sculpts.  Unless your kid has been watching the old GI Joe show, they won't be able to tell the difference between a GI Joe brand figures and a CORPS knock off figures if they were all in a big pile. Unless your son or daughter is GI Joes collector, there’s really not reason to buy a $10 GI Joe for play time.


A store that has really been pushing the bang for the buck has been Toys R Us with their in store lines name True Heroes  or True Legend sets.  So far we have encountered amazing sets like Ture Legends Myth and Elf sets, True Heroes Western and Pirates set, Firefighters, Cops and lets not forget the Army sets that comes with 5 figures, a full truck, weapons, props, and even a missile that make noise for only $50.  The box is about the size of about a 30-40 gallon fish tank.  Many of the sets come with amazing props.  They are also great for someone who is learning how to make custom backgrounds, needs props for pictures, or learning how to sculpt on figures. The funny part is that most of the time they are literally the same quality as the main brands toys, comes with more stuff, and is a better value.



I know there’s a big price difference when it comes to the pricing of toys and that is the word “Collectible”.  Meaning if the figure you so loved wasn't loved by everybody else as well it would simply be another plastic knock off figure on the shelf. Supply and demand 101.

Thank you for reading


Toys R Us Line on flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ragingnerdgasm/collections/72157633027690403/

CORPS
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ragingnerdgasm/sets/72157632814351765/