|
Community Links |
Social Groups |
Pictures & Albums |
Members List |
Search Forums |
Advanced Search |
Go to Page... |
|
Thread Tools |
02-01-2011, 12:31 AM | #11 |
Hisstank.Com General
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Atlanta
Posts: 11,379
|
A few points I would like to make.
1) He mentions that Macy's, a high end store, sold Joes for $4 and then compares that to Walmart, a low end store, and says SEE the prices haven't gone up that much in all this time. 2) He says action figure space has grown smaller in toy stores over the years. While that may be true when comparing a single store to itself, today we have more stores that sell action figures including online stores that sell all over the world. We have more stores than we did back then. How many stores like Walmart were around a specific area back then? How many TRU stores were there in any one area back then? I would argue that the amount of retail space for figures sold worldwide may have increased, not gone down. Of course this is just a guess on my part. I have no data to back this up. 3) If the economic slowdown has effected China's factories in that there are less of them, then that means there are more workers looking for work than there are factories. Cost of labor should go down in theory. Also, the volume of figures is spread among fewer factories, so in theory a factory could see in increase in volume. Increased order quantities should mean cheaper piece cost per item. 4) Advances in manufacturing methods has reduced the cost of development such as Computer Aided Design (CAD) and Computer Numerical Control (CNC) machining of tools and dies. It takes less time and less people to create tools and dies. 5) Computer technology has made it possible to reduce the number workers needed to operate a business. Less HR people, less accounting people, less engineering support. It has also allowed business functions to go oversees. Many companies even have accounting processes like accounts payable etc. done in places like Mexico. The point is that the cost of running a business goes to the bottom line in that if you can reduce your operating expense you can increase profit without raising prices. 5) He's forgetting one variable and that is the profit margin that a toy company is willing to make on a toy. If the market (i.e. us) will not bare a price point as high as $10.99 then there's nothing to be done about it but make less money and do things like reuse existing tools to create new figures. If they want to stop being a toy company because it's not profitable enough for them that's their choice. But, making toys is Hasbro core competency. It's what they know how to do, so they really can't decide to make something like disposable medical equipment without a lot of pain and expense. A drastic move like that could kill them. In a way they have branched out since the 80s with their entertainment division with TV shows, movies, and now a TV network. 6) About the only thing he has right is the cost of materials has gone up. Which is why it seems like the modern figures seem to be made of softer(i.e. cheaper) materials. Less or no screws and/or other metal components as well. 7) The world population, the last time I checked, has increased over the years. I would be willing to bet that the overall market for action figures has grown and not decreased over the years just from the fact that there are physically more people. Of course it's probably a mix of kids all the way up to adults. So, even of the action figure demographic for 7 year olds went down since the 80s, I believe that kids continue to buy toys into a much older age when compared to kids who grew up and were in their 30s during the 1980s. This is pure speculation on my part. Last edited by sharky; 02-01-2011 at 12:34 AM.. |
02-01-2011, 12:42 AM | #12 |
Hisstank.Com General
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Atlanta
Posts: 11,379
|
Quote:
A great deal of my problems with this article is is sounds like PR from the toy companies rather than actual research.
For instance Oil and shiping prices are mentioned BUT there is no explaination as to why items made, manufactured and shipped in similar ways (from pencil boxes, to bras, to holiday decorations or a myrid of other products) have not seem similar price increases. They are made from the same materials, shipped on (sometimes) the exact same ships as the toys, but prices haven't had the same kind of price raise as the adverage 3 & 3/4 in action figure. So, while oil prices does affect the cost to ship things it is only a linear correlation when you are looking at short term shipping cost because there are less variables to deal with. When you look at long term oil prices you have to factor in how the cost can be offset to a degree by variables due to better technology. I'm not saying it's a wash. I'm just saying it's not as cut and dry to figure out. You can't simply say because a barrel of oil went up $50 (or whatever) since 1982 that the cost to ship an item from China has also gone up by the same proportional amount. |
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
how much cost the figures in toys r us?? | fhersanke | G.I. Joe Toys Modern & General Discussion | 8 | 12-16-2009 07:54 PM |
how much does this cost | wild weasel | General Discussion | 2 | 10-12-2009 11:17 PM |
Retailers cost? | angrypandaink | G.I. Joe Toys Modern & General Discussion | 16 | 01-03-2009 05:19 PM |
Toys R Us USA Combines with Toys R Us Canada to form Toys R Us North America | DESTRO | G.I. Joe News and Rumors | 26 | 10-15-2008 11:42 AM |
How Much will it Cost to get Convention CC ? | COBRACOLLECTOR | G.I. Joe Conventions and Get Togethers | 21 | 06-16-2008 08:29 AM |
|
|