NSA Q&A August Questions

Monkeywrench

00coathanger
Mar 14, 2011
25,764
10
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Well, the GIJCC didn't exactly do it right with the JoeCon stuff, but they're headed in the right direction. Hasbro should give them the rights to use more tooling and just let them handle the 25th styled shit from now on so they can move forward, yet still sell shit to fans and keep that fandom alive (not much else is keeping the Joe line alive at the moment).

I agree with that except I don't want to have to pay $25 for each figure.
 

Mandingo Rex

★★★★★
Founder
Mar 14, 2011
14,392
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41
Gone Baby, Gone
Yeah, that price point fucking blows, but what are you paying for Zarana? Sarge?

$25 is a fucking steal, if it's guaranteed, versus staying up all night and fighting other nerds or gnashing teeth waiting on eBay. 2x $25 would start to add up though for me, since I'm a faggoty opener/carder (at least with the vintage card art), but still... better than $100 for 2. Sigh.
 

xhairs

odd man out !!!!!!!!!!!!!
Mar 15, 2011
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It just seems like people won't be happy (ever) unless the figures are done right, and only the club and exclusives are doing that right now.

I am excited for the new movie figures, as homage to the originals, but more for the customer fodder. I think the "25th" nostalgia ship has sailed.

man the club charges way to much also you have to pay to be a member and the exclusives are hard as hell to get unless you want to pay ebay prices or have friends that go that can hook you up. see the problem is that we all want dif things.

Now if they do a internet exclusive for say HTS since it is part of hasbro that would be cool and they could put what they want out in stores and have the collector base on there site. chicks in the line is good for us older collectors and the woman who love the line. there are a few i know personally.

they need to find or make 2 lines so everyone is happy(witch will never truly happen to make us all happy). you cant please us all but you cant put crap out and expect us to buy it just cuse it says joe on it either.
 

NSA

Brotherhood
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Mar 13, 2011
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man the club charges way to much also you have to pay to be a member and the exclusives are hard as hell to get unless you want to pay ebay prices or have friends that go that can hook you up. see the problem is that we all want dif things.

I think if they got more members the price could go down, economies of scale and all. But $25 for a pretty limited figure isn't unreasonable at all. There is no reason why any of us should get getting "ARAH" figures right now at all.. it's been 30 damn years! I will say that the Club seems to have the heart of Joe correct, they still make real file-cards, card-art, etc. All the things that you'd lose by getting a mass-market release from Hasbro right now. The club is *the best you're gonna get* until the 35th anniversary!

Now if they do a internet exclusive for say HTS since it is part of hasbro that would be cool and they could put what they want out in stores and have the collector base on there site. chicks in the line is good for us older collectors and the woman who love the line. there are a few i know personally.

An internet exclusive? On HTS? The same HTS everyone hates right now because they couldn't handle an exclusive?! Wait what? I understand your idea, but I think it'd fall to the same issues that we see now, people will snatch them up and resell them. Since there is no 'store distribution' to even things out (It kind of does), BBTS et al can just buy-buy-buy and then resell them for double (Just like they do now). Since it'd be a guaranteed "collector only" line the quantities would always have to be small. See: MattyCollector.

they need to find or make 2 lines so everyone is happy(witch will never truly happen to make us all happy). you cant please us all but you cant put crap out and expect us to buy it just cuse it says joe on it either.

Two lines won't make everyone happy, people will STILL bitch, STILL find something wrong, and STILL claim they are quitting the hobby.

The bottom line is this is a BUS-I-NESS for Hasbro, and while I am sure there are tons of people who work there who have loads of love for GIJOE, at the end of the day they all report to shareholders, who I imagine will say "Fuck the Fans, sell more NERF!". Or something to that extent. Until the "Joebase" shows they can support more/expensive product.. it's not going to happen. It's just not economically wise.

I think fans of lots of different products are going to need to start wising up to 'reality' and learn to enjoy what you get, not bitch about what you may not be getting.
 

MAJOR BLOOD

Size matters
Staff member
Mar 13, 2011
13,592
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Better take a number. That line is getting bigger every day. You may be up to a 12 o' clock ticket. :p
 

MAJOR BLOOD

Size matters
Staff member
Mar 13, 2011
13,592
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38
Get a room you....oh wait you guys did that last weekend :eek:

I knew better than to stay with them. Just look how he's "taking a picture" with the Ice King. Where is that other hand.....
 

Big Jim

Thread Derailer
Mar 15, 2011
1,320
1
0
Occupied PRK
You heard it here first next SDCC MB and NSA will tie the knot in an Adventure Time themed wedding. They are registered at HTS, Matty Collector, Bad Cat toys and Foxhole toys
Congrats Gays!
 

xhairs

odd man out !!!!!!!!!!!!!
Mar 15, 2011
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I think if they got more members the price could go down, economies of scale and all. But $25 for a pretty limited figure isn't unreasonable at all. There is no reason why any of us should get getting "ARAH" figures right now at all.. it's been 30 damn years! I will say that the Club seems to have the heart of Joe correct, they still make real file-cards, card-art, etc. All the things that you'd lose by getting a mass-market release from Hasbro right now. The club is *the best you're gonna get* until the 35th anniversary!



An internet exclusive? On HTS? The same HTS everyone hates right now because they couldn't handle an exclusive?! Wait what? I understand your idea, but I think it'd fall to the same issues that we see now, people will snatch them up and resell them. Since there is no 'store distribution' to even things out (It kind of does), BBTS et al can just buy-buy-buy and then resell them for double (Just like they do now). Since it'd be a guaranteed "collector only" line the quantities would always have to be small. See: MattyCollector.



Two lines won't make everyone happy, people will STILL bitch, STILL find something wrong, and STILL claim they are quitting the hobby.

The bottom line is this is a BUS-I-NESS for Hasbro, and while I am sure there are tons of people who work there who have loads of love for GIJOE, at the end of the day they all report to shareholders, who I imagine will say "Fuck the Fans, sell more NERF!". Or something to that extent. Until the "Joebase" shows they can support more/expensive product.. it's not going to happen. It's just not economically wise.

I think fans of lots of different products are going to need to start wising up to 'reality' and learn to enjoy what you get, not bitch about what you may not be getting.

ok u just said it here with hasbro they want to make cash and the club does to and they wont change man if they can make a buck they will and you have to pay every yr that wont change man. yes hasbro is a business and they are there to make money so if they cant make stuff ppl will buy then they cant make money.

so if the club does do what you are saying hasbro loses the cash. also it costs $.10 to make a fig after the mold is made and that is what costs the most is the mold but after that mold is made it only costs $.10 to make that so at the price they are now that is a huge mark up for profit. for both places and the club uses the molds that are alrdy there for the most part.

your right 2 lines wont make everyone happy as there will be a fig or 2 they wont buy but if they make enough good ones they will sell. unlike now where ppl are passing over complete waves. also no new product for mos at a time and stores (walmart) dropped the line and made the numbers look bad. also they order older waves when the news waves are out.

with HTS they can fix it and be on top of it if it will be a monthly or whatever and not just be limited to 200 figs. also maybe if they did that they can restock the site more.
 

xhairs

odd man out !!!!!!!!!!!!!
Mar 15, 2011
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You heard it here first next SDCC MB and NSA will tie the knot in an Adventure Time themed wedding. They are registered at HTS, Matty Collector, Bad Cat toys and Foxhole toys
Congrats Gays!

wow they must had a real good time that weekend no wonder its felt very flaming in here lol.
 

NSA

Brotherhood
Admin
Mar 13, 2011
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I have no clue what the deal with HTS.com is, because logic would tell you they should have all Hasbro products in stock.. all the time. It's the damn HASBRO toy shop.

I imagine they have to operate along some rules so they don't unfairly compete with Target/Wal-Mart and even BBTS (BBTS sells the same wave/case for $2 more). If you could get all your Joe needs at HTS.com, you'd never need to shop anywhere else (Which sounds amazing if you're a consumer).

Problem is, the OTHER stores sell a LOT MORE of your stuff than you could ever sell on your website, and if you burn them in one area, they'll burn you right back everywhere else.

I bet there is a lot of politicking going on behind the scenes. Damn bid'naz.
 

fogger1138

SCIENCE!
Founder
Mar 14, 2011
9,726
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so if the club does do what you are saying hasbro loses the cash. also it costs $.10 to make a fig after the mold is made and that is what costs the most is the mold but after that mold is made it only costs $.10 to make that so at the price they are now that is a huge mark up for profit. for both places and the club uses the molds that are alrdy there for the most part.

Where'd you pull that figure from? Did someone pull that out of their ass on Hisstank.com or one of the other sites? I will absolutely guarantee you it's not even remotely accurate from a business standpoint.

It costs them a lot more than $.10 to make a figure. Maybe in raw plastic and paint it's only ten cents of actual material, but that's not even remotely an actual cost figure. Even if you ignore development costs that go into each figure (there's a lot of back end design work that's not free, even when using existing molds), there's all of the overhead costs for the factory (like permits, rent and electricity, all of which have to be paid), wear and tear on the machines and molds, the workers to run each mold, the workers to assemble each figure and get all of the accessories together, the workers to package the figures and box up packaged figures, storage of boxes in China, shipping them from China and then storing and distributing them once they're here. None of that is free. That's all expense for Hasbro or the Club that comes from somewhere - guess where? Yup, all of that goes into the figure cost.

I've worked in a plastics factory as a line worker and sure, you can argue that it's only 10 cents worth of plastic in a part, but that's completely ignoring all of the other cost factors that a business _has_ to factor in.
 

Meddatron

I am what I am
Apr 19, 2011
11,383
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All great points Fogger. I would love to know what each cost is in percentages of a figure, or the percentage window each facet has to fall under. RnD, Materials, Overhead, Payroll, packaging, profit, and whatever I missed. That would be cool to see a breakdown.

I would also like to know how many of each figure needs to be sold to make up the RnD till the profit margin increases.
 

xhairs

odd man out !!!!!!!!!!!!!
Mar 15, 2011
1,464
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Where'd you pull that figure from? Did someone pull that out of their ass on Hisstank.com or one of the other sites? I will absolutely guarantee you it's not even remotely accurate from a business standpoint.

It costs them a lot more than $.10 to make a figure. Maybe in raw plastic and paint it's only ten cents of actual material, but that's not even remotely an actual cost figure. Even if you ignore development costs that go into each figure (there's a lot of back end design work that's not free, even when using existing molds), there's all of the overhead costs for the factory (like permits, rent and electricity, all of which have to be paid), wear and tear on the machines and molds, the workers to run each mold, the workers to assemble each figure and get all of the accessories together, the workers to package the figures and box up packaged figures, storage of boxes in China, shipping them from China and then storing and distributing them once they're here. None of that is free. That's all expense for Hasbro or the Club that comes from somewhere - guess where? Yup, all of that goes into the figure cost.

I've worked in a plastics factory as a line worker and sure, you can argue that it's only 10 cents worth of plastic in a part, but that's completely ignoring all of the other cost factors that a business _has_ to factor in.

ok ask slayer dave he knows how much it costs to cast a complete fig so he would be able to get us a idea also they have huge machines to pump them out. there was a article that came out along time ago about how much it costs to make a fig and there where i got that from.

also i said the first part costs more but to make the fig after it is molded it is about $.10 a fig. the first part might cost the most but to make the fig is about $.10 when all is said and done AFTER THE MOLD IS MADE FOR THE MACHINE.

I have no clue what the deal with HTS.com is, because logic would tell you they should have all Hasbro products in stock.. all the time. It's the damn HASBRO toy shop.

I imagine they have to operate along some rules so they don't unfairly compete with Target/Wal-Mart and even BBTS (BBTS sells the same wave/case for $2 more). If you could get all your Joe needs at HTS.com, you'd never need to shop anywhere else (Which sounds amazing if you're a consumer).

Problem is, the OTHER stores sell a LOT MORE of your stuff than you could ever sell on your website, and if you burn them in one area, they'll burn you right back everywhere else.

I bet there is a lot of politicking going on behind the scenes. Damn bid'naz.

there prob is they made the site for us to get the stuff from when the dtc line happen. so they need to keep up with the product and there is ways around that they can delay putting it up till after other sites get there orders filled . they def need to restock stuff. man they want to make money so they do it to them selves why they cant make money and guess who pays for there mistakes we do. as they are killing the line cuse in there data it says joe is a fail when in truth its there as they didnt know walmart dropped the line in most places. 2 they dont restock there own site 3 they cut the product down or push it back. also they need to get the DCPI numbers to differ from each other so stores can order the new stuff.
 

MAJOR BLOOD

Size matters
Staff member
Mar 13, 2011
13,592
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After a conversation I had today I would not be surprised if product never makes it to HTS.com because of some "accounts". If I was buying large quantities I would not want to get undercut by the ones shipping it to me.
 

fogger1138

SCIENCE!
Founder
Mar 14, 2011
9,726
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ok ask slayer dave he knows how much it costs to cast a complete fig so he would be able to get us a idea also they have huge machines to pump them out. there was a article that came out along time ago about how much it costs to make a fig and there where i got that from.

Surely you can see that what Dave does isn't what Hasbro does, and the costs are different. Whether or not they have "huge machines" (which I doubt) to pump them out doesn't affect anything I said about cost.

also i said the first part costs more but to make the fig after it is molded it is about $.10 a fig. the first part might cost the most but to make the fig is about $.10 when all is said and done AFTER THE MOLD IS MADE FOR THE MACHINE.

Sorry, but no, for the same reasons I stated before.
 

nacho

"Big Guns"
Founder
Even if fogger really IS the chinese lady that paints on the cobra logos... he's right, x.

There are a million other factors that affect the cost of the final product besides the number of cents of plastic in the item. While the molds are in fact a big fixed cost, the other fixed costs and the numerous variable costs of each figure outside of raw materials are far from trivial. The factory isn't self-sustaining, the packaing isn't made of the crushed aspirations of the child labor that made it, and the slow boat from china doesn't run on rainbows.
 

Charade

Enlisted
Apr 12, 2011
1,163
0
0
...to make the fig is about $.10 when all is said and done....

Perhaps that's true...if the price of oil was $5/barrel.


(fogger is secretly the little chinese lady that paints on all the cobra logos at the factory...)

Fogger, why the hell aren't you painting sigils on the Techno-Vipers chests, you lazy git!



NYET! There is no of the talking about the words.

Comrade.

Man, I can't keep track anymore....is there anyone on here that isn't a spy?
 

xhairs

odd man out !!!!!!!!!!!!!
Mar 15, 2011
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Surely you can see that what Dave does isn't what Hasbro does, and the costs are different. Whether or not they have "huge machines" (which I doubt) to pump them out doesn't affect anything I said about cost.



Sorry, but no, for the same reasons I stated before.

man they have a lot of casting machines man. what you think they make all these toys out of one maybe 2 machine ? come one man. they have rows of them for each piece and the after all is said and done the cost of the figs from start to finish might be 3bucks to make and ship to us.

guys its not as expensive as you think to make them why do you think they are made in china cuse its cheap even with the gas prices to ship them over here. if it wasn't they would just make them here. they sure don't cost 7bucks a pop. or they wouldn't make any profit.

dave dose the same thing as hasbro he just does it on a smaller scale he still has a few guy make the main molds then they cast up the molds. then mails them out. hasbro ships them out and does 100 maybe even a 1000x more items then him. now what does cost alot is the vehicles to be made. that is true and why we cant get big ticket items anymore after that god awful pitt.

u can say im talking out of my ass but its real cheap to make and ship them to stores / us to buy them. also why do you think there are so many of them on ebay that are from china cuse they are easy to take as they make so many of them. also if they where more then 3 bucks hasbro would do a better job on there security to stop them.