WTF happened to the price of Star Wars figures?

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aferguson
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WTF happened to the price of Star Wars figures?

Post by aferguson » Thu Dec 29, 2022 3:45 pm

Not sure how much they are selling for in the US but in Canada, 3.75 inch figures are selling for $24-27 each. What???? I remember several years ago when they went up to $10 I was ticked off. I will NEVER buy one at that price or anything even close to that price.
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Re: WTF happened to the price of Star Wars figures?

Post by tmanthegreat » Thu Dec 29, 2022 4:52 pm

aferguson wrote:
Thu Dec 29, 2022 3:45 pm
Not sure how much they are selling for in the US but in Canada, 3.75 inch figures are selling for $24-27 each. What???? I remember several years ago when they went up to $10 I was ticked off. I will NEVER buy one at that price or anything even close to that price.

Yeah… Long gone are the days when we were paying $5 for fully-articulated figures with lots of accessories. Depending on the figure and other factors like retailer exclusivity, etc. a Star Wars figure can cost anywhere from $13-$20 or sometimes more here in the US. 10-15 years ago we were paying a fraction of that for SW figures with similar detail and articulation.

I’d justify the higher costs by pointing out that the average premium 1/18 figure from Joy Toy costs in the $30-$50 range, but that’s not quite a fair comparison as the SW figures are manufactured in far greater numbers…

But it’s the same story across the board with the higher costs of everything. I also collect the premium 1/30 scale metal toy soldiers (e.g. King and Country, Thomas Gunn, etc) and the basic cost for a figure has gone from something like $35 several years ago to $45+ with some single figures topping out around $90 or more. I guess it’s the usual combination of inflation, the pandemic, and rising labor costs in China that drives up prices. It basically means we can’t army build affordably anymore.
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aferguson
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Re: WTF happened to the price of Star Wars figures?

Post by aferguson » Thu Dec 29, 2022 10:05 pm

boy you've got that right. Army building is a thing of the past. I've cut way back on sci fi figures for years now as I've been out of space. I just noticed a couple of my stormtroopers have yellowed and was looking into replacing them....that's when I got the sticker shock. I'll repaint the ones I have.

As a happy accident I did discover the Tantive IV hallway playset. That's pretty cool. I"m going to grab one or two of those. NO idea where i'll put them though. :)
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Re: WTF happened to the price of Star Wars figures?

Post by B-29 » Fri Dec 30, 2022 12:25 pm

It’s certainly gotten a bit ridiculous. At that price, I’m buying the 6” figures anyway instead. On an adjacent note, just helped my brother put together his “work from home” office for his job at ILM. Was great to dust off years of Star Wars toys that have been in storage since we were kids.

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