Small Scale Military Headquarters

Hi All,
Seems like everyone is real quiet concerning the rapidly dropping cost of petroleum-based products, particuarly gasoline. While this may not be a harbinger of things to come, it could result in LOWER pricing for some diecast products down the road, unless factors such as labor overshadow the drop in oil prices. Furthermore, there's no way of knowing how long the recent price drop in oil might last but if you listen to all the Wall Street pundits, it could be quite some time, with demand destruction taking place around the globe.

Lightning2000
www.themotorpool.net

I think when OPEC flexed, they flexed a little harder than they meant to.

Hi,
I think 2008 will go down in the record books as the "Year of Greed," be it oil, Wall Street, Sub Prime mortgages, bank bailouts or insurance scams. Truly a horrible year if you're an average Joe that has to endure all these manmade misfortunes...

Lightning2000
www.themotorpool.net

Amen, brother.


-H

How about as a year that greed got caught up on, screwed us, and that we officially learned nothing from?

ltcbj, do you have a Masters in Cynicism?

Yes. An MCS. (Master of Cynical Science) Thesis on the recognition thereof.

I believe that it is merely the natural culmination of events after years of greed. A culmination that could only have ended as it has. After years of government promoted greed we have that same government now decrying the very behavior it insisted upon. Now that's cynicism.

And then arguing that the only salvation is to do more of it.
Well, that's absurdity. (I had a minor in that.)

Why does every U.S. presidential candidate proclaim the need for reform and change? Seems like that shouldn't be on every ticket every 4 years.

If you want real change try

1-reform the electoral collage. Maybe to counties and states?

2-reform term limits for congress

3-prevent piggybacks on bills that have nothing to do with the bill in question.

Capitolism promotes ingenuity and hard work ALMOST as much as greed and screw'n others.

That said, I still love my country and need more die cast replicas of her forces!

-H

Capitalism is like a nuclear power plant; too much control and you get nothing but fizzle, but not enough safeguards and it becomes toxic. Once these jokers in Washington forced the banks to relax their lending rules in the late 90's they effectively exposed the nuclear control rods and let it run out of control. Meltdown in the most classic sense.

The stronger dollar is the most likely reason that our prices may drop, that along with the cost of shipping being affected by lower oil prices and lower demand of just about everything.

Hi,
There's another factor at play that could affect pricing: factory closings. According to one report I saw, half of China's 6,000 factory producing toy-related items have closed in 2008. This could either make it more difficult to produce the types of collectibles we discuss here or it could make the cost of labor that much cheaper. With fewer places to make the products, I'm inclined to believe it might drive per unit costs back up a bit, unless some of the factories that shuttered are willing to accept short run production items numbering in the low thousands.

Lightning2000
www.themotorpool.net