Originally Posted by
GoktimusPrime
The only book-exclusive mail order toy that I've gotten was United Artfire, which cost me...
* Transformers Generations 2012 = 2625JPY ($28)
* United Artfire = 5700JPY ($60)
* Postage for book and toy ≈ 1000JPY ($10)
+ Total ≈ 9325JPY ($98)
^Double the AU RRP for a Voyager. :o Although the base cost of the toy plus postage (i.e. not including cost of the book) would be 6260JPY ($66), which is what I consider to be what I paid for the toy itself. While the purchase of the book was a prerequisite to buying the toy, I still see it as a separate purchase.
At any rate, I wanted United Artfire because, as we all know, back in 2004 Takara reissued Stepper. But they never reissued Artfire, making him the only G1 Targetmaster missing from my collection. Ordinarily I wouldn't care about Japanese G1 characters, as it's not the G1 of my childhood, but it kinda bugged me that I had Stepper but not Artfire. So when news of United Artfire came out, I decided to bite the bullet and purchase the TF Generations 2012 book and order Artfire. Even though it meant paying $66 for a Voyager (or $98 including the book), I figured that it'd be cheaper than purchasing an original G1 Artfire off the secondary market. :o So yeah, while getting this Go-Shooter toy is never going to be cheap for anyone, it would arguably be a cheaper alternative to getting the original G1 toy off the secondary market.
Wow... I'm surprised to see that Artfire has appreciated (arguably depreciated if its initial after-market price was higher than this or vs. the aggregate cost of purchasing the book + toy) so poorly. If this is the case, perhaps it might be worth waiting to see if Go Shooter will similarly depreciate. <shrugs> :confused: Then again, Go Shooter isn't nearly as obscure as Artfire, so there may be greater demand for it. <shrugs.again> :o