This price disparity is not just in toys. It is on most things we import. Take cars, a good example is a WRX. Here they are ~$41K drive away. The EXACT same model in the US is $25K drive away. And remember that these cars are manufactured in Japan, so shipping distances are relatively equal.

Remember that the USA is is a SUBSTANTIALLY bigger market than Australia, with historically low prices for a lot of goods sold there. Thus have a lot more purchasing power and goods are priced lower to keep them selling.

And while you see ACA and Gerry Harvey crapping on about how badly retailers are doing because everyone is buying online from overseas, its not nearly as big an issue as they would have you believe. Most people would still be buying their kids transformers toys from kmart/bigW without it even occuring to them to look online/overseas for a cheaper price.

my 2 cents