Something I noticed (which seems to have missed other people at BotCon who were too busy looking at the toys to notice the product info labels), is
that the Deluxe Class might be having a price rise in the new financial year. (or someone at Hasbro misprinted the labels)
They had an increase about 3 years ago from US$10 to US$13 (recommended, plus tax... most stores were selling them at US$12 though).
The new increase is an extra US$2, taking it up to US$15 (recommended, plus tax).
So sometime after the middle of the year, as restocks in America occur, retail prices could go up an extra $2.
What this means for us though, is an expected price rise of a comparable amount (AU$4) after the new financial year as well.
No other size classes appear to have an increase (according to the display case labels), but we'll have to wait and see... and hear the fan-rage on
the American forums when it happens.
A couple of photos from BotCon showing the price rise:
BEFORE NFY
AFTER NFY
If the price rise is true though, judging the amount of shafting we get on prices in Australia, this extra $4 is not likely to be absorbed... this is likely
to push up the Deluxe price point, possibly to the next nearest $5 mark.
If I can get a comment from Hasbro AUS on this, one way or the other, I'll post up a news topic on it. But for now, it's just an observation from BotCon.