HasTak VS Other bots

[Autocon]

Do you think the quality and piant apps are better on 3rd party items than hastak?

You complain about spending $25 on a deluxe, then spend $100 odd dollars on a third party toy.

Is it worth it? Would you spend ~$80 on a deluxe if there was great paint apps and engineering from hastak?

[SuspectimusPrime]

If you are referring to $80 or almost 3 times the normal cost, for a Deluxe found in stores, I would say definitely no. If that's the price on the shelf then think of what Fun Pub will ask for their exclusives!

If it was double the cost of a normal Deluxe, perhaps. However it would need a Masterpiece level of sculpted detail for cartoon/comic accuracy (maybe interchangeable faces I'll never dare to use); assessories (however unnecessary, like Kremzeek with MP Megs); to not be a repaint; to be of the right scale with the rest of the CHUG lines; and with character bios written by Furman/Roberts and box art (box and not card back) by Guido Guidi

Also, most $100 3PP's are voyager size and upwards. Dexlue 3PP's so far are FP Insecticons and Maketoys individual constructions ($390/6) are about $60-70 each

[VERT]

3rd party stuff is expensive due to small production runs. Hasbro make 1000's and 1000's more of the same figure. and then repaint the hell out of it. The bigger the run the cheaper it is to produce. If everything Hasbro does looked as good and was like MP Sideswipe I would pay more. But they dont, They are now smaller and cheaper quality than in the past.

[kurdt_the_goat]

Most people on here have spent 100's for deluxes if you total the amount of money spent on the same mould... Classic seeker for instance! That should probably retail for about $2 based on how many times Hasbro has re-run that one :P

[kup]

Most people on here have spent 100's for deluxes if you total the amount of money spent on the same mould... Classic seeker for instance! That should probably retail for about $2 based on how many times Hasbro has re-run that one :P

Yeah, it doesn't have to be 3rd party for a deluxe toy to soar up in price. Exclusives have been at around 3rd party prices for a long time and one could argue that they are of lesser quality as they are just repaints with not as many paint apps and the same quality plastic as a standard toy. Some of them can even cost a lot more once they reach after market.

Before the dawn of the 3rd parties and the Hasbro/Tomy re-releases, the Botcon 07 seekers were going for $250-$300 a piece!

[GoktimusPrime]

I don't think any toy is worth paying substantially above RRP for. As VERT said, due to economies of scale, third party toys (and some exclusive toys) are more expensive due to their smaller production runs. Exclusive toys that are straight up repaints usually sell for about the same as the regular mould's RRP (e.g. most eHobby toys), but where there is a retool in a certain set (e.g. BotCon box sets), the cost of the set or each figure is increased to offset the cost of the retooling which is done in a very limited run.

[SuspectimusPrime]

Don't forget that 3PP's are limited by their channels of sale. They do not have the liberty of approaching local retailers with their merch. It does not mean much for those of us they buy a lot online, but for the producer it limits their exposure to potential buyers that do not have a clue of their existence. Even knowing that certain 3P products will be released soon, we have to keep an eye out otherwise their limited supply sells out, usually within weeks.

I'm assuming that they're limiting their supply because its difficult for them to forecast demand -too little and the scalpers win a healthy cut, as seen here, whilst too many and they're stuck with a shipping container full of slow-moving stock - although FP has been doing a great job.

I noticed that with MakeToys Green Giant, RK's original pre-order stock numbers was about 140 even after shipping began (when kup and the other guys received theirs early August). However a week after it dropped suddenly to 60 - I don't think anybody went and bought 80 pieces of Green Giant, but RK has reduced the numbers they're ordering from MakeToys.

Looks like no Green Giant to play with when I return to Sydney

[theheretic]

Are the paint apps better? Not always but usually they are atleast equal to and sometimes they are better.

Engineer is almost always better, atleast it is on what I've purchased.

G1/cartoon accuracy or CHUG is always better.

So in closing, yes I would buy hastak toys at 3rd party prices if they were as good as what the 3rd parties are making. That's probably why I buy MP's.

[Sam]

I buy any toy where I think the quality and paint apps are good - I don't consider myself loyal to any brand.

It's just that I find the quality of HasTak figures are generally not as good as third party figures.

Like when I bought RTS Perceptor, it was very hard to get one of his arms out because the left side mirror had a longer piece of plastic than the right one and was obstructing the transformation. I had to either cut it or use brute force to get the arm out.

I have not experienced this kind of issue with any third party toy.

[kup]

So in closing, yes I would buy hastak toys at 3rd party prices if they were as good as what the 3rd parties are making. That's probably why I buy MP's.

If HasTak were making stuff at 3rd party levels, I would be buying them too. I am sure most 3rd party fans would also be doing the same. The reason we buy 3rd parties is because they are offering stuff Has-Tak isn't.

I give my money to whoever makes the best toys, too bad that the 3rd parties have been doing more to earn my money in the last couple of years than Has-Tak.