Takara imports to Australia

[Bladestorm]

Those prices are ridiculous.

I have one of those in sales on here at the moment for almost 1/2 the price (including shipping!!) of what ToysRUs will be asking for it so I don't see how they can justify their prices. Those ToysRUs prices are almost a 50% markup on retail prices here in HK! Do these expensive prices come about because of import taxes and GST or is ToysRUs in Oz just being greedy like the ToysRUs here (who end up with MP shelf-warming for YEARS)?

[drifand]

Well people complained when Local do not import, so know they do import but people still complaint. I mean if you think those prices are expensive, I see people happy to pay $150 for ironhide, 200+ for shockwave within here.

So technically TRU had just justified other sellers of their high prices.

I find those of us who are especially not into MISB and wanting the cheapest deal, you find that you can save over $30 a piece of what other high price stores offers. And things like mp-10 where on one end you could have gotten it under $200 delivered here saved you $200 just like that.

If you are into box condition then I think BBTS prices is where the medium price is set.

[1AZRAEL1]

Well people complained when Local do not import, so know they do import but people still complaint. I mean if you think those prices are expensive, I see people happy to pay $150 for ironhide, 200+ for shockwave within here.

So technically TRU had just justified other sellers of their high prices.

I find those of us who are especially not into MISB and wanting the cheapest deal, you find that you can save over $30 a piece of what other high price stores offers. And things like mp-10 where on one end you could have gotten it under $200 delivered here saved you $200 just like that.

If you are into box condition then I think BBTS prices is where the medium price is set.

No. Just no. Complaining that they aren't importing stock and we jave to buy overseas, versus them importing stock way overpriced. If I could import figures myself and work out way cheaper than they can offer, I'd be an idiot to buy locally.

[Handsprime]

Well people complained when Local do not import, so know they do import but people still complaint. I mean if you think those prices are expensive, I see people happy to pay $150 for ironhide, 200+ for shockwave within here.

So technically TRU had just justified other sellers of their high prices.

I find those of us who are especially not into MISB and wanting the cheapest deal, you find that you can save over $30 a piece of what other high price stores offers. And things like mp-10 where on one end you could have gotten it under $200 delivered here saved you $200 just like that.

If you are into box condition then I think BBTS prices is where the medium price is set.

The problem is the stores are charging prices that are a lot more than what I can get easily online.
For example MP-10 is gonna cost $400, but I can get one on eBay for less than $300.
Sideswipe is costing $150, I can find him on eBay for that same price, but that time he comes with another masterpiece vehicle.
And it's not just Toys R Us, Myer have been charging $300 for stuff that isn't worth the price.
They might be lucky if they get someone who doesn't know what they are actually worth and fork out $100's on toys, but most of the time they just shelfwarm. Heck you can still find Star Saber and even Ultra Magnus at a few places!

[Sinnertwin]

They're not direct imports -I've seen the shipping cartons for most of them and they're all labelled with Hasbro & not Takara import stampings.

Add the falling Australian Dollar, two Hasbro office mark ups, TRU's mark up and you have a Unite Warrior Superion and MP10 costing you $400.

[drifand]

The problem is the stores are charging prices that are a lot more than what I can get easily online.
For example MP-10 is gonna cost $400, but I can get one on eBay for less than $300.
Sideswipe is costing $150, I can find him on eBay for that same price, but that time he comes with another masterpiece vehicle.
And it's not just Toys R Us, Myer have been charging $300 for stuff that isn't worth the price.
They might be lucky if they get someone who doesn't know what they are actually worth and fork out $100's on toys, but most of the time they just shelfwarm. Heck you can still find Star Saber and even Ultra Magnus at a few places!

Yup I am not in disagreement just saying that they do not view the prices like we do. Some of us do the homework and know where to get the best price, others just don't care and in fact may not even come to the boards.

[griffin]

They're not direct imports -I've seen the shipping cartons for most of them and they're all labelled with Hasbro & not Takara import stampings.

This is what I've been saying on all the news postings - Japanese Transformers get released by Hasbro HK for the Asian market, and as such would have Hasbro master cartons... and it is their stock that we are getting, NOT Japan's stock.

It is understandably confusing for people though, as they see Japanese toy and assume that it is sold by TakaraTomy.

[drifand]

Any real reason why hk stock where tfs are all made in China anyway are still more expensive than Japan ?

Sorry if this was answered before but it is kind of double standard especially when tfs are made there are costing more than a place importing and exporting it out again.

[GoktimusPrime]

They're not direct imports -I've seen the shipping cartons for most of them and they're all labelled with Hasbro & not Takara import stampings.

IMHO this makes it more difficult to justify TRU's prices, since they're not subject to the plethora of import taxes, duties and levies that direct imports are. But this has always been TRU's policies. When TRU were selling the Hasbro Commemorative Series reissues, their initial prices were almost the same as what you would pay from a local specialist import store. So you could purchase a Commemorative Series Starscream from TRU with the goofy looking lengthened missiles, or you could pop by your local import store and purchase a Transformers Collection Starscream, with normal sized missiles, show-accurate colours and Megatron gun (as well as tech specs card, file cards & bonus DVD) -- all for about the same price (approx. $75 IIRC). Or you could've just imported it directly from Japan yourself and paid half the price (RRP=2980JPY≈AU$35≈AU$50 w/ postage). But this fact never bothered TRU and they continued to sell their reissues at exorbitant prices, and those Commemorative Series reissues did shelfwarm pretty badly too. They only really started moving when, after a jolly long time, TRU finally decided to slash prices down to $25 each, and even then it still took a while for them to get rid of all their stock.

Fast forward 10-15 years later, and it seems that TRU haven't learnt their lesson. And these days, I think that we're a lot more spoilt for choice when it comes to online shopping and importing toys directly ourselves from Japan. There are several Japan based online stores which cater for international markets and sell the toys at below JP RRP if you preorder; HLJ, Amiami, AnimeExport etc. And while local Aussie specialist import stores have become a rarity now, we're now seeing the rise of online Aussie importers, like Premium Collectables etc. We have so much more options for online shopping these days, and brick and mortar retailers like TRU are not just slow to catch up, but seem to be utterly disregarding their online competition and jacking up their prices to ridiculous levels as if no other form of competition exists.

[Handsprime]

IMHO this makes it more difficult to justify TRU's prices, since they're not subject to the plethora of import taxes, duties and levies that direct imports are. But this has always been TRU's policies. When TRU were selling the Hasbro Commemorative Series reissues, their initial prices were almost the same as what you would pay from a local specialist import store. So you could purchase a Commemorative Series Starscream from TRU with the goofy looking lengthened missiles, or you could pop by your local import store and purchase a Transformers Collection Starscream, with normal sized missiles, show-accurate colours and Megatron gun (as well as tech specs card, file cards & bonus DVD) -- all for about the same price (approx. $75 IIRC). Or you could've just imported it directly from Japan yourself and paid half the price (RRP=2980JPY≈AU$35≈AU$50 w/ postage). But this fact never bothered TRU and they continued to sell their reissues at exorbitant prices, and those Commemorative Series reissues did shelfwarm pretty badly too. They only really started moving when, after a jolly long time, TRU finally decided to slash prices down to $25 each, and even then it still took a while for them to get rid of all their stock.

Fast forward 10-15 years later, and it seems that TRU haven't learnt their lesson. And these days, I think that we're a lot more spoilt for choice when it comes to online shopping and importing toys directly ourselves from Japan. There are several Japan based online stores which cater for international markets and sell the toys at below JP RRP if you preorder; HLJ, Amiami, AnimeExport etc. And while local Aussie specialist import stores have become a rarity now, we're now seeing the rise of online Aussie importers, like Premium Collectables etc. We have so much more options for online shopping these days, and brick and mortar retailers like TRU are not just slow to catch up, but seem to be utterly disregarding their online competition and jacking up their prices to ridiculous levels as if no other form of competition exists.

Amen to that Brother