2020 Australian recession and collecting

[Thurmus]

Thankfully they have ruined the Masterpiece line with the over priced cartoon accurate releases recently so they have recession proofed my collecting.

[Ode to a Grasshopper]

Eh. My budget's pretty tight anyway, and there's not a heap coming out that I want as a priority.

[Seraphim Prime]

I think toys are recession proof generally as parents will still want to provide for their kids and they sacrifice things for themselves to achieve it.

I'm fortunate to still be in a job, and one that is pretty well protected, but I have already been considering how much I spend and trying to bring it into a better balance.

We'll see what this means for collecting, whether it becomes a reduced focus or not. I'm already thinking that the end of Kingdom will be a good step off point from wanting to have almost all releases to being much more selective.

[GoktimusPrime]

The 2008 GFC was worse for overseas buying as I remember a lot of toys that I'd pre-ordered suddenly becoming more expensive when they were released as the AUD took a nosedive (e.g. Encore Metroplex, eHobby GADEP etc.). I haven't noticed anything like that for this year though, it's more just trying to get things to ship that's a bigger pain in the sparse. But even currency-wise it's still not as bad as 2000 when the AUD hit 45 US cents. That really sucked and made importing Car Robot and the new Japanese G1 reissues more costly.
(although I'm sure it was a godsend for local hospitality and tourism in the year of the Sydney Olympics)

[Skyfire]

Man, 45 cents would have made TFs seriously expensive given how much Aussie collectors rely on overseas hobby shops and retailers. If we're lucky our economy won't be too bad relative to the US and our dollar may continue to creep up this time round.

If WFC Kingdom turns out to be Beast Wars themed then that will be a natural cut off for me as I never got into Beast Wars. I'd still like to get the reissue G1 cassettes if/when they come to Australia but after seeing them in Singapore for SGD$40 RRP, I'll have to think twice if they're overpriced like the Kmart G1 minicars.

[High_Q]

I am unlikely to change my collecting habit, even if i were to lose my job, since i mostly collect G1 MP car bots and G1 reissues. Since I'm not a fan of getting repaints and exclusives, there aren't too many TFs for me to purchase. My only TF purchases this year so far has been two Reaction figures and an upcoming MP Arcee.

I'm more worried about Tomy discontinuing the G1 MP line due to fall in demand as a result of worldwide recession, or due to MP fans turning to Studio Series if that line starts including animation accurate G1 figures (SS 86?).

[Bidoofdude]

I am lucky as I am quite young compared to a lot of the fans here, and without nowhere near the responsibility of most others here. I have been in casual work for all of my career so far (I am a student), and typically TFs have come out of the pretty regular pay I was on without much issue or being in the hole at all. However the industry I have been working in most recently is hospitality, which runs on almost exclusively a casual or part-time basis and has been shut down completely. Likewise, casual workers go unprotected under JobKeeper, so I have had a pretty steady stream of $0 coming in since about April.

I have generally had to be much less trigger-happy with my purchases, where I would sometimes be liberal before. This has caused me some frustration, as Unicron is coming fast in February and I have to make up the funds to pay it off (I currently cannot). Safe to say my plans have been turned upside down, and I'll probably end up selling some stuff to get it done. I hope things change soon and work gets going so I can at least have a semi-strong looking account balance and still make purchases now and again. That can't happen obviously without some element of safety in a preventative intervention, so it can't be rushed. I am definitely envious of some of my friends who have managed to stay with a source of income given their line of work (food service, grocery stores, etc.).

I am still relatively privileged so I can hardly complain next to a lot of people going paycheck to paycheck, but that's my experience as a young student. I certainly hope things improve soon. It is so difficult with all this great new stuff coming out too.

[sideswipes brother]

Thankfully they have ruined the Masterpiece line with the over priced cartoon accurate releases recently so they have recession proofed my collecting.

This

[Skyfire]

With MP-52 Starscream at preorder for $400, these are valid points. But I suspect Hasbro and Takara Tomy have crunched the numbers and perhaps view the MP line as a luxury that wealthy collectors will keep buying (like luxury cars). I do wonder about the Kingdom toys perhaps going up in price. That's their bread and butter.

It would be interesting to see behind the scenes how buying one line affects decisions to develop new toys (less famous characters) or new lines especially when consumer confidence is generally low.

My work is recession resistant, I have a limited TF focus and I missed out on the MP-11 series. So I'll probably buy MP-52 and the (more expensive) Thundercracker and Skywarp variants. I'll draw the line at the coneheads. Masterpieces are close to prohibitive now but I don't want them to fail. Still, Hasbro/TT is strangling the golden goose.

[SharkyMcShark]

The recession itself hasn't changed my collecting. I've had the good fortune to have had two significant pay increases this year, and also to work in an industry that hasn't been affected by COVID.

That said, I'm also in the process of buying a home, which is changing my collecting habits. Naturally I've tended to be a bit more choosy with my retail purchases, and most 3P stuff is just beyond me financially. The only upcoming retail figures I have any interest in are WFCE Sunstreaker, WFCK Cyclonus and WFCK Megatron. Aside from needing to pick up the two leadr class SS Constructicons at some point, that's about it for me.

In all, 2020 is looking like a pretty quiet year for me. I'm not particularly moved by any of the SS86 stuff or the WFCK stuff, and I lost interest in Masterpiece a good half decade ago.

I've got a few 3P bits and bobs on order from OMP though, but it's all sub $100AUD stuff.