2020 Australian recession and collecting

[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.

[High_Q]

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).

Sorry to hear about the impact the COVID19 situation has had on your work and collecting. Hope it ends up well for you and you get to enjoy Haslab Unicron.

[Jellico]

Wife cracked down this year, when 84-86 made a big comeback which annoyed the heck out of me. Really wanted those Seekers.

OTOH next year is looking naturally bare for me. Minimal interest in Beastwars neo. Not many SS leap out at me. Except maybe the rumored 86 movie ones, whatever happens there. Even MP is turning me off, too expensive, too MPM, and with only Arcee announced so far, not up to standard. So I guess this works out for me.

[klystron]

The Australian economy runs off household consumption, so I'll help out our hyper-consumerism based capitalistic society by continuing to purchasing Transformers. (Its the least I can do).
In reality, I'm lucky to have been relatively unaffected by the pandemic, and am very much looking forward to upcoming Netflix, Kingdom and SS releases. 2020 may well turn out to be my biggest collecting year so far.

My best wishes go out to any forum members that have been negatively impacted by COVID.

[Skyfire]

The Australian economy runs off household consumption, so I'll help out our hyper-consumerism based capitalistic society by continuing to purchasing Transformers. (Its the least I can do).

I just read the below from https://www.watoday.com.au/business/...10-p55u9a.html

"Not only does household consumption account for more than 60 per cent of economic activity, the thrifty mindset also complicates attempts at government stimulus, because people might choose to save the proceeds of tax cuts or payments. And when consumers are so cautious, businesses are also reluctant to invest their capital."

Klystron the Keynesian economist!