Even amazon shipping has gone up significantly in the last year or two.... as it used to be cheaper to post items from them than it was to send it across Australia. Now its not.
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Even amazon shipping has gone up significantly in the last year or two.... as it used to be cheaper to post items from them than it was to send it across Australia. Now its not.
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With the dollar as it is, it's just become highly unviable to purchase from US. Shipping just compounds the issue
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I'm no economist, but a quick google article search shows that a "fair" value of the AUD to be around 82 -85 cents to the USD. As joyful as it was to buy and travel overseas during the times of parity, that really wasn't sustainable.Originally Posted by 1AZRAEL1
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I totally agree, but the market price for things don't always represent their intrinsic value. Like paying above RRP for a Transformer toy. The price paid may be well above the toy's intrinsic value, but especially for aftermarket purchases people are paying for the rarity of the toy rather than for the toy's inherent value. This is why I often jump at the chance to purchase a CHUGUR or MP version of a G1 toy that I don't own, because I know that I'm not prepared to pay the appreciated aftermarket prices for those toys so owning a CHUGUR or MP version will be the closest I'll get to owning it. And quite frankly, I collected most G1 toys that I wanted when they were current, so most of what I'm missing are lower priority toys anyway so it doesn't matter that much to me if I own a modern equivalent of the toy rather than the actual toy itself (e.g. UTD Artfire, MP Exhaust etc.). And the aftermarket prices of vintage toys can also fluctuate depending on certain factors. Look at the aftermarket price of a G1 Fortress Maximus before and after the Encore reissue. A lot of collectors pay obscene prices for eHobby Astrotrain, but imagine if Hasbro or TakaraTOMY were to ever reissue this mould with similar colours - perhaps with actual show-accurate colours (e.g. purple helmet, yellow crest, red eyes, more purple on the wings etc.). Because as much as fans refer to it as "Anime Astrotrain," that was never what Takara called it. eHobby Astrotrain is actually 'prototype' Astrotrain, based on the colours of the prototype toy, and it was these colours that were used in Astrotrain's box/tech specs art, 1985 catalogue photo, promotional photography (as seen on the box) etc. Sunbow's animators then based the cartoon colours off this prototype, but they made deviations from it as well. Henkei! Henkei! and Generations Specialist Astrotrain have given us the most G1 cartoon-accurate colours for Astrotrain; so imagine those colours on a G1 Astrotrain reissue. I would expect the aftermarket price for eHobby Prototype Astrotrain to depreciate.
Anyway, when the AUD was overpriced it certainly didn't represent the true value of the AUD. But yeah, it's often based on what people are willing to pay (i.e. prices driven by speculative demand) rather than what these commodities are actually worth. It's a strange model, but such is the world we live in.Having said that, I must confess that I absolutely love it when the AUD is overvalued.
Although I'm sure I'd feel differently if I worked in exporting... but I don't.
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It's currently around 76 cents atm, and has been worse. It's rare I buy something from overseas now. I'm no economist ether, I just know for me it's not viable at this time
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I hate people.
"Save the rebellion! Save the dream!" - Saw Gerrera
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Anyone in particular or all of humanity... like your namesake.
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EVERYONE! ALL HAIL GALVATRON!Anyone in particular or all of humanity... like your namesake.
"Save the rebellion! Save the dream!" - Saw Gerrera
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Heh, I remember collecting G1's back when it was 55c to the USD. I guess buying overseas depends on whether it's cheaper or more expensive to buy here. A little online research nowadays can hopefully make things a little more viable.
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