Quote Originally Posted by GoktimusPrime View Post
If they had a collector-exclusive site, then I fear the cost of those toys for non-American collectors may be prohibitively expensive. (-_-)
Perhaps it would be better if they were like Diamond Select and distributed the toys to places like retailers like Comic Kingdom, Kings Comics, Phantom Comics, Kinokuniya, Comics R Us etc. - i.e. retailers that directly cater for collectors instead of "general consumer" retailers like Kmart, Target etc.
What about Matty's model? They only charge $10 a figure for international shipping and you save more when you combine. One of the good things about Matty collector is that they are very fair when it comes to international shipping unlike the FunPub store which barely acknowledges that people live outside the US. Selling it to local collector retailers is not much of an option as it would only result in massively inflated prices . It is far too often that it's much cheaper to import something than to buy it at a local collector store and too unworkable as they only deal in tiny numbers per store. An online shop can have as many figures in stock as they deem fit for the market, all from a single source.

Quote Originally Posted by GoktimusPrime
And I think this is a really good thing. One thing that sometimes concerns me when manufacturers start making toys for adult collectors is that you can end up with really boring toys (re: inferior play value) - what Kevin Smith shamelessly calls "Inaction Figures." Having said that, most collector-centric Transformer toys thankfully retain good play value.
As you mentioned, a collector toy does not have to be deprived of play value. MOTUC have a lot of it, arguably more than several Hasbro retail toys despite a lack of 'Action gimmicks' yet it's a collector exclusive line.

Regarding the toy designers, didn't one of the Takara designers say that some of the great obstacles to making a good toy was Hasbro always trying to cost cut or forcing a stupid gimmick onto it? In a collector only line, those things would not be as much of a factor as Walmart and their silly 'sale gimmick' demands would not factor in and prices can be reasonably higher than US retail (still cheaper by our local standards) with the difference that you get more bang for your buck.