marriafnI’ve been an active collector since 2018, and got my first figure in 2015 (ITEM #236159), I remember upon buying it I thought the price was insane,
“how could I spend over $130 dollars on a piece of anime plastic!” Or so I thought.
As time moved on, and obviously things changed, it ceases to amaze me how much prices have increased throughout the years of collecting, specially from 2018 to now, only 3 years and I’m seeing drastic changes as it is.
There’s always the argument that goes that, “inflation caused it” or “higher demand means higher prices” and so on, but I always feel like it’s because how companies have accepted the fact, that no matter the price, we’ll always eat it up, prime example is estream, I have no idea how they can get away with their atrocious pricing, but they do, I honestly can understand for the crystal dress figures, but for the neon set and so on, I find it ridiculous, I remember back in the day ALTER was higher end and even then the pricing was 16-20k max, and I thought that was ridiculous, and I feel like the relatively “affordable” companies out there, are only Kotobukiya, GSC and Myethos (their pricing is amazing).
The norm is 20k+ for any kind of slightly elaborate figure, and for standing figures we’re reaching the 16k mark norm, it’s kinda scary and also makes me wonder how high will prices reach until the general public can no longer afford prestigious pricing.
While There are some cheap alternatives such as Pop Up Parade and Prize figures, I personally prefer collecting and displaying scale figures, solely for their quality, and seeing how expensive it’s getting, it somewhat scares me, mainly because I feel like the quality isn’t increasing along with the pricing, they’re just raising the pricing to match demand and compete with other companies (in my opinion).
So after expressing my concerns and thoughts, what do you think?, does the price increase scare you?, or are you fine and understanding with it? I’d love to hear some opinions.
“how could I spend over $130 dollars on a piece of anime plastic!” Or so I thought.
As time moved on, and obviously things changed, it ceases to amaze me how much prices have increased throughout the years of collecting, specially from 2018 to now, only 3 years and I’m seeing drastic changes as it is.
There’s always the argument that goes that, “inflation caused it” or “higher demand means higher prices” and so on, but I always feel like it’s because how companies have accepted the fact, that no matter the price, we’ll always eat it up, prime example is estream, I have no idea how they can get away with their atrocious pricing, but they do, I honestly can understand for the crystal dress figures, but for the neon set and so on, I find it ridiculous, I remember back in the day ALTER was higher end and even then the pricing was 16-20k max, and I thought that was ridiculous, and I feel like the relatively “affordable” companies out there, are only Kotobukiya, GSC and Myethos (their pricing is amazing).
The norm is 20k+ for any kind of slightly elaborate figure, and for standing figures we’re reaching the 16k mark norm, it’s kinda scary and also makes me wonder how high will prices reach until the general public can no longer afford prestigious pricing.
While There are some cheap alternatives such as Pop Up Parade and Prize figures, I personally prefer collecting and displaying scale figures, solely for their quality, and seeing how expensive it’s getting, it somewhat scares me, mainly because I feel like the quality isn’t increasing along with the pricing, they’re just raising the pricing to match demand and compete with other companies (in my opinion).
So after expressing my concerns and thoughts, what do you think?, does the price increase scare you?, or are you fine and understanding with it? I’d love to hear some opinions.
Comentários70
Thing is you can't even get those older figures cheap any more either cause of after market inflation... :(((
I've either moved to less pricier lines like Bring Arts figures or make exceptions to buy maybe one scale a year.
i'm glad someone relates. i can't justify spending $200+ on one 1/8 character especially knowing i will probably want more from their series... i am more into pop up parade/the cheaper lines, high quality figures are beautiful of course but that money adds up.
I've either moved to less pricier lines like Bring Arts figures or make exceptions to buy maybe one scale a year.
Anyway, my one addition is that I have another theory about why the influx of new collectors is causing prices to rise. Basically, companies can't keep up with the consequent influx of pre-orders (i.e. handmade things are not designed to be manufactured at mass-production level numbers), and so they're purposefully trying to price people out. Hypothetically, if they could raise prices high enough that they get pre-surge order numbers--but at this much higher profit margin--then they could put out releases at the same rate as before but make even more money.
I do have a question for both of you if you feel like answering? Recently I've been chatting with another veteran collector about this (and obviously nobody can say for sure), but what do you think about the possibility of this being a popularity/market bubble that bursts? Might we see a significant number of pandemic collectors fall off the bandwagon? And if so, would that lead to a hefty price drop in the figures that went to pre-order during this time? (Personally, I thought we'd have at least started to see a slowdown by now? But like two out of every three posts on the figure subreddit is someone asking for beginner advice or showing off their first figure, and I feel like it's only continuing to pick up speed. So now I don't know. /:)
I would honestly be surprised if prices became more reasonable anytime soon, especially since we were seeing them creep up even pre-Covid. There's lots of thoughts about why the prices are increasing from increased demand, to rising manufacturing costs, to companies simply testing limits. But whether they get their money mainly from new collectors, old ones, or a mix of both, I feel like the best we can hope for is reaching a point where sales drop off enough that companies don't raise their prices any higher for a little while.
As far as newer collectors dropping off, unless the prices continue spiking at the same rate they have, I actually think this topic's a good indicator that we'll be seeing more of the opposite. Several newer collectors basically said the prices don't bother them because that's all they've known, whereas those of us who have been collecting for at least a few years can't help but look back at what the prices were when we started and more often than not, feel the increase isn't warranted.
The popularity increase was mostly outside of Japan, so I doubt it had much of an effect on the prices. Figures have become more mainstream within anime culture (and out) universally however.