You mentioned "kids" six different times in your first post, and I'm telling you, it's not about the kids, it's about money.I don't think Maverick was necessarily fully agreeing with you; he was opposing you at least as much as he was siding with you, if not more. Also, I never said that this decision was entirely "for the kids". I'd be absolutely stupid to say there isn't at least some small level of greed (whether good or bad) inherent in any decision a corporate entity makes. My point is that it isn't so much them being moneygrubbing, as it is them not wanting to create a failure of a product that doesn't sell as well as it could.
I was saying mass matters in terms of price increases in a single line. Yes, different figures in the same line with different masses sell at the same price, but that's because it would be a nightmare to individually price each figure based on its mass, at least for a retail line. Also: Diamond Select Gotham figures (which are 7" scale, by the way, not 6") retail at $24.99. If you found some at $12.00, they were on sale.
My point about the splitting of profit still stands, because while the same total amount of profit is still being made, the amount Hasbro's getting is nowhere near the absurd amount you claim. An increase in price wouldn't give Hasbro itself nearly as much more money as you claim it would, meaning it's less likely to be flat-out greed.
Hasbro reported $831.2 million in first quarter revenue, a figure that marked a 16% jump year-over-year and easily cleared the $768.4 million analyst estimate. Net income for the quarter came in at $48.8 million — up a whopping 83% over the prior-year period — and resulted in earnings of 38 cents per share, a figure that smashed the analyst consensus by 14 cents per share.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/maggiem...hannel=Investing&linkId=23557347#47b3a9f41b6e
I don't decry them for making as much profit as they can, but rather trying to justify it with bs. On one hand they claim that cost cutting for themselves is for the children, and on the other jack up the price to the same level as if no cost cutting had taken place.
The Diamond Select Gotham figures (I don't collect them just saw them at toys r us) are twelve dollars in store, and 12.99 on the website with no indication that's a clearance price. What line it's in has no bearing on how much plastic is used. If a big fig at 20 inches costs 19.99 using more plastic and a 6 inch Black Series figure also costs 19.99, it's not the plastic that accounts for the cost difference between 3 3/4 and 6 inch Black Series figures.
I'm not claiming those are the numbers, but rather using it as an example of why Hasbro would much rather have collectors buy 6 inch sa figures than 3 3/4 inch sa figures. That's why they are only available in one store, packed full of repaints, and put in boxes to look bigger. It's psychological. We look at something bigger and say it must be worth more because of how much bigger it is, but in reality the extra materials that went into making it that size are negligible. Both in the case of six inch figures size, and in 3 3/4 inch Black Series boxes. It's not a decision for collectors, but rather one for profits.